Pedalboard Popping - some help?

[B2D]

Hey doods. I have a minor glitch in my pedal board that I’d like some help in getting rid of.

I’m running a Boss TU2, a Crybaby Wah, and a Fulltone OCD in front of my amp, and a BOSS DD20 and a Line 6 MM4 in the effects loop. Turning on or off the wah or the OCD or the mm4 (i.e. anything without the BOSS-style FET switches) produces a popping noise… it’s the most pronounced with the MM4, less so with the OCD and the wah. Thing is when I use just one pedal by itself (i.e. no other pedals hooked up at all) I don’t have the problem.

I had this same problem with my Marshall Regenerator, and I was told that this was due to static buildup in the contacts or something of that nature.

Can anyone diagnose/confirm my problem and/or offer a solution? Thanks in advance.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Pedalboard Popping - some help?

I may not be the most qualified for this type of a problem, but the first thing I would do is check all the cables (which I'm sure you have don already) once I did that then I would spray a little contact spray on all the jack inputs and switches. A little carbon buildup can cause all kinds of noise and volume problems and its real easy to fix. What kind of cables are you using? What power supply? Next try eliminating the power supply by using batteries just to see what happens. It could be just a bad power supply or a bad cable.

 

[B2D]

Re: Pedalboard Popping - some help?

I may not be the most qualified for this type of a problem, but the first thing I would do is check all the cables (which I'm sure you have don already) once I did that then I would spray a little contact spray on all the jack inputs and switches. A little carbon buildup can cause all kinds of noise and volume problems and its real easy to fix. What kind of cables are you using? What power supply? Next try eliminating the power supply by using batteries just to see what happens. It could be just a bad power supply or a bad cable.

I've already been through all that, to tell you the truth. The problem described occurs with wall warts or with batteries, and with clean and positive contacts. I'm using two Visual Sound One-Spots. The cables are those Planet Waves ones that you buy the ends for and then cut the cable to taste. They all work fine.

I gig pretty frequently and rehearse 3x a week so I have to make sure everything works all the time.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Pedalboard Popping - some help?

Have you tried eliminating the one spots? I use 2 with my board also, but I did have a problem with one. I sent it back and they replaced it for me. ????

As I said I may not be the most qualified. Sounds like you did all the things I would have.

 

[devastone]

Re: Pedalboard Popping - some help?

Unfortunately that's the nature of true bypass mechanical switches. The circuit does build up a slight charge in the time it takes for the contact to switch positions. Sometimes a 1M resistor across the contacts will help some, but it's not guaranteed to fix it. Some amps also seem to let it come through more than others, may have something to do with the input impedance of different amps too, not sure on that one.

 

[foo3001]

Re: Pedalboard Popping - some help?

I had the exact same problem,

all pedals with true bypass suddenly popped so much that they were basically unusable.

I tried everything, and I was getting desperate until I tried replacing the V1 preamp tube in my amp. And presto! Problem solved!

No idea why it worked but I guess the tube had gone microphonic causing those noises..

 

[B2D]

Re: Pedalboard Popping - some help?

Unfortunately that's the nature of true bypass mechanical switches. The circuit does build up a slight charge in the time it takes for the contact to switch positions. Sometimes a 1M resistor across the contacts will help some, but it's not guaranteed to fix it. Some amps also seem to let it come through more than others, may have something to do with the input impedance of different amps too, not sure on that one.

The pedals in that rig that are TB are the OCD, the Crybaby, and the MM4. I suppose I could try to fix those... when you say "across the contacts" what exactly do you mean?

I had the exact same problem,

all pedals with true bypass suddenly popped so much that they were basically unusable.

I tried everything, and I was getting desperate until I tried replacing the V1 preamp tube in my amp. And presto! Problem solved!

No idea why it worked but I guess the tube had gone microphonic causing those noises..

These are fairly new tubes, but I've got an extra 12ax7 lying around so I'll try that and see if it helps.

 

[lex666]

Re: Pedalboard Popping - some help?

Have you tried eliminating the one spots? I use 2 with my board also, but I did have a problem with one. I sent it back and they replaced it for me. ????

As I said I may not be the most qualified. Sounds like you did all the things I would have.

+1

My 1 Spot started making noise for a while before actually quitting on me. I wonder if maybe your 1 Spot is on the verge of quitting, although it may appear to be operating at the time.

I'd recommend checking the cables, but this time try the wiggle test. Check all the cables at both ends using some wiggle. I've had bad cables that sounded fine until you actually moved or wiggled them in a certain direction. Also check the nuts on both the input and output of each pedal. Disconnect everything, inspect, and then reconnect everything.

 

[B2D]

Re: Pedalboard Popping - some help?

+1

My 1 Spot started making noise for a while before actually quitting on me. I wonder if maybe your 1 Spot is on the verge of quitting, although it may appear to be operating at the time.

My 1 Spots work fine, it does this with other power supplies too.

I'd recommend checking the cables, but this time try the wiggle test. Check all the cables at both ends using some wiggle. I've had bad cables that sounded fine until you actually moved or wiggled them in a certain direction. Also check the nuts on both the input and output of each pedal. Disconnect everything, inspect, and then reconnect everything.

I've already been through all that, to tell you the truth. The problem described occurs with wall warts or with batteries, and with clean and positive contacts. I'm using two Visual Sound One-Spots. The cables are those Planet Waves ones that you buy the ends for and then cut the cable to taste. They all work fine.

I gig pretty frequently and rehearse 3x a week so I have to make sure everything works all the time.

 

[devastone]

Re: Pedalboard Popping - some help?

The pedals in that rig that are TB are the OCD, the Crybaby, and the MM4. I suppose I could try to fix those... when you say "across the contacts" what exactly do you mean?

Sorry, bad phrasing, a 1M - 2M or so resistor from the input and output capacitors to ground should help, not exactly "across the contacts". This will bleed of the voltage that is built up in the caps. Sorry, my original explanation was kinda crappy, check this for better info, http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/box_pop.htm.