We’ve all been there: You hurry
to get you gear on stage and hooked up,
only to discover that you’ve forgotten
the extension cord needed to run power
out your pedalboard. Drag-ola, and now
you have to bug your bandmates or the
sound crew to lend you one. So what if
you never had to worry about running
AC to your floor effects in the first place?
Enter the Pedal Jeanie ($349 retail/street
price N/A), a pedalboard featuring a pair
of built-in sealed lead-acid batteries that
can power your pedals for up to 50 hours
on a single charge.
Constructed of 16-gauge steel, and
measuring 23" x 19" x 4", Pedal Jeanie
features a perforated “matrix” design
that makes it easy to place your pedals
where you want them and quickly make
the connections. On the front underside
of the angled board is a panel with ten
DC outputs (each with an LED), which
are configured to power eight 9-volt and
two 12-volt devices. Additional 12-, 18-,
and 24-volt pedals can also be powered
via an optional line module.
A heavy-duty stomp switch turns the
power on, and a battery level indicator
glows green, orange, or red to indicate
charge status. The board can also be used
while being recharged with the included
AC adapter, which accepts wall voltages
from 90 volts to 220 volts. Pedal Jeanie
also features a stainless-steel handle for
easy carry. Options include soft padded
cases, hard cases, and a handy car charger.
Setting up the system is easy. Simply
arrange your pedals in the desired order
and orient them between openings so that a nylon tie-wrap can be put around each
device and tightened from the bottom. This
method obviously doesn’t work well with
pedals that have circular or angular enclosures,
so in some cases you may need to use
double locking tape (not included) to secure
your boxes.
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| DC power from twin lead-acid batteries is delivered via ten outlets on the underside of the Pedal Jeanie. |
Pedal Jeanie comes with ten tie-wraps
and ten DC cables, which you route from
the power panel though any opening in the
board that’s near the pedal’s DC input jack.
Grid 1 follows the industry standard of using
center-negative on the barrel-style DC connectors,
so if you own any pedals that are
center-positive, you’ll need to obtain reversepolarity
cables for them (available from Grid
1 and other providers).
Once everything is in place and hooked
up, it’s easy to get into the convenience of
a pedalboard that’s not tethered to an AC
cord. Place it anywhere you want, plug in
the cords to your guitar and amp, and flick
on the juice. And if you need a board for a
smaller number of pedals, consider the Pedal
Jeanie Jr., which has all the same features, but
in a more compact (23" x 11" x 4") size.
KUDOS Sturdy construction. Hum-free operation.
Rechargeable 4.5 amp-hour batteries
are inexpensive to replace.
CONCERNS Tie-wrap securing method not
suitable for all pedals.
CONTACT (800)928-7144; grid1.com