The Power List is basically a collection of current draw figures for lots of guitar effects pedals. You can use it to figure out how much power you need from a power supply, or (which might be just as frequent) to find out why a certain pedal won’t work from the power supply you have… 🙂

The Power List is put together from many sources – manufacturer’s spec sheets, my own measurements as well as user-generated data. I now also have a collaboration with GuitarFX Netherlands, an EU-based webshop with a nice selection of new and used effects pedals, who kindly provides measurements for the list.


List basics:

The main rule to remember is: voltage and polarity is assumed to be 9vDC center negative, except where specified. Aside from that one, most other things (exceptions etc) are explained in the list itself, where applicable.

In some cases, the numbers are the actual current draw, measured by me or someone else. The majority of the figures, though, are supplied by the manufacturers. There are instances where I suspect the stated figure is probably a bit off – for instance when a manufacturer only provides a blanket figure (e.g. 100 mA) for a whole series of pedals. Such cases are noted in the list.

Numbers are rounded up, so a measurement of 27.3 mA will end up as 28 or 30 mA in the list. When in doubt, it’s better to err on the side of caution.


The list itself

Here are direct links to the different pages in the list. If a manufacturer you’re looking for doesn’t have its own page, look through the ”others” page. The search feature can be helpful if you’re looking for a specific pedal but don’t remember the brand/maker. Or if you just can’t be bothered to scroll through the list 😉 Using quotation marks can be wise – a search for ”Ace Tone”, for instance, takes you to just one page rather than every page where there’s a pedal or manufacturer that has the word ”tone” in its name 😀



Submit your measurements

The list is updated periodically, as and when my time allows a sit-down wading through manufacturer’s websites for the numbers. I also receive measurements from readers, which is always helpful, as well as from GuitarFX Netherlands (as mentioned earlier). If your pedal isn’t listed, you can measure it yourself (here’s how), let me know the result, and I’ll include it in the list – assuming it is a measurement I find reasonably believable 😉

I am primarily interested in measurements of pedals that currently have blanket figures noted (for instance, a whole line of pedals that simply say ”100 mA max” in the list), or where the measured number differs significantly from the published figure. Obviously, pedals that are missing from the list or don’t have any figures listed are also welcomed.

You can submit your measurements using the contact form below, or e-mail me directly if you prefer (address in the footer).


A few words on images and copyrights:

Most of the featured images are from the manufacturers’ websites (or other ”official” images found on retailers’ websites). But not all, so if you own the copyright to any of them and want me to take it down, let me know and I will be happy to do so. If you are a manufacturer and want to provide a better image, feel free to send it to me. Images need to be in jpg format (preferably not white background), and cropped to 1200x480px (or larger, but with the same aspect ratio). My e-mail is found in the footer below.