Full Tank
The Chameleon is the latest offering in T-Rex’s Fuel Tank line of power
supplies, which includes the Fuel Tank Classic, the Juicy Lucy, and
the Fuel Tank Junior. With a list price of $249, the handsome green
Chameleon is the most expensive and the heaviest of the three power
supplies we review here. It’s also the most versatile.
One thing that distinguishes the Chameleon from its cousins is that it
offers five outlets that are switchable between high and low voltage—three between 9V DC and 12V DC (300 mA each) and one between
9V DC and 18V DC (also 300 mA), all with negative center pins. A sixth
outlet provides 12V AC, and you can use up to five of the outlets simultaneously.
The Chameleon includes a bounty of cables for plugging
in your gear: nine pedal links ranging between 20 and 100 centimeters
in length, plus a barrel-to-mini-jack cable, a red AC cable for the T-Rex
Replica Delay, a blue AC cable for Line 6 pedals, and a daisy chain with
five connectors.
Weighing in at 3.1 pounds, the Chameleon is the heaviest of the power
supplies we auditioned. But with its heavy steel casing, it’s
extremely sturdy, and measuring 6.3" x 3.2" x 1.7", it takes
up little real estate in a pedalboard.
To test the Chameleon, I played my recent Gibson ES-335
1963 Historic in conjunction with a Dunlop Crybaby wah
(9V), a Frantone Brooklyn overdrive pedal (9V), a Boss DD-3
digital delay, (9V), a Pigtronix EP-2 Envelope Phaser (18V),
and a blackface Vibrolux Reverb amp.
It was easy enough to connect each pedal to the
Chameleon, but adjusting the voltage was slightly tricky.
To change settings, you have to flip tiny switches, and at
first, when I tried to change the voltage for just one outlet,
the switches in close proximity followed suit. Once I had
everything set up, I played around with the pedals for a
while, gladly observing that the Chameleon was noiseless,
and, true to its color, quite green, for it precludes battery
consumption.
Buy if...
you’re looking for maximum flexibility in
a power supply.
Skip if...
you’ve got a smaller rig with less complicated
power requirements.
Rating...
