Vox Tonelab Footswitches

[jacobyjd]

So a guitarist from a local band picked up an all but new tonelab for $150 or so. One of the bank footswitches isn't switching unless you bejigger it  sideways. They look like the actuators on the stomp switches we're all used to, however, they are momentary. I haven't had a chance to open it up to see exactly what's going on inside there, so I'm not completely sure what the issue was.

Just curious to see if anyone else has had this problem or has opened one up before.

I'm guessing I'll see one of two things:

1. A board-mounted momentary spst, which would be pretty easy to replace, as long as I can find open real estate off-board for the switch.

2. a stompswitch lookalike actuator hitting a board-mounted mini tactile switch (the wah pedal switch is an exposed one of these), of which either could be jacked up.

When I open it up I might shoot some pictures for our viewing pleasure...

[dschwartz]

on either case..probably is dirt or moisture ..try cleaning the contacts as first repair option..

[jacobyjd]

on either case..probably is dirt or moisture ..try cleaning the contacts as first repair option..

Absolutely--that'll be my first thing to check, especially since there's no difference in the sound that switch makes when it actuates, giving me the sense that nothing is actually broken inside.

[jn777]

Hi, i had a Zoom g9.2tt and the switches(footswitches and handswitches  ) starting failing, as i opened i found that it had tactile switches inside, what i did is just spray em with a cleaner for electronics, and it worked fine after that.

[jacobyjd]

Well, I opened it up last night, and the fix was so easy that I had it closed up before I had a chance to shoot some pictures. Basically, the switches just pushed a spring against a tactile switch, and once the tension got high enough, it would actuate. The bad switch just needed its spring re-seated.

They're built really solidly--I was pretty impressed with the design. Their signal chain leaves much to be desired though (like every multi-effect I've ever used).

I love how multi-effect makers think that people put their volume pedals at the very end of their chains. If I do a volume swell, then back off to silence, I don't want my delay tails to disappear too!