Tech Guys - Question

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Are digital pedals harder to repair vs analog pedals?

I have always heard solid state amps when they go bad are more difficult to fix, is it the same with digital/analog in the pedal world?

[MojoMonster]

Re: Tech Guys - Question

Only in the sense that modern surface mount components can be uber-small and next to impossible to solder/desolder.
And modeling amps will tend to have a higher level of complexity to accomplish their goals.

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Tech Guys - Question

That about right guys?

[dystrust]

Re: Tech Guys - Question

That about right guys?

Pretty much. Depending on the specific failure it may not even be possible to fix digital gear.

[ErikH]

Digital requires programming. Without the ROM image, it can't be fixed if that part goes bad.

With analog pedals, I can troubleshoot and find the bad part with just a multimeter and my ears.

[Agileguy_101]

Re: Tech Guys - Question

That's not always true. There are other parts in a digital pedal that can fail that would just require replacing.

[bungalowbill]

Re: Tech Guys - Question

Digital is fly surgery.

[RayBarbeeMusic]

Re: Tech Guys - Question

Mojo answered accurately. Although I'm capable of repairing items with SMCs, it's just not worth it for me or the customer.

Things are made with SMCs to make them CHEAP. They are also a raging pain in the ass to repair. That makes repairs EXPENSIVE. CHEAP items are almost always not worth EXPENSIVE repairs.

If it is under warranty, most companies will either tell the warranty center to throw it in the trash and send a new one, or they will send a whole new board. They don't get into reimbursing techs for tracking down individual bad SMCs. The reason for that is, they don't want to pay for it, because it's cheaper for them to send a whole new board or just replace the item entirely.

Look at your computer mother board. Those are SMCs. If your board goes bad, will your computer tech trace down which of those tiny little bastards went **** up? No, they'll get you a new board.

If you buy cheap SMC filled music gear, you need to do so with eyes wide open, understanding that it is basically a disposable lighter. Often the stuff is cheap enough that still makes financial sense, as long as the warranty is long enough.

[ErikH]

Re: Tech Guys - Question

That's not always true. There are other parts in a digital pedal that can fail that would just require replacing.

True, and most are surface mount which goes back to MojoMonster's answer. Even though I'm handy with a soldering iron and have made/modded/repaired pedals, I wouldn't even touch a digital pedal. It would go back to the manufacturer to be dealt with, if they will do it without it costing too much.

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Tech Guys - Question

My amp/electronics repair guy is a digital camera repair service (surveillance) and can repair breadboard DSP based stuff pretty well. Most electronic repair guys are bench level techs who can only fix what they've been exposed to in the past. Most haven't been exposed to the soldering techniques that digital component reworking requires, but some have.

Plus, the chips have to be available... some of the older digital gear contains DSP chips that are no longer being made.

Catastrophic failures where whole sections of the circuit board are fried from a power problem usually mean that the piece of equipment is toast.

Pedal modders are really anyone's best bet for fixing digital pedals... those guys are really adept at getting around inside of the various pedal designs out there. They should be contacted first in inquiring about the feasibility of a digital pedal's repair IMO.