The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[Sushi Box FX]

What happens when you starve a tube pedal like that?

It won't damage anything if that's what you mean, but if it can't heat up all the way then it won't be able to pass signal as well as it was intended to, so it just won't sound right. In my experience it generally results in a loss of low-end and a loss of clean headroom, so nasty distortion and harsh brittle sound.

That being said not all power supplies are created equal, and some will let you exceed the posted maximum output. I've pulled 2100mA out of a 1700mA OneSpot and it was fine, if a bit warm. I've used other supplies where the posted rating is law, and the supply WILL NOT provide more. All depends on how it was designed.

 

[el murdoque]

Will it be a gradual process, starting with starved shrieking and ending with glorious bass or is it more like either it sounds fine or it sounds terrible?

 

[NKBassman]

All depends on how it was designed labeled.

FYP

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Will it be a gradual process, starting with starved shrieking and ending with glorious bass or is it more like either it sounds fine or it sounds terrible?

If the power supply has a hard limit and will not supply enough, then it would either sound fine or sound terrible. If the tubes aren't heating up enough they will sound terrible, ergo if they sound good then it's reasonable to assume they're getting enough power.

FYP

I should have phrased that better. Some power supplies are labeled 300mA and can deliver 500mA, others are labeled 300mA and will not under any circumstances deliver more than 300mA. In power supply design you generally have a "typical" maximum and an "absolute "maximum," but if you're worried that the absolute maximum will damage the supply then you may put a limit on the output so it will never reach its maximum output.

So I guess it's kind of both? Everything is designed with a typical maximum and an absolute (or artificially enforced) maximum, and the manufacturer decides which one to put on the label.

 

[el murdoque]

If the power supply has a hard limit and will not supply enough, then it would either sound fine or sound terrible. If the tubes aren't heating up enough they will sound terrible, ergo if they sound good then it's reasonable to assume they're getting enough power.


I should have phrased that better. Some power supplies are labeled 300mA and can deliver 500mA, others are labeled 300mA and will not under any circumstances deliver more than 300mA. In power supply design you generally have a "typical" maximum and an "absolute "maximum," but if you're worried that the absolute maximum will damage the supply then you may put a limit on the output so it will never reach its maximum output.

So I guess it's kind of both? Everything is designed with a typical maximum and an absolute (or artificially enforced) maximum, and the manufacturer decides which one to put on the label.

Okay, so it's either on or off.

I would like to add that with power supplies, the numbers printed on them become more relevant with better quality. I've coupled two isolated 120mA outputs of a cheap supply to power a pedal that needs 200mA and the result was a bit wonky on the good days and unusable on the bad ones.
On a Cioks DC-7 you can more or less rely on the 660mA@9V per output, with all Cioks products I've made the experience that you can expect them to give you a little more than advertised.

 

[monsterbonsai]

Should still be around 2-10-2.


Those numbers are on the older 6N21B mini-tube versions, which pull a lot more than the newer 12AX7 versions. @johnk_10 's numbers sound right for a dual 12AX7 preamp. Cioks DC7 and OneSpot Pro are the common brick style supplies I hear work well for high current.

Yup, that´s the one I got incoming!

 

[bassbrad]

I've put my 6N21B Particle Accelerator on my small test bench board, which is run by a Cioks Adam. The output is labeled 250mA. I bought a Y cable to double that, but messed it up (by fortetting to put it in) and ran the PA from a single outlet, for hours, which worked fine.

What happens when you starve a tube pedal like that?

It won't damage anything if that's what you mean, but if it can't heat up all the way then it won't be able to pass signal as well as it was intended to, so it just won't sound right. In my experience it generally results in a loss of low-end and a loss of clean headroom, so nasty distortion and harsh brittle sound..

Will it be a gradual process, starting with starved shrieking and ending with glorious bass or is it more like either it sounds fine or it sounds terrible?

On mine there is a very high pitched whistle or whine until the pedal is fully warmed up, it takes several minutes but once it is warm the sound is glorious. I preferred it over the 12AX7 version when I had them both to compare.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I love the results of the UV printer, but in order to keep getting good quality prints I need to open it up once a month and purge the printheads with isopropyl to clear out any blocked nozzles. It's messy and not super fun, but totally worth it.

 

[Freightshaker]

No affiliation, but have been using Sweetfootpedals power supplys for awhile. Small builder with high current options. Powers my Dr Wattson quickly.

 

[4Mal]

View attachment 4650365 No affiliation, but have been using Sweetfootpedals power supplys for awhile. Small builder with high current options. Powers my Dr Wattson quickly.

I have one for a small HX based board. Cost effective and tiny. When I bought off Reverb, the Sweetfoot guy was very reaponsive. He threw in a 'Y' cable so I could power 3 devices. I suspect he would do 'custom' by request...

I'm still a Cioks guy for the big board but the Sweetfoot stuff is legit.

 

[TTPbass1]

I use RockBoard Power LT XL power supplie on all my boards, these bricks have 2 9V 1A outputs. To get you an idea 1 of them powers my church board that has a Polytune Mini + EFX Micro Thumpinator + Aguilar TLC + Aguilar Chorusaurus + Aguilar Octamizer daysi chained on one output, and a Voltage doubler + Aguilar Tone Hammer in the other output.

Do you think 1 of those 9V 1A outputs will be ok for the Space Heather?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Do you think 1 of those 9V 1A outputs will be ok for the Space Heather?

I would expect it to be fine. It will drain the battery a lot faster than non-tube pedals, but 1A is plenty for a Space Heater.

 

[Ryan L.]

I’ve got 2 Eventide PowerMax’s and a PowerMini between my 2 boards. They power my 5 SB tube pedals and several non-tube pedals just fine.

 

[Killing Floor]

I’m screwing around with guitar-Black Eye-Tremcoder-flanger-amp and making some goofy loudness. Suddenly there’s this sci-fi space scene noise that’s kinda awesome but I can’t make it stop. Really high pitch oscillation that’s quite loud. Can’t figure it out. Gain isn’t high and volume is not high. But it’s a full level signal. Some pedals just don’t play nice together.

 

[SemiDriven]

Some pedals just don’t play nice together.

Yep.

Edit: My comment agreeing with @Killing Floor encompasses the entire, vast landscape of pedals worldwide. It's almost a science to see which pedals play nice/sound good with other pedals.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Some pedals just don’t play nice together.

Yep.

I'm trying, it's hard Buffers can fix a lot of issues, but it's been proven that they don't fix everything, so I'm hesitant to redesign every single pedal I have to add a switchable buffer if it doesn't even always solve the problem. I don't know. I need someone to run my company and tell me what to do so I don't have to make hard decisions like this.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

On an unrelated note, I'm targeting sunday (4/10) around noon-ish (central time) for opening the May batch. I've been working on prize builds for the winter build-off and my machines are rebelling against me, first the CNC and now the UV printer. So I've been a bit distracted and haven't had a chance to verify HWDW and SMD Smoke Signal II. I'm still planning on HW Smoke Signal, but I'll do some more testing to make sure it's good to go.

I recently rearranged my workshop and added a new workbench so I could better utilize the space, and it turns out the UV printer doesn't like being closer to the furnace, the ink and printhead prefer to stay cool. So tonight I'll be rearranging the workshop to get the printer back into a cool corner.

My CNC is reasonably large and looks impressive, but at the end of the day it's another cheap Chinese machine and it has always had quirks. Power in my garage has always been a bit weird, and the CNC controller seemed to be extra sensitive to it, if I try to run another big machine at the same time the CNC controller disconnects and I have to reboot the computer and start the program over. I've dealt with this for the past 18 months by crossing my fingers that it will run all the way through without freezing up, but the past week has been particularly bad. So I decided enough is enough and I ordered a new CNC controller which will be here tomorrow.

So tonight I'm going to see if I can get the printer cooled down and happy then focus on HWDW and SMD Smoke Signal II, then tomorrow night I'll be getting the CNC upgraded and hopefully get back to enclosure milling, as I still have more than a dozen left to do.

Sunday night I'll be leaving on a trip for my day job, so Sunday and Monday I'm not sure how much I'll get done. Depending on how long meetings go it looks like I may get to spend a few hours in Nashville on Monday though, so that's neat. Always wanted to check that place out.

 

[SemiDriven]

I'm trying, it's hard Buffers can fix a lot of issues, but it's been proven that they don't fix everything, so I'm hesitant to redesign every single pedal I have to add a switchable buffer if it doesn't even always solve the problem. I don't know. I need someone to run my company and tell me what to do so I don't have to make hard decisions like this.

We're rooting for you Nathan!

Every now and then, the "ducks" are all in a row. But most of the time they are not. We make the best of it and keep going (as well as chasing after those wandering ducks).

My comment (above) was simply to indicate that pedals -- no matter who makes them -- pair well / sound good with certain pedal combinations than they do with others.

 

[macmanlou]

Every now and then, the "ducks" are all in a row. But most of the time they are not.

 

[4Mal]

I'm trying, it's hard Buffers can fix a lot of issues, but it's been proven that they don't fix everything, so I'm hesitant to redesign every single pedal I have to add a switchable buffer if it doesn't even always solve the problem. I don't know. I need someone to run my company and tell me what to do so I don't have to make hard decisions like this.

I vote @Ryan L. as president of thr Sushibox fan club. He'll straighten it out for ya.