my cursed EHX Black Finger

[Col. Funk]

Hey,

I'm having trouble with one of my pedals and I was hoping someone here would be able to help me out.

My EHX Black Finger (one of the modern ones with the tubes) works fine for about 5 mins after you turn it on, but after that it starts to quickly fade until the signal dies completely, at which point it's dead until the end of the night.

Has anyone else had a similar problem or any idea what to do about it? The tubes mean that i'm EXTREMELY reluctant to open it up myself, so does anyone know any good places that do repairs on pedals? (in the UK preferably).

Could it be the adaptor?

Any help would be appreciated.

Adam.

 

[Col. Funk]

Re: my cursed EHX Black Finger

er... anyone?

 

[Rich_S]

Re: my cursed EHX Black Finger

Sounds like a temperature-dependent problem, like a cold solder joint or bad component, tube socket, tube, etc. If you want to mess with it yourself, have someone play through it, then probe around for loose connections with something non-conductive. The most common DIY-amp-builder-approved tool for this is a wooden chopstick, available free at your local Chinese restaurant.

Try swapping the tube, too. It might simply be bad.

 

[Col. Funk]

Re: my cursed EHX Black Finger

The EHX stuff that came with the pedal seems to discourage openning up the unit, what with the tubes and all. Are you sure I won't blow myself to pieces? How big can the charges get in one of these units?

Maybe if I wear wellington boots and stand on a big rubber mat i'll be fine...

On a similar note, where would be a good place to buy some new tubes? Are they expensive?

Many thanks.

Adam.

 

[chill]

Re: my cursed EHX Black Finger

IIRC, EH uses 220V toroidal PT's in those pedals, so you're probably going to see about 310V for the B+ with a full wave bridge rectifier. Poke around the net for tube amp safety info, including ax84, ampage, and geofex's tube amp faq.

New 12ax7's shouldn't cost you too much. JJ's are under $10 USD, a bunch of others are a little over $10 USD, and if they're asking more than $15 USD for new tubes, offer to Rochambeau them for it. But make sure you go first. NOS tubes can get quite spendy, but preamp tubes last a long time.

In the UK try http://www.watfordvalves.com/