Tim the Rocker

... and I really have no idea what to do right now.


I bought this pedal online from an US boutique builder and got it shipped here to Spain, so I'd rather do everything I can to fix it here before shipping it anywhere because it'll cost an arm and a leg in shipping and I already paid my dues getting it here.
I have a local tech, but he has screwed me over and over and I really want him to be the absolute last option.

What is wrong with the pedal? When engaged (every cable works, power supply is the correct, etc) NO sound comes through the pedal. When it's bypassed everything works fine. The LED lights on perfectly. The pedal has two options, a Fuzzy overdrive and an octaver, and when the OD switch is engaged that's when it gives me the problems. It worked yesterday but after a few stomps it started giving me that problem and today it won't work.

Since the LED works when engaged, I suppose there's nothing wrong with the switch, and as far as I can see there's no bad solderjoints, loose cables or burnt chips.

How should I be able to find the problem? If I can locate it I'm faily sure I should be able to fix it myself, or at least I would only need to give it to the tech for the shortest time possible. Any tools I could use to do this, please tell me and explain how it works, I would REALLY, REALLY appreciate any help given. It's a fairly expensive pedal and three of my five boutique pedals have been giving me problems lately, which makes me wonder if it's the long shipping distance that breaks them down on the way or if boutique just isn't that reliable as everybody thinks...

__________________
Guitars:
- Gibson SG Standard
- Lag Roxane 500
- Eastwood Hi-Flyer
- Takamine EG523

Amplifiers:
- Jet City JCA50H
- George Dennis 60Watt The Blue Combo
- Marshall SuperBass 100Watt

ProphetToJables

If he sold you a faulty product, he should pay to get it shipped back to fix.

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Tim the Rocker

It wasn't faulty the first 3 months of use... it suddenly happened. I rather I find a tech here and have the original builder pay part or whole of the costs for repair. Then I'll take care of the shipping/transport to get it to the tech (since it's boutique building there's not really any legal bonding)

__________________
Guitars:
- Gibson SG Standard
- Lag Roxane 500
- Eastwood Hi-Flyer
- Takamine EG523

Amplifiers:
- Jet City JCA50H
- George Dennis 60Watt The Blue Combo
- Marshall SuperBass 100Watt

ragingkitty

Maybe you can share what pedals they are? Maybe it's a common problem.

Have you checked for loose wires in the pedal? Sounds like some wires are disconnected.

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( . .) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into your
C('')('') signature to help him gain world domination.

Tim the Rocker

It's not a common pedal and I'd rather not give out the name until I've spoken with the builder. I can't see any bad wires... I'd put it all apart myself to check, but it cost me 200€, so I rather NOT break it...

__________________
Guitars:
- Gibson SG Standard
- Lag Roxane 500
- Eastwood Hi-Flyer
- Takamine EG523

Amplifiers:
- Jet City JCA50H
- George Dennis 60Watt The Blue Combo
- Marshall SuperBass 100Watt

ProphetToJables

We really can't help if we don't know what the pedal is...
What's wrong with giving us the name?

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ragingkitty

Then speak to the dealer. Look, you have a choice, either speak to the builder, or give us something we can work with.

We can't help us unless you give us something substantial to work with. The problem is that we have a series of hypothetical issues with a hypothetical pedal, when we need things like pictures or actual pedals in order for us to help.

Do you have before and after pictures to compare the wires to know that all the wires are in good order?

Boutique doesn't mean impeccable quality. It means smaller builders that can supply limited quantities of pedals instead of the mass-manufactured pedal brands like Maxon or Boss.

If you want a pedal that's built like a tank, get a Boss.

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( . .) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into your
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ProphetToJables

Yeah, no-ones going to ordering a clone of an expensive pedal thats broken anyway.

__________________

ragingkitty

Have you checked the wire connections on the 3PDT switch?

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( . .) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into your
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Tim the Rocker

I have no pictures, but I can make some. And well, you've convinced me; the pedal is the Blakemore Bipolar Octadrive. Just to the one that asked me why not giving out the pedal's name: if I was selling a product and it had broken in hands of my client, I rather he talked with me first before other people heard of it - no need to bring bad record unto him. But we are all friends here, even though some of you have a rather harsh tone to what you write...

I've found a new tech in my area, and I'm likely to wait to hear from Blake Hickey first about what he thinks, then I'll drive over to that other tech and let him have a look at it. It'll no doubt be cheaper than shipping it.

__________________
Guitars:
- Gibson SG Standard
- Lag Roxane 500
- Eastwood Hi-Flyer
- Takamine EG523

Amplifiers:
- Jet City JCA50H
- George Dennis 60Watt The Blue Combo
- Marshall SuperBass 100Watt

ProphetToJables

You bought the product, you can say what you want about how well it's built.

__________________

jpnyc

Have you opened it up and checked to make sure you didn’t just knock a wire loose by stomping on it?

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Proud Atheist Guitarist

Tim the Rocker

1) I can't see any loose wires. I don't know how to build pedals and I don't know anything about schematics, but I know how to spot any obvious errors, and I honestly can't find any. Maybe it would help if I deattached everything, but that's rather risky; I don't want to harm it anymore than what it is now.

2) The product is beautifully built, designed and sounding. I'm not going to put a knife in the back of the excellent service I got when I bought the product. Maybe I was raised different, but there's no need to make it harder for a builder by coming out saying his product is shit and breaks when used...

__________________
Guitars:
- Gibson SG Standard
- Lag Roxane 500
- Eastwood Hi-Flyer
- Takamine EG523

Amplifiers:
- Jet City JCA50H
- George Dennis 60Watt The Blue Combo
- Marshall SuperBass 100Watt

chip46

Blake is a really nice guy from what I've seen, he's a member on several forums. I'd email him with your troubles and he should be able to work something out.

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Tim the Rocker

Yup, I did. I've written back and forth with him a lot when I bought the pedal, so I'm just hoping he wakes up soon over there in the US

__________________
Guitars:
- Gibson SG Standard
- Lag Roxane 500
- Eastwood Hi-Flyer
- Takamine EG523

Amplifiers:
- Jet City JCA50H
- George Dennis 60Watt The Blue Combo
- Marshall SuperBass 100Watt

ragingkitty

Troubleshooting is not putting a knife into the builder's back. A faulty pedal can be attributable to problems outside of the build quality.

I can't honestly say that I've heard of similar problems from that builder, I suggest posting pictures of the innards.

Though unlikely, did you experience the same problem with your other 2 faulty pedals?

__________________

( )( )
( . .) This is Bunny. Copy and paste Bunny into your
C('')('') signature to help him gain world domination.

Blktiger0

First off, I would like to agree that you aren't doing anyone a disservice by naming the pedal you're having issues with. If it's a common problem, then the builder needs made aware, and if it's a one-off problem, then nobody is going to care. If anything, you're doing yourself and your fellow consumers a disservice.

Second, I'm not sure if it's able to run on batteries, but have you tried doing that? I'm no tech, but it COULD be an issue with a difference in power between countries.

Are all of the pedals you're having issues with from the US?

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Moser Bastard V
- Pups: Bridge
Epi Les Paul Standard
- Pups: Bridge Neck
Egnater Vengeance
- JCA24S w/WGS Retro 30s
- ZW-45 Crybaby
- MXR 10-Band EQ
- ISP Decimator
(^Those are links^ )

JAHellraiser

I agree. Besides, there's a difference between "Ahh this Thingy-ma-bobby from Whosit McPedalBuilder is complete shit! Avoid at all costs!" and "The Fizzmaster 5000 from Line 6 appears to have some sort of error. I'm getting a non fizzy tone...not sure if this is normal.."

One is completely bashing the pedal and builder for what might be a one-off error, the other is just sharing that error.

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Tim the Rocker

Alright, let's leave the name and backstabbing for now; it serves no purpose anymore.


The other pedals have all had independent problems that were easy fixed and some of them come from US, some from EU and one from NZ (Red Witch) and I had a battery power supply installed in the pedal before he sent it to me because it didn't come with it originally, but that was faulty for some bad wiring and so I used the power supply and everything was just fine for more than 3 months until this happened. DO you think that could be the problem? Somehow there's a connection there between my problem and the battery snip? I remember the problem it was giving me then was of a similar character...

__________________
Guitars:
- Gibson SG Standard
- Lag Roxane 500
- Eastwood Hi-Flyer
- Takamine EG523

Amplifiers:
- Jet City JCA50H
- George Dennis 60Watt The Blue Combo
- Marshall SuperBass 100Watt