DIY isolated power supply for guitar pedal board

I've been looking to buy an isolated power supply to feed my six or seven guitar pedals, but i'm not really happy with what options are out there.  Most are too busy with too many features I don't want and will never use - I just want a basic isolated 8x (or 9x or 10x) 9v @ 100-150mA supply to feed Boss or MXR style pedals.  No frills, no fancy features.  Oh yeah - I'm an Aussie, so I need 240V mains.

Has anybody made their own pedalboard IPS?  I'm looking for a schematic for reference, and maybe a few tips and suggestions to get this done.

What's an isolated power supply for guitar pedals?

I know of linear psu, or switched psu  and also isolation transformers. But I'm not familiar with isolated psu for pedals.

Is it seperately regulated rails for each output?

I just use a common switched 2A 9V dc with a multi-output connector for my pedal needs.

But I'm interested to hear about more comprehensive pedal psu ideas.

Something like this:  http://www.voodoolab.com/pedalpower_2.htm



But, here in AU this supply costs nearly $300.  If i'm going to pay that amount i'd rather build myself so I can have a unit EXACTLY as I want it.


I plan on doing a lot of recording in the near future so I want to eliminate every opportunity for unwanted noise.  My pedals are particularly bad when daisy chained to a wall wart - not so much when I use battery power.  I figure isolated power might be the way to go, as swaping out batteries all the time is a major PITA.

Here's something, never tried to build it though: http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/spyder/spyder.htm

I was looking into building a supply for my board a couple of years ago but in the end I just forked out the dough for that voodoo psu you linked to above, not cheap but well worth it IMO - it's a damn good unit. If DIY-ing a psu with multiple isolated outputs for studio use, size and weight may not be a problem. However if it's going to be mounted on/underneath a pedalboard that sees rehearsal and gig use etc, a well built commercial psu might serve you better. I'm certainly not trying to talk you out of building one, just chiming in to say that when I looked into this, it was one of those situations where an off the shelf item was clearly the wiser choice (for my needs).

Ben

Edit: @alexc -  yes, this type of of thing has seperately regulated power at each output, the idea being to prevent ground loops which don't happen anyway with a daisy chain arrangement hooked up to a single output psu. Some also provide voltages other than just 9vdc which is handy but only if you need it..

Hi,

I know Weber did a multi-tap transformer with 8 x 11VAC outs for such a use.  I seem to remember it being about $20-25USD.

As the output is AC you'd need to do the necessary for it to be suitable to power pedals.

As grubbyliver said though, if size/portability is a problem you may be better off with an off-the-shelf solution.  I've seen these discussed:  http://www.joyoaudio.com/en/product/show_174.html

I don't know if they are any good, just a heads up.

Cheers,
Ian

Thanks for the input guys.  I'll check out all those leads and think it over a few days what to do next.

Che_Guitarra said:

I've been looking to buy an isolated power supply to feed my six or seven guitar pedals, but i'm not really happy with what options are out there.  Most are too busy with too many features I don't want and will never use - I just want a basic isolated 8x (or 9x or 10x) 9v @ 100-150mA supply to feed Boss or MXR style pedals.  No frills, no fancy features.  Oh yeah - I'm an Aussie, so I need 240V mains.

Has anybody made their own pedalboard IPS?  I'm looking for a schematic for reference, and maybe a few tips and suggestions to get this done.

Click to expand...

One of the guitarists in the band I mix for has something like what you describe. As luck would have it, we have gigs this weekend so I'll ask him what it is and report back.

-a

Here is some information on isolated transformers and for specifying your own pedal board supply: http://www.groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=47898

That would be interesting to try one of these premium isolated supplies.

I'm likely wrong but am kind of skeptical that any benefit would outweigh the usual noise source imho : crappy passive pickups, poor quality guitar wiring, long cable/ground wires and huge amounts of applied pedal gain!

For my good recording guitars I use active EMG pickups.

As I said, I'm probably wrong else why would people pay so much for seperately regulated supplies ?

Hello all,

Haven't been around here in a while, sorry to resurrect an old thread.

I am building a new pedalboard, and with it a power supply based on the spyder circuit linked above. I ordered 2 of the multi-tap transformers from smallbear for a total of 16 9V outputs. Here is the current link to that article:
http://geofex.com/article_folders/oldspyder/oldspyder.htm

My question: If you look at the diagram with the single transformer w/ multiple secondaries, it looks like they have a cap and resistor strapped across the primary. Being a complete novice when it comes to any design or theory, can anyone confirm and help me figure out what types and values to use here? Any explanation why is also very welcome, I know I have seen big orange drop caps across the primaries in other circuits before, but I really don't want to screw around with anything on the mains side unless I know exactly what I am doing.


Also, I did read through the thread that Kingston had linked above and I can totally appreciate the concern over how effective the circuit actually is.  In my case, it's more for the purpose of cleaning up the pedalboard wiring significantly and containing it within the new mechanical design, less noise would hopefully be an added bonus.

Thanks!

> looks like they have a cap and resistor strapped across the primary.

That is a Neon lamp and limiting resistor.

If you are not SURE what you are doing, please get local expert help to look over your shoulder.