EHX quality control...

[CliffD]

I've never had any trouble with any EHX pedal. I thin they're built very well and are fairly priced. My only complaint is their LEDs on the newer XO style boxes, I've stomped my LEDs in on my enigma since there's no protection or anything to hold them in place but the soldered wire.

 

[fightthepower]

I've been through about 15 EHX pedals and have had the same results with them as anything else.

I bought a 2880 here are received it with some issues that supposedly occurred in transit... whatever the cause, I emailed EHX and explained my predicament, and was given a return auth number immediately and they fixed it for the standard $15+shipping, and I had it back within 2 weeks with cross-country shipping and everything.

They're an innovative company making affordable gear here in the states, and you can rest assured that you'll never end up with an expensive paperweight should something go wrong with one of their pedals (vintage gear with discontinued parts excluded, of course), warranty or not. $15+shipping and you're good as new, high-end(relative) digital stuff included.

 

[brian m]

Here is FACT...

There are TWO manufacturers (root manufacturers, not re-branding) of 3PDT switches, which is what EHX and ALL manufacturers of true bypass pedals use (at least the ones who don't use relays). There are multiple brands, but all are manufactured in the same Chinese factory. Cliff, New Sensor (which is EHX's parent company), Fulltone, they all have branded switches, but all are made by the same company in China. The fact is that while 3pdt siwtches are common, 3pdt stomp switches are a specialty switch which is generally only used in musical effects, and as such only one company still makes them.

I'm a boutique builder, so there's your proof. We all source from the same barrel.

Incidentally, switch failure is a much less common occurence when people don't slam their foot down when switching. I'm not saying you are, just making a general observation. There is just no good reason to slam your foot down on a switch.

I can speak to the precentage failure point too. I probably only ship 20 to 30 units a year (All I do are custom one-offs), and I've only had 3 switches fail in 3 years. EHX, well, they have a WHOLE LOT MORE units out there, and thus, more broken switches. Bottom line is no matter how sturdy the switch, you are still stomping on it and it's still a mechanical part.

tactile switching in and of itself offers no more reliability solely on the switching itself. BUT with a Boss or Ibanez pedal, for example, even the hardest stomp won't send very much trauma at all to the tiny switch below, due to the the pedal's design where a large metal or plastic foot pedal is taking the brunt of impact and the metal frame stops the actuator short of pressing further than it should.

I heard about this thread at another forum. Anyway, I have to tell you that there are at least 3 manufacturers, or at least three different sets of molds and tooling.
Cliff switches, newsensor, and most of the ones you see on ebay are exactly the same. the guts are the same, the flanges have the same machine scarring. Cliff has told me they have their own people at the factory doing quality control which may account for the fact that NS switches seem to have quality issues about every two years or so, where as cliff switches did not when i was using them.

4site switches use a different mold, and have similar but different internals. they even feel and sound different when you press on them, and we've had way fewer quality issues with them.

A company in taiwan called runrun sent me some sample switches a while back. the blue ones were similar to the ehx switches, but they also sent a black switch which had a different mold and (if i remember correctly) the nut was a different thread.

Now, even if there is only one manufacturer, when you order stuff from china from an actual factory rather than a wholesaler, you often have the option to customize parts. fulltone switches use the same mold as the NS switchs, but are made out of phenolic rather than plastic. This can actually be a big deal if you arent quick with the soldering iron. Plastic can warp and melt.

I have never dealt with the factory directly. So i dont know what kind of options you have... but just as an example. alpha 16mm pots can be ordered with in hundreds if not thousands of different forms/options... a lot more variations than youd find at a place like mouser. You'll have to order 10,000 of them though.

 

[faceinbass]

The Thread Deepens.

Thanks for chiming Brian M. I knew there HAD to be more to the story.

Fwiw: I don't slam my switches, I know how to solder and still think their QC leaves something to be desired based on MY experience.

While I am happy for all of you who have had no problems, this experience still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[The Lurker]

With the exception of the switch issues, it's a heck of a lot better than it used to be..... even in the late 90s you could get two Big Muffs off the same production batch and they'd be completely different in sound and build quality.

 

[Deluge Of Sound]

I've never had any problems with any of my EHX effects. The oldest (a black russian that is now in my buddy's possession) is still going strong, and I bought it used in 2004.

 

[faceinbass]

I own two russian muffs, a green and a black...

I get it. MOST WORK FINE.


Think about this: EHX takes back most of their deffective gear and fixes or replaces it. GREAT!

Now, That leads me to wonder if they see the same problems over and over again and what then to they do about it?

 

[G0rilla]

I cant say anything bad about new EHX pedals, none of them have died on me. Tho i am familiar with dying switch problem, switch in my Prometheus died after 2 weeks of mild use. But Brian was very friendly and sent me a new one - now it is running in full and i cant say anything bad about Subdecay either

It is just unpredictable, like a loteree. As people previously said, if you dont want to risk, buy Boss/Digitech/whatever pedals that dont use 3pdt.

 

[silky smoove]

In regards to the switches: My board has six pedals on it. All of them, except the VT-Bass have identical looking, feeling, and sounding (when you step on them) switches. The VT-Bass has a slightly shorter switch that doesn't have quite the authorative "click" when you engage it. It's much smoother, requires less energy to engage and provided it's just as rugged as the others (it appears to be so, but only time will tell), I much prefer it.

Is there a reason this type of switch design isn't used more often?

oh, and my EHX Holy Grail Nano and #1 Echo are still working great

 

[Taylor Livingston]

In regards to the switches: My board has six pedals on it. All of them, except the VT-Bass have identical looking, feeling, and sounding (when you step on them) switches. The VT-Bass has a slightly shorter switch that doesn't have quite the authorative "click" when you engage it. It's much smoother, requires less energy to engage and provided it's just as rugged as the others (it appears to be so, but only time will tell), I much prefer it.

Is there a reason this type of switch design isn't used more often?

That's not a mechanical switch. It's just a metal plunger that presses on a little rubber tactile switch on the board. This switch controls some digital logic on the board. This is the exact same setup that Boss and Digitech, etc. use, except Boss's metal hinge is replaced with a thing that looks like a mechanical switch (y'know, to fool you into thinking it's true bypass). It's not true bypass, and that's why most boutiques don't use that kind of switching - many people these days will only buy true bypass pedals, or at least if something is not true bypass, that's often counted as a strike against that pedal.

It actually is possible to design a true bypass switching system without mechanical switching. But it's difficult to do well, and introduces its own drawbacks.

 

[faceinbass]

I have never been a "true bypass or die" effector.
It must be from the days when all I could get were DOD pedals.

 

[Taylor Livingston]

Yeah, and there are lots of people who are coming to find that buffered bypass isn't always bad. The thing is that there are many people who believe that buffered bypass is bad, or even unforgivable, and won't buy something because of it. But there are very few people who would turn a pedal away for being true bypass. So until the tide changes in favor of popless, reliable, electronic switching, you'll continue to see most boutiques using mechanical switches.

 

[faceinbass]

Yeah, and there are lots of people who are coming to find that buffered bypass isn't always bad. The thing is that there are many people who believe that buffered bypass is bad, or even unforgivable, and won't buy something because of it. But there are very few people who would turn a pedal away for being true bypass. So until the tide changes in favor of popless, reliable, electronic switching, you'll continue to see most boutiques using mechanical switches.

yep. I agree.

If it werent for my Arion Bass EQ, my board would be all TB because that is what we have available for the most part and not because of a preference on my part.