Effect "Safety line"

[St Drogo]

I am really impressed with what I can only describe as an obsessive comulsive drive to build huge pedalboards that a lot of you guys have.

But.

Don't you get paranoid that one of you twenty pedals might cut out during a show? I've left my old band where I used some effects recently and joined a band where I play directly into my amp, and I cannot describe the peace of mind that gives me live. So I've been thinking; if I ever return to big pedalboards (or pedalboard at all), I plan to have like an aorta of my signal you know what I mean? I would split the signal between my bass and my first effect, and have it rejoin the effected signal after my last effect. That way, whenever some pedal might cut out, at least I would not go silent, but I'd have my clean signal to fall back on.

Sure, not half as exciting as with all the pedals, but better than nothing. Sorta like a safety net. Any of you guys (or gals) do someting similar? How would this affect your signal? Would it be half as loud, or muddied up?

[Spacelordmother]

[St Drogo]

I see. But that still is a pedal an won't ease my paranoia. It's just a loop right? Like an LS-2 or similar?

EDIT: Also, I'm not realy looking for a solution here, just interested in how you deal.

[behndy]

yeah... it's a good point, but i use quality cables or build my own, test them every couple weeks, BABY my stuff, and have a simple enough signal chain that i could quickly plug straight into my preamp if i needed to.



but it's never come up, and i think with enough diligence to check once in a while it shouldn't be an issue.

i've never really worried about that.

[behndy]

sPACED_lORD - AHHHHHH! BUT WHAT HAPPENS IF THE TRUE BYPASS FAILS!!!!!

..... apart from a ripping the Space Time Continuum a new one.

a angry, angry new one.

[St Drogo]

Originally Posted by behndy

yeah... it's a good point, but i use quality cables or build my own

Yeah, but it's not a question of the cables for me. For example: I have an old OC-2 that gets on the fritz sometimes and just cuts out all of my signal, until I stomp it again (which I do with vigor). so it's about the actual pedals, for me at least.

And I'm not nimble enough to replug my cables in a nanosec. It's probably the fatness.

[KarateKid25]

Originally Posted by St Drogo

I see. But that still is a pedal an won't ease my paranoia. It's just a loop right? Like an LS-2 or similar?

A bypass loop is literally just wires, jacks and a switch. You can add an LED if you want, but otherwise, it is just an unpowered box with a switch in it. Sure, the switch could fail, but if that induces paranoia, then you would have the same paranoia regarding a bass, amp, cable etc etc.

For the cost, you could throw a second true bypass loop in the bag for next to nothing if it really helps ease your worries.

You could also run one of those strips that has a whole run of bypass loops and put a pedal in each loop. That way, rather than having to skip the whole board, you can just bypass the dead pedal.

Generally I don't really worry about failures. Out of stacks and stacks of pedals, I've hardly had an issue with any...

[behndy]

i'm with Kid Karate on this one. as with cables and stuff, i take care of any pedal that is acting up the same way i would a bass or cab that was having an issue.

short of drunken fools with wonderful aim with their beer, i'm more worried about nailing my parts than equipment failure.

and that's why i would never gig anything made by Behringer.

[cybersnyder]

Pedal fails? Just pull the plug at the front of the effects and run it direct. Or if the effects are critical to your sound and you're really concerned, something like an M13 would make a nice backup unit.

[iamdenialNJ]

Aren't you afraid your amp failing? What about your bass or basses?! What if your FINGERS fail!?!?
I'm feeling some
on this one.

[tomhanzo]

Originally Posted by iamdenialNJ

Aren't you afraid your amp failing? What about your bass or basses?! What if your FINGERS fail!?!?
I'm feeling some
on this one.

[kevteop]

Originally Posted by St Drogo

Yeah, but it's not a question of the cables for me. For example: I have an old OC-2 that gets on the fritz sometimes and just cuts out all of my signal, until I stomp it again (which I do with vigor). so it's about the actual pedals, for me at least.

Not wanting to state the obvious but have you tried repairing or replacing your broken gear, instead of worrying about it failing?

[cheapbasslovin]

Originally Posted by Spacelordmother

This is really the way to go. It is one pedal with a mechanical switch. It is possible that this will fail in some way, but it is no more or less likely to fail then the jack on your bass or amp.

This is a little different than the LS-2 in that it is a mechanical switch and the LS-2 uses electronic switching. If your power supply fails, so will the LS-2, but a mechanical switch doesn't rely on power. There are many other differences, but for your purposes this is the main one.

If your signal fails, and hitting this (or a pedal like it) doesn't fix it, then you've immediately narrowed your problems to: a)bass, b)loop pedal, c)amp, d)one of 2 cables. Contrast that with a chain of 15 pedals all in series and you have either a pretty good safety valve or a nice troubleshooting tool. Win/ win IMO.

[CrayZee_One]

Originally Posted by KarateKid25

Generally I don't really worry about failures.

Exactly!

Play enough gigs and you work out things will go wrong from time to time. Get over it and deal with it at the time (if) it happens!

[theunknowndude]

I've only had one bad power adaptor (was just dodgy, sometimes would work othertimes not) but apart from that everything has always been fine,... I just keep my pedalboard in its case and used the planet waves custom cables... hard to put together at first cos you need a bit of pressure on it when you screw in the ends but once you get the hang of them its easy,...


my biggest worry are the actual instrument cables, ive had a few of them die on me but they were close to 10 years old when they did...

[chokeslam512]

I only had it happen once and it was during practice. I stepped on my EBS Multi Drive and then no sound, ever since then I do not use the twosided jack couplers, there is always at least a little bit of actual cable in between pedals on my board.

[john turner]

that's why i always carry a complete duplicate board and rack everywhere i go.

[L-A]

Originally Posted by john turner

that's why i always carry a complete duplicate board and rack everywhere i go.

That's what it takes to be safe, right?

We have a van with all of our stuff, and a backup van with all of our stuff.

[derrico1]

Originally Posted by john turner

that's why i always carry a complete duplicate board and rack everywhere i go.

Heck, I put together an identical pedalboard and pre-amp rig and hire a 2nd bass player to be playing it backstage, doubling my parts exactly. That way, if the malfunctioning pedals I haven't bothered to repair go bad mid-song, the FOH and monitor engineers just switch over to the post-DI send of my understudy.

Well, really I only do that for important gigs. But, then, don't we all?

[skulletwhip]

At this very moment, my head is giving me more crap than any effect I have ever owned.