Powering an old DOD pedal

AllThumbs · September 2023

Got an old DOD FX90 analogue delay on the way. I want to power it with my Vitoos ISO4 psu and I know I'll need an adaptor of some sort. Can I just get either a batter clip adaptor like this or a 3.5mm convertor like this?

I don't know if those old DOD pedal need a centre negative or centre positive connection, or if that it matters, or if it's even a question relevant to these convertors.

In short, I'm clueless - please help!!

roberty · September 2023

The polarity does matter. I think one of those adapters will be fine but I am not 100% sorry

Sassafras · September 2023

I seem to remember the 3.5mm is positive tip on old DODs.

AllThumbs · September 2023

Thanks for the replies. This ebay listing says slightly vaguely that the connector is good for old DOD pedals; I presume it will correct the polarity if necessary. I've just sent them a message to check. A battery clip adaptor would be a neater solution but I'd rather play it safe and not fry the pedal.

jasonbone75 · September 2023

AllThumbs said:

Thanks for the replies. This ebay listing says slightly vaguely that the connector is good for old DOD pedals; I presume it will correct the polarity if necessary. I've just sent them a message to check. A battery clip adaptor would be a neater solution but I'd rather play it safe and not fry the pedal.

That is a passive device. it will not correct or change the polarity which is fixed as positive tip on the 3.5mm jack. It claims to be for older DODs so if you can confirm that +ve tip is what they require this will do the job.

jasonbone75 · September 2023

Sassafras said:

I seem to remember the 3.5mm is positive tip on old DODs.

I think you are right Sassafras. Everything I have seen on a quick trawl for the various DOD adapters shows tip +ve

roberty · September 2023

If the ring is touching the enclosure then it has to be positive tip because it would short out otherwise. I think!

thermionic · September 2023

roberty said:

If the ring is touching the enclosure then it has to be positive tip because it would short out otherwise. I think!

Unless it’s a positive ground circuit (it isn’t).

ICBM · September 2023

Yes, tip positive.

JCA2550 · September 2023

I have an old DOD power supply going spare which you can have for £15 if that's any use?

It's one of these (not my listing by the way)

DOD Regulated Power Supply / 200 70’s / 80’s Red https://reverb.com/item/38485711?utm_source=android-app&utm_medium=android-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=38485711

AllThumbs · September 2023

JCA2550 said:

I have an old DOD power supply going spare which you can have for £15 if that's any use?

It's one of these (not my listing by the way)

DOD Regulated Power Supply / 200 70’s / 80’s Red https://reverb.com/item/38485711?utm_source=android-app&utm_medium=android-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=38485711

Thanks, that's very kind. I'm really trying for the most compact solution, though. Hoping a battery clip will do the job.

AllThumbs · September 2023

jasonbone75 said:

Sassafras said:

I seem to remember the 3.5mm is positive tip on old DODs.

I think you are right Sassafras. Everything I have seen on a quick trawl for the various DOD adapters shows tip +ve

Thanks. I must have looked in the wrong places for polarity info! This morning I'm thinking that there should be no polarity issues with a battery clip, right?

AllThumbs · September 2023

jasonbone75 said:

AllThumbs said:

Thanks for the replies. This ebay listing says slightly vaguely that the connector is good for old DOD pedals; I presume it will correct the polarity if necessary. I've just sent them a message to check. A battery clip adaptor would be a neater solution but I'd rather play it safe and not fry the pedal.

That is a passive device. it will not correct or change the polarity which is fixed as positive tip on the 3.5mm jack. It claims to be for older DODs so if you can confirm that +ve tip is what they require this will do the job.

Ah, okay. In my electrical naivety I thought that altering the polarity of a connection would just be a matter of clever wiring. But I'm now thinking (slow brain) that there should be no polarity issues with a battery clip - does that sound right?

thermionic · September 2023

You just need a cable that has the positive on the tip of the 3.5mm jack, right? I had a Big Muff with a 3.5mm jack power socket with positive at the tip, I made a cable by chopping a plug off one end of a normal 2.1mm barrel connecter cable and soldering a 3.5mm jack plug - just making sure that the positive from the power supply end is connected to the tip.

AllThumbs · September 2023

thermionic said:

You just need a cable that has the positive on the tip of the 3.5mm jack, right? I had a Big Muff with a 3.5mm jack power socket with positive at the tip, I made a cable by chopping a plug off one end of a normal 2.1mm barrel connecter cable and soldering a 3.5mm jack plug - just making sure that the positive from the power supply end is connected to the tip.

That would be a good solution if I hadn't now realised that there'll be no polarity problems with a battery clip adaptor. My only question now is whether it would be okay to send 12v via the battery socket, given that some say you can give these old DOD analogue delays 12v instead of 9v for longer delay times.

ICBM · September 2023

AllThumbs said:

My only question now is whether it would be okay to send 12v via the battery socket, given that some say you can give these old DOD analogue delays 12v instead of 9v for longer delay times.

Yes, perfectly safe as long as it’s a properly regulated 12V.

I’m not sure it changes the delay time though.

Supportact · September 2023

Sorry, bit late to this and looks like you've already got an answer. Just to say that I have one of these and I've used it off a normal 9v outlet with one of the 9v battery clips attached with no problems. Never tried it on 12v.

There are two internal trim pots where you can adjust the sound of the delay. If yours sounds ok as it is I'd advise not to mess with these as it's very hard to get them back exactly the way they were. You can mark them first but it's still very hard to get it back to the original settings and then the repeats will be very weird.

That said, if you want the delay to sound like some incoherently hiccuping maniac forever then fine.

I like these pedals though, I think the delay sound is really sweet sounding.

AllThumbs · September 2023

Supportact said:

Sorry, bit late to this and looks like you've already got an answer. Just to say that I have one of these and I've used it off a normal 9v outlet with one of the 9v battery clips attached with no problems. Never tried it on 12v.

There are two internal trim pots where you can adjust the sound of the delay. If yours sounds ok as it is I'd advise not to mess with these as it's very hard to get them back exactly the way they were. You can mark them first but it's still very hard to get it back to the original settings and then the repeats will be very weird.

That said, if you want the delay to sound like some incoherently hiccuping maniac forever then fine.

I like these pedals though, I think the delay sound is really sweet sounding.

Thanks for the advice! I received the pedal and battery adaptor today but the pedal is not happy. It has the same problem as this one. This guy tried cleaning the pots which helped somewhat; others suggested it is a problem with old capacitors drying out. Now I wonder if it's messed up trim pots. Any ideas?

AllThumbs · September 2023

ICBM said:

AllThumbs said:

My only question now is whether it would be okay to send 12v via the battery socket, given that some say you can give these old DOD analogue delays 12v instead of 9v for longer delay times.

Yes, perfectly safe as long as it’s a properly regulated 12V.

I’m not sure it changes the delay time though.

Thanks. I may try 12v if I can sort out the problem it has arrived with (see my reply to Supprtact above).

Supportact · September 2023

AllThumbs said:

Supportact said:

Sorry, bit late to this and looks like you've already got an answer. Just to say that I have one of these and I've used it off a normal 9v outlet with one of the 9v battery clips attached with no problems. Never tried it on 12v.

There are two internal trim pots where you can adjust the sound of the delay. If yours sounds ok as it is I'd advise not to mess with these as it's very hard to get them back exactly the way they were. You can mark them first but it's still very hard to get it back to the original settings and then the repeats will be very weird.

That said, if you want the delay to sound like some incoherently hiccuping maniac forever then fine.

I like these pedals though, I think the delay sound is really sweet sounding.

Thanks for the advice! I received the pedal and battery adaptor today but the pedal is not happy. It has the same problem as this one. This guy tried cleaning the pots which helped somewhat; others suggested it is a problem with old capacitors drying out. Now I wonder if it's messed up trim pots. Any ideas?

I'm not sure as to the original cause, mine started to gradually get an issue over time (so it would make sense if it is the components gradually deteriorating). It was just a bit of a wobble in the repeats at first but got worse. After searching online I found that there were these trimpots so I thought I'd give them a go and see if I could somehow adjust it back to normal. It was some time ago and I only paid about £40 for the pedal so I thought why not.

The bad news is that didn't help cure it. The good news is it actually made the thing completely unpredictable and batshit crazy in a way I find very cool. A bit like the 'random' control on those pedals that are supposed to make everything sound like a vhs cassette. So, now it's on a true bypass loop on my 'experimental' pedal board and I use it just as an occasional special effect.

Maybe someone else has a more technical perspective! Worth trying different power supplies or a battery as well I suppose. Hope you get it sorted.

AllThumbs · October 2023

Supportact said:

Thanks for the advice! I received the pedal and battery adaptor today but the pedal is not happy. It has the same problem as this one. This guy tried cleaning the pots which helped somewhat; others suggested it is a problem with old capacitors drying out. Now I wonder if it's messed up trim pots. Any ideas?

I'm not sure as to the original cause, mine started to gradually get an issue over time (so it would make sense if it is the components gradually deteriorating). It was just a bit of a wobble in the repeats at first but got worse. After searching online I found that there were these trimpots so I thought I'd give them a go and see if I could somehow adjust it back to normal. It was some time ago and I only paid about £40 for the pedal so I thought why not.

The bad news is that didn't help cure it. The good news is it actually made the thing completely unpredictable and batshit crazy in a way I find very cool. A bit like the 'random' control on those pedals that are supposed to make everything sound like a vhs cassette. So, now it's on a true bypass loop on my 'experimental' pedal board and I use it just as an occasional special effect.

Maybe someone else has a more technical perspective! Worth trying different power supplies or a battery as well I suppose. Hope you get it sorted.

Having thought about it for a bit I've decided just to return it. In theory I could clean the pots and see if that helped but I don't have the expertise to go further and it's just too unpredictable to be a useful quirky effect (I have other pedals for that!). Great that you found a use for yours, though!

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