CandidPicker
Tone Matters. Use It Well.
Like many guitarists, we own effects boards of a variety of sizes, shapes and builds. While the guitar, fingers and amp are mostly the foundation of our tone, We utilize effects to enhance and emphasize aspects of certain tone characteristics: non-time based effects such as overdrive and distortion, and time-based effects such as modulation effects.
During the past two days I rebuilt my effects board so that a repaired effect that had made its way over to Spain ($51 one way via USPS), repaired in 2 days, and shipped back to the U.S. via FedEx International Priority, at no personal expense to me for the repair nor return shipping was replaced on my effects board. At this point, I'd like to personally thank Guillem of Decibelics Effects who works near Barcelona, Spain, building handmade effects one at a time, metal powdered silkscreen, signed and numbered.
All in all, it took about 5-½ hours to complete the rebuild and testing of the effects board. First 1-½ hours of struggling to correctly connect the board, being sure wiring connectors proved viable. Then, another 2-½ hours checking if each pedal individually worked correctly, and checking wiring connectors to be sure each passed signal, from back to front. Then, correcting an input error and checking continuity one last time. It was evident at that point that my TC Electronic Sentry Noise Gate's firmware needed updating. However, last night was not the time to try updating my firmware, so I waited until this evening.
After several re-reading of the software updater's Help section, it was eventually possible to update the Sentry's firmware. Yet, reconnecting the Sentry to the effects board proved fruitless. The Sentry passed only a tiny amount of signal, not what the effect was supposed to do.
It took a little thought to find the solution: The connector cable plugs needed tightening, repositioning, and cleaning up. I then used a Dustbuster to rid the board of dust and small plastic pieces. Finally, my efforts paid off and the effects board works appreciably well, with adequate signal passing throughout the entire board. Altogether, I think it took 5-½ hours to be sure the board was working correctly.
Would I know what to do if the problem were to occur again? Perhaps. I think what I learned from this exercise was to keep at it until feeling satisfied with one's work.
At least until one could enjoy guitar practice without the struggling to get things to go together well.
During the past two days I rebuilt my effects board so that a repaired effect that had made its way over to Spain ($51 one way via USPS), repaired in 2 days, and shipped back to the U.S. via FedEx International Priority, at no personal expense to me for the repair nor return shipping was replaced on my effects board. At this point, I'd like to personally thank Guillem of Decibelics Effects who works near Barcelona, Spain, building handmade effects one at a time, metal powdered silkscreen, signed and numbered.
All in all, it took about 5-½ hours to complete the rebuild and testing of the effects board. First 1-½ hours of struggling to correctly connect the board, being sure wiring connectors proved viable. Then, another 2-½ hours checking if each pedal individually worked correctly, and checking wiring connectors to be sure each passed signal, from back to front. Then, correcting an input error and checking continuity one last time. It was evident at that point that my TC Electronic Sentry Noise Gate's firmware needed updating. However, last night was not the time to try updating my firmware, so I waited until this evening.
After several re-reading of the software updater's Help section, it was eventually possible to update the Sentry's firmware. Yet, reconnecting the Sentry to the effects board proved fruitless. The Sentry passed only a tiny amount of signal, not what the effect was supposed to do.
It took a little thought to find the solution: The connector cable plugs needed tightening, repositioning, and cleaning up. I then used a Dustbuster to rid the board of dust and small plastic pieces. Finally, my efforts paid off and the effects board works appreciably well, with adequate signal passing throughout the entire board. Altogether, I think it took 5-½ hours to be sure the board was working correctly.
Would I know what to do if the problem were to occur again? Perhaps. I think what I learned from this exercise was to keep at it until feeling satisfied with one's work.
At least until one could enjoy guitar practice without the struggling to get things to go together well.