The Iso Base Story
This is a little story about a man named Jed…..uhhhh, not so much. Instead I thought I’d share a little bit about how I developed the world’s best power supply.
I’m a database administrator by trade – I design multi-dimensional business intelligence databases. My passion, however, remains music. I like to tinker with amps and guitars and pedals. I’m not an electronics savant by any stretch but I learned enough to be dangerous during my stint in the Air Force.
After modifying a series of vintage Bassman amps I moved to guitars. After putting together a gaggle of Franken-Strats, including a very sweet Harrison “Rocky” copy, I moved to tinkering with pedals. I should add I have a few dozen NOS DeArmond pickups from the factory sale when they went out of business. I need to someday build some guitars as these are some of the sweetest pickups ever designed.
Anyway, I digress. Wall warts soon became the bane of my existence. Trying to find a way to mount dozens of wall warts for all the pedals on my pedal board proved insurmountable. I gave up and bought an ART SGX-2000 multi-effects rack. It wasn’t long before I went back to pedals. I tried various power supplies, including most of the brand names and all of them pretty much sucked in one way or another. I finally decided to build my own.
I have to admit my early efforts weren’t much better than the commercially available (made in China) units. Undeterred, I continued to experiment and try new things. I bought dozens of wall warts and cut them apart to pull out the guts. After a multi-year process I eventually arrived at a very good design which I started selling on eBay and Reverb. I was surprised by some of the feedback, including the customer that wrote, “This is the best thing I own” I knew I was onto something big.
I had some more trials along the way. The pedal companies started coming out with pedals that took 12V or 15V or 18V or even 24V. They also came out with power sucking behemoths that required copious quantities of current. (My high school English teacher would be proud of my use of alliteration there, LOL.) I soon learned how to beef up both my voltage and current output to handle the wide range of pedals on the market.
My latest experience was working with the Line 6 engineers to make a power supply capable of driving their HX Effects and HX Stomp pedals. (If anyone wonders, the Line 6 guys are GREAT to work with. I don’t own a lot of their pedals but I will put them high on my list next time I’m in the market for something if only because of their amazing support.)
I play in a couple part time bands and play a few times a month at Church. The guys know I make power supplies and switches but I’m not “that guy”. I don’t bug my friends to buy my stuff. However, recently one of my friends who plays full time in two or three bands had his power supply die. I let him borrow one of my units. The only one I had in stock was the entry level, semi-isolated model. Even with the entry level unit he was amazed in the improvement to his overall sound. I knew my power supplies were quiet and provided plenty of power but I wasn’t aware that translated into overall sound quality.
Needless to say he bought the latest Iso Base model and has been using it several nights a week. I have since had a similar issue with two of the guys I play with at Church. I gave them Juniors to try out and they both kept them firmly attached to their pedal boards. They could tell an immediate difference in their sound.
I continue to make power supplies, mostly on a custom basis. My latest incarnation is the Schrödinger’s Cat Junior Wave and the Super Dot. The Junior has four totally isolated outlets and the Super has up to thirteen totally isolated outlets and just about any voltage or current. I welcome you to check out my feedback on Reverb. The picture above was submitted by a customer and I formatted it to fit on his Iso Base. Almost all of my designs were customer submissions. I can do custom art work for you as well.
And feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. I almost always learn something researching answers to questions so we both benefit.
Thank you for checking out my website and, as always, ROCK ON!!!!
This is a little story about a man named Jed…..uhhhh, not so much. Instead I thought I’d share a little bit about how I developed the world’s best power supply.
I’m a database administrator by trade – I design multi-dimensional business intelligence databases. My passion, however, remains music. I like to tinker with amps and guitars and pedals. I’m not an electronics savant by any stretch but I learned enough to be dangerous during my stint in the Air Force.
After modifying a series of vintage Bassman amps I moved to guitars. After putting together a gaggle of Franken-Strats, including a very sweet Harrison “Rocky” copy, I moved to tinkering with pedals. I should add I have a few dozen NOS DeArmond pickups from the factory sale when they went out of business. I need to someday build some guitars as these are some of the sweetest pickups ever designed.
Anyway, I digress. Wall warts soon became the bane of my existence. Trying to find a way to mount dozens of wall warts for all the pedals on my pedal board proved insurmountable. I gave up and bought an ART SGX-2000 multi-effects rack. It wasn’t long before I went back to pedals. I tried various power supplies, including most of the brand names and all of them pretty much sucked in one way or another. I finally decided to build my own.
I have to admit my early efforts weren’t much better than the commercially available (made in China) units. Undeterred, I continued to experiment and try new things. I bought dozens of wall warts and cut them apart to pull out the guts. After a multi-year process I eventually arrived at a very good design which I started selling on eBay and Reverb. I was surprised by some of the feedback, including the customer that wrote, “This is the best thing I own” I knew I was onto something big.
I had some more trials along the way. The pedal companies started coming out with pedals that took 12V or 15V or 18V or even 24V. They also came out with power sucking behemoths that required copious quantities of current. (My high school English teacher would be proud of my use of alliteration there, LOL.) I soon learned how to beef up both my voltage and current output to handle the wide range of pedals on the market.
My latest experience was working with the Line 6 engineers to make a power supply capable of driving their HX Effects and HX Stomp pedals. (If anyone wonders, the Line 6 guys are GREAT to work with. I don’t own a lot of their pedals but I will put them high on my list next time I’m in the market for something if only because of their amazing support.)
I play in a couple part time bands and play a few times a month at Church. The guys know I make power supplies and switches but I’m not “that guy”. I don’t bug my friends to buy my stuff. However, recently one of my friends who plays full time in two or three bands had his power supply die. I let him borrow one of my units. The only one I had in stock was the entry level, semi-isolated model. Even with the entry level unit he was amazed in the improvement to his overall sound. I knew my power supplies were quiet and provided plenty of power but I wasn’t aware that translated into overall sound quality.
Needless to say he bought the latest Iso Base model and has been using it several nights a week. I have since had a similar issue with two of the guys I play with at Church. I gave them Juniors to try out and they both kept them firmly attached to their pedal boards. They could tell an immediate difference in their sound.
I continue to make power supplies, mostly on a custom basis. My latest incarnation is the Schrödinger’s Cat Junior Wave and the Super Dot. The Junior has four totally isolated outlets and the Super has up to thirteen totally isolated outlets and just about any voltage or current. I welcome you to check out my feedback on Reverb. The picture above was submitted by a customer and I formatted it to fit on his Iso Base. Almost all of my designs were customer submissions. I can do custom art work for you as well.
And feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. I almost always learn something researching answers to questions so we both benefit.
Thank you for checking out my website and, as always, ROCK ON!!!!