Because of this kind post, I checked out your website. I LOVE the sound of that Fuzz-O-Matic.
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Pedal repair drama... Is this normal procedure?
- Thread starter handofseven
- Start date
Because of this kind post, I checked out your website. I LOVE the sound of that Fuzz-O-Matic.
No good. You just don't talk like that. And he called you a nobody. Hahaha. Who is he? Sounds like a junkie pedal builder if I had to guess. I will make sure to avoid his pedals. The guy who said to keep it, fix it and cover the name had the best idea.
I read earlier and I want to +1 EH Man's diagnosis of a bad solder joint. You could probably open up the pedal and look around, gently move wires, look at the circuit board and find the bad joint. Rudimentary soldering skills could fix it.
handofseven said:I don't think there's very much risk involved when:
A. The customer spends the money to ship the pedal to you.
B. The pedal remains in your possession until the balance for the work is paid.
It's not like I'm asking him to build me a custom pedal without any deposit, and at the risk of non payment on completion of the project. In the end, if I default on paying what I owe for the repair, he can sell the pedal as refurbished. I'm pretty sure he'd have no problem getting the $160 I paid, easily covering the cost of what he put into repairing the pedal. Apparently this does not occur to Jack, and I am a KNOWN NO KNOW NOBODY delinquent Charlie... Or something to that effect. Wahoo!
And at the end of they day when you come back knocking on his door with money, he would have 'sold' something that wasn't his in the first place.
Just two different business models, both work, he just needs to communicate better that's all
OK. I opened up the pedal (again, because I did open it when it first stopped working to check for smokin' components and the like). I checked out all the connections, and they all seem to be SOLID. Everything looks to be pretty much hot glue/epoxied in place. Here are some pics, for those interested parties who requested them:
I had a thought, that the little looped wire on the power supply input might be causing a problem, as it could be contacting the outer casing. It sticks out, above the level of the rim of the housing... No way to tell for sure though,(because obviously you can no longer see it once the lid is in place) and the lid is somewhat recessed. It's probably not the issue, but I thought it curious all the same... A ground to the housing perhaps? I tried to capture it in these pics:
The loop:
How it sticks out:
My apologies for the very large pictures, but I thought it might be best to leave them that way for best detailed view...
I'd like to thank everyone again, for all their positive input and offers of help. I really do appreciate it. High 5's TB!
I had a thought, that the little looped wire on the power supply input might be causing a problem, as it could be contacting the outer casing. It sticks out, above the level of the rim of the housing... No way to tell for sure though,(because obviously you can no longer see it once the lid is in place) and the lid is somewhat recessed. It's probably not the issue, but I thought it curious all the same... A ground to the housing perhaps? I tried to capture it in these pics:
The loop:
How it sticks out:
My apologies for the very large pictures, but I thought it might be best to leave them that way for best detailed view...
I'd like to thank everyone again, for all their positive input and offers of help. I really do appreciate it. High 5's TB!
- Jun 25, 2006
- 3,226
- 341
- Disclosures
- Owner, Pike Amplification & 3Leaf Audio
He charges $250 for THAT and then gives you a hard time about repairing it? 
That thing looks like it would break if you looked at it the wrong way.
It's easy enough to see if that diode is shorting to the case and causing the problem - try the pedal without the lid on.
That thing looks like it would break if you looked at it the wrong way.It's easy enough to see if that diode is shorting to the case and causing the problem - try the pedal without the lid on.
Spencer! said:He charges $250 for THAT and then gives you a hard time about repairing it?
+1
And at the end of they day when you come back knocking on his door with money, he would have 'sold' something that wasn't his in the first place.
Just two different business models, both work, he just needs to communicate better that's all
Typically, I'm used to dealing with contracts that allow for up to 90 days to pay. If you don't pay by that time, you forfeit all rights and the person owed money is free to recoup costs however they may. Not everyone does business this way, I just enter all my business dealings as if those are the rules.
PEI is free to do business however they want to. I wasn't really criticizing it. My only crime, as far as I can tell, is mentioning that I thought it was unorthodox.
Jack's communication does leave something to be desired. In that we are agreed.
He charges $250 for THAT and then gives you a hard time about repairing it?
It's easy enough to see if that diode is shorting to the case and causing the problem - try the pedal without the lid on.
Excellent suggestion. Thanks.
Is it really a mess? I don't open many pedals, so my bar is set pretty low I guess.
A local TB'er has offered to help me fix the pedal. I'll be meeting with him sometime this week and post the results. Thanks everyone. I feel alot better about this. I never gave much thought of how I could get this pedal fixed, other than to send it back to the manufacturer. I love TB. I'm pretty sure I just made my membership back a few times over by not having to send the pedal back to PEI!
oof. that sucks. i played with jWARious Depth Charge for a bit and loved it. but there are way too many awesome builders that give great aftercare to support people that douche it up like that.
pretty late commenting on this. but i read the interactions etc.
WOW. What a balls up. From what I've seen you were nothing but complementary and nice, and fair enough you raised a concern about paying before repair... I've NEVER heard of anyone doing that....but if thats the way he does it.. ok. Seems to me like this guy took offence to something you said (maybe it was that you LOVED the pedal?) and reacted unreasonably.. although like you say I fail to see what.. you didn't say anything offensive to his buisness, but simply asking for a reason why you'd need to front with the cash first. Seems completely fair to me.
His condescending attitude is what has ruined this whole deal.
sorry dude, sucks.
WOW. What a balls up. From what I've seen you were nothing but complementary and nice, and fair enough you raised a concern about paying before repair... I've NEVER heard of anyone doing that....but if thats the way he does it.. ok. Seems to me like this guy took offence to something you said (maybe it was that you LOVED the pedal?) and reacted unreasonably.. although like you say I fail to see what.. you didn't say anything offensive to his buisness, but simply asking for a reason why you'd need to front with the cash first. Seems completely fair to me.
His condescending attitude is what has ruined this whole deal.
sorry dude, sucks.
Get someone to fix it up and rehouse it at the same time, with a new name maybe ("No Know Nobody"?)
Some people like this kind of service though. There's a Chinese restaurant in London where the guys basically tell you to hurry up and get out as soon as you ordered. People love it. I know girls who play online games so that they can laugh at all the 12 year olds saying they're going to "rape" them. Maybe he's going for the emo-masochist niche.
Some people like this kind of service though. There's a Chinese restaurant in London where the guys basically tell you to hurry up and get out as soon as you ordered. People love it. I know girls who play online games so that they can laugh at all the 12 year olds saying they're going to "rape" them. Maybe he's going for the emo-masochist niche.
You need to play through it while poking around in it with a Sharpie (cap on) or other non-metallic object. If there's a bad solder joint it should cut in/out when you get in the area of the problem.
bongomania
Commercial User
Yeah, there's also a Chinese restaurant (Sam Wo's) in San Fran that for many years was famous for having "the world's rudest waiter". People came from around the world to eat there. After he died, his wife picked up the torch, but she was never quite as rude, and business slacked off.
Also there is one prominent bass builder, and one prominent bass instructor, that have many slavishly devoted fans and followers, yet both have been banned from TB for persistent nasty attitudes and the same sort of arrogance shown in the pedal builder's emails here.
Also there is one prominent bass builder, and one prominent bass instructor, that have many slavishly devoted fans and followers, yet both have been banned from TB for persistent nasty attitudes and the same sort of arrogance shown in the pedal builder's emails here.
bongomania
Commercial User
