By: Faraz Chaudry
There are few things more frustrating to a gigging musician than having an illogical stage or electrical setup determine the location and accessibility of equipment. Minimizing these variables from venue to venue is an art gradually attained performance by performance.
This is not so much an issue for amps and microphones, as they have power cords and cables available in a slew of lengths, but for the accessories that need to be exactly where you are, front and center.
For many guitarists effects pedals are just as important as the guitar, molding the tone into their signature sound. Powering these pedals, however, is often a hassle usually achieved by utilizing an adaptor and daisy chains. These adaptors are often equipped with 5-6 foot cables, which more often than not necessitate the use of extension cords and power strips.
Even with these additions a guitarist may still have to walk away from the microphone to the pedals to make adjustments due to the lack of outlets on the stage. These extra cables also create a considerable amount of clutter in the performance area and increase the ever-present hazard of inadvertently tripping on or unplugging them. The Sanyo Eneloop Pedal Juice
The Pedal Juice is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack with a 9-volt output. About the size of a standard effects pedal, it can power your board for up to 50 continuous hours, according to company claims. This is achieved after a surprisingly fast 3.5-hour charge time.
The unit itself is fairly unassuming, plain white with a power button and status light displaying red, orange or green LED’s for a cursory representation of remaining charge. Regardless of use with one pedal or filling the provided daisy chain with a compressor, wah, loop and tuner, all received generous power and were impervious to hums and other undesirable noises sometimes associated with standard outlets and adaptors.
Click to Check Out the Pedal Juice
However, at $149.99, the Pedal Juice is ridiculously expensive for a power supply, which makes it difficult to justify. Even if dealing with the annoyance of powering pedals is an ongoing issue, only the most generous of gadget budgets will allow for such a purchase.
The absence of tangled cables and cords will definitely allow you to focus on other aspects of the show, but be sure to consider the plethora of toys you can spend that $150 on before making this purchase.
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CP2K (13 years ago)
I think you are missing the point with Pedal Juice. At $149 street price, it seems high for a rechargeable 9V supply. However, if you use AC adapters to power your effects rig, then you will hear more hum in the signal path than you will using Pedal Juice. And the quality of AC power varies from location to location. So if having a cleanest signal path is at all important to you, then you will see the value. The alternative is to use 9V alkaline batteries which will give you a clean sound, but will cost you a lot more in the long run (let’s say $2 for a 9V battery per pedal for a 4 hour gig) x however many pedals you have. Do the math and I think you will see Pedal Juice is well worth it. I’m picking up a second unit soon to power my keyboard for outdoor gigs.
Publisher (13 years ago)
Good point, and one I think most players would be cool with. The only issue with the price is that with 9v’s people only pay 2$ at a time, as compared to 150$ Might just be a psychological thing, kind of like cables where buying a 100$ asterope or elixir is way more cost effective in the long run to a $10 cable every month, but people still seem to buy the cheap cables over and over.
NAMM Show 2011: Sanyo News and Photos | Guitar International Magazine (13 years ago)
[…] introduces a black version of its eneloop Pedal Juice, a rechargeable DC 9V battery unit for effects pedals and other music devices. The popular Pedal […]
MIke Arnis (13 years ago)
I have one too and I love it and use it all the time
If you play out alot, it’s worth the money, no doubt.
– and not to be all earthday here, but I personally have an issue throwing away batteries after a gig.
I like that I haven’t had to use a 9votl since I got mine.
Deb from Sanyo (13 years ago)
First of all, thank you for the lovely review! (full disclosure – I work for Sanyo). It’s so nice to read that you like Pedal Juice and see its value for the working musician.
To that end, I did a little math for you because for the working musician who uses 9 volt gear on a regular basis, Pedal Juice will save you money! Take a look:
Pedal Juice vs. Alkaline Battery Cost Comparison
Cost of ownership over 10 years
Assumptions:
I’m basing this on set up that uses 5 effect pedals:
– Tuner, digital delay, distortion, multi effect unit with a total draw of 100mA
1 battery per pedal/Each battery needs to be changed every two weeks.
Each battery costs $3.50
-Vs.-
Pedal Juice/Charged approx. every two weeks.
Each unit cost $149.00
Initial Cost:
Alkaline battery cost: $3.50 x 5 batteries: $17.50
Pedal Juice cost: $149.00
Total Lifetime estimates:
Pedal Juice
Year 1-10: one time cost of $149.00
Alkaline Batteries:
Year 1: $445 (17.50 in batteries for 26 weeks)
Year 2: $910
Year 5: $2,275
Year 10: $4,550
Even if you cut those numbers in half because you replace your batteries on a monthly basis, the savings are substantial.
Best,
Deb from Sanyo
Blacke (13 years ago)
I have a pedal juice – I bought it for use in my home studio – the wall sound is crappy at times, and I hated to depend on 9 volts because I run alot of gear in a typical session.
I recommend it completely – and so do all the guys that use my studio. I should get a commission, becuase people try mine, dig it, and buy it!