The Official Guitar Thread

Raymond Lin · 13 Dec 2021 at 10:38

SexyGreyFox said:
He did have some humming problems last night so he's just ordered this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ACZO9VE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_08FGRZ86A9VJ9PTX1YSB

I am not saying the Mondo is the wrong choice, it should do what he wants to do, and it's a solid PSU if you bought it 10 years ago. However, things have moved on quite a bit in the last couple of years. Strymon brought out the Zuma and Ojai, Cioks brought out the DC7 with expansions. Fender has brought out the Engine Room. Basically PSUs these days tend to target every output to have lots of power to reduce the headache of power allocation. You just plug it into any socket and it should work.

This PSU below much much better, more modern, more power, more power in every socket and this more flexibility. 500mA in every socket, all isolated. (when in stock).

Every socket is 500mA, and there are 12 of them, the Mondo max is 400mA and only has 4 of them.

Also 20% cheaper.

https://www.peachguitars.com/fx-pedals/power-supplies/fender-lvl12-engine-room-230v-uk.htm

Here

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/201202364714025--fender-lvl12-engine-room-power-supply

Another alternative is the Cioks DC7, 7 sockets at 660mA with a USB socket. All the sockets can do 9, 12, 15 or 18v. Expandable with more sockets with their expansion if you need to later. It's also really small, fits under a PT Nano.

uncle_rufus · 13 Dec 2021 at 12:24

Or of course, the stuff made by GigRig which is extremely modular - not too great if you've not quite settled on your pedal setup, but if you have you can use it to make exactly what you want

Morve · 13 Dec 2021 at 13:14

Also for an excellent supply that doesn't break the bank the Harley Benton power plant iso-12 pro is great, all isolated only problem is it comes with an EU plug

Raymond Lin · 13 Dec 2021 at 13:21

Morve said:
Also for an excellent supply that doesn't break the bank the Harley Benton power plant iso-12 pro is great, all isolated only problem is it comes with an EU plug

The biggest difference, besides the price is that between the HB and the others named already is that all the others uses a IEC (kettle lead), the actual transformer is built inside the PSU. the HB's transformer is external. It all adds to the convenience of them. Also, meaning, on a gig, if you forget to bring that external brick, you are pretty much up the creek. With the IEC, you just need to source a cable from venue's kitchen's kettle in an emergency if need be.

A lot of these lower-priced PSU do this, the more expensive ones has the transformer built in.

SexyGreyFox · 13 Dec 2021 at 15:52

Raymond Lin said:
I am not saying the Mondo is the wrong choice, it should do what he wants to do, and it's a solid PSU if you bought it 10 years ago. However, things have moved on quite a bit in the last couple of years. Strymon brought out the Zuma and Ojai, Cioks brought out the DC7 with expansions. Fender has brought out the Engine Room. Basically PSUs these days tend to target every output to have lots of power to reduce the headache of power allocation. You just plug it into any socket and it should work.

This PSU below much much better, more modern, more power, more power in every socket and this more flexibility. 500mA in every socket, all isolated. (when in stock).

Every socket is 500mA, and there are 12 of them, the Mondo max is 400mA and only has 4 of them.

Also 20% cheaper.

https://www.peachguitars.com/fx-pedals/power-supplies/fender-lvl12-engine-room-230v-uk.htm

Here

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/201202364714025--fender-lvl12-engine-room-power-supply

Another alternative is the Cioks DC7, 7 sockets at 660mA with a USB socket. All the sockets can do 9, 12, 15 or 18v. Expandable with more sockets with their expansion if you need to later. It's also really small, fits under a PT Nano.

He hasn't actually bought it yet, I'll pass this information on to him.

uncle_rufus · 13 Dec 2021 at 16:07

SexyGreyFox said:
He hasn't actually bought it yet, I'll pass this information on to him.

And this:
https://www.thegigrig.com/power

Still the best option imo

ik9000 · 13 Dec 2021 at 17:47

late to the party as have been off the forums for a while:

Cadder said:
Any recommendations for a cheap-ish way to record electro-acoustic to PC?

LuckyBenski said:
You'll want/need a proper audio interface as most acoustic systems will still be high impedance like electric guitars. Normal microphone inputs on computers typically won't work well.

The good news is that same interface should work with microphones and electric guitars!

There are a lot of older USB audio interfaces around that will still do fine for home stuff, would recommend looking for something from e.g. M-Audio if going old, or Focusrite if you want something pretty current. Check eBay!

If you're win7-10 then the old Akai EIE pro (silver faceplate) is an affordable 4 input interface available 2nd hand for not too much money. Not so good on Macs as they didn't update the drivers. No idea if it works with win11 yet as not tried. I use it with cubase but have run it on Audacity in the past (but couldn't get all 4 channels to work in that hence I switched).

Re power supplies: I've always found the one-spot range to be reliable, both their single plug and daisy chain option, and the larger CS12 or whatever it's called. I've got two of those. Well built. I also have a Donner clone of a Voodoo model. It works fine but I had to reject the first one as the switchable 9-18V rail was stuck on 18V. Somehow it didn't make my pedal go pop, though one of my fuzz pedals further down the chain hasn't been quite right since which is annoying. The worst power supplies I've had have been the TomsLine cheapo cack from Amazon. Permanent high-pitched oscillating whistle-whine throughout from those. Small and compact, and not worth it IMO. For my acoustic travel board I just daisy chain off my Boss TU2 and that does fine for the 4-5 pedals on that board. (so long as all you need is 9V)

SexyGreyFox · 13 Dec 2021 at 19:48

@Raymond Lin and @uncle_rufus

His reply

Thanks Dave. Yes looked at them but still way too expensive. I don’t think there are any I haven’t seen now! The problem I have is there are 17x 9v pedals that need juice, so ideally I need two big isolated power supplies. Don’t want to daisy chain anything as you’re immediately defeating the object, as they are sharing ground. However I’ve just bought a boss ns-2 noise suppressor so I’m hoping this may make some difference for now.

uncle_rufus · 13 Dec 2021 at 20:21

Seems to me like the GigRig one would do it - one Power Station, which can power multiple distributors, which can power multiple isolators and other adapters as needed. The Power Station is 5 amps which is plenty of juice even for that many pedals I think?

Raymond Lin · 13 Dec 2021 at 20:51

SexyGreyFox said:
@Raymond Lin and @uncle_rufus

His reply

Thanks Dave. Yes looked at them but still way too expensive. I don’t think there are any I haven’t seen now! The problem I have is there are 17x 9v pedals that need juice, so ideally I need two big isolated power supplies. Don’t want to daisy chain anything as you’re immediately defeating the object, as they are sharing ground. However I’ve just bought a boss ns-2 noise suppressor so I’m hoping this may make some difference for now.

The Fender is cheaper than the Mondo? If he had the budget for the Mondo he has budget for the Fender with change to get another pedal. Gigrig is a good option to really get every single pedal isolated but as he says, they get expensive fast when you start adding boxes, plus there are lots of boxes to mount underneath.

I understand the need not to daisy chain but if you put all the digital pedals on its own socket, that should eliminate the hum, you can daisy chain analogue pedals like a OD and Tubescreamer together. But he won't know until he tries it. I think ultimately though, as he has 17 pedals, if his aim is to truly isolate all of them then he will have to spend the cash. I don't think a Noise Suppressor is the answer, you are just putting a plaster over a leg break, the problem is still there.

ik9000 · 13 Dec 2021 at 22:27

I have a mega board for home use where some pedals daisy chain. It's fine so long as you do it carefully. E.g. buffered boss pedals can share a daisy chain quite happily as they are designed to do that. The problems come when you try and mix and match, particularly when you cross digital and analogue and buffered vs unbuffered, or where the buffer circuitry behaves differently etc. Some things just don't like it. If you have several analogue boss pedals of the same era then just sum up the amperages and off you go.

Can you give a pedal breakdown?

SexyGreyFox · 13 Dec 2021 at 22:40

Raymond Lin said:
I don't think a Noise Suppressor is the answer, you are just putting a plaster over a leg break, the problem is still there.

I agree, he did say it hummed without a guitar plugged in.

Raymond Lin · 13 Dec 2021 at 23:06

I have like 15 pedals on my big board and it’s silent. Power is not a sexy topic, but it’s something you can’t really skim on. Same as PC building. The whole thing depends on it.

ik9000 · 13 Dec 2021 at 23:07

SexyGreyFox said:
I agree, he did say it hummed without a guitar plugged in.

is that with a cable inserted in the pedal board but not in the guitar though? Cos that will hum more often as not. Or does he mean with the first pedal gated off?

SexyGreyFox · 13 Dec 2021 at 23:27

Raymond Lin said:
I have like 15 pedals on my big board and it’s silent. Power is not a sexy topic, but it’s something you can’t really skim on. Same as PC building. The whole thing depends on it.

He did say it doesn't happen in his house but in the two gigs we've done it has hummed.

ik9000 said:
is that with a cable inserted in the pedal board but not in the guitar though? Cos that will hum more often as not. Or does he mean with the first pedal gated off?

No guitar or lead and I did say that a Noise Suppressor isn't for that.

Raymond Lin · 13 Dec 2021 at 23:45

SexyGreyFox said:
He did say it doesn't happen in his house but in the two gigs we've done it has hummed.

It could be the venue having a bad ring i suppose, but an isolated PSU SHOULD solve that issue, that's the point of being isolated.

Journey · 15 Dec 2021 at 18:03

Well just bought the boy a BOSS Katana 100 MkII for Christmas, it's his first proper amp, and since he had his new Mustang he's found a love for playing electric.

Hope he'll enjoy it, and hope I can understand how to help him set it up.

SexyGreyFox · 15 Dec 2021 at 18:47

Journey said:
Well just bought the boy a BOSS Katana 100 MkII for Christmas, it's his first proper amp, and since he had his new Mustang he's found a love for playing electric.

Hope he'll enjoy it, and hope I can understand how to help him set it up.

Tell him to put the APP on his phone and he can program it via that - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.roland.boss_katana_air_editor

Journey · 15 Dec 2021 at 19:27

SexyGreyFox said:
Tell him to put the APP on his phone and he can program it via that - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.roland.boss_katana_air_editor

Thanks! That is a great idea, I'll get it installed the night before Santa comes.

SexyGreyFox · 15 Dec 2021 at 19:37

Journey said:
Thanks! That is a great idea, I'll get it installed the night before Santa comes.

Nice site here - http://bosstonecentral.com

Also a forum where you can download patches - https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php

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