Guitar Gear Forum

Good evening,

I have a thought about how to power effects pedals: Milwaukee makes a power supply for USB, and their heated gear, using their 12v lithium ion batteries. Model number 48-59-1201, for those familiar with Milwaukee tools. The plug for the heated jacket is the same size as a Boss barrel-type, which I confirmed, when using it to power a DC plant controller, to upgrade the firmware, something I used to do, at my old job.

I have a Quad Cortex (obviously), which takes a 12v, 3A, center-negative DC power supply. In other words, something like this should work.

Has anyone tried something similar? The ability to use power tool batteries, an infrastructure in which I am already invested, to power my pedals is tempting.

Thank you.

12v is 12v. If the polarity matches and there's enough amperage, it will work.

I have an update:

1. It’s center positive. Using a Voodoo Lab polarity reverse lead will power a Quad Cortex.
2. A 6.0Ah battery will power said Quad Cortex for two hours.
3. It isn’t a great long-term solution to the problem, but it does work if you’re traveling, and you have a shit load of M12 batteries.

The bigger takeaway is that my brother refuses to spend money on gear that works, will only ever use entry level products, and will insist they are just as good as more expensive gear. There is an element of truth to that - a small one - but none of that matters when it doesn’t work. I’m tempted to buy two Headrush FRFR 108s, which don’t sound great, but they will almost certainly work better than his busted-ass Ampeg SS30, or the karaoke machine that clips when it’s hit with any sort of volume.