Pedal help needed for our 13 year old son

[pauldconyers]

I am hoping you guys can point me in the right direction here. Our 13 year old son is big-time into guitar and now is wanting to play around with effect pedals. I got on Marketplace and bought him a Boss BD-2 and DS-1. Until he decides what he really wants I do not want to try to put together a pedal board but for now I want to make sure I have all the items he will need to wire these up and use them.

I already have the little jumper cables that will connect between the pedals but I am confused by how you power them. I have read they plug into power and a 9 volt battery. Is it an either/or kind of thing or for some reason do you have to have both? Probably my main question is a guy I know recommended I buy this. Would you recommend this or something different:

https://www.amazon.com/JOYO-Charger...1751086&sprefix=joyo+dc+9v+gui,aps,134&sr=8-1

Lastly, what order would you recommend these two specific pedals be hooked up between the guitar and his Boss Katana-50 MkII amp?

 

[Simon Says]

Proper high-quality power supply is something I will advise not to save on. The quality power bank will last you for years, while pedals will be in constant rotation. I'm using Cioks DC7 power supply. Low profile, can switvh power in 9/12/15/18 range from 7 fully isolated outs, can be expanded with power modules. Literally the most compact and flexible power station out there.

Daisychain PSUs are a recipe for noise and risk of damage if used with pedals accepting different power / polarity

 

[Headset]

Boss pedals can use a 9 volt or plug into power. A lot of pedals don’t take batteries now a days and only work off plugged in power. An isolated power supply will help if you plan on expanding in the future. For now, 2 9 volts will do the trick just fine. If you want to go power supply route there’s many good options to choose from like strymon, cioks, etc.

 

[László]

Lastly, what order would you recommend these two specific pedals be hooked up between the guitar and his Boss Katana-50 MkII amp?

There aren't any rules, you could do either order. If he wants to stack one pedal into the other, I'd put the BD-2 first, so a lower gain overdrive pedal will go into a higher gain distortion pedal, and adjust to taste. A high gain distortion pedal into the BD-2 doesn't really make sense to me for stacking.

If he isn't going to stack the pedals, it doesn't matter at all.

PS: Batteries are fine until he puts together a pedalboard, but if you go with a power supply I agree with Simon - get something with isolated outlets to prevent noise and ground loops.

PSPS: I fondly remember walking my son through all this when he was 13 and got serious about guitar. Now he does gigs like this:

Yes, I will accept all the vicarious credit for his success, it's got nothing to do with how hard he's worked!

 

[pauldconyers]

There aren't any rules, you could do either order. If he wants to stack one pedal into the other, I'd put the BD-2 first, so a lower gain overdrive pedal will go into a higher gain distortion pedal, and adjust to taste. A high gain distortion pedal into the BD-2 doesn't really make sense to me for stacking.

If he isn't going to stack the pedals, it doesn't matter at all.

PS: Batteries are fine until he puts together a pedalboard, but if you go with a power supply I agree with Simon - get something with isolated outlets to prevent noise and ground loops.

Can you explain to me what you mean by "stacking" the pedals? Assuming it is a method of plugging them in what is a different way to do it and which way do you think would make more sense for him?

 

[László]

Can you explain to me what you mean by "stacking" the pedals?

It's just turning both pedals on and running one into the other to achieve more gain and compression. It's a thing many players do, though I don't.

He can try it both ways, and see what he likes. Nothing will blow up. And turn all the knobs to see what they do and how they affect the sound.

 

[deathworlder]

Get him the Katana Librarian app and a USB cord. Adding an Airstep footswitch would enable Bluetooth editing...

He already has those two pedals available to him; and many, many more, if he gets into deep editing the Katana.
He can place the available effects in the chain however he wants and save it to his library and/or upload it to the amp.

 

[László]

Get him the Katana Librarian app and a USB cord. Adding an Airstep footswitch would enable Bluetooth editing...

He already has those two pedals available to him; and many, many more, if he gets into deep editing the Katana.
He can place the available effects in the chain however he wants and save it to his library and/or upload it to the amp.

That's a great idea!

 

[FatFingerBlues]

One thing you should know
If you use a 9v battery the pedal is on when ever the patch cable is plugged in so if you don't unplug the cable every time you use the pedal the battery will be dead in less than 24 hours

 

[archtop]

Both pedals are 9 volt so the daisy chain power supply will be fine and lots of folks use them for simple setups like 2 overdrive/distortion pedals. If you son moves on to more complex pedals (chorus, flanger) or digital pedals (delay, reverb) then the daisy chain could introduce noise and hum. Also, fuzz pedals often have the polarity reversed on the 9 volt power jack so if your son gets a fuzz pedal be very careful with this power supply **. There are pedals the can handle/require 12 and/or 18 volts these are pretty rare and those Boss pedals will be fried by more than 9 volts.

I agree that the Cioks DC7 is a great power supply but it costs more than the 2 pedals and is overkill at this time. And using the wrong supplied cable, or accidentally switching voltage to 18 volts will damage those Boss pedals. Keep it simple for now until your son knows how to use this gear.

Using the effects in the Katana is a great idea for learning about effects and the Katana's effects will be as good as external effects for your son at this time; if he comes to the point where he needs something more than the Katana has then that'll be the time to look at more pedals. From Roland "Independent Booster, Mod, FX, Delay, and Reverb sections come loaded from the factory with three variations in each, providing 15 ready-to-play effects to choose from.". See this link for Katana features and effects: https://www.boss.info/global/products/katana-100_mk2/

While we all LOVE playing with pedals, buying and selling and buying and selling and buying and selling, your son is off to a good start with gear that professionals use (Katana and those Boss pedals) - this setup should meet his needs while he learns.. A lot of touring pros use Boss and MXR because they're really reliable and easily replaced on the road.

What a great dad to be helping your son out like this, I hope you get to spend some time listening to him and enjoying his musical journey with him.

** old fuzz pedals use germanium or silicon transistors with the polarity reversed compared to almost all other pedals, connecting a normal power supply with these fuzz pedals will fry these transistors. But, some modern fuzz pedals these days have normal "center negative" power supplies (the outside of the jack is positive, the center pin is negative). There are reversing cables which convert "center negative" to "center positive" that could be purchased later for use with older style fuzz pedals (these usually have a red jack on the reversed end).

 

[deathworlder]

Boost/OD/Distortion

Effects

Delays

Reverbs

Sneaky Amps