Pedal pop

Placidcasual79

Probably another stupid question - so apologies in advance -

I have an EHX bad stone on my board. I love its tone - but when I engage it the 'pop' is f*cking loud! Its not an issue with my other pedals (I go Tuner, Bad stone, EP Booster, Tube screamer, DD-7). Is it a fault with the pedal? Can I do anything to reduce the noise? Its not the end of the world - just irritating......

lasermonkey

I believe it's a "thing" on the Bad Stone and for the want of one resistor, it shouldn't be.
Try soldering a 100K Ohm resistor from the circuit board output to earth. That should get rid of the pop.

jpttaylor

I have this issue as well with mine - been meaning to have it fixed for ages but never got round to it. This thread details a fix which is just a resistor between the board and the foot switch I think,

Placidcasual79

jpttaylor said:

I have this issue as well with mine - been meaning to have it fixed for ages but never got round to it. This thread details a fix which is just a resistor between the board and the foot switch I think,

An issue with your bad stone?

I've never done anything even remotely solder like..... how easy is it to pull off? Am I better taking it to some one?

DesVegas

I have a bad stone too and it pops like a bastard.

jpttaylor

Placidcasual79 said:

jpttaylor said:

I have this issue as well with mine - been meaning to have it fixed for ages but never got round to it. This thread details a fix which is just a resistor between the board and the foot switch I think,

An issue with your bad stone?

I've never done anything even remotely solder like..... how easy is it to pull off? Am I better taking it to some one?

Yeah the same with my Bad Stone. In soldering terms it's simple I think but if you've never done it before and aren't willing to start, it's probably better to take it to someone who's experienced in repairs.

absolutpepper

if its annoying you, you could get a tb looper and pop the pedal into it, leave it always on and switch it in and out with the looper....pop gone.

DesVegas

absolutpepper said:

if its annoying you, you could get a tb looper and pop the pedal into it, leave it always on and switch it in and out with the looper....pop gone.

Interestingly enough, i did this and it would make the looper pop.

Placidcasual79

I guess I need to work out whether its cheaper to take it to some one or buy the soldering gear..... I am up for trying... how hard can it be (placidcasual next seen in Wrexham A + E with a Bad stone soldered to his arse)

This isn't an issue with all phasers?

ICBM

DesVegas said:

absolutpepper said:

if its annoying you, you could get a tb looper and pop the pedal into it, leave it always on and switch it in and out with the looper....pop gone.

Interestingly enough, i did this and it would make the looper pop.

That's because if there's a DC leak - which it sounds like there is if a pull-down resistor fixes it - then it will make any mechanical switch connected to it pop. A Boss LS-2 would fix it though .

It absolutely baffles me that this sort of thing is considered acceptable in any pedal today. Boss, DOD, Ibanez and others completely cured this problem in the late 70s/early 80s. This is the 21st century…

Placidcasual79 said:

This isn't an issue with all phasers?

No. Try a Boss PH-1R/PH-2, a DOD FX-20, an Ibanez PT-9 or any other decent buffered one.

DesVegas

EHX say the bad stone holds a charge and clicking the pedal on an off 3 or 4 times discharges the charge

Placidcasual79

DesVegas said:

EHX say the bad stone holds a charge and clicking the pedal on an off 3 or 4 times discharges the charge

I am going to try that tomorrow......

ICBM

DesVegas said:

EHX say the bad stone holds a charge and clicking the pedal on an off 3 or 4 times

shortens the life of the switch by 3-4 times and doesn't actually fix the problem.

Corrected.


If you want to fix it, you need to add a pull-down resistor.

ecc83

If you don't feel confident tackling the pedal's giblets you can fit a resistor into the output jack plug. This is one time the otherwise excellent Neutriks are unsuitable and you need a bog S barrel style plug.

The resistor needs to be physically small but its value is in no way critical, don't go lower than 22k and much higher than 220k will have less effect. I am sure to have something in my junk so if you want to have a go, PM me and I will pop something in the post. BTW Maplin do a "lucky bag" of resistors and many are really tiny.

IF you make up such a cable, FFS Dymo it up as a special!

Dave.

ICBM

ecc83 said:

If you don't feel confident tackling the pedal's giblets you can fit a resistor into the output jack plug.

That won't work. The problem is DC build-up on the pedal circuit being discharged to ground when the pedal is switched on and connected to something that does have a resistor already - eg the input of a typical amp.

You need to add the resistor from the pedal circuit output to ground. This is a good explanation - http://www.muzique.com/news/pulldown-resistors/

Of course you won't be familiar with this problem since Blackstar doesn't make pedals with crap switching!

Placidcasual79

ICBM said:

DesVegas said:

EHX say the bad stone holds a charge and clicking the pedal on an off 3 or 4 times

shortens the life of the switch by 3-4 times and doesn't actually fix the problem.

Corrected.


If you want to fix it, you need to add a pull-down resistor.

This does work a bit - if you switch 4/5 times in succession it does reduce (though not completely remove) the pop...... can't be good for the pedal that though can it? Does the pop hurt the amp speaker too?

I am reluctant to delve into the giblets - I am totally impractical...... I use my phaser a lot so if I've got to get a new pedal I  might as well have a go at fixing this one first....

ICBM

Placidcasual79 said:

This does work a bit - if you switch 4/5 times in succession it does reduce (though not completely remove) the pop...... can't be good for the pedal that though can it?

No, it isn't - the switch has a finite lifespan in terms of cycles, so if you repeatedly turn it on and off for no good reason every time you use it, you're eating into that. They're notoriously unreliable enough as it is. Not only that, it does *not* cure it anyway - it simply discharges it for a bit. The charge then builds up again after a while.

It's not the right thing to do or advise - the right thing is to design the pedal properly in the first place, if they insist on using mechanical switching. If that hasn't been done then you have no proper option but to fix the mistake.

Or just buy a better pedal.

Placidcasual79

ICBM said:

Placidcasual79 said:

This does work a bit - if you switch 4/5 times in succession it does reduce (though not completely remove) the pop...... can't be good for the pedal that though can it?

No, it isn't - the switch has a finite lifespan in terms of cycles, so if you repeatedly turn it on and off for no good reason every time you use it, you're eating into that. They're notoriously unreliable enough as it is. Not only that, it does *not* cure it anyway - it simply discharges it for a bit. The charge then builds up again after a while.

It's not the right thing to do or advise - the right thing is to design the pedal properly in the first place, if they insist on using mechanical switching. If that hasn't been done then you have no proper option but to fix the mistake.

Or just buy a better pedal.

Thanks ICBM - I am going for a fix, then a better pedal if that fails.