PCM-5 Power Supply/Master Switch

any loss of signal is going to be associated with the longer signal path of the loop. this is unavoidable but at least you can reduce  that thanks to the loop.

it's boss. mine has to be at least 20 yrs old, beaten, chipped, starting to rust, but it always works. mine is a jap one (dunno if they made these in taiwan) for what thats worth. i'd be more worried abou tthe daisy chain than the pedal.

it all depends on your setup and how you like to arrange your kit. once you get your head around this thing it's not hard to use. heres an example of my current setup: dunlop 2002 hendrix fuzz-wah->sd-1 super overdrive-> pcm-5->(brackets indicate fx in the loop, behringer vintage phaser->behringer vintage distortion-> danelectro french fries octave distortion)-> crap behringer eq (soon to be replaced by eq-20). this thing makes my life a lot easier, not only do i not need an expensive power block, i also don't need to choreograph some wild tap dance while i'm trying to keep my place in a song, fx can be turned on/off while i have time to think and not during a part in a song when it's gonna be real obvious  if u stuff up.

get one if you can, good luck finding one though! as far as i know they don't make em anymore (there are lots of other boss pedals now that can do the same thing plus more). if lost or stolen i'd go for something similar.

This pedal is not meant to produce sound or modify your signal, and it doesn't. It's dead silent.

I don't like the sounds of Boss pedals too much, but I have to admit their products are solid and reliable. I would never even fear this might give up on me during a gig.

If you're familiar with the concept of effect pedals, you'll have no problem. If you're a newbie, the 4 jacks on the pedal might have you confused. All jacks are clearly identified, though. You should get it in no time. To my knowledge Boss doesn't make this pedal anymore, so if you get one you probably won't have a manual. The jacks on top are for the guitar and the amp, the jacks on the side are for the effect loop. You can make all your other effect go through the loop, or just a few of them, or none at all. There is one LED that lights either green or red. Green means the signal is going straight through the PCM without going through the effect loop. Red means the signal goes through the effect loop. When you buy it, it should come with a Boss power supply, which will be the only power supply you'll need anymore. All other pedals in your set-up will get their power from the PCM through a 8-ended cord. One of the ends plugs into the front of the PCM, the other 7 plug into the other pedals. The only problem is the PCM is meant to be used with other Boss pedals. I've modified the 8-ended wire so I can plug it on pedals of different brands, but that implies some wire-cutting, wrapping, welding, etc. Any pedal that needs 9 watts of power can be worked into the set-up, as long as you respect the +/- requirements of each pedal.

The MPC is not perfect, but if you use a set-up of more than three effect pedals, you need a thing like this. It's a bit of a puzzle sometimes to fit a new effect pedal into your set-up, but you never have to worry again about batteries or fitting 5 adapters on a power bar. I know other companies make similar boxes but I've never used another one. If my PCM got stolen I'd want to replace it, but I don't expect to find another one. They're pretty rare. I might replace it with a Brick by MXR or something similar. I certainly wouln't go back to batteries.