STOMP SCHOOL
ANALOG TOM with ANALOG MIKE
Troubleshooting & Maintenance 101, Part 2
Greetings pedal-happy tonemongers! To clean dirty pots, you will need a spray
Welcome back to Stomp School. This month, cleaner with lubricant in it. Do not use
we’ll continue our discussion of basic trouble- WD- 40 or other types of household (or per-
shooting and maintenance tips to help keep sonal) lubricants. You need to get a spray
your pedal rig running smoothly. cleaner specifically formulated for cleaning
potentiometers and switches in electronic
equipment. Radio Shack is the easiest place
to find it—they have a product with the
Most of us learn what’s required to operate
our gear, but when something goes wrong,
we seem to be divided—some players have
a natural technical inclination, some learn
through trial and error or get tips from more
knowledgeable players, and then there are
the rest of us. I say “us” because I didn’t
begin my playing career being a pedal guru.
Before working with Analog Mike, I spent
many years struggling in ignorance with my
gear, often discarding perfectly good pedals that only needed minor repair to work
properly. It pains me to recount this but when
I was 14 years old, I threw away my very first
stompbox—an original Ampeg Scrambler—
because I thought it was broken. I didn’t know
it needed a battery to operate! I have plenty
more stories, but I think you get the idea.
Assuming that you’ve already checked your
cables and they’re okay, the next thing to
check for is a loose connection at the power
jack. Make sure you’re using the proper
power supply and that the tip fits snuggly into
the jack. Check the power jack itself as well,
to make sure it’s not loose. Try wiggling the
power cable end while it’s plugged into the
pedal to be sure the connection is solid.
So Analog Mike and I have come up with list
of survival tips for pedal-happy players everywhere. Before we get started, here are a few
simple tools and products you should probably keep handy:
• Contact cleaner
• Small Philips-head screwdriver
• Small flathead screwdriver
• Q-tips
• Chopstick or other non-conductive probe
• Soldering iron and solder
Pedal Problem #1: Scratchy, noisy or
crackling pots
This is one of the most common problems
players have with pedals, and is usually
caused by dust and dirt inside the pot. Pedal
pots are way more susceptible than those
in guitars and amps, as pedals by their very
nature are subject to a certain amount of
abuse. If a pot gets really bad, it can even
make noise in certain stationary positions, as
well as when being turned. You can often get
a noisy pot working well enough by just turning it back and forth several times as fast as
possible over the entire range of the pot. This
will do in a pinch as a temporary quick fix. If
the noise continues to persist, the pot needs
to be cleaned.
If the power connection checks out okay,
the source of this problem is most likely with
the input or output jack. The jacks need to
be clean and have proper tension to work
properly. To clean dirty jacks, use a bit of the
contact cleaner referenced above on a Q-tip
to clean the internal jack connections, especially the rim of the jack, which makes the
ground contact. You can re-tension most jacks
by bending the tip contact inwards to apply
more pressure on the jack. The tip pressure is
important, as it also determines the pressure
of the rim for the ground connection. A bad
switch can also cause an intermittent signal
problem (except for those that use a momentary switch, such as a Boss or Ibanez type
pedal). If pressing the stomp switch several
times seems to cause or aggravate the problem, the switch should be replaced.
What we’ve discussed so far are some simple
basic procedures that any guitarist can easily
get the hang of. Next month, we’ll get into
some more advanced maintenance and repair
tips, including how to troubleshoot a noisy
pedal, fixing loose or cold solder joints, and
more. So make sure you check back with us
next time. Until then, keep on stompin’!
unwieldy name of TV Tuner/Control Cleaner
& Lubricant. But our own personal preference
is Caig DeoxIT. A short, quick shot of cleaner
into the side of the pot is all that is needed,
then rotate the pot back and forth to work
the cleaner throughout the entire travel of the
pot. Remove any excess cleaner from the case
and solder lugs with a Q-tip. This routine will
solve the problem in most cases. If the pot is
still noisy, it should probably be replaced.
Pedal Problem #2: Intermittent signal, or
sound cutting out
Tom Hughes
(a.k.a. Analog Tom) is the owner and proprietor of For
Musicians Only ( formusiciansonly.com) and author of
Analog Man’s Guide To Vintage Effects. For Musicians
Only is also the home of the FMO Gear Shop.
Questions or comments about this article can be sent
to: stompschool@formusiciansonly.com.
Analog Man
( analogman.com) is one of the largest boutique effects
manufacturers and retailers in the business, established by “Analog” Mike Piera in 1993. Mike can be
reached at AnalogMike@aol.com.
