Re: OT Variable Power Supplies for Stomp Box Pedals

[Mech <mech@m3ch.net>]

At 10:49 PM -0700 3/29/09, Rick Walker wrote:
>
>Anyway,  I told him that I keep a bunch of old used 9 volt batteries 
>(in various
>short lengths of time before their battery death) and that , 
>sometimes,  when I
>am tracking something into my computer,  I'll switch out 4 or 5 of them 
>on the
>offchance that the particular stomp box pedal that I'm working with will
>freakout as the voltage drops precipitously.
>
>He then hipped me to the fact that there are companies that make 
>variable power supplies
>(specialty hospital equipment, apparently, have the need these 
>things for various equipment).
>
>I thought that would be such a very hip thing to have.
>
>Has anyone experimented with this?

Voltage sag is now "the new black" as far as boutique pedals are 
concerned, and you can find that many of the models released within 
the last year have power starve controls built right into them.

Otherwise, there's many different ways to get this effect.  As you've 
discovered, the old battery trick has been used for years.  Also, 
there are high-end pedal voltage supplies (like the Voodoo Labs Pedal 
Power series) that offer at least one output with variable voltage. 
I've got a Guyatone PS that does this and it works pretty well. 
These are frickin' expensive, though.

As a more intriguing entry, you might try taking a look at the Power 
Struggle by Dwarfcraft Devices ("your old pal Aen"): 
http://www.analoguehaven.com/dwarfcraftdevices/powerstruggle/  It's 
nothing more than a variable power sag, but you can control this one 
with an expression pedal so it's easy to find a distortion's 'sweet 
spots' in real time.  Still a bit pricey at ~$95, but at least it's 
got an interesting twist.

And finally, for my pick, there's the simple but functional devolt 
from Beavis Audio Research ( 
http://www.beavisaudio.com/products/devolt/ ).  Beavis is also a 
great resource for DIY pedal building/mods, and even tells you how to 
make/mod your own: http://www.beavisaudio.com/Projects/DBS/

Anyway, the devolt is only $39 + $7 shipping. Cool product from a cool guy.

Hope that helps...  :)

        --m.
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