Effects Pedal Power Supplies - An Overview

Assembling the effects pedals themselves is only the first step in developing a professional-level pedalboard system. Once you have gathered all of your pedals and affixed them to your chosen pedalboard, you must then decide how to power your pedals. You basically have three choices: battery operation, individual power supplies, and dedicated effects pedal power supplies. Let's consider all the options.
If you've got unlimited resources (and a trust fund), batteries are not a bad option, nor are they bad if you only use 1-3 pedals. However, batteries don't last long in some effects (a digital delay can run through a 9v in less than an hour). Rechargeable batteries are an option, but you should investigate the sound quality compared to non-rechargeable alkaline batteries. For most people, battery-powered effects pedals are not a realistic option, given the worry about replacing or recharging them.
Another option is to use dedicated units devoted to each pedal. Again, if you're only using 1-3 pedals, this option is feasible; however, since dedicated power supplies run $15-$20 each, you're spending an awful lot of money simply to increase your cable mess. So, this option is not really the best one either.
Your best bet is to buy a power unit specifically designed to power multiple effects pedals. However, you still have to decide which type of supply to use since there are two options.
The first is what is often called a "switching" power supply. These units are generally small (taking up a single outlet) and can power numerous effects pedals from a daisy chain. The downsides to this type of supply are that you can't mix and match voltage types (i.e. regular polarity and reverse polarity) and the possibility of increased noise with certain types of pedals. However, this option is inexpensive ($30 or less) and flexible. The Visual Sound 1-Spot is recommended if you choose this option.
The second choice amongst dedicated effects pedal power solution is the individually-isolated output type, the most common choice being the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2. While more expensive than the switching supply (a new PP2 generally runs for around $170), this option is very flexible regarding the types of pedals it can power since you can mix reverse polarity, 18V, and regular polarity pedals using the same power supply. The sound quality is typically very high as well since the outputs are isolated.

What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Foam Ear Plugs?

Foam ear plugs are made from memory foam, a polyurethane plastic with various additives to make it stiffer and heavier. They have advantages over other types in that they are cheap and effective at blocking sound, making them commonplace, often used in industrial applications as well as on the building sites, oil rigs, factories and in military service.
Despite these clear advantages it has several disadvantages over most other types of ear plugs. The first is that it is not waterproof and as it is a foam it is also a sponge, actively absorbing liquid and water-logging the skin. They can make the problem worse by slowing drying and holding water for longer. The water soaks through the wax and squamous epithelium (skin) of the delicate canal allowing bacteria in. This can cause swimmer's ear, (otitis externa) an ear infection which causes itching, soreness, pain and discharge.
The second problem is that it expands in the canal, pushing itself out. You may find that if you use them in bed to help you sleep you often wake up with them on the pillow. This is partly because they work their way out, secondly, this may occur because they are not comfortable and you take them out yourself in your sleep. The reason that they are so uncomfortable is partly due to its' expansion pressing on the sensitive lining of your canal, as well as the fact that the outside can be quite abrasive and irritating.
The skin lining the canal is unique in the fact that it is very thin and is closely fitted to the bone. This makes it very sensitive and prone to damage from pointed and abrasive objects inserted into it. If you have early otitis externa foam plugs may make the situation worse because their abrasive nature can inflame the skin further.
The porous nature of the foam version makes them unhygienic as they accumulate dirt, wax, dead skin and other debris during normal use. Although they can be washed and reused a number of times this tends to stiffen and harden them, making them less effective and more likely to cause trauma and damage and increase the risk of ear infections such as otitis externa. This often starts with redness, soreness and itching and progresses to pain, bleeding and reduced hearing. It is important to seek medical attention at an early stage to prevent progression.

The Most Important Guitar Effects Pedals for Aspiring Rock Musicians

here are a mind boggling amount of guitar effects pedals about and they come in all different shapes and sizes. What is an effect pedal you may ask? An effect pedal is a device that is put between your guitar and the amplifier to alter the output sound. A pedal is made up of numerous components put into a case. The sounds that you can achieve from various effect pedals are quite extraordinary.

Guitarists today use more effects than ever and are evident to the sounds of bands such as Pink Floyd and U2. Numerous effect pedals are used in succession to complicate the sound. There are two main pedals out there. One is the multi effects processors and these contain numerous built into a single device. Alternatively, individual pedals focus on giving you one sound and not more than two. Such pedals involve you playing around with settings in order to get your intended sound. Many amplifiers these days have built-in sounds for you to use but they are not as versatile as pedals. This is because it is hard to utilize more than one sound simultaneously on amps.

Pedals cost from $60 or £40 upwards and include a broad range of prices. Specialist brands include Boss, Marshall, Pete Cornish, Electro Harmonic, Yahama, Dunlop and Digitech. As a budding guitarist, you could easily wipe your bank account clean upon purchasing guitar effects pedals due to the countless variety out there. What I recommend is that you only purchase one pedal for each main sound.

Recommended guitar effect pedals

Delay and Reverb sounds give a strong echo sound and is great if you are really playing live. This sounds professional like and is very convincing. Distortion and gain guitar effects pedals are widely used with electric guitars and are certainly used in lead and solo guitar playing. This adds crunch and meat to your sound and certainly does sound sweet. As stated previously, multi effects processors are a great for beginners as they have access to all the different possibilities right in front of them. All of these mentioned are the essential pedals that you must have in order to sound great.

After you have gotten hold of the main pedals, you may want to look for a few more to sound even great! A wah-wah effect allows the sound pitch to be constantly changed through the use of a pedal. This was heavily utilized by Jimi Hendrix. Added effects include Flanger, Chorus and Phase shifter also know as a uni-vibe. These pedals sound slightly similar to each other, however they do sound beautiful. Chorus and Flanger pedals sound very sweet and made famous by David Gilmour and created the sounds of Pink Floyd. Most of these sound best with little to no gain or distortion.

Best Guitar Multi-Effects Pedals For Live Use

The first digital multi effects pedal that I became familiar with was the old Digitech RP1. Very few dared to play live with these without a guitar amp, I mean through a PA. They had the proper settings for different types of power amps, but the sound they produced in this manner was not very exciting.

That left many of us tainted, but in the last few years I've seen many live performances, mainly at bars, where multi-effects pedals are connected straight to a PA without a guitar amplifier. And the sound was actually very good in my opinion.

In my experiences these are my top 3:

The Vox Tonelab LE: at a party dedicated for the 25th anniversary of 'Appetite For Destruction' I friend of mine played a whole set with one of these pedals straight to a PA. This pedal in my opinion is the fattest sounding when connected to a PA, even though it might not be the most versatile.

The Digitech RP1000: used straight to a PA by a friend of mine that plays in a punk rock band. When Digitech came out with the DNA chips my interest in this brand was rekindled. I had completely lost faith with the RP series, but this pedal has impressed me lately.

The Boss GT8: used by a cover band that I use to sell instruements to. The sound of Boss GT Multi-effects straight to PA's is not my favorite, but this guitar player surprised me by carefully using EQ and setting suitable presets for every song.

To play live with a multi-effects pedal you just have to set the right output for one of these 3 possibilities:

*Plugging it in to the front of an amplifier, "No Amp or Cab Emulation Should be used".

*Plugging into the power amp of a guitar head or combo, "No Cab Emulation Should be used".

*Plugging straight to a mixer in a PA or a powered monitor, "Cab Emulation Should be used".

An affordable ways to play live with a multi-effects pedal and have plenty of volume is with a live powered monitor.

How Do I Clean And Maintain My Bass Guitar?

The first thing to begin with before cleaning your guitar is clean hands. If you're getting dirt and fingerprints back on the guitar you're cleaning, you are not doing any good.

To clean the HARDWARE, all metal parts, which include, strap locks, tuning heads, and bridge. These parts could be kept clean using a soft cloth to remove dirt and keep them looking polished. If there is more of a build-up on the hardware, you may use a mild metal polish.

When cleaning the BODY of your guitar, you should always use a soft cloth and a polish specific for guitar and bass applications. I would not recommend using every day furniture polish as they may contain wax and solvents that may be harmful to the type of finish you have on your guitar. The NECK should also be cleaned in the same manner as the body of the guitar in most cases. Just be careful not to get any of the polish on to the fret board.

The best time to clean the FRETBOARD, is obviously when you are changing strings. The fret board should be cleaned at least every other time you have a string change. You should not apply lemon oil to a maple neck, as it can make the maple neck crack if you do it wrong. The woods that are used to make up the fret board are very susceptible to drying out. If you do not have a maple neck, apply good fret board oil with a clean cloth to the wood. After oil dries, wipe any remaining access oil from fret board.

The STRINGS can also be maintained by applying string cleaner to your bass or guitar string and then wiping them down with a dry cloth after every use. This helps to keep them lasting longer and sounding their best... You may also use a small amount of rubbing alcohol, just make sure you do not get any on the fret board or it may contribute to drying it out lose playing quality.

Finding the Perfect Guitar Tuner

In the dark ages, musicians had only one choice for tuning their instrument. The tuning fork was all they needed to get the guitar sounding right. We too often think that our fancy electronics make things easier, when in fact they can do the opposite. When relying on a device to 'listen for you' it gets easier to become lazy in our critical hearing skills. The tuning fork has no visual feedback, which forces the guitarist to listen intensely. This is the missing link between becoming a better player.

We now live in modern world with about a million guitar tuners to choose from. From big boxes to tiny clamp on devices and even suction based tuners. If your a live musician, it may be best to use one that is discreet and easy to access in a loud environment. I tend to use the clamp on tuners when traveling but at home may even use the built in tuner in Pro Tools. Adventurous types may opt for a chromatic tuner, which allows for access to every single note. Going even deeper are those who stray from the standard 440 tuning. Modern research has found that tuning everything to 432 can bring healing frequencies to the listener. Many of those hit songs from the 60s and 70s used this tuning across every instrument. You may also want to try 425 which is great for drones.

Regardless of which guitar tuner you choose, it's important to also get a simple tuning fork. I try to always keep one of these in D and E. This will keep your ears laser sharp and aware of the slightest changes. This does require a quiet room but you'll be a better listener for it. Even when using a modern electronic tuner, you can be aware of the aural disconnect. It kind of goes without saying, but be sure and have some fresh backup batteries. This can be a lifesaver in live or studio situations. If you are flat broke, there is still a free solution. Some have gone to great lengths to create a free online guitar tuner that can be accessed from anywhere. This means that your smartphone, tablet or laptop can be used as a tuner. The tuner is currently a flash based app but will soon be HTML5.

Best of all, this online tuner forces you to listen and get it right. After tuning by ear, try and follow up with a digital tuner to see how close you were. Keep doing this and over time your hearing will improve and this effects musicality as well. If you are interested in trying this then use our free app at 123 Guitar Tuner. It works on any computer browser or mobile browser.

Single or Multi Effect Guitar Pedals: Which Is Best?

If you spend some time on the guitar forums, and review pages, you will find endless opinions on what is better - Multi effect units, or individual effects pedals. The real choice in the end comes with your ear.

The common argument is "multi effects sound harsh and digital". This may be true with some older models, however, with the right setup, the latest units can produce sounds equally organic and soul-full as most single effects pedals.

The latest Digitech units for example (RP-500, RP-1000) feature an amp bypass capability, defeating the internal amplifiers and cabinet models, giving you a straight up stompbox pedal board. A pedal board that features every pedal known to man, without any cables!

Line 6 is also known for their amp modeling technology which they include in their multi effects such as the Floor Pod Plus, HD500, and Pod X3 Live. Several of these pedals also now include XLR in/outs and vocal effects to allow you to run a microphone through the unit into a PA. It's all about creating versatility!

I personally use the RP-500 through a 70's Fender Twin Reverb, and it sounds great! This goes against everything I read about multi effect pedals before I bought it. I also owned a wide variety of single effect pedals including the BBE Soul Vibe, Boss Blues Driver, Dunlop Cry Baby Wah, etc... They all sounded great in their own right, but I can easily duplicate all these sounds, and more with the RP-500. You can also take it to the next level by running it to two amps in stereo for an incredible, lush sound, only available to the pros in the recent past.

How True Sine Wave Inverters Reduce Harmonic Distortion

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is a measurement of the difference between the harmonic frequency of an input signal and the harmonic frequency of an output signal. The greater the difference between the two frequencies, the greater the percentage of harmonic distortion. True sine wave inverters produce sinusoidal current that helps reduce harmonic distortion by delivering an input signal that, when measured against the output signal, results in less than three percent THD. THD of just under three percent is the maximum percentage of THD that sinusoidal power inverters produce. In many instances, the THD is a fraction of a percent.

How the Devices Work

The impact of true sine wave inverters is best understood by comparing them to their closest counterpart in the inverter family: modified power inverters. Whereas true sine wave inverters emit sinusoidal current, which is visualized as a smooth, undulating line of identical peaks and valleys, modified power inverters emit a non-sinusoidal current that is visualized as an angular line of evenly spaced squares. When equipment is designed to receive sinusoidal current -- which is type of current that utility lines supply -- receives non-sinusoidal current, a significant percentage of THD is noticed. Although many devices still operate when they receive non-sinusoidal current, harmonic distortion can significantly affect their operation.

Common Signs of Distortion

Signs of high THD vary by device but are unmistakable when they occur. For example, speakers exhibit distinct buzzing noises; fluorescent lighting ballasts emit a loud hum and contain lamps that flicker; computers have lines that roll across the screen; conventional telephone systems have static in the line; and circuit breakers switch off unnecessarily. The source of the distortion varies. In some buildings, it is created by solid state, non-linear loads, such as computers, which contain microprocessors that frequently create distortion. In other cases, the problem comes from an outside source, such as a building that shares the same transformer as the affected building.

Conclusion

There are several strategies for resolving harmonic distortion. If the problem comes from outside the building through the utility line, installing an inverter that produces sinusoidal current may be the best option. If the problem comes from within the building, using filtering devices or establishing isolated circuits may be helpful. When a building has equipment that demonstrates the effects of harmonic distortion, its manager should contact a provider of commercial power solutions for assistance identifying and resolving the problem.

Guitar Affects - Pedal Or Multi-Pedal Effects Board?

I can remember even having this argument with my brother. I always said that I would much rather buy a single effect pedal over a multi pedal effect board any day, and our debating went round and round. So what are the perks of each one and which route is right for the every day guitarist consumer?

A single effect pedal has its rewards in the fact that they are typically of high quality, can be modeled after a famous guitar players set up, and have an exclusive sound, effect, or tone. The bad thing about them is the mullah. Single effect pedals can cost a fortune. The other bad part, and this is very common, is that people often grow instantly tired of their new effect pedal, and never use it again. Swooosh! two hundred dollars of fine craftsmanship out the window.

Multi pedal effect boards have their pros and cons too. The good parts about them is that they can be very cheap, sometimes less than a hundred dollars, and that these multi effect pedals can sport a large array of sounds. The bad news is that a lot of these sounds are just garbage and useless as some of them are over the top. The good news once again is that multi pedal effect technology has improved, or at least been taken more seriously, and now most of the effects sound pretty awesome.

Another good thing about the multi effects is that you can have plenty to work with to mix and match and create your own tone. These boards are also good for freeing up space, and are excellent for cable management.

I look at effect pedals as candy bars. They all have distinct packaging, and if you've never tried a certain candy bar before, then you're going to be curious about it. Pedals unfortunately are designed to visually make your mouth water, and not necessarily perform. So if your curiosity is driving you to make that choice, why not do it with a multi effect pedal board? This way, you can be guaranteed that you will walk away with at least twenty or so effects that you do like, and you may discover great combinations in the future.

What I really like about the multi boards is that it feels good and empowering, by arming you with the effects resources of a small studio, so in the long run your cup is quite full.

My Quest For a Quiet Air Compressor Has Finally Ended

I had great hopes for my Thomas T635-HD air compressor after I got it a number of years ago. At the time, it was considered the most quiet compressor in its class. When it came time to purchase a rebuild kit, I was SOL. Appears like the company went out of business or merely stopped providing support for the line. While I am generally good about obtaining a difficult to find part, I made the decision it just wasn't worthwhile trying to bring a well used air compressor back again. I do what I typically do and checked out Sears, Home Depot, as well as did some research online.

Introducing the Rolair JC10

Shortly after doing my homework, I selected the JC10 to replace the Thomas and WOW am I amazed. Initially I assumed it was my error as it made so little noise. You really have to (not) hear it to believe it. The compressor oozes quality. This unit gets to full capacity (125psi) in about a minute and recovers in mere seconds. This really is by far and away the quietest 1HP unit you will find. I am not going to tell you that one could run it underneath the dining room table while you eat and never detect it. Having said that, I will say that it runs below my work bench in my garage as I happily tinker away without annoying me in the slightest.

It isn't quite as ergonomic as the DeWalt 55141 I had been also contemplating and a little bit more heavy but produces more air flow and I am hoping it will fill the gap that I've had for 8 years between light, portable and quiet and a do-everything compressor. Very good quality guages and fittings. Effortless enough to transport upstairs and no-one will complain if you utilize it inside their house. The grip on the handle needs an upgrade, and I've already fitted a 90 degree brass elbow so the pressure gauge points up in order to see it without tipping the compressor on its side, yet it is certainly a keeper. Only time will tell if it does almost all I need. It isn't a shop or 2 man compressor though.