Weird issue with effects... dry signal passes when off, but cuts out when any pedal is engaged...

MarshallLaw

MarshallLaw

Feb 21, 2010
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thieveland ohio
#1
I've been jamming at home with 3 pedals, all powered with adapters (one 18v and two 9v's daisy chained together). They work fine and play nicely together.

A couple days ago, i auditioned for a band (went really well, I'm 95% sure I got the gig) and set everything up the same way. Dry signal passed when the pedals were off, but cut out completely when any of them were engaged. If any of the pedals were activated, I got silence. At home, I hooked everything back up and it all works fine again.

The only difference between here and there was a different cabinet.

I'm running a Fender P Bass > DOD Compressor 280 > Pigtronix Bass Envelope Phaser > EQD Hoof Reaper > Sunn 190B > Sunn 2x15 here/Ampeg 8x10 there. All cables are Planet Waves and are pretty much brand new.

So, uh... what?
 
#7
254 stringer said:
Probably a bad cable, I had a similar issue one time that turned out to be a cable.
Click to expand...

If it were a bad cable, then the problem would subsist when the pedals are off, which didn't happen.

BurningSkies said:
That can happen if one of the pedals wasn't powered properly. I've had it happen when one of the unused outs on a daisy chain shorted against something on stage.
Click to expand...

I think this is where your problem lies.
 
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#8
Okay folks, things have gotten even WEIRDER.

The incident in the OP happened when I was auditioning for a band. Despite the issues, I nailed the audition and joined the band. I picked up another 9v Onespot and stopped using the daisy chain, and had no issues. Two band practices and jamming at home, everything worked fine... until yesterday.

The same thing started happening - signal passes when pedals are off. Engage any effect, the LED comes on but I get silence. Each pedal has its own wall wart. I tried them all plugged into the same power strip, tried to power strip in different outlets. Then I tried it without the power strip, plugging each power supply directly into outlets. Tried this on different outlets as well. I even tried using each pedal on its own, no other pedals in the chain, plugged directly into the wall. Even tried switching between my two 9v Onespots.

The issue persists.

So... ghosts? Aliens? The government? The ghosts of alien government operatives?
 
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#10
MarshallLaw said:
Okay folks, things have gotten even WEIRDER.

The incident in the OP happened when I was auditioning for a band. Despite the issues, I nailed the audition and joined the band. I picked up another 9v Onespot and stopped using the daisy chain, and had no issues. Two band practices and jamming at home, everything worked fine... until yesterday.

The same thing started happening - signal passes when pedals are off. Engage any effect, the LED comes on but I get silence. Each pedal has its own wall wart. I tried them all plugged into the same power strip, tried to power strip in different outlets. Then I tried it without the power strip, plugging each power supply directly into outlets. Tried this on different outlets as well. I even tried using each pedal on its own, no other pedals in the chain, plugged directly into the wall. Even tried switching between my two 9v Onespots.

The issue persists.

So... ghosts? Aliens? The government? The ghosts of alien government operatives?
Click to expand...

This is not a power issue. It's likely mechanical, meaning something is loose. Check, and remake if needed, all cables. It could be a broken toggle switch on one pedal. To fix the issue you have to make it happen, then start checking. Cables first, gently wiggle them at the connections. Then try the toggle switches, and don't fully engage, just gently press till you feel resistance, sometimes the rockers inside stick, or are dirty. It looks like each of those pedals should be true bypass, meaning they let sound through in the bypass state without power.

The only thing that is ever safe to assume when troubleshooting is that everything is broken. Then build facts by checking.
 
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#11
There is still a rare possibility that it could be a power issue. The grounding at your house is different from the grounding at the other place; and the items plugged in to the same ground path are different items at each location; and even with all separate wall warts, your pedals and amp are all connected via the ground path of the audio patch cords. So it's /possible/ that the path of least resistance at one location causes different behavior than the other location.

I agree that it is PROBABLY a mechanical issue, one that just happened to flare up (and go away again) when you moved your pedals (jostling the weakened connection each time). That would also explain why it got worse. Cracked solder joints are notorious for this kind of thing.
 
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#14
MarshallLaw said:
I've been jamming at home with 3 pedals, all powered with adapters (one 18v and two 9v's daisy chained together). They work fine and play nicely together.

A couple days ago, i auditioned for a band (went really well, I'm 95% sure I got the gig) and set everything up the same way. Dry signal passed when the pedals were off, but cut out completely when any of them were engaged. If any of the pedals were activated, I got silence. At home, I hooked everything back up and it all works fine again.

The only difference between here and there was a different cabinet.

I'm running a Fender P Bass > DOD Compressor 280 > Pigtronix Bass Envelope Phaser > EQD Hoof Reaper > Sunn 190B > Sunn 2x15 here/Ampeg 8x10 there. All cables are Planet Waves and are pretty much brand new.

So, uh... what?
Click to expand...

Any of them. So this is what's making me think it's still electrical. If it was something that happened with all of them on I could buy it was a bad mechanical switch, etc. but if it happens with 'any' of the chain, the only common factor is the electrical. And that it only is happening at one location...
 
#15
Check the output jack on your P bass. If it's loose and especially if the cavity is shielded, it might be shorting the signal to ground if you move a certain way. Planet waves cables might also be making it more likely, if they are the kind with the "springs" on the ground sleeve.
 
#16
Could be the power you're supplying it, it could be your bass, or it could be the power supplies.

Do you have anything that is not a One Spot to try? Different brand?

Which pedal runs on the 18v btw? I've had other 18v pedals screw up my signal chain before but it's usually just white noise.
 
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