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                           Big John



Have you ever thought whether pedals that can be powered by 9v batteries were designed to sound the same regardless of how low the voltage drops in the battery?  Or how about that jice hot ‘wall-wort’ transformer you are using? Obviously, all pedals are designed and manufactured for ideal power situations, and therefore do not sound the same or as good when your power fluctuates or drops.  Why not treat your pedals to pure, regulated 9v DC power for the whole show, or as long as you need?  The Big John Power Supply can do just that … seven outlets of regulated 9v DC power to keep your pedals performing just the way they were designed.   Shipped with seven power cables, a sturdy steel housing and LED indicators for functions, the Big John Power Supply is just what the doctor ordered for your ailing power situation. 

  

Reviews

Product: Carl Martin Big John
Price Paid: 140 (EUR)
Submitted 03/01/2005 at 01:13am by Fai
Email: vriendelijkegroet at hotmail<dot>com

Ease of Use : 10
The Big John is a 9v DC power supply for seven pedals and is built in my pedalboard. Put the plug of the Big John in a power supply and all pedals work perfectly.The pedals don't hum and always deliver the goods. The supplied cables (note only five, while the Big John can feed seven pedals)are of various sizes.
Sound Quality : 10
My pedalboard currently contains a Boss CS 1, a Morley Bad Horsie, a Carl Martin Hot drive and boost, Carl Martin Heavy and Carl Martin Chorus XII. So far so good the pedals don't hum.

If I don't want to carry a pedalboard, I always take my Carl Martin PlexiTone (with build in power supply), which is perfect to use as a stand alone unit so no need to hook connect with the Big John.

As you can see, I am a huge Carl Martin fan, since I use the Hot drive and boost in the mid nineties. In general they are the best pedals in the world. They sound good and always deliver what I need.
Reliability : 10
CM sound pedals in general including the Big John are incredibly well build. Altough I always take a back up overdrive untit (Carl Martin Heavy Drive and Ibanez TS9)for my pedalboard, I never had to use it. As with any gear, always protect them in a heavy duty cases, then nothing can ever happen.

During a gig, I sometimes step on a pedal to "enthusiastic", but CM pedals never ever let me down, and I played hundreds of gigs with them. You know how dirty sometimes the stage can get, but the CM pedals and the Big John never crackle. Clean your gear up regularly and they last forever (I cannot emphasize more than "always look after your gear").

Customer Support : 10
I had some problems with some cables to hook up the Big John with the pedals. I send an email to Carl martin and the next thing I knew they informed me that they send me new ones.

There are manufacturers that never send any response or refer to a dealer in the area, but not Carl Martin. THAT'S WHAT I CALL CUSTOMER SUPPORT.

Overall Rating : 10
CM pedals are not cheap, but great value for money. Great sound, reliable and great customer support.

Last but not least, if you take you music serious and you want others to take your music serious, take the best gear possible. Support Carl Martin. I know I will....
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Product: Carl Martin Big John
Price Paid: 1300 (Norwegian Kroner)
Submitted 03/21/2005 at 05:54am by James Acker
Email: jacker<at>online dot no

Ease of Use : 8
Really doesn't apply to this. It is one plug in from the wall outlet, 7 jacks out for powering 7 effects pedals at 9 VDC.

The only, very small complaint, I wish they had made the plug a from the wall to the unit a little bit longer (like 1-2 meter longer)...because the unit naturally sits in front of (towards the audience) the pedals you want to power.

Also a little strange they only supply 5 power adapter cords, when it outputs seven. I would have given it a 10 here, but the 5 out of seven is just stingy...this thing costs less than "the brick" but still, for the money you ought to have 7, different length-cords.

Sound Quality : 10
Also, I am applying this to it's ability to deliver the required voltage to the pedals, and without adding hum or anything.

In this it is really GREAT. At first thought, I thought it was strange they had center=+ outside=-, right off the power supply, that is until I used my brain and understood that they HAD to do that or else if you dropped a paper clip between youd see fireworks.

The cords supplied all convert this to center minus, shield plus, as all effects want.

Reliability : No Opinion
This can't be answered until years of use have gone by. Seems fine, well thought out, hard case...good construction. Seems to me it is very rugged. Time will tell.

Customer Support : 9
Very good. They took a few days to answer one question I had, but they did answer and (I think it was) Mats even checked with the engineers...

Let me first state, there was NO problem with the unit, I just thought there was. I am an electronics technician (or was) and Iused my old-time trusty VOM meter (with dial...not digital :-) to double check the voltages and which was + and which -, before plugging it in. On my meter the 9vdc measured a solid 8.25 vdc.

I emailed them, slightly irritated, and asked if this was "within spec" and whether or not it was, asked if there was a way to adjust this if I needed to. I had earlier called the music store where I bought it, but the salesguy gave me some misleading information, I knew from ohms law, he said it was because there was no load, that I shoudl try plugging in pedals and it would be fine...which is exactly opposite. You draw more load...the voltage will come down slightly.

So anyway, I emailed Carl Martin. They took a few days to get back to me, but finally said "the engineers say it should be right. That analog meters shouldn't be trusted, if you can get digital multi-meter, try that and see what it measures".

I really believed my meter was okay, but I borrowed a Digital vom from work, and sure enough...that baby was measuring 9.0001 vDC.

Right on the money, honey.

I plugged in lots of pedals and measured again, STILL right on the money. I'm a happy camper. Good thing pedal manufacturers aren't grading us customers :-) I'd get bad grades...except I was polite and listened to what they told me.

This pedal, at least in Norway is CONSIDERABLY less expensive than "the brick"...and once it does the job, the brick can't do it any better, 9vdc solid is 9vdc. Don't know about ripple and such, it would be nice to look at it on a scope, but otherwise this thing is great. It also has indicator lights to tell when it is normal operating voltages and all is well. Comforting lights...pretty colors too.

It is SUCH a joy to not have my xmas light-strings of power daisy chaining from my measly one power supply anymore. I used both the daisy chain power from one Boss adapter, along with the power out on some boss pedals (NS-2, TU-2) to cover all my pedals...but I was getting close to the current limit on that adapter. This has plenty of headroom.

If it failed (depending on how long it worked right and how they handled it) I would either try and repair it, or just buy another.

Overall Rating : 9
I give it a 9. It would have gotten a ten if it had a longer AC in cord, and all 7 leads to the pedals.

I don't know how easy it is to buy more seperate leads (I might consider making a few) but once I pretty much get set as to my setup I think I will try and get some that are just long enough.

This pedal does the job, and this is not a subjective thing, like pedal sounds, etc, it does exactly what it is supposed to. If you calculate how many batteries you are using up, and what they cost, most folks with more than a few pedals will see the immidiate benefit of this unit. It is SO nice to forget about backup batteries, or worse...having it all go dead mid-gig.