How to use "Sag" controls on pedal power supplies 

That Pantheon overdrive sounded really good indeed!

When the first note of that fuzz hit, my soul stirred.

Great to have you back Brian, you are a valuable resource for a lot of people. Cheers

I don't want to alarm you, but it looks like a stormtrooper is trying to get the drop on you. Check behind the Fender amp. We're concerned about your safety.

This is a great demonstration of what a dying pedal starving for more power sounds like. I have inadvertently unplugged a pedal that has an old battery in it and wondered what happened. This is helpful in that respect. I currently have my OCD and Dark Matter sharing a spot on my Pedal Power 2 Plus so I can have more pedals on my board. I can't do this wiith some of my pedals because they require full draw to work. I really like the fact Wampler has a safety feature that will keep the show going if there is a power issue. Bravo! -Big Papa

I was just testing the SAG feature on my Zvex Box of Rock last night, but I didn’t realize you could control the voltage with the front knob; Your video couldn’t have come at a better time. Thanks Brian! And Happy New Year

Happy New Year & welcome back, Brian! I could never figure out why you would want to deliberately voltage-starve a pedal. Your video makes perfect sense. Thanks and I’m looking forward to part deux.

Amazing video, I have this power supply and can't thank you enough for the in depth information about this feature. Hats off my man!

Just 2 days ago I was looking for videos to understand this SAG feature as I set up my pedal board - awesome video, super helpful, great timing!!

It’s good to see you back.

The Tube Screamer sounded really nice with a bit of sag!

I’m loving your new approach to your videos

Great Video. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge. As a newer guitar player, I get a ton of inspiration and knowledge from your videos. I am just now getting a bit more into pedals and power supplies, so this was perfectly timed.

Brian, great playing and great video, this video is a fantastic demonstration of the SAG feature and how it affects the sound of different pedals.

Awesome, I have that power supply, and this was a great demo for me. Glad to see you back, Brian!

That’s very informative and educating, Brian. Thank you and all the best for 2020!

Welcome back, Brian! Great episode, man. I have that exact power supply and my bd2 is on the sag pot with just a little bit less voltage than usual. I dig the clipping I get... Cheers

Very useful! Welcome back and thank you, Brian!

hey brian! just wanted to let you know [if you have the time to see the comments] that you influenced my decision to buy my first telecaster! its a 2019 Squire Classic Vibe 50's tele. butterscotch w/ black guard! ive had it for a month now and ive swapped out the 8 screw guard for a 5 screw black guard and ive added wilkinson compensated brass saddles. i never knew id like a tele this much, its fantastic! i know you dont really talk about your tele all that much, but i figured if youre playing a tele all the time that they must be really good. so im glad i picked one up! and thank you for all the great vids you do!

Great to have you back my friend

Great video! For those mentioning how carbon batteries have a certain voltage drop that adds to the character of the sag, it is interesting to note that a company called Gig Rig offers a “virtual battery” that is supposed to do just that. It seems to take the sag feature on the voodoo supply and go one step further to emulating the battery feel. I can’t say I’ve tested it, but it definitely piques my interest for using with some of my fuzzes.

Great Video! Glad to see you back in the game!

Excellent illustration! Thanks

I just got my first pedal of yours...the mini ego. I love it. Thank you

The real fun is putting this on modulation pedals like flange, phaser, even tremolo. I'm surprised you didn't try anything except distortion pedals.

Thanks dude! I have a pedal power 2+ and have never used the sag. Curious to explore now!

Happy new year Brian! And congratulations on 100.000 subscribers. I'm happy you are back on the show 😊

That's a Great analogy, I've not considered this!! Thanks for sharing brother! Be Well Brian!

Very helpful demonstration! I've heard some folks prefer to battery power certain pedals, like the TS9, due to better "tone". The sag control seems like a cool feature for those seeking just a little bit more tweaking options. Even though fairly subtle with a tube screamer I suppose other factors in the signal chain and the amp used could really make a bit more differnce in dialing in your "perfect" tone. Oh, that Pantheon OD pedal sounded great btw!

I’m not saying I know everything about everything Guitar-related. Surely I don’t. But... voltage sag is something I know absolutely nothing about, nor have I seen anyone get into. Thanks for the video. It’s a very interesting topic. Thanks!

Good stuff 👍Thanks Brian Happy New year

Looking forward to the next video since I daisy chain I don't use batteries at all nor care for the sound of a dying battery, but great informative video though for the many out there that do love that!

I have that power supply and had no idea what sag meant. Thanks!

Happy Newyear, Brian!

Cool, that new pedal looks amazing.

Excellent Video, Thank you 👍👍👍. I have the Pedal Power 2, The Sag feature is Brilliant for Fuzz Pedals. Take care ♥️👍 Melbourne, Australia.

I like using the SAG feature with a wah, it seems to take out the higher end of the wah and warm it up a bit.

The draw from using a battery I find is different as well, where the SAG gives a consistent lower voltage. Like the battery gives more and less current based on how hard you play(dynamics, what a concept!). I've noticed this in pedals that were designed for battery, like old fuzz circuits and designers that love battery. Most if not all Wampler pedals have acted and sounded "better" to me with a consistent voltage, are probably designed this way. Great Vid Brian!

i have the voodoo 2 plus, and never took the time to mess with the sag feature. i'll have to revisit it

Thanks, well explained,. Power supply use and types is a big subject. others topics is : PSA Boss for certain old pedals?, Why isolated power supply is better? "Y" cables to increases current usage?, etc...I have always tought that the SAG is mostly good for the fuzzface type of circuit as they sound better with low voltages batteries. but not shure.

you need to make a wampler expression pedal that switches from 9v in the toe position and 4.5v (or less) in the heel position...so connect a power supply to the Wampler Sag Machine...run a power cable from the sag machine to the pedal...so we can test this out on pedals easily AND do fun stuff live!

Just got a Pantheon. Awesome pedal!!! My board has quickly become an all Wampler OD board. Not sure why I’d need so many drives but I’ve got Ego, Paisley, Euphoria, Pantheon, Tumnus Deluxe, along with a tuner and some delay and reverb/ trem. No room for any modulation or anything but I can’t bring myself to take any of those drives off my board!

Never knew about the sag thanks for the video

Did this with my Black Russian EHX Big Muff. Normally it's smooth and almost cello or violin- esque, but I found a sweet spot where it gets a bit crunchy, which is nice. I don't know if i'm gonna leave it that way, but, it's nice to have the option. related Q: Big Muff -> overdrive pedal -> amp, or overdrive -> Big Muff -> amp? overdrive = Wampler Plexi Drive (which is awesome, btw!)

I didn't know about this! Thank you so much! That's a new secret weapon 😁

well done thank you for demonstrating...

I never experimented with the sag feature, but I did find my Maxon Af-9 dynamic filter, which relies on pick attack, was kinda harsher when I ran it off a power supply compared to running it on a battery. It "required" a bit of sag for my tastes, but as @Barry Provost (I don't think the "at" works in this way, but I don't know how to make it work without being a direct reply), it is still different than with a battery.

Loving your channel!

Great video. Very helpful.

8:02 or to slap your tech for not checking the batts 👍🏽 Low power into high gain = that plasma sound 😂 on the right pedal anyhoo Can’t wait for the deep dive into the force or amperage as it were 🤘🏽

Great video! Could that sagged OCD be combined with a treble booster (I was thinking before the OCD) to get a usable sound? I'd also like to hear the sagged OCD before and after fuzz pedals, especially a Muff type, cuz of all the lower-end emphasis. I don't have any of these pedals (except the fuzz), so I figured I'd pass the ideas on to you and others to play with. Thanks for continuing with your highly educational videos. I look forward to each of them.

Cool vid as always!!!!

So it's basically "votalge starving". It makes total sense now. Thank you for explaining this!

I've always considered this feature something you use with a fuzz; I think this confirms my thoughts. Good to see you back.

super helpful!

Ahh that was fun! Thanks buddy

I used to have a EHX Electric Mistress, and when the battery was dying, it got really funky.

Thank you thank you.

Thank you!

Thanks for this. It’s useful to hear these examples. I have a tube screamer which will run at 9v or 18v. Apparently there is more headroom at 18v. Do you think that’s something worthwhile doing? I’m going to have to buy a new power supply to make it happen; so checking if it’s something one can actually hear?? Thanks

I’ve always wondered if there was a “best” way to use the sag switch...

Awesome, finally found out why a dead battery kills some pedals. Somehow overlooked the relay.

Excelent demonstration Brian. Does this voltage variation could damage components in some pedals??? I know the amount of voltage and current used in pedals is no too big but caps and resistors are good enough to support it, I mean when there are missing quality components?

THANK YOU !!!!!

the OCD with sag gives me Dead Kennedy's vibes. I dig it.

Hey Brian, thanks, this was cool! It would be interesting to learn about increased voltage too. (or did you already do that..?)

Hi Brian - what does the sag function do for wah pedals? I’ve heard some people say wahs are better on batteries than power supply?

Welcome back

Awesome video.

And the Wampler man is back!!!! Great Video!!!

Thanks for the great information, what about the L6?

Once I bought 808 tubescreamer with a battery installed and was pleased with its mellow vintage overdrive. Then the battery died, so I installed a new one and... what a gain monster! 😂

Right on! Brian Wampler and sagging fuzz!

Awesome video Brian, is there some pedals that are better in 18v as opposed to 9? Thank you

I do this trick with the xotic BB pre-amp. I get a suedo fuzz sound when EQ and gain is pushed.

Oh, they sound so dir-tey! Haven't tried it yet on my pp2+ yet! Lot's of quiet daisy chains on my power supply!

Nice video. The outputs L6, are only for Line 6 pedals or can I put pedals type MXR, Boss and others?

Can I use the SAG with just turning down the trimpot, or do I also put the switch to 4 volts, or do I get the same result with turning the mini switch, the white one to 4 volts, and do I get the same results with just adjusting the trimpot?

so the Blues Driver cleans up a bit, sounds a bit P90ish? Am I hearing that right?

Would be possible to use batteries like the ones used in smartphones? Something you can charge easily and for many times?

Cool how the fuzz takes on a gated quality at lower voltage! Are you going to try any delay effects?

Man! That guy has a HUGE pedal collection! 😁

Pelitar sounds awesome

Can inplug mormal 9 volt pedals into the sag oulets

Damn, that Pelitaur!

How much current does it give you on each port? Why it does not say

I always found that if a pedal was originally designed to be operated from battery, it's eligible for sagging. Batteries don't really hold that 9v threshold that much so cutting the voltage a little simulates the average voltage it was really run at and probably designed for.

Flub... is now in my vocab!

on a lot of these power supplies "sag" is kinda the wrong term. i usually hear sag to mean that a load is lowering the supply voltage due to high current draw, making it a dynamic thing, as opposed to simply providing a lower constant supply voltage, which i'd call 'starve'

Is SAG power safe for analog delay pedals?

Wouldn't a bias knob on a Tube Driver be kinda like sag? I got both a new 5 knob and a bias modded older 3 knob Tube Driver and I think that's the sound compared to sag. Also I run the 3 knob at 18v on my board. Don't use the 5 knob at this time now Another item to check out is the Caline P-1 pwr unit. Has big mV outs on it for many uses. I got 13 pedals of it w/ 2 daisy chains and 1 Y splitter for 18v. Might be worth looking up for some boards.

So I have a pigtronix echolution phi that uses 15v psu and have a voodoo labs mondo psu and wondering if I can use a 12v section and use a voltage splitter type cord and then could dial the sag section down to where it hit 15v so I could use it with the mondo or if I used a 9v and then another from the sag section using 6v instead of having to have a power strip using the psu it the echolution phi came with. Appreciate the video, thanks so much! Very cool to see the effects of voltage drop. I was worried any variance would mess it up

Fuzz circuits can get really fun on carbon battery...but the batteries burn out quick. Would have loved to have seen a Wah pedal. The tone changes a bit?

How about something with a cascading gain OD circuit (not opposing diodes) like, say, a Red LLama or a Blackout Effectors Mantra? That seems like it would react to being starved.

What about rechargeable power supplies? What do people think of them? I recently got the Joyo JP-05 and I gotta I've been delighted with it powering a Boss GT-1 anchored fly rig board. Dead quiet pedalboard. Around 4-6 hours continuous use. Any thoughts on this kind of thing? Kinda surprised they haven't caught on more or are the problems that I am just not aware of with this kind of thing?

I was wondering why the pedal wouldn’t even turn on when I had it plugged into the 8th port. Probably cause I have the sag all the way down

what would a phaser sound like on a sag

I thought that, as a battery dies its internal resistance increases. The battery and pedal act as the two halves of a resistor divider. As the battery resistance increases so the voltage drops across the pedal. Just dropping the supply voltage is really quite the same thing surely? I was thinking that, if a pedal draws (for arguments sake) 3mA in its quiescent state but 10mA when being driven hard that this would have a big impact in a supply voltage with a high internal resistance, but none of this was mentioned. So am I talking out of the wrong end of my anatomy or is there a reason for dropping the voltage rather than increasing the supply's internal resistance?

What do you think of virtual batteries? I was on a forum and they were talking about using dying carbon zinc batteries gives the best tone for fuzz pedals. But there was some people pushing this gig rig virtual battery that can somehow be used in combination with your power supply. Another member said back, how is this virtual battery any different then the sag feature on my pedal power +. He gave this complicated answer. "The Voodoo Labs sag feature is simply a way of dropping the voltage below 9v. The Virtual Battery can do this too (there is a little dial that lets you set the voltage you want). The Virtual Battery, however, is also designed to behave like an old carbon battery, as opposed to simply lowering the voltage. Old carbon batteries had very high internal resistance (around 35 ohms, compared to 0.1 ohms for an alkaline battery, and virtually nothing for a DC power supply). Voltage drops as you draw current through a resistor, and so this has the effect of dropping the voltage more as more current is drawn (such as at transient peaks, for example when a string is first picked). Once the current draw diminishes, say as the note decays, the voltage recovers and headroom increases. It's quite similar to the effect a tube rectifier has on a cranked power amp. The Virtual Battery mimics this high internal resistance of old carbon batteries. Whilst the sag feature on the Voodoo Labs PSU will give you a fixed lower voltage, the Virtual Battery will supply a dynamic voltage that is dependent on the current being drawn through it. This is much more in-keeping with the behaviour of an old carbon battery. It's a subtle difference, but it is noticeable. Whether it sounds 'better' is totally subjective. Lots of guys are perfectly happy running fuzzes on DC power. The Virtual Battery isn't particularly expensive, so it's worth a shot if you want to hear how your pedal sounds on battery power without the inconvenience of having to remember to change the battery"

Finally someone else using a Pelitaur, was beginning to think that I was the only one, yeah it sounds great with sag on. I use it on my DS1 too. Dropping down to 6 volts really does something cool.