BCB-60 Power/Current Problem?

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Sominus
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BCB-60 Power/Current Problem?

Post by Sominus » Wed Nov 02, 2022 9:20 pm

Hey guys!

The electricity/current draw part of amps & pedals has always been my weak side and I'm hoping that someone can shed some light on what my problem is here. I bought a used BCB-60 recently and I was super excited to get it up and running. The power supply adapter that came with the BCB-60 was a Roland PSB-1U and then the standard 7-pedal daisy chain cable. When I hooked everything up and turned my amp on there was a very unpleasant "buzz" and it sounded like my guitar sound was operating with an extra 25% of "juice", which made it very sensitive to feedback, harmonic distortion & wolf tones.

Before buying the BCB-60 I used a lesser amount of pedals (TU-3, SD-1 & NS-2) straight on the floor with an Boss PSA 230S Power Supply and Boss PCS-20A, which has always worked flawless. So I tried switching the PSB-1U cable to the Boss PSA 230S instead and the guitar signal "kind of" went back to normal, but something still doesn't sound 100% right.

I have tried googling around and reading up on the issue myself and the majority of answers is that the daisy chain most likely would be the problem. One major argument is that the daisy chain loses power for every pedal that it runs through and you can tell this by the red "Check"-light being slightly dimmed out. That is actually the case for my SD-1 in this configuration, but it still sounds weird to me since the BCB-60 is designed to power pedals with a daisy chain. Some people wrote about differences in mA between the pedals and the power supply adapter. The PSA 230S is 500 mA and the total sum of my pedals adds up to 247 mA, so I'm halfway there and it shouldn't be an issue. I'm considering that the PSB-1U might be faulty, but there is nothing that visually indicates that it could be.

Here is some info as well about my guitar rig and my music style to paint the big picture. I play down tuned death metal and I'm running a pair of Seymour Duncan Invaders in an Epiphone Explorer through a Peavey 6505 with 2 double stacked 4x12 cabinets.
Yes, I know that Invaders + 6505 is a great recipe for a noisy and untamable guitar signal, but I've had it fairly tamed before.
I am also aware that the 6505 FX Loop is very famous for being pretty bad & noisy, (I can personally confirm this! :lol: )

I'm attaching a picture of how I connected everything in case that might be of any help.
TU-3, GE-7, NS-2 & SD-2 goes to the front of the amp
DD-8 & RV-6 goes in the FX Loop of the amp
And the NS-2 is connected with the 4-cable method.

Any help or thoughts on this will be highly appreciated! :)
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Boss BCB-60 Setup 1 (Current).png
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Last edited by Sominus on Sat Jan 07, 2023 10:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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laurie
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Re: BCB-60 Power/Current Problem?

Post by laurie » Fri Nov 04, 2022 2:04 am

The PSB-1U should work without any issues. So should the PSA.

Can't really comment on the signal routing.

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Sominus
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Re: BCB-60 Power/Current Problem?

Post by Sominus » Sat Nov 05, 2022 10:15 am

I agree with you. It makes no sense why the original adapter that comes with the pedal board, should create interference in the signal chain. That's why I started questioning my signal routing.

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fuzzbuzzfuzz
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Re: BCB-60 Power/Current Problem?

Post by fuzzbuzzfuzz » Fri Jan 06, 2023 6:17 am

I wasn't aware that the BCB-60 had a "FX Loop" (or was to be utilised in that manner)

The general idea is:
  • Plug the guitar in directly to Top R INPUT,
    Patch a cable from Top R "send", to first pedal in your chain beginning at the R side,
    Through all pedals then into one of the "RETURN"s on L side。
    Your cable to amp plugs into the appropriate OUT.
(There are two RETURNS and OUTS for stereo pedals of course).

That may explain your difficulties.

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Sominus
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Re: BCB-60 Power/Current Problem?

Post by Sominus » Sat Jan 07, 2023 10:09 pm

The BCB-60 doesn't actually have an FX Loop and originally it is supposed to be used the way that you are describing it.

But if you plug your guitar into the first pedal directly like I do, you could technically use the remaining jacks to create a "FX Loop"-routing since the Return & Output A & B-jacks are independent of each other. If i run my guitar signal through all the pedals like originally intended, then I'm running my Delay & Reverb straight into the front of the amp as well and I'm not a big fan of that. This pedal board setup that I'm using is also meant for getting on/off stage as quickly as possible when I play live, without having to spend 15-20 minutes connecting cables in the dark hoping that that I get it right! :lol:

My problem has improved a fair bit though, since I wrote this post. I recently found out that the GE-7 suffers from a serious noise/hiss-problem when any of the faders are moved from the original position. If you then run that hiss through a SD-1 and into a fully cranked Peavey 6505, it's no wonder that the signal goes through the roof. As soon as I removed the GE-7, the noise was drastically lowered.

I'm still slightly confused though, about the difference between the power supply adapters. That thing still doesn't make sense to me.

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