Electronic question about a pedal

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codedog
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Electronic question about a pedal

Post by codedog »

Ok, I'm not sure if this needs a whole thread, or if this is even the right section. If not can a mod please move it?

Anyway, my current favourite OD pedal - the Siamese twin OD - has developed a whine. It's not a hum, but a proper whine, as soon as it's added in the chain. On its own, battery powered, or by the CS7... it whines. Any ideas what may be causing this please?

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Re: Electronic question about a pedal

Post by Aquila Rossa »

codedog wrote:it whines. Any ideas what may be causing this please?
Is it English? :D

Ruled out the amp or guitar by trying a different drive pedal on its on? Then if just this pedal and as it's on its own powered by a battery, it looks as if a capacitor has drifted. Needs repair. Did you give it the wrong voltage by any chance? That will usually damage caps.
Last edited by Aquila Rossa on Sun May 07, 2017 8:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Electronic question about a pedal

Post by moliere »

Assuming you've tried all external variations, it could be a capacitor gone funny. They're often used to damp down high frequency oscillations.

*edit* too slow. what he^ said.

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Re: Electronic question about a pedal

Post by Molly »

Aquila Rossa wrote:
codedog wrote:it whines. Any ideas what may be causing this please?
Is it English? :D

Ruled out the amp or guitar by trying a different drive pedal on its on? Then if just this pedal and as it's on its own powered by a battery, it looks as if a capacitor has drifted. Needs repair. Did you give it the wrong voltage by any chance? That will usually damage caps.
Sorry to hear about that (not least because I sold it to you...). Is that pedal capable of taking 9 - 18v? Can't recall. I only ever ran it off a battery. Hope you get it sorted.

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Re: Electronic question about a pedal

Post by Aquila Rossa »

moliere wrote:Assuming you've tried all external variations, it could be a capacitor gone funny. They're often used to damp down high frequency oscillations.

*edit* too slow. what he^ said.

I've just been watching a lot of That Pedal Show lately :D

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Re: Electronic question about a pedal

Post by codedog »

I have ruled out all other components that I could think of, not in this order:

Different leads
On battery
On 9V supply from the CS7
Other pedals on their own, battery/CS7
Other pedals with the Siamese in the chain
Other pedals without Siamese in the chain
Different amps
Different powerpoints

Same result, Siamese whines (in indeterminate language), others don't. Ok, so it may need repair. And no Molly, it worked from when I got it till very recently. I ran it on 9V only, usually through the CS7.

Any suggestions where I can get this repaired in ChCh please? One name that popped to mind was Steve Bartlett, but I'd like to hear other suggestions too please.

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Re: Electronic question about a pedal

Post by codedog »

Duh! The English comment just clicked... I'm particularly slow tonight... :P

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Re: Electronic question about a pedal

Post by Aquila Rossa »

Can you solder and have a multimeter? Just measure the caps and pop the guilty one out and replace. Hopefully just one at fault.

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Re: Electronic question about a pedal

Post by codedog »

Yeah, I can solder... and have a multimeter... but very little time these days unfortunately...

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