Here's a funny, and possibly informative story for you:
A while back I bought a used Digitech RP350 for use in home-recording with my computer. I used it a few times...works as advertised. I like the build quality and the fact that it is made in USA. Sounds decent, too.
So, one evening I head down to my man cave to do a little web-surfing. My guitar is sitting there plugged into my RP350, which still has the USB cable plugged in to the computer. I pick the guitar up and a doing a little jamming as a read the daily news. As I'm playing, I feel a sharp stinging in my hand where it rests on the bridge...I check for something sharp...nothing. Rest my hand on the bridge again...OUCH!! I realize I'm getting electrocuted! Bust out the trusty Fluke DMM and find about 38 volts AC on my strings! Keep in mind, the only thing plugged into anything with power is the USB cable.
So, I do a few experiments and measurements and then email Digitech customer service with my problem. Next day I get a nice long response explaining the power circuitry of the RP350 and one engineer's theory that my computer may have a bad ground and that is where my voltage problem is. So I measure from the USB cable's ground/shield to the basement floor (earth ground)...56 volts AC!
I had recently re-arranged the man-cave portion of the basement and had plugged my computer stuff into one of the old outlets that doesn't have an earth ground hooked up (floating ground) and for some reason there is quite a bit of voltage where there shouldn't be. I just now switched the computer stuff over to a properly grounded outlet and everything is fine.
I probably would never have noticed this stray voltage if I hadn't been barefoot when I was playing my guitar that one evening. Being barefoot, all that stray current was going right through me directly to ground.
So, a big thanks to Digitech customer service. They took the time to give me a thorough rundown of how their product works & then give suggestions as to where my problem may lie, even though it was obvious to them that the problem was not their product. They also knew that I had purchased the product used and that it was not under any kind of warranty.
TL;DR: Digitech customer service keeps me from electrocuting myself just because they are nice.
A while back I bought a used Digitech RP350 for use in home-recording with my computer. I used it a few times...works as advertised. I like the build quality and the fact that it is made in USA. Sounds decent, too.
So, one evening I head down to my man cave to do a little web-surfing. My guitar is sitting there plugged into my RP350, which still has the USB cable plugged in to the computer. I pick the guitar up and a doing a little jamming as a read the daily news. As I'm playing, I feel a sharp stinging in my hand where it rests on the bridge...I check for something sharp...nothing. Rest my hand on the bridge again...OUCH!! I realize I'm getting electrocuted! Bust out the trusty Fluke DMM and find about 38 volts AC on my strings! Keep in mind, the only thing plugged into anything with power is the USB cable.
So, I do a few experiments and measurements and then email Digitech customer service with my problem. Next day I get a nice long response explaining the power circuitry of the RP350 and one engineer's theory that my computer may have a bad ground and that is where my voltage problem is. So I measure from the USB cable's ground/shield to the basement floor (earth ground)...56 volts AC!
I had recently re-arranged the man-cave portion of the basement and had plugged my computer stuff into one of the old outlets that doesn't have an earth ground hooked up (floating ground) and for some reason there is quite a bit of voltage where there shouldn't be. I just now switched the computer stuff over to a properly grounded outlet and everything is fine.
I probably would never have noticed this stray voltage if I hadn't been barefoot when I was playing my guitar that one evening. Being barefoot, all that stray current was going right through me directly to ground.
So, a big thanks to Digitech customer service. They took the time to give me a thorough rundown of how their product works & then give suggestions as to where my problem may lie, even though it was obvious to them that the problem was not their product. They also knew that I had purchased the product used and that it was not under any kind of warranty.
TL;DR: Digitech customer service keeps me from electrocuting myself just because they are nice.
