Voodoo Labs PP2+ AC mod

[rickenbackerkid]

Hi guys,
Thought I'd share my PP2 mod with ya'll!

I recently got a BBE Acoustimax DI/Preamp/EQ (it's great), and it needs a 12volt AC power supply, which is stepped up internally to 24 volts for tons of headroom. Unfortunately, the power supply it comes with is HUGE, heavy and not very pedalboard friendly at all. (Kind of like the pedal itself)

I got a bit frustrated at my VL PP2+, it cost lots and has never failed me, but it can't power AC things - or can it?

After a bit of probing with a multimeter, I found that it is indeed possible to to mod the thing so that one of the outputs is 12 volts AC. I can also get 9volt AC out of it too, if I wanted. This means that you can power weird things like a Whammy, Jamman, and various other gear that needs 9-12volt AC, without a second power supply and the extra clutter and weight that entails.
The mod is reversible too, so you can get your 9VDC back if you want.

Anyway, if you are interested I'm be happy to mod yours, PM me for info.

[cholera]

Dammit I would have been keen to trade my Cioks AC-10 for a PP2! I can't power my flanger with the Cioks, and have no AC pedals! Is it possible to mod an output from 12 to 18 volts you think?

[rickenbackerkid]

Dammit I would have been keen to trade my Cioks AC-10 for a PP2! I can't power my flanger with the Cioks, and have no AC pedals! Is it possible to mod an output from 12 to 18 volts you think?

It would technically be possible, but very complex. Much easier would be to combine 2x isolated 9volt outputs for a total of 18.

[cholera]

Ah of course! I dont have any spare outputs tho! Thanks anyway mate, keep looking for another power supply I guess, tho all I have to do is use one extra power supply, just sucks having everything BUT one pedal running off the Cioks.

[rickenbackerkid]

Ah of course! I dont have any spare outputs tho! Thanks anyway mate, keep looking for another power supply I guess, tho all I have to do is use one extra power supply, just sucks having everything BUT one pedal running off the Cioks.

Use a small daisy chain on a few pedals? You can often chain a couple of low draw things likes OD's together.

[cholera]

I'm already daisy chaining the hell out of it....could probably squeeze a few more in tho...I have 13 pedalss on the board, from 6 outputs. There's a couple of things that make it hard because of large current draws, the Pog2 is something like 160ma and a freeze is about 140. I only have on 600 ma output, all the rest are either 100 or 200....except for my big useless AC output!

[rickenbackerkid]

You could probably build a circuit in a small box that turns the 12volt AC into 9v DC

[Bg]

4 diodes and a couple of resistors, couple of smoothing caps, piece of cake bit of veroboard to build it on

[AmpShop]

4 diodes and a couple of resistors, couple of smoothing caps, piece of cake bit of veroboard to build it on

Yep! I'd say omit the resistors and whack in a voltage regulator.

[TmcB]

You could probably build a circuit in a small box that turns the 12volt AC into 9v DC

I did this exactly. A rectifier and a couple of big filtering caps and it did the bizzo.

[cholera]

Absolutely no idea what any of you guys are talking about, but its about time I learnt something...thanks for the ideas!

[Bg]

4 diodes and a couple of resistors, couple of smoothing caps, piece of cake bit of veroboard to build it on

Yep! I'd say omit the resistors and whack in a voltage regulator.

yeah, I'm old skool voltage divider reg will do it better and probably cheaper too nowadays...