Diagnosing and Repairing a Digitech RP21D Pedalboard—display issues

[RSchuster]

Hey y'all!

I bought a Digitech RP21D pedalboard years ago on eBay—it was listed as in good condition, working, etc., and when I got it, I confirmed that it turned on, could have an instrument run through it, etc. Then life stuff happened and I put it away... until the other week. I plugged it in, plugged in my bass, and though I got sound from the tube preamp, none of the other functions worked: the green and red lights in the buttons and display turn on, but the display is blank, and the buttons, dial, stomp pedals, wah pedal, etc. don't appear to do anything.

I tried a different power adapter (correct voltage and enough amps) and replaced the watch battery for the display inside the case, but I'm getting nothing—just the tube preamp with input and output dials and the headphone jack.

I checked with a local repair guy who was highly recommended and has a lot of experience, and he explained just from my description that it was likely a motherboard issue and regardless that he wouldn't be able to work on it and recommended that I go to a licensed Digitech technician/dealer. The problem is... I am having a heck of a time finding those, if they even exist anymore. The Digitech website only really lists Sam Ash and Guitar Center near me (which I called and which told me very immediately they couldn't help me and wouldn't be able to ship anything off for repair and that I should, "Just google it,"), and their FAQ indicates that they themselves don't repair or have parts for discontinued equipment.

So I'm not really sure what to do at this point. Is my pedal, for all intents and purposes, dead? Is this something I can/should pursue? Is there anyone who actually works on these things or knows what to do with them that you could recommend me to?

Thanks!

 

[RSchuster]

An update: I searched around and finally decided to just do the thing that people were telling me wouldn't be helpful, and that's reach out to Digitech themselves.

They actually responded right away and 1) suggested that they're working on bringing back the in-house repairs pipeline and 2) gave me the name of a place that might actually be willing to work on the pedalboard. I contacted them, and they suggested basically that they need to look at it to see what's actually wrong because it could be a bunch of different things, but that either it's broken or it could be fixed, if the part(s) is available somewhere. I shipped it off to them, and I guess I'm just waiting to hear back about what's gonna happen.

I'll post another update when I get one!

 

[neuman]

If you're handy and can open the unit up, see if there are ribbon or other connectors that could be opened/disconnected and then reconnected. Sometimes those connections oxidize over time.

If you're not handy, don't.

 

[RSchuster]

If you're handy and can open the unit up, see if there are ribbon or other connectors that could be opened/disconnected and then reconnected. Sometimes those connections oxidize over time.

If you're not handy, don't.

So I did open it up to do the one thing I was certain I could do: replace the little watch battery that powers the display. I figured if that was the fix, then I could do it and it wouldn't cost much. Turns out, that wasn't the problem, and it was screwed together with like 15 billion screws, so I didn't want to open it back up again to check other things. I do not recall if there were ribbons or connectors inside—I was so ready to have it back together.

I'm hoping it is something as simple as what you suggest, though. The alternative is potentially that it's the board, and that's... not comforting.

 

[RSchuster]

Well, it's a happy ending!

I sent the pedalboard to Triple S (Triple S) in New Jersey, and they called me a little while later to let me know that they diagnosed the problem (something with the power supply/wiring—I don't remember exactly) and could fix it. They also offered to fix an annoying flicker that was under the buttons, but it was ultimately just cosmetic and I decided to pass on that. A few weeks later, they sent me my bill, I paid it, and I got the board back... and it works perfectly!

They also cleaned the whole thing and tightened up the foot pedal.

Basically the best possible outcome. I guess this is good news for anyone out there who's got old, out of production digital pedals—they are sometimes fixable, and at least one place exists that can do that work!