First pedalboard and power supply advise

[soulstar89]

Hey peeps,

 

looking to buy a pedalboard and power supply but as it’s new to me the would like some advise. My pedal will be a tuner, empress compressor, zoom ms-60b+ or ms-70cdr+, genzler 4 on the floor and ditto x2(may change to ditto+ as smaller). 

Not looking for a silly expensive pair. I have read about noise. How do you guarantee you get no noise? I’ve seen some cheap ones like lekato

 https://amzn.eu/d/5zJ1Moz

 

what the best approach to this. I get overwhelmed by loads of options easily. 

 

oh and cables what to use? I have seen some come with cables. 

cheers 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2025 by soulstar89

[Jack]

You can see how much space you need on Pedal Playground so have a play on there, add the pedals you need and see what takes your fancy for a layout.

 

When it comes to power, you really do get what you pay for and unfortunately they are expensive things. The critical thing for you are the Zoom (and possibly the Ditto) pedals. With digital pedals you really want them on an isolated output and so it would be best to have at least one output that's isolated from the rest for the Zoom. I don't have any experience with the ditto units, someone else may be able to advise you if they also need to be isolated, both from the rest of the pedals and also from the Zoom. The rest should be able to share. Do be careful with power supplies. The voltage and polarity of the power supply's output and the pedal's input needs to match EXACTLY. The amperage of the supply needs to meet or ideally exceed the draw of the pedals. There are websites that can tell you what your pedals need in terms of power if you don't already have them. Just google something like 'tc ditto power draw'. 

 

The Lekato that you link to looks as though it doesn't provide enough power for at least the Zoom (which I bet needs more than 200mA). It is possible to buy adaptor cables to do pretty much whatever you want though, so you could 'add up' several of the 200mA outputs on that board to get the required power for the Zoom, but now we're getting into the weeds and you already have too much to think about. And the design seems odd, why would you want the cables hanging over the edge like that?

 

Personally I have used and liked the Pedaltrain and the Templeboard boards, as well as Thomann own brand, Cioks and Strymon power supplies. If I was you and on a budget then I would either make my own board from whatever I had laying around or buy one of the pedaltrain style copied from Amazon. Then I'd hope the Thomann branded power supplies did what I needed.

Edited November 16, 2025 by Jack

[soulstar89]

17 hours ago, Jack said:

You can see how much space you need on Pedal Playground so have a play on there, add the pedals you need and see what takes your fancy for a layout.

 

When it comes to power, you really do get what you pay for and unfortunately they are expensive things. The critical thing for you are the Zoom (and possibly the Ditto) pedals. With digital pedals you really want them on an isolated output and so it would be best to have at least one output that's isolated from the rest for the Zoom. I don't have any experience with the ditto units, someone else may be able to advise you if they also need to be isolated, both from the rest of the pedals and also from the Zoom. The rest should be able to share. Do be careful with power supplies. The voltage and polarity of the power supply's output and the pedal's input needs to match EXACTLY. The amperage of the supply needs to meet or ideally exceed the draw of the pedals. There are websites that can tell you what your pedals need in terms of power if you don't already have them. Just google something like 'tc ditto power draw'. 

 

The Lekato that you link to looks as though it doesn't provide enough power for at least the Zoom (which I bet needs more than 200mA). It is possible to buy adaptor cables to do pretty much whatever you want though, so you could 'add up' several of the 200mA outputs on that board to get the required power for the Zoom, but now we're getting into the weeds and you already have too much to think about. And the design seems odd, why would you want the cables hanging over the edge like that?

 

Personally I have used and liked the Pedaltrain and the Templeboard boards, as well as Thomann own brand, Cioks and Strymon power supplies. If I was you and on a budget then I would either make my own board from whatever I had laying around or buy one of the pedaltrain style copied from Amazon. Then I'd hope the Thomann branded power supplies did what I needed.

hey jack. Thanks for the advise. The pedal playground helps a lot. 
 

I did more research and learnt about linear and switch mode power supplies. 

[MichaelDean]

I'd go for one of the Harley Benton boards with the integrated power supply if I was starting again with a new board. You'd have power for anything you want with a robust kettle lead power connection.

https://www.thomann.co.uk/cases_for_guitar_effects_guitars.html?manufacturer[]=Harley Benton&feature-49321[]=true&gk=GIZUTKGE&sp=solr&cme=true&filter=true

[Jack]

40 minutes ago, soulstar89 said:

hey jack. Thanks for the advise. The pedal playground helps a lot. 
 

I did more research and learnt about linear and switch mode power supplies. 

I really wouldn't worry too much about the topology. Apparently early switch mode ones could introduce some noise, maybe some super cheap ones still do, but I also think I read that's been tackled in the pedals themselves with them being designed to filter out the squeal. Obviously if you raid the depths of Aliexpress or Amazon then you will be able to find some absolute garbage but there's no major reputable brand that will sell you a bad power supply these days. Unfortunately, there's plenty that are unsuitable for other reasons. Having said that I looked on stinkfoot and apparently the Zoom only draws something like 150mA, so that's way easier to power than I expected and you should have a few more options open to you.

 

Like for instance...

16 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

I'd go for one of the Harley Benton boards with the integrated power supply if I was starting again with a new board. You'd have power for anything you want with a robust kettle lead power connection.

https://www.thomann.co.uk/cases_for_guitar_effects_guitars.html?manufacturer[]=Harley Benton&feature-49321[]=true&gk=GIZUTKGE&sp=solr&cme=true&filter=true

... they look great.

[soulstar89]

On 17/11/2025 at 11:57, MichaelDean said:

I'd go for one of the Harley Benton boards with the integrated power supply if I was starting again with a new board. You'd have power for anything you want with a robust kettle lead power connection.

https://www.thomann.co.uk/cases_for_guitar_effects_guitars.html?manufacturer[]=Harley Benton&feature-49321[]=true&gk=GIZUTKGE&sp=solr&cme=true&filter=true

I thought I replied to you. my bad.

 

As my pedals are now Tc poly tune 3 mini >Empress bass compressor > Genzler 4 on the floor > Mirco POG > Zoom Ms70 CDR+ > EHX Freeze >Ditto x2 (mate i can't believe how the total amount of pedals doesn't hit you until it's close to completion) i was thinking of this https://www.thomann.co.uk/harley_benton_spaceship_power_40.htm

 

What makes me want to slyly vomit is I want to add a phaser pedal ( I learnt i love the phaser effect) and also a EQ with HPF and LPF. 

Edited 20 hours ago by soulstar89

[MichaelDean]

Pedals are indeed a slippery slope!

 

I'd recommend having a play around here to make sure your pedals fit your proposed board and don't forget to leave space for patch cables between pedals, plus room for expansion 😝

 

https://pedalplayground.com/

[soulstar89]

18 minutes ago, MichaelDean said:

Pedals are indeed a slippery slope!

 

I'd recommend having a play around here to make sure your pedals fit your proposed board and don't forget to leave space for patch cables between pedals, plus room for expansion 😝

 

https://pedalplayground.com/

 

A slippery slope is the PG version hahahahahahahahaha.

 

Jack sent me this and its be a god send. i have enough space to add the mxr phaser and the rather wide genzler reQ if i decide to go that direction. I think a HPF is always helpful

Oh Yes patch cables, thanks for reminding me. 

[ingmar808]

The No1 rule when starting out is to get a bigger board than you need. You're inevitably going to add to your pedal collection, and it's a real PITA to strip down your old board, and set up a new one, for the sake of a few extra inches. Also, having a little extra space around each pedal makes them easier to connect, and swap out if need be. Having a super-tight board, crammed to the max with just the right tools for the job, only comes with years of experience.

[soulstar89]

4 minutes ago, ingmar808 said:

The No1 rule when starting out is to get a bigger board than you need. You're inevitably going to add to your pedal collection, and it's a real PITA to strip down your old board, and set up a new one, for the sake of a few extra inches. Also, having a little extra space around each pedal makes them easier to connect, and swap out if need be. Having a super-tight board, crammed to the max with just the right tools for the job, only comes with years of experience.

 Appreciate the tips bud. 
 

I saw a Harley Benton spaceship 40 on sale for 90. I used pedal playground to do this:

 

Came out a seminar and it had sold. I have room to add a phaser on bottom. I could also get the small ditto to help space also. Your advise is very valuable. I look into the 60 also. I am thinking is very much a to big. I want a pedal like the genzler reQ but much smaller.