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Akai Unibass - BIG PROBLEM

I

ImNotGeddyLee

Mar 13, 2001
850
2
Providence RI
#1
this pedal has been a HUGE part of my sound for my bass/drum duo and I fear I will need to put it to rest. The input gain is just getting weaker and weaker by the day. I used to have to set it to about 9 o'clock to drive the pedal using my active stingray... now I need to set it as far as it will go (about 5 oclock) and even then it's only enough to work when I play very hard on the lower strings. Has anyone had any problems with this or similiar pedals? I have tried it with multiple basses/guitars and all experience the same problem.

I am thinking the EH POG may have to be purchased soon as a replacement unit because I have a feeling the unibass will not be a fixable problem (being a completely digital pedal) .
 
#2
It seems that I am starting to run into this problem too. I'm not sure though. It's just not tracking as well as it did before. It's not a huge decrease but it's just noticeable. It might just be because I'm playing at low volumes in my room, but it's late now and I shall post my results tomorrow.
 
#3
This may be a stupid question - but have you checked to make sure it's not the battery in your Stingray wearing down?

That said - the POG is a great pedal (I like it better than the Unibass for octave up) but doesn't have the dual outputs of the Unibass.
 
#4
>> Has anyone had any problems with this or similiar pedals? I have tried it with multiple basses/guitars and all experience the same problem.<<

I've already gone through 2 UB1's and a Deep Impact. Same problem with the UB1's and the problem with the SB1 is similiar. Yours sounds like it's on its way out.

CraigB, I still have the SB1 that you sold to me. You the man!

I had a used UB1 that I bought used from a music store sitting in a box as a backup. When I took it out a couple months ago to replace a broken unit, I discovered that it was DOA. That was rough... I couldn't go back to the music store a year later and say that I'd bought it broken :hmm: ...live and learn.

These things are currently fetching ridiculous prices (the SB1 moreso than the UB1.) People are paying up the whazoo for these without realizing the reliability issues associated with these units.
 
#5
>>I am thinking the EH POG may have to be purchased soon as a replacement unit because I have a feeling the unibass will not be a fixable problem (being a completely digital pedal) .<<

The POG tracks very well. It's polyphonic, too... though, there's no distortion or harmonization aside from octaves but there are ways around that if you're inclined.

No word on long term reliability yet.
 
#8
ok the strange thing is that i used it last night at a gig and it worked FINE. Yes i have checked the battery in the stingray, chords, used multiple instruments, etc etc. It was getting worse and worse over the last 3 months and by last practice it wasn't working at all... i left it on the board for a show when i noticed the input gain lights on... i am very confused...

i am still looking at that POG though... it's between that and the moogerfooger ring mod
 
#9
ImNotGeddyLee said:
ok the strange thing is that i used it last night at a gig and it worked FINE. Yes i have checked the battery in the stingray, chords, used multiple instruments, etc etc. It was getting worse and worse over the last 3 months and by last practice it wasn't working at all... i left it on the board for a show when i noticed the input gain lights on... i am very confused...
Click to expand...

It's worth getting a friend or tech to redo the solder joints - you might just have a 'cold' joint that's playing up from time to time.
 
#10
I haven't looked inside the UB1 or the SB1 but isn't there a possibility that it has one of those watch style batteries in it since it saves your settings?

The other thing besides checking your bass battery is to also the age of your strings, new strings tend to work a lot better with these affects that need to track your notes to do what they do.
 
#11
ImNotGeddyLee said:
ok the strange thing is that i used it last night at a gig and it worked FINE. Yes i have checked the battery in the stingray, chords, used multiple instruments, etc etc. It was getting worse and worse over the last 3 months and by last practice it wasn't working at all... i left it on the board for a show when i noticed the input gain lights on... i am very confused...

i am still looking at that POG though... it's between that and the moogerfooger ring mod
Click to expand...

This is a 'common' (sort of) problem with this pedal. And there are no internal batteries in this pedal.
 
#12
I have Unibass and Deep impact too. Deep impact started to trig badly last year (just like you told) and I took it to Akai`s repair in Finland. They sent it back and said that there is nothing wrong with it. Strange but it worked again. Now Deep impact has started the game again.It just won`t do the trick anymore. All my other triggering pedals work just fine. I really hope it is bad solder joint that is easily fixed. Other wise it`s bye bye for that digi-dagi-compu-hifi-box. :crying:
 
#13
I can't speak for you guys, but I had similar problems with my Deep Impact, and discovered that it acted up when the wall voltage was a tad low - these pedals are VERY sensitive to voltage fluctuations.

I swapped out the supplied 9volt wall wart with a 9.6 volt one, and my problems have diminished greatly. There are still ghosts from time to time, though nowhere near the triggering problems I used to get. You might want to give this a try.
 
#15
Eric Moesle said:
I can't speak for you guys, but I had similar problems with my Deep Impact, and discovered that it acted up when the wall voltage was a tad low - these pedals are VERY sensitive to voltage fluctuations.
Click to expand...

That`s a good point Eric! But why is then Deep Impacts own power supply 9 volts and not 9,6? The leds of input volume in my pedal won`t light up than occasionally. Triggering is just one big lottery.
 

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