Genz Benz / pedal problem

[fryer]

Hi, I have a Genz Benz shuttle 6, and have recently bought a Soundblox pro distortion pedal.

The pedal works fine with other amps, but when I use it with the GB, I get a high pitched, Morse Code type sound from the speakers. This starts after the GB warms up, 5 seconds or so, then stays on.

Is it something to do with the power supply the GB has instead of a transformer ?

Any ideas how to stop it ?

Edited May 8, 2010 by fryer

[escholl]

[quote name='fryer' post='825595' date='May 2 2010, 04:00 PM']Hi, I have a Genz Benz shuttle 6, and have recently bought a Soundblox pro distortion pedal.

The pedal works fine with other amps, but when I use it with the GB, I get a high pitched, Morse Code type sound from the speakers. This starts after the GB warms up, 5 seconds or so, then stays on.

Is it something to do with the power supply the GB has instead of a transformer ?

Any ideas how to stop it ?[/quote]

What kind of power supply are you using for the pedal?

[fryer]

[quote name='escholl' post='825731' date='May 2 2010, 06:19 PM']What kind of power supply are you using for the pedal?[/quote]

It's the 9V one that came with it. It's a 2 pin one with a uk adaptor.

[escholl]

[quote name='fryer' post='825847' date='May 2 2010, 08:11 PM']It's the 9V one that came with it. It's a 2 pin one with a uk adaptor.[/quote]


Hmm ok. Well it definitely sounds like the sort of ground hum that switching circuits tend to produce in some situations, the trick is figuring out ways around it. It could also be some sort of clocking or switching signal which is produced by the pedal, and present on the ground. Are there any other pedals connected? Do you have any other power supplies to try it with?


Switch mode supplies tend not to be Earthed, which is fine as long as nothing else in the circuit is -- but when something is, they tend to hum. It's also possible that the pedal itself has a noisy ground, as is the case with some DSP effects, and is not a problem when there -is- an Earth present in the circuit (or at least when the Earth are connected, even if not to the mains Earth), but when there isn't, it presents itself on the audio signal itself. Can you try it with a battery?

[fryer]

There is only the one pedal. It doesn't take a battery as standard, but I could possibly make up a lead to try one.

The power supply I am using is the one that came with the pedal. Are you saying that the pedal should have an earth, 'cos as it's a 2 pin it doesn't ?

I have other power supplies I could try - not from pedals but from other gadgets. I'll check the voltage and polarity and try one. And these all have 3 pins, ie, uk adaptors.

[escholl]

Any luck so far?

[fryer]

Well, I talked to a local repair shop, and they said it sounds like a problem with the earth. I took it in to the shop, and it didn't make the noise, and they say that they have a good earth in their shop. Tried again at home and it does. So I tried it in a different room, on a different circuit in the house, and the noise is much, much quieter. Still there though.

So it appears to be something wrong with the earth in my house ?

[phil.i.stein]

[quote name='fryer' post='831700' date='May 8 2010, 07:34 PM']Well, I talked to a local repair shop, and they said it sounds like a problem with the earth. I took it in to the shop, and it didn't make the noise, and they say that they have a good earth in their shop. Tried again at home and it does. So I tried it in a different room, on a different circuit in the house, and the noise is much, much quieter. Still there though.[/quote]
mmm..

i have this pedal (and a genz-benz amp).. it has a tendency to create freaky noises, and therein lies the beauty..

now feel free to laugh, but, i had actually thought i was hallucinating someone else singing in the house whilst i was playing !!

try rolling off the high initial gain (on the amp) and top-end e.q. settings, as they tend to warp/exagerrate the foldback distortion frequencies...

it might just be that 'feedback' glitch noise.?

Edited May 8, 2010 by phil.i.stein