OH noes!!! My stomp box needs help!

StarscreamG1 · #1 12-10-2008, 11:28 AM

I have an older Digitech Xseries distortion bass stomp box (4 years old or so). This thing is lucky if it had an hours worth of use before I got it from a bud of mine. I myself have rarely used it. Well all thats about to change...or so I thought.

Its always worked fine and I decide to work out so to speak with my amp (I play unplugged a lot for whatever reason) yesterday and I grab the stomp box, hook it all up to my Rig and my Dynabass and.....Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Oh the distortion works but theres a horrible buzz whine above it all. I didn't know exactly what was doing it but I noticed the jack is loose on the Dyna so switched to my Yammy RBX200...same thing....I unplugged the cab on my rig...same thing.. .I bypassed the stomp box....zzz/whine gone....

I am assuming in my electronic ignorance the ground blew out? (the ground is blown on my Cowpoke right now and the box was making that same sound only ten times worse)...easy fix I would assume also? (I mean the Cowpoke is an easy fix if I just get off my lazy butt and do it LOL) Should I bother or find another stomp box? I like its distortion ok enough, not /exactly/ what I was looking for but I can live with it (especially for the price I got it for

). And what would make a ground [assuming this is the issue] just blow suddenly like this for a box that might have 10 hours of use time put in if that?

StarscreamG1 · #2 12-10-2008, 01:52 PM

Bueller?

AndyLES · #3 12-10-2008, 01:54 PM

These pedals had/have crap reliability, especially with the bypass switch.

Revmizery · #4 12-10-2008, 01:56 PM

is it running by battery or power supply? I noticed that when mine would start to die by battery it would make some weird noises.

niftydog · #5 12-10-2008, 03:57 PM

Ok, I think I managed to translate that...

Sometimes wires can break off from where they are soldered onto the circuit board - open it up and look for loose wires. The age of the pedal, or how much use it's had doesn't really impact on such faults. I'd also suggest you check all of your cables and patches.

Battery or power supply?

StarscreamG1 · #6 12-10-2008, 07:48 PM

LOL yea I guess it needed translation. I am stupid with stuff like this (yea go figure). It was on power supply and the cables were fine. And because its an old Digitech (though I do like Digitech and have a nice BP80) thats why I asked if it was worth tearing into or just get another distortion pedal. And if a new pedal would be the best way to go I have no clue whats a really good distortion pedal out there. I was looking on the bay and had no clue (as in good brands vs bad brands besides some obvious brand names)

niftydog · #7 12-10-2008, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StarscreamG1

...if it was worth tearing into or just get another distortion pedal.

That depends on whether it's something simple like a loose wire, or something more involved, but you'll never know unless you open it.

StarscreamG1 · #8 12-10-2008, 09:45 PM

Thats true. ^_^ I will tear into it tomorrow and then let a neighbor who is some electronics whiz with all the meters and testers and whatever test it out and see whats up with it.

bassmanrocke · #9 12-17-2008, 07:15 PM

I am far from a pedal expert, but frequently if you have the gain turned up too high on a pedal it will start to hiss. Also they will amplify your signal, and when you play active basses through them you are boosting a signal that is already boosted. The hiss tends to be more pronounced if your treble is boosted on the bass. Try rolling back both the treble on your bass and the gain on the pedal and see if that helps.