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Hey y'all:

Any comments are appreciated. Also, a general discussion of what pedals typically sound better at 12v or higher is what i'm aiming for, beyond my personal question!

So, I've got a 12v Power supply available to me, and I'm wondering what pedals i have that might sound better running at the higher voltage.

I'm guessing i should avoid using it on any of my digital pedals (I've got a Zoom G3, and a Red Panda Particle on my board; also a Line 6 M5, Zoom B3, MASF Possessed, Digitech Jamman Solo and a Digitech Timebender, both of which have their own supply)

I think I'd like to try it on one of the following:
Dano French Toast (Foxx Tone Machine Clone?)
Dano Cool Cat Fuzz V1 (Frantone Peach Fuzz clone)
Standard GCB95 Crybaby
DOD Bass Overdrive FX 91

Thanks!

I remember accidentally running an EHX Metal Muff at either 15v or 18v and it sounded amazing. I don't know how long I accidentally had it running like that, but I'm sure it wasn't good for the pedal.

I run my big box ri Rat at 12v. Cleans up the noise floor of the LM308 chip nicely. Loses a tiny bit of gain though but you just push it with a Gi Fuzz Face and the tone is

Nice! Yeah I'm mostly looking to do it on my fuzz, and maybe the wah...

I've read that it's OK for analog stuff as long as the components are rated for the tolerance (some have like a +/- 20% tolerance I think?)

Make sure the pedal doesn't have an internal charge pump.
I cant remember if the stock Tubescreamer takes 12v without mod, but I know the Analogman "Silver" TS-9 thrives at 12v.

Most Dr Scientist pedals thrive at higher voltage.

In my experience, it is pretty unlikely you will damage an analog overdrive / distortion / fuzz pedal by running it at up to 18V DC when it's designed for 9V DC. Unless the manufacturer REALLY skimps on the components and their ratings are fucked... But a stock tubescreamer should be just fine with higher voltage. Some pedals though, simply won't run as is because they are designed (transistors biased, etc) for the stock voltage. Others with a voltage doubler or charge pump in them could be damaged, because those charge pumps are pretty sensitive to the incoming supply voltage. Don't fuck with digital pedals, or things with sensitive chips (like analog delay, modulation pedals). Dirt though? It might not work with a little bump in the DC voltage in some cases, but you're really not likely to blow it up. Op amp based circuits like rats and tubescreamers usually get a bump in headroom (though you might not notice it if all the clipping comes from diodes).

Just don't go sticking no AC voltage in there.

Malekko Omnicron pedals run 9-12v, they have more headroom at 12v. Thinking of the phaser and the chorus pedals.

fldrvr wrote:Nice! Yeah I'm mostly looking to do it on my fuzz, and maybe the wah...

I've read that it's OK for analog stuff as long as the components are rated for the tolerance (some have like a +/- 20% tolerance I think?)

tolerance isn't a measure of voltage handling, it's a measure of how close a component can be to its labeled value and still be deemed ok for general use. for example, a 100k resistor at +/- 10% can measure up to 110k and as low as 90k and still be fit to be labeled as 100k.

i don't know exactly how it works for resistors and voltage, but manufacturers use 1/4w resistors in 18v applications, and EHX uses 1/4w resistors in the old frequency analyzer pedal, which runs at 40v.

capacitors are rated for voltage, and higher ratings mean more spatial occupancy. it's not an issue of "cheaping out on components," sometimes there just isn't enough room.

similarly, ICs are rated for voltage also. many can't handle over 9v.

when in doubt, ask the manufacturer or check their website before you start running random shit at different voltages.
some pedals can take higher voltages, some can't - there are plenty of valid reasons why.

EP Booster on bass

KaosCill8r wrote:I run my big box ri Rat at 12v. Cleans up the noise floor of the LM308 chip nicely. Loses a tiny bit of gain though but you just push it with a Gi Fuzz Face and the tone is

I'd need to look at the schematic, bu as funny as it sounds, it may actually be gaining (???) gain . Clean headroom is really an increase in the amt of available gain. Clipping is a DECREASE in the amt of available gain.
I think the misunderstanding comes about from cascading gain stages so that an early stage "overdrives" a later stage and the later stage exceeds it's available headroom and starts clipping.

I just bring that up not to be a pedantic dick (my being a pedantic dick is just a constant) but because that's one of the big reasons to run higher rail-to-rail voltage on something like a preamp (some bases use 2 x 9V batts for example)...you can get get a wider dynamic window of operation...further above the noise floor but well below saturation

It's possible you could blow the electrolytic supply filter cap, which is probably rated at 16V or less. I've read that even when they're rated higher, over time they derate to whatever voltage they're being used at. But you might not even realize it, if you destroy that component.


Sure, sure, he's getting more clean gain from the op-amp, but less clipping from it. I guess even though there is probably more clipping happening in the following diode stage, this is smoother than the op amp clipping characteristic, so he drives the front end a little more to get it back.

morange wrote: Sure, sure, he's getting more clean gain from the op-amp, but less clipping from it. I guess even though there is probably more clipping happening in the following diode stage, this is smoother than the op amp clipping characteristic, so he drives the front end a little more to get it back.

yeah, that's the thing he's probably getting more clipping, but not less gain. If he were getting more clipping from the op-amp up against it's rail that'd be less gain

True dat. Less actual voltage gain. But it is a word that gets used to mean various things. Knobs get labeled gain when maybe saturation or compression or distortion would be better. And a high gain amp means it distorts. All about context, I guess.