Not enough power at gigs

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fastonebazfastonebaz Frets: 4065
At last nights gig,  there wasn't enough current from the electricity supply for my tuner pedal to work properly on my board.  Everything else worked fine. 

This has happened only 2 pubs in the past every other venue is fine. 

My board uses a voodoo labs power supply.   The tuner would turn on but immediately show low battery and turn off again.  It's a polytune 1.  Tried unplugging everything apart from amp and pedalboard but same problem. 

I never use batteries in pedals just the mains. 

Questions:
Anyone else get this
Would it be a good idea to plug the 18v out from my voodoo labs to thre tuner so more juice goes to it
Do other tuners draw less current
Would a 2nd voodoo labs power pack solve that or is it simply the weak mains supply


(Ps, electricity is not my strongest subject)
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Comments

  • Don’t use the 18v mode, it will potentially fry the tuner
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  • mrkbmrkb Frets: 6637
    You need to work out how much current your psu can output (in milliamps) and make sure your pedals draw less current than that. There’s a good website that states pedal current draw if you can’t work it out. Modern power supplies have higher current capabilities due to the higher current requirement of digital pedals like strymon,etc
    Karma......
    Ebay mark7777_1
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  • meltedbuzzboxmeltedbuzzbox Frets: 10337
    If everything works apart from the tuner, even when all power is disconnected to everything else, I would suggest the tuner is fucked
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
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  • If everything works apart from the tuner, even when all power is disconnected to everything else, I would suggest the tuner is fucked
    Sounds possible. Try the tuner just with a battery (assuming it takes batteries) and see if it works at all.
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  • I’m confused as to how your amp is working ok because surely that draws more than your board?
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26453
    If everything works apart from the tuner, even when all power is disconnected to everything else, I would suggest the tuner is fucked
    This.

    Is there a battery in the tuner? If so, take it out. You'll probably find that the tuner doesn't turn on at all.

    Try another power lead from the Voodoo Lab into the tuner.

    If that doesn't work, try a fresh battery in it.

    If that does work, then it could well be that the power socket's damaged on the tuner.
    <space for hire>
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  • fastonebazfastonebaz Frets: 4065
    I don't use batteries and there is no batteries in the tuner.  Tuner works fine at all venues apart from 2, one last year and once last night.   

    It comes in,  says low battery,  then goes off.  User manual says it's because it's not getting enough mains current. 


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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    I don't use batteries and there is no batteries in the tuner.  Tuner works fine at all venues apart from 2, one last year and once last night.   

    It comes in,  says low battery,  then goes off.  User manual says it's because it's not getting enough mains current. 
    It's not "mains current" that the pedal receives, it's 9VDC. If it's a Voodoo Labs power supply the outputs are properly regulated so it's unlikely that a small drop in mains voltage - and it will only be small - would make any difference to the output voltage. If the mains voltage is falling far enough that the power supply can't maintain the 9VDC you will notice much worse problems than a tuner not working, so I suspect that it isn't the problem and there's some other cause, regardless of what the manual says.

    I would put a battery in the tuner for this venue - or just leave it in permanently since it's disconnected when the power plug is in - and if you have a problem, pull the power plug and run it on the battery.

    Or get a better tuner.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • DominicDominic Frets: 16010
    I don't understand why people continue to put a tuner on a board especially when power outlets are valuable for powering pedals , real estate on the board is at a premium and the least cable / gadgets the better the signal .
    Why not just get a good headstock clip-on like a Polytune LED or Snark .
    Alternatively ;dump the tuner and play completely out of tune - it makes the listening a challenging experience for the audience !
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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    Dominic said:
    I don't understand why people continue to put a tuner on a board especially when power outlets are valuable for powering pedals , real estate on the board is at a premium and the least cable / gadgets the better the signal .
    Why not just get a good headstock clip-on like a Polytune LED or Snark .
    Alternatively ;dump the tuner and play completely out of tune - it makes the listening a challenging experience for the audience !
    If you can play a gig without knocking a headstock tuner off you aren't moving enough! They also don't act as a mute and pedal tuners don't pick up what the bassist is doing. Unless you are sitting down and playing some light jazz I don't understand why people would try to gig with a headstock tuner. 

    Obviously the answer here is 'should have bought Boss.'
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • mudslide73mudslide73 Frets: 3049
    I wouldn't gig with my headstock tuner.. it would get knocked off and it looks wrong imo. Great piece of gear mind.
    "A city star won’t shine too far"


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  • Don’t use the 18v mode, it will potentially fry the tuner
    See what you did there ;)
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  • meltedbuzzboxmeltedbuzzbox Frets: 10337
    I wouldn't gig with my headstock tuner.. it would get knocked off and it looks wrong imo. Great piece of gear mind.
    So you often hit your headstock when playing?
    If so I hope you don't rock a gibson
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
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  • mudslide73mudslide73 Frets: 3049
    I wouldn't gig with my headstock tuner.. it would get knocked off and it looks wrong imo. Great piece of gear mind.
    So you often hit your headstock when playing?
    If so I hope you don't rock a gibson
    I do mainly gig a Les Paul - it doesn't get knocked at all in reality. If I'm honest I think it's just the aesthetic that puts me off. Shallow, I know.
    "A city star won’t shine too far"


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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    I wouldn't gig with my headstock tuner.. it would get knocked off and it looks wrong imo. Great piece of gear mind.
    So you often hit your headstock when playing?
    If so I hope you don't rock a gibson
    I do mainly gig a Les Paul - it doesn't get knocked at all in reality. If I'm honest I think it's just the aesthetic that puts me off. Shallow, I know.
    You don't have to hit the headstock, a decent brush of a singer's shoulders ( other imaginary scenarios are available) will shift it. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • GrangousierGrangousier Frets: 2621
    FWIW, I keep the headstock tuner in my pocket and put it on only to tune. A bit like needing glasses, but only putting them on when you actually need to see anything out of vanity. 
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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    edited April 2019
    When I were a lad, there won't no such thing as tuners. I was seen as a bit of a ponce because I had pitch pipes. Real guitarists just hoped for the best.
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  • John_AJohn_A Frets: 3775
    Is the tuner daisy chained or on its own power outlet?  If it’s daisy chained make sure any other pedals in the chain are off when tuning, if it’s on its own outlet, then either the tuner, the psu, or the power lead is dodgy 

    process of elimination
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  • LebarqueLebarque Frets: 3755
    Bin it and get a Sonic Research. Awesome.
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  • PhilW1PhilW1 Frets: 941
    If everything works apart from the tuner, even when all power is disconnected to everything else, I would suggest the tuner is fucked
    I love when it gets all technical!
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