Zoom B2: identical failure on 2 different units

ack · #1 05-23-2011, 11:57 AM

Hey all,

I'm just curious to see if anyone else on TB has ever experienced a failure of the Increment footswitch on their B2 Bass Effects pedal.

I bought one a few years ago, and it worked great for about 18 months, then I noticed that I'd have to hit the increment footswitch several times in order for it to register. From there, the problem got worse - to the point where the Increment footswitch doesn't work at all.

I called Zoom Tech Support and they told me it would be $50 per hour + parts + shipping to fix. I researched and didn't see that it was a recurring problem, so I bought another B2 on sale.

About 18 months later, the same exact problem is occurring on the new one. I wrote Zoom Tech Support to ask if they know of any recurring issues on the B2. They responded that they haven't noticed any similar failures patterns. Good news, however: the labor rate hasn't changed in 2 years - still $50 p/ hour + parts + shipping to fix it.

I'm curious to see if anyone on TB has experienced a similar failure like mine. It's odd that I'd have exactly the same issue.

I own quite a bit of Zoom stuff, and it's mostly trouble-free.
The only thing that I do out of the ordinary is that I run the B2 with a 1-Spot, instead of the Zoom AC Power Supply. I verified with Tech Support that the 1-Spot is not an issue before I ever plugged the first one in.

Just curious,
Steve

bassbrad · #2 05-23-2011, 01:03 PM

Bummer, my B2.1u is still trouble free(knock on wood). One of my concerns with the 2 footswitch arrangement is to have to hit both to get to bypass/tune/mute mode so I use a momentary pedal for that.
Since you have 2 you could open one up and see if there is any physical default inside that is keeping the plunder form actuating the internal switch.

ack · #3 05-23-2011, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassbrad

Bummer, my B2.1u is still trouble free(knock on wood). One of my concerns with the 2 footswitch arrangement is to have to hit both to get to bypass/tune/mute mode so I use a momentary pedal for that.
Since you have 2 you could open one up and see if there is any physical default inside that is keeping the plunder form actuating the internal switch.

Thanks for the reply/
I had a look while trying to troubleshoot- the two footswitches (feetswitches?) are on one solid daughterboard, and since the same switch is malfunctioning on both units, I cant swap 'em.

I agree that sometimes the bypass sequence is a bit awkward.

Swift713 · #4 05-23-2011, 05:40 PM

I had this problem twice with mine. The first time I sent the pedal in for repair (under warranty IIRC) and got it back in a week. The second time I bought the replacement switch from Zoom and fixed it myself. It was a cinch. The switches are the same. I haven't heard of anyone else having this problem but I'm sure there are a certain % of those little switches that will go bad.