Sanyo Pedal Juice

Sanyo recently sent me a power supply called the Pedal Juice that is 1) rechargeable, 2) able to power up to three effects at the same times, 3) small enough to fit on a pedal board and 4) completely awesome.

It charges in no time (about 3.5 hours even with the first charge which is no time at all considering that my daughter’s NIGHTLIGHT took about 9 hours to charge the first time and at least 5 hours every day) and now I can say goodbye to 9v.

That’s a good thing too. Dennis Mollan of Pro Tone Pedals was recently posting blogs and Facebook updates saying that batteries are awful to use because you’re depending on them and they go back quickly (depending on what effect they’re in), they’re expensive and there’s always the fact that they aren’t reusable. You burn through one and throw it away and since they don’t last very long, you’re throwing away a lot of batteries and that can’t be good for the environment.

So how much juice doe the Pedal Juice pack? According to their press release it can power a single pedal for 50 hours and three pedals for up to 20 hours. That means that, provided you only use three effects (which fits me since most of the time I use a Bad Monkey, Nocturne Brain and a Danelectro Reel Echo) this juice pack can get you through any gig (unless you’re able to gig for more than 20 straight hours).

And it can be recharged hundreds of times which means that even though the Pedal Juice costs $199.99 it can end up saving you money in the long run. Right now an Energizer 9v is on sale at $3.76. That’s $11.28 to power your three pedals and if you gig once a week (or change them out once a week) to make sure the batteries are strong enough to get through a gig every week for a month, that’s about $56.40. You can see how quickly the cost adds up and how much this will save you in the long run. If you kept on going at it every week for a year, you will have spent $586.56 and even if you changed out your batteries once every TWO weeks in an effort to save yourself some money you’ll still be paying almost a hundred bucks more at $293.28.

When I saw the price, I balked a little, but once you do the math, you start to realize that it’s a deal and another benefit they claim is that its power is more stable, for longer periods of time without the possibility of AC ground looping noise. As a growing fan of single coil pickups, I would like to keep my noise down to a minimum and this works out.

It seems a little obvious, but since it’s chargeable there’s no need to plug it into a wall which means that your pedals are ready to be played at all times and the only thing you really need an outlet for is your amp (unless Sanyo comes out with an equally impressive amplifier power supply which would make outdoor gigs in the middle of fields with your favorite amp more than just a dream or music video).

The Pedal Juice doesn’t rely on your guessing abilities either when it comes to whether or not it needs to be charged. A three stage LED lets you know the power level by either being green, orange or red.

And for all the gigging folks out there worried about durability, it’s water resistant which means it’s beer resistant in case the crowd gets a little too close and a little too clumsy.

Overall, I’m in love with this little box. Not only is it awesome in every way described above but now I don’t have to shell out bucks to pay for batteries to review pedals! I love the idea of not having my pedals restrained by the proximity to an outlet and I love the fact that it’s rechargeable. If you’re a gigging musician, you should definitely order yours (less expenses mean more profit) and if you’re a bedroom player, you need to sit down and seriously think about how many batteries you got through and how much money you’re spending on that when anything over the cost of this can go to some sweet new gear.

Give the batteries and your wallet a rest and check this Pedal Juice out.

-Pappy