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Pedalboard Power Problem

B

Barry O Connor

Apr 30, 2020
46
24
Ireland
#1
Hi guys. I just got my first pedalboard to help tidy everything up and have 8 pedals on it. One of them is an old Bassballs that doesn't take the regular power jack so it has a 9V battery. I have to unplug the input jack each time to that or the battery will waste. Anyway I put it all together last week and used it at rehearsal at the weekend. I went to play today and even though the pedals all come on when I press them, there is no sound coming out of any of them. The first pedal is a tuner and the tuner even comes on when I press it but no signal comes through. I have tried them all individually and tested the patch cables. Its like the power supply is turning them on but stopping the signal from getting through. Is that possible? Or could it be just giving enough power to light them up but not to let the signal through? Again I don't know if that is possible. I left the input cable in the bassballs so the battery died but even if I remove that it still doesn't work. The power supply is a Caline Power block bought from Amazon that I have been using for almost a year with no problems so I'm guessing it is something to do with the way I have set up this pedalboard. It was a cheap power block but its hardly just a coincidence that the first time I move the pedalboard this happens?
 
#2
Barry O Connor said:
Hi guys. I just got my first pedalboard to help tidy everything up and have 8 pedals on it. One of them is an old Bassballs that doesn't take the regular power jack so it has a 9V battery. I have to unplug the input jack each time to that or the battery will waste. Anyway I put it all together last week and used it at rehearsal at the weekend. I went to play today and even though the pedals all come on when I press them, there is no sound coming out of any of them. The first pedal is a tuner and the tuner even comes on when I press it but no signal comes through. I have tried them all individually and tested the patch cables. Its like the power supply is turning them on but stopping the signal from getting through. Is that possible? Or could it be just giving enough power to light them up but not to let the signal through? Again I don't know if that is possible. I left the input cable in the bassballs so the battery died but even if I remove that it still doesn't work. The power supply is a Caline Power block bought from Amazon that I have been using for almost a year with no problems so I'm guessing it is something to do with the way I have set up this pedalboard. It was a cheap power block but its hardly just a coincidence that the first time I move the pedalboard this happens?
Click to expand...
To be clear; you tested each pedal in isolation like bass> pedal > amp and none of them work when on the power supply?

I can't tell your methodology for troubleshooting, so it's hard to suggest where to go next.
 
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#3
Yes sorry if I have confused everyone.
So if I plug either of my longer cables (that run into and out from my pedalboard) straight from my amp to the bass it works fine so I don't think its an issue with them.
Then if I run through one of the pedals turned off it works on some but not on others and then if I turn the pedals on, the lights come on all of them but no signal comes out of any of them. Its like I'm muting the signal by turning the pedal on. I have tried them with the power bank I was using and a different 9v plug.

The really strange thing is that I have now tried two pedals that were not on my board with a separate power supply and the same thing has happened. It is really like I haven't done something very basic but I can't figure it out.
 
#4
1. Make sure your bass to amp directly makes sound. (Volume turned up)
2. Add 1 pedal at a time making sure the patch cables are properly pushed in and in the correct input vs output.
This will help your troubleshooting. If the pedal is getting power, it should be making sound in most cases. It is possible that one of the patch cables is bad and is preventing sound.
 
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#5
Barry O Connor said:
Yes sorry if I have confused everyone.
So if I plug either of my longer cables (that run into and out from my pedalboard) straight from my amp to the bass it works fine so I don't think its an issue with them.
Then if I run through one of the pedals turned off it works on some but not on others and then if I turn the pedals on, the lights come on all of them but no signal comes out of any of them. Its like I'm muting the signal by turning the pedal on. I have tried them with the power bank I was using and a different 9v plug.

The really strange thing is that I have now tried two pedals that were not on my board with a separate power supply and the same thing has happened. It is really like I haven't done something very basic but I can't figure it out.
Click to expand...
Bass -> INPUT on Pedal -> OUTPUT from pedal to Amp or next pedal.
I have reversed top jacks before.
 
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