Best pedalboard power supplies 2023: boost your 'board with our recommended pedal power supplies

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1. Product guide
2. Buying advice
3. How we choose products

We get it, researching the best pedalboard power supply for your effects might not be the most exciting part of assembling the ultimate guitar rig, but choose wisely, and it'll go a long way toward helping you achieve an out-of-this-world guitar tone.

The more pedals you amass, the more you'll come to realize that a quality power supply is absolutely essential. Of course, by increasing the number of stompboxes on your 'board, you open up the sonic possibilities of your rig, but you also increase the likelihood of the dreaded hum and buzz that can ruin your carefully crafted tone.

A good pedal power supply - particularly a supply with isolated outputs - results in noise reduction in your signal chain and a cleaner, more intuitive pedalboard operation overall. And who doesn't want that?

Right now, there are a lot of options vying for your hard-earned cash, delivering a range of outputs and configurations at wide-ranging price points. With that in mind, we've explored the market to compile this list of the best pedalboard power supplies available today.

Michael Astley-Brown
Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadarTotal Guitar and Guitarist, as well as more than 20 years performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.

Best pedalboard power supplies: Product guide

Best pedalboard power supplies: Buying advice

Voodoo Labs pedalboard power supply on a pedalboard

(Image credit: Future)

What is an isolated pedal power supply?

The most important decision you need to make when buying one of the best pedalboard power supplies is whether you need isolated outputs or not. Essentially, isolated outputs supply each pedal with its own individual power source, which removes hum from the equation – something you may experience when running digital and analog pedals together from the same daisy chain. Unless you’re only running a handful of analog units - which is highly unlikely these days - we’d always recommend an isolated pedal power supply wherever possible. Who knows how your rig might change in the future?

What power supply do I need for my pedal board?

You need to assess your pedals’ power requirements: do they all need 9V, or are some running at 12, 15 or 18V? It's worth noting that some overdrive pedals offer the ability to run at higher voltages for increased headroom, too.

Many of the power supplies in this guide offer switchable voltages, and some can even ‘sag’ below 9V to yield dying battery sounds from fuzz pedals. Clever.

Then there are mA requirements: while some fuzz and overdrive pedals might only draw 10mA, contemporary digital and multi-effects can draw anywhere from 100-1,000mA. In these instances, you’ll need to look at power supplies that are able to output higher mA from each output.

Do guitar pedals use AC or DC power?

Most effects these days are DC, but some older pedals, most notably the now-discontinued DigiTech Whammy IV, run on AC. And finally, if you’re a touring musician who regularly travels out of the country, you’ll need to make sure you can use your chosen pedal power supply around the world – in that case, switchable input voltage should be at the top of your checklist.

How we choose products

Here at Guitar World, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything guitar related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides.

When choosing what we believe to be the best pedalboard power supplies available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and testimonies and engage in lengthy discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top products in any given category.

First and foremost, we are guitarists, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best pedalboard power supplies on the market right now.

Read more about our rating system, how we choose the gear we feature, and exactly how we test each product.

You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and over a decade's experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.

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