Troubleshooting
Before submitting a request for a repair or questions about a broken or non-working pedal, please follow the DIY troubleshooting steps below. Following the steps below is a quick and effective process that we have developed over years of emails involving repairs and alleged malfunctions. These steps will help you first determine whether the problem is the pedal itself or a possible external issue. Following these steps can save you time, money, and (most importantly) your sanity.
POWER
Make sure your pedal has power. All of our pedals run off of 9v DC Center Negative power. All of our pedals have the DC jack on the top of the pedal. Guitar Input is always on the right and output is always on the left.
ISOLATE
If you consider your pedal to be abnormally noisy, make sure your power supply is isolated. The symptoms of using a low-quality and/or non-isolated power supply can include, but are not limited to: switch pop, hissing, white noise or other strange noises. In addition, “dirty power” in whatever room, house, lounge or venue you’re playing at could also affect your pedal’s performance. For more info on the importance of clean power you can also refer to this article published in December 2011 by Premier Guitar Magazine titled Powering Your Board. Lastly, other issues that may produce noise in pedals are single coils in the “in phase” positions, standing too close to your amp, or having many high gain or boosting pedals on your board.
CABLES
If your pedal seems to be cutting volume when engaged, check to make sure all cables are plugged in, are making good connection and are not faulty. A continuity tester will tell you if you are getting a connection, but will not tell you how much of your signal is making it all the way through. Solder-less cables are known for this issue. Make sure all cables are functioning properly and have strong connections.
POWER AGAIN
If your pedal is not powering up, this is a problem. Make sure you have not plugged the wrong power supply into the pedal you are troubleshooting. Power supplies that do not work well with our pedals include, but are not limited to: Line6 power supplies, 18v supplies, AC power supplies. Even 1-Spot or similar supplies are know to cause occasional issues with some pedals.
ISOLATE AGAIN
A final step is to isolate your pedal on its own with a single cable coming from your guitar to the input and a single cable coming from the pedal’s output into your amp. Note that these cables need to be working and your power should be isolated. If your pedal mysteriously works when you have it isolated away from the rest of your gear, then there could be various issues with other pieces of your gear.
IF YOU ARE STILL EXPERIENCING TROUBLE WITH YOUR PEDAL, PLEASE COMPLETE THE FORM BELOW…