Home › Forums › Help/Technical Questions › Small Clone/Big Muff problems
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February 2, 2009 at 9:08 pm #77676CoruthParticipant
Both pedals act the same way, I plug them in Guitar -> pedal -> amp and sound plays through them until they are clicked on. When I step on the pedal the sound cuts off completely. The LED light also stays off. I’ve tried several different batteries but haven’t bought a power adapter yet.
I have an Electric Mistress that works perfectly, but neither of these pedals will do anything. I didn’t have the warranty cards so the pedals aren’t under warranty. Are they fried? Can they be repaired, and what type of place could do that if so?
Thanks,
StephenFebruary 2, 2009 at 9:29 pm #92483julianModeratorDefinitely sounds like a powering problem. Could also be the switch is broken.
February 2, 2009 at 10:37 pm #92494BlueSteelParticipantone of the wires could be broken. i think you can send it in to get it repaired without the warranty, it will just cost more i think.
September 29, 2009 at 12:41 am #101856CaptainHookParticipantI have the exact same problem with my Small Clone. Worked fine in the middle of my chain, now it’s just a big mute pedal, press the button, light doesn’t come on in most configs, and it just cuts the signal altogether to my amp/guitar. Press it again and the sound is back for everything in the chain other than the Small Clone. WTH?
I’ve had this all of 3 days now.
Please tell me this is not the only thread regarding this issue! It’s obviously a problem with the pedal.
I can say that I’m using an EHX Holy Stain effects box, WAH pedal, DS-2 Distortion, Boutique analog overdrive pedal, DD-6 Delay pedal, Boss Loop pedal, and a Boss Noise Supressor.
I’m having a hell of a time figuring out what’s the best place for the Holy Stain, and I’ve had enough fiddling for the night, and decided to post here just in case someone has any help.
Of course the Ebayer I ordered the pedal from new, didn’t include a warranty card, but everything else.
September 29, 2009 at 6:25 am #101861valvestateMemberQuote:I have the exact same problem with my Small Clone. Worked fine in the middle of my chain, now it’s just a big mute pedal, press the button, light doesn’t come on in most configs, and it just cuts the signal altogether to my amp/guitar. Press it again and the sound is back for everything in the chain other than the Small Clone. WTH?I’ve had this all of 3 days now.
Please tell me this is not the only thread regarding this issue! It’s obviously a problem with the pedal.
Same issue with mine –> https://www.ehx.com/forums/viewthread/1850/
What’s goin on EHX !
September 29, 2009 at 1:24 pm #101864CaptainHookParticipantYeah I’m pretty darn disappointed with this pedal and EHX for the first time.
I’ve seen this problem come up in multiple posts with no public solution or identified cause.
No pedal should crap out in 2-3 days of very light use, I barely touched the thing.
Frustrating. $80 down the drain possibly.
September 29, 2009 at 2:07 pm #101865B.DawsParticipantIt’s a power problem. These pedals are True Bypass which is why the sound is cutting off when you step on them. If they have no power and you complete the circuit there will be no sound!!! I would try a power supply and also check the wires on the 9V batter clip (as these come loose and even detach themselves often). You will need to cut and pull back the black sleeve to make sure they are still attached and/or aren’t touching the other’s metal connection causing it to ground out. I wouldn’t give up though, as this can happen and it doesn’t mean the pedals are fried!!!
Also, if you leave your instrument cables in these it will drain the batteries whether you are using them or not, so it could be killing your batteries.
September 29, 2009 at 2:55 pm #101869CaptainHookParticipantQuote:It’s a power problem. These pedals are True Bypass which is why the sound is cutting off when you step on them. If they have no power and you complete the circuit there will be no sound!!! I would try a power supply and also check the wires on the 9V batter clip (as these come loose and even detach themselves often). You will need to cut and pull back the black sleeve to make sure they are still attached and/or aren’t touching the other’s metal connection causing it to ground out. I wouldn’t give up though, as this can happen and it doesn’t mean the pedals are fried!!!Also, if you leave your instrument cables in these it will drain the batteries whether you are using them or not, so it could be killing your batteries.
Ok thanks for the reply. I won’t give up on it yet (or EHX – I own a Holy Stain I just bought also).
I also love the sound of the Small Clone.
I am running the Small Clone on battery power, since it did not come with an EHX or compatible adapter, nor do I have one that fits it. Under certain configurations on my chain, the light does come on (albeit dimmer looking than before I believe), but it still just acts as a bypass and nothing else.
I have a one spot connected to a few Boss pedals and the Holy Stain and a boutique Overdrive pedal.
So would the patch cables also drain from it’s power even when everything is turned off? I am using the default battery that came with it – guess i’ll try a new battery first, which I haven’t done.
Thanks again.
September 29, 2009 at 3:05 pm #101870electro-melxModeratorQuote:No pedal should crap out in 2-3 days of very light use, I barely touched the thing.Frustrating. $80 down the drain possibly.
you’re right of course…it shouldn’t.
…..all I can say is after ‘2 or 3 days light use’ it would be going straight back to the shop for a replacement or to seek a refund, personally I wouldn’t even bother messing around with any other course of action when I’ve had it less than a week.
September 29, 2009 at 3:22 pm #101871CaptainHookParticipantQuote:Quote:No pedal should crap out in 2-3 days of very light use, I barely touched the thing.Frustrating. $80 down the drain possibly.
you’re right of course…it shouldn’t.
…..all I can say is after ‘2 or 3 days light use’ it would be going straight back to the shop for a replacement or to seek a refund, personally I wouldn’t even bother messing around with any other course of action when I’ve had it less than a week.
Thanks, yeah I bought it new from an Ebay dealer for a bit less, but they didn’t include the warranty card, just the return info sheet in the box (it was new – at least it sure looks that way).
In any case, ugh, I just bought an adapter for it from GC and will see if that works, as I’ll use it for a Big Muff Pi down the road any ways probably, and see if that helps the Small Clone first.
September 29, 2009 at 3:37 pm #101872B.DawsParticipantQuote:So would the patch cables also drain from it’s power even when everything is turned off? I am using the default battery that came with it – guess i’ll try a new battery first, which I haven’t done.If you have the cables hooked into the input and output it will drain the battery regardless of whether you actually have the pedal on or not. You have to disconnect the input one (I think) just to make sure. Also have you switched cables around to make sure you don’t have a cable with a short or something? You are using unbalanced cables and not TRS ones right? Just thought I’d throw some ideas out there. Hopefully that power supply will fix it!!!
September 29, 2009 at 3:44 pm #101874CaptainHookParticipantQuote:Quote:So would the patch cables also drain from it’s power even when everything is turned off? I am using the default battery that came with it – guess i’ll try a new battery first, which I haven’t done.If you have the cables hooked into the input and output it will drain the battery regardless of whether you actually have the pedal on or not. You have to disconnect the input one (I think) just to make sure. Also have you switched cables around to make sure you don’t have a cable with a short or something? You are using unbalanced cables and not TRS ones right? Just thought I’d throw some ideas out there. Hopefully that power supply will fix it!!!
Yep tried different patch cables and put it in various places in the chain, even hooked it up by itself between my amp and guitar. What concerns me is others are having the same exact problem with it apparently. They are just cheap Hosea or (forgetting) other patch cables, they are all in good shape though, using Dimarzio amp/guitar cables.
September 29, 2009 at 5:35 pm #101885CaptainHookParticipantQuote:I had the same kind of issues with my Small Clone. basically I had to resolder one of the wires on the back of the switch. It had either come out because of bad original soldering or it had come loose. Sense most of the EHX true bypass classic style use the same switch it could happen to any of them. same thing happened on my holy grail too. loose switch wires.Well that’s not good to hear. I have no way of soldering anything at home – and am foreign to it.
Probaby something I should learn to do though…*Sigh*
Not a god first time experience with EHX – maybe they should look into fixing this issue.
I wonder if they’ll repair mine if i do the $12 thing without a warranty card or receipt though…
September 29, 2009 at 6:32 pm #101892CaptainHookParticipantQuote:I wouldnt judge EHX to harshly. I’ve actually had the same problem with some of the MXR effects I used to have. Pretty much every one in the industry thats makes true bypass effects uses that same switch. I switched to EHX because that had the tone I wanted. But they have a kinda old school mad scientist way of doing things. So I accecpted that when I came on board. But out of probably twenty pedals I own of theres that use that same switch only two have had this issue. There all a hundred times better then the Line6 crap I used to have. every time I would open the road case that my podXT pro was in I would find some buttons and knobs from the front of it at the bottom of the case that had fallen off. And its not like I was throwing it around or anything. My band went through three pod XT pros in about a year and a half. and at $600 a pop it wasnt worth it.Thanks. Trying not to – but I hardly feel good about a new $85 pedal that is a lemon, and am not sure I feel much better about “3 out of every 20” being a bad pedal! (vintage style or not)
I think we should be demanding a bit higher quality control standards eh?
September 29, 2009 at 8:54 pm #101895electro-melxModeratorQuote:I think we should be demanding a bit higher quality control standards eh?The problem is this I’m guessing….EHX check and test every pedal before it leaves the factory …. on the vintage style pedals the wires are soldered directly to the footswitch (unlike on an XO where it has a little circuit board) because of the way the switch is you can’t have large blobs of solder on the solder points, so I presume somewhere between the NY factory and your house a wire has come loose. considering the pedal has come from NY (in my case to the UK) then from the dealer through the post again to my house, it’s not that suprising that sometimes this happens, especially the way I know Royal Mail handles parcels (unless it is marked ‘fragile’ they seem just chuck them around) … then you have the postman who could have dropped his bag, and god knows what could happen anywhere else along the line.
Personally I’ve never had this problem (and i’m not exactly careful with my pedals) but I can see how it might happen, it could be a few things, maybe they had a dodgy batch of solder that might not cause any problems until after a few months after leaving the factory, or maybe dealers just need to be putting more packing in the boxes to stop them clunking around and protect them a bit more, i’ve had pedals arrived in nothing more than a lightly padded envelope with the box crushed inside and the pedal just banging around inside loose, I was kinda suprised that worked when I plugged it in!
what did the ebay seller say? because you are well within your rights for a refund…contact paypal if you need to they seem pretty good at sorting things out for buyers in my experience.
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