Hello, this is about a 15 W Howitzer Power Amp I recently purchased.

It was advertised as “mint” on Reverb but the pictures did not show if the power supply was included. I contacted the seller and he told me that the P/S will be included and stressed that was a “new item” at a great price so I purchased it. It cost me $111 (plus my local tax) which was actually one of the lowest prices available plus s&h was free. When the item came, it became obvious that “mint” can mean a lot of things, but the most important issue I have with it is that the white indicator lines on the pot buttons were washed off/faded out, obviously from what appeared to be heavy prior use. There were also a couple of oily(?) fingerprints on the pedal itself and the box it came in was the original but clearly opened, used and abused, the edges were worn and tatty, one med-sized cut/hole on the box top, the inside paperwork unpacked and refolded, the p/s cables held together with old, frayed wire twists, you get the picture. Now the important thing for me is that it did not have any dents, scratches or fall markings on the pedal itself and electronically appears to be working as expected. However, the GAIN button is only usable up to 50-60%. More than that it introduces a lot of hiss/noise. I’m not sure if this is “normal” or an indication that the pedal has been …electronically, abused? There are also indications that the pedal has been opened (and reclosed) as the in/out jacks are not positioned in their original place and there are obvious markings around the washers.

My question is to EHX (if they read this note) and all those familiar with EHX products: How long should it really take of continuous use for the white indicator lines on the pot buttons to washed off and become faded-out? Everything else points to the seller misrepresenting the condition of the pedals but when I confronted him about it he told me (and I quote): “it is super common that [the fading] to all of the EHX white level lines are not consistent”. Obviously I agree. So before I file a complain for this seller on Reverb I’d like to ask those of you who have experience with EHX, do you agree with that. In my opinion, for the pot lines to start fading, one would have to use the pedal heavily and for a long time.

Finally, I immediately registered the pedal but will EHX honor the warranty should I need service when it’s obvious the pedal condition was misrepresented as “new” when it wasn’t.

Thanks for your feedback!