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Godlyke Powerall? Should I get it?


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Well, the 1 Spot is going back to MF for hum issues. I'm fairly certain that it's not totally the 1 Spots fault, but rather a problem with it's design and the wiring in my apartment, my parents house, and the church I play. I get massive ground hum or something in all of those places when using the 1 Spot in combination with any of my pedals. The seach function doesn't seem to be working, so I can't look up the old thread.

 

Since then I've tried it at my parents and at the church I play at with the same results. I've also tried it with a few different pedals and my lap steel; all with the same results.

 

Anyway, this brings me to my question: Should I bother with a Godlyke? I really want a simple solution to powering my pedals. I could use batteries for my analog pedals (all of them aside from the Digidelay for which I have the offical adapter that yields no noise issues); however, I'd like to keep my pedal board all hooked up, which would slowly drain all of the batteries.

 

So, will I just run into the same exact problems with the Godlyke? Is the Godlyke somehow different in design, in such a way that it will work?

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If you'd get hum with a daisy chain (due to the daisy chaining, rather than the power supply itself), you'd get it with the Brick and Fuel Tank as well. Both supplies have common ground for all outputs (except the 12vDC and 12vAC outputs on the FT), so they are in essence a daisy chain, but in a nicer package.

 

I doubt replacing the 1spot for a Godlyke will make much difference, as they are essentially the same. The voltage ripple they produce is well above audible frequencies (which is also why they can cause clock whine in certain pedals), so if you have hum problems, it has more to do with the daisy chain. Are you using the amp's fx loop, and if so, are you powering it from the same daisy chain as the pedals up front?

 

/Andreas

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Here's an email that I had sent to Visual Sound that summarizes my problem well; it should answer all of your guys' questions:

 

 

I don't know if you can help me, but I'm getting massive hum with my 1 Spot. So far I've tried the 1 Spot with three of my pedals (Digitech Digidelay, Boss TR-2, and MXR Phase 90), with both my guitar (Fender Tele) and lap steel, and with two different amps. I've run each pedal individually and all together. I've run the pedals both in front of the amp(s) and in the effects loop of one of the amps. I've done all of this in three different locations: one place is newer with modern wiring, the other two are older with older wiring.

 

As soon as I plug in the 1 Spot (with the amp on and pedal(s) connected), I get massive hum. The hum does go away almost entirely when I touch any metal part of the guitar or metal part of a pedal. I do not get hum at all when using batteries in the pedal or when using the official adapter for the Digidelay with the Digidelay. In addition, I still get hum when using the 1 Spot in combination with a pedal into my Roland Microcube running on batteries, so it's not a ground loop between the amp being hooked up to the wall along with the 1 Spot.

 

However, I did try this similar setup at a local guitar store (my guitar, Digidelay, and 1 Spot into some Roland Cube amp they had) and I did NOT get any hum.

 

Do you have any ideas? This is driving me crazy and I just want a good solution to my pedal powering needs.

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It's intriguing that grounding the strings (by touching them) kills the hum. Granted, almost any rig will be quieter when you touch the strings, but the difference shouldn't be unbearably big. Seeing as you've done your homework - tried with different amps, in different locations and with different guitars etc - I'd start suspecting the adapter itself. Try a different adapter (both a different 1spot and something else, like a Godlyke or Boss PSA) and see if it works better.

 

/Andreas

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Originally posted by someones_tired

free bump
:thu:

 

Thanks.

 

 

I also have a slightly unrelated question:

 

Is it the input or output of a pedal that "activates" the pedal making it so battery power is drained even when the pedal is not on. For now until I can figure out if I should get the Godlyke or some other power solution, I'm just going to use batteries and just unplug a limited number of the cables to keep the batteries alive longer.

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Originally posted by andreas

It's intriguing that grounding the strings (by touching them) kills the hum. Granted, almost any rig will be quieter when you touch the strings, but the difference shouldn't be unbearably big. Seeing as you've done your homework - tried with different amps, in different locations and with different guitars etc - I'd start suspecting the adapter itself. Try a different adapter (both a different 1spot and something else, like a Godlyke or Boss PSA) and see if it works better.


/Andreas

 

 

Is the Boss PSA a multi-adapter daisy chain thing like the Godlyke and Visual Sound?

 

Anyway, I've used the DOD/Digitech PS200R adapter with my Digidelay (it's the official adapter for this pedal) and there was no hum/buzz.

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Originally posted by AtomHeartMother

Is the Boss PSA a multi-adapter daisy chain thing like the Godlyke and Visual Sound?

The PSA is just the adapter itself - you'd have to get a daisy chain for it, or keep the one you have now. Don't get the daisy chain from Boss, though, as it isn't designed to hook up directly to the adapter cable.

 

 

Anyway, I've used the DOD/Digitech PS200R adapter with my Digidelay (it's the official adapter for this pedal) and there was no hum/buzz.

The PS200R is very similar to the PSA - both use regular transformers rather than digital switching like the Godlyke/1spot, and both have 200mA max on tap. Try it with the other pedals as well (you can even try them daisy-chained, if you temporarily leave out the Digidelay) - if you don't get any hum with the PS200R, the 1spot you have is most likely the problem. If so, get it replaced, or get your money back and buy something else.

 

/Andreas

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Originally posted by andreas

The PSA is just the adapter itself - you'd have to get a daisy chain for it, or keep the one you have now. Don't get the daisy chain from Boss, though, as it isn't designed to hook up directly to the adapter cable.


The PS200R is very similar to the PSA - both use regular transformers rather than digital switching like the Godlyke/1spot, and both have 200mA max on tap. Try it with the other pedals as well (you can even try them daisy-chained, if you temporarily leave out the Digidelay) - if you don't get any hum with the PS200R, the 1spot you have is most likely the problem. If so, get it replaced, or get your money back and buy something else.


/Andreas

 

 

Yeah, I'm not sure what to do now. I've got an RA number to return it to MF, so it'll be going back tomorrow. I'm just afraid that I'll run into the same thing with a Godlyke or something.

 

I've been emailing Visual Sound (GREAT email communication with them) and they're totally stumped.

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