Mod Tone Power Plant Review

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(More customer reviews)I actually gave a list of my pedals to someone and asked what the best options would be, and this is one of the two recommended.While it is a great power supply, there are a couple issues that I've had with it, and unfortunately I'll have to exchange mine.

Let me start with the pros.For one, it's got variable voltage on the back.You can switch the 5 outlets from 9V to 12V, and if you want it, you can have the other two have "SAG" control, which emulates a worn battery.With some effects, getting a little less voltage can produce a cool effect.I don't need this, but it's a nice thought to have it there if I wanted to get a little... experimental...with my pedals.There's also 9V AC outlet on there, which is good if you need to power something like a Line 6 Modeler.I don't have one, but once again..nice thought.

Now here are the issues I've had with it.For one, I think the Pedal Train is one of the most popular pedalboards on the market right now, and it happens to be the pedalboard that I use.When mounting this, the cutouts on the pedalboard don't match up with the outlets on this power supply.For clarification, I'm using the PT2, which has the same ratio for the cutouts as the PTJunior.The PTPro (I believe) won't have this issue.The problem this creates is that you can have the IEC power go into the Power Plant, but the 'courtesy' outlet on the other side will be blocked.It's not a huge issue, but it kind of makes having the extra outlet there pointless.

The DIP switches (for switching 9V>12V) are nestled right next to that outlet as well.Pro-you'll never accidentally switch one without realizing it, possibly causing damage to your pedal.Con-if you get a new pedal to hook in, you're going to have to remove the Power Plant in order to switch the voltage, if necessary.This isn't a huge issue, so long as you're not always getting different pedals.I think most people generally set up a pedal board and mostly keep it the same for a while.For people who are constantly rotating pedals around, just keep that in mind.

The biggest issue for me though, is that this unit only puts out 150mA per outlet.As the outlets are isolated, there's really no way to get more amperage per outlet.I use the Electro Harmonix Enigma, and that pedal requires 200mA.Luckily, I caught that immediately and the pedal wasn't damaged, but you can definitely fry your pedals or the power supply from that.Unfortunately, this is a deal breaker for me.I bought the power supply so that I wouldn't need to carry around the extra power bricks and all that nonsense and maintain organization.I might have still used it if I could at least access the courtesy outlet, but that's completely blocked off too.

Personally, I'm waiting for the T-Rex Chameleon to come out in the next couple of weeks (May, 2010).It's got 9V, 12V, 18V, and 12V AC, and each outlet supplies 300mA.There's only 5 outlets, but you can chain them, and 300mA should be more than enough to power most standard 9V pedals easily (my T-Rex Bass Juice overdrive/distortion takes only 20mA, for example).This supply is powerful and versatile enough to take care of most medium sized pedal boards, and I think will retail for just about the same amount as this Power Plant (~$200).

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Product Description:
The ModTone Power Plant, is professional quality power supply for the discriminating player.This power supply is a heavy duty, multiple pedal power unit that rivals some of the biggest and best in the industry. The ModTone Power Plant features a toroidal transformer with isolated outputs. This unit shares many things in common with other power supplies, such as an IED power input, DIP switch power selection (9VDC to 12VDC), and two "SAG-able" outputs, but that is where the comparison ends. We have placed the DIP switches on the back of the unit, so if it is mounted on a pedal-board, it does not need to be removed to access the switches. The SAG adjustment pots are trim pot set screws, to lessen the chance of inadvertent changes. A courtesy outlet on the back has been rotated 90 degrees to accommodate wall wart style plugs. But here is the big difference; of the eight total outputs, five are regular 9VDC, two are 9VDC with SAG, and the final output is a 9VAC. That gives the user the ability to use this supply to power everything from a wah to...you name it, all with one unit.

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