How do I diagnose guitar effects pedal problems?
At the last two performances, I've started hearing loud random pops when the stage gets warm and I'm running my signal chain.
I've swapped out pedals and changed cables and it appears to only occur when I'm using a GK MK amp and one particular pedal, an EHX C9. How do I diagnose the popping? It's not easily repeatable and appears to go away when I change the setup only to return again.
Is it in the amp and the pedal is causing the problem to reveal itself or is it in the pedal? What could cause the pops? A bad capacitor?
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When I have this sort of problem, I open up each component individually, inspect the circuit board or hand wiring with a magnifying glass, looking for defective solder connections, broken circuit board traces, and dirt. I repair anything I find to be defective, and clean up the dirt. I swab the input and output jacks with a q-tip and solvent and usually find a surprising amount of dirt and corrosion there. Next I check connecting cables and often find they need replacement. These things take a lot of abuse and poor quality cables cease to function well rather quickly.
If the problem persists, then I set up my workbench to do a signal trace. I put a signal generator into the input of the component and using the probe on my oscilloscope, I can monitor circuit function through each step. When I find the problem circuit, then I can test the individual components,(capacitors, resistors, solid state devices, tubes, etc.) at this point the problem has always revealed itself and I can make the repair.
I should mention that I rarely have to do a signal trace because the problem is usually fixed when I perform the tasks in the first paragraph.
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