Trying to pin point this issue + popping...

[steveyraff]

Sent an overdrive pedal I built out to a guy.

I tested it before it left and it seems 100% fine to me. Its a dual overdrive, same circuit on both sides. He said only one side worked, and the other side made a loud whistle. So he posted it back and I got it today.

I opened it up and plugged it in. Both sides work fine for me.

There is one peculiar thing which I notice now. The left side which he said didn't work for him, it makes quite a loud pop when I press the footswitch. I'm not sure if this is related to the issue he was having with it. I am afraid to send it back to him incase he has the same issue at his side. He assures me he has tried other pedals and other cables, correct power supplies etc and everything is working fine on his end. So I can only presume something is still wrong with it.

Could this popping on the left side be related to the issues he had with it not working at all?

Also, can someone please direct me in areas to look that may result in this popping? So far, I have checked all my

• grounding,
  all my off board wiring,
  I've checked for solder gaps and sliced between rows,
  I've checked component values, placement, orientation,
  I've checked my cuts and bridges.

I can't see anything wrong. Both sides sound fine to me. All I am noticing is a loud pop when pressing the footswitch on that side.

In the past, I've found issues like this hard to pin point, and its been quicker to just replace the circuit. I'm just wondering should I be replacing the circuit first, or replacing the footswitch on that side. Trying to figure out which would more likely to solve it...


Thanks all!

[kraal]

He already sent it back to you, so the following advice may not apply in your situation (but I can't help you for your current situation).

My recommendations would be to:
- make the user fill a defect description with all the information you need (about the power supply, cables, as much information as possible, including how the power supply is powered (direct or through through a power strip), icture of the power supply)
- ask him to make a short video of the issue (guitar -> another pedal with same power supply -> amp, then same guitar -> your pedal with same power supply and cables -> amp)
- organise a skype/zoom/whatsapp/<whatever> call to be able to see / hear what's happening and be able to ask to make changes on the fly

These steps are meant to make sure that you have a good understanding of the context, enough information to have an efficient call, and that you understand each other (you see and hear simultaneously the same things).

This is the kind of methodology I used to deploy as quality manager (not for pedals, but it can be applied here as well)

Regards,

[steveyraff]

Weird. I found most popping was coming from the footswitch on the left side - the same side he said didn't work at all. So I replaced the entire circuit and footswitch on that side. It's still popping some. It also still works fine to my ears though. Meeeeh...

My recommendations would be to:
- make the user fill a defect description with all the information you need (about the power supply, cables, as much information as possible, including how the power supply is powered (direct or through through a power strip), icture of the power supply)
- ask him to make a short video of the issue (guitar -> another pedal with same power supply -> amp, then same guitar -> your pedal with same power supply and cables -> amp)
- organise a skype/zoom/whatsapp/<whatever> call to be able to see / hear what's happening and be able to ask to make changes on the fly

He basically did, he gave me a lengthy description of the problems at his end. No sound at all from the left side. A high pitched squeal from the right side.
He made a video and took quite a few pics. He has a very nice and very clean looking set up. A lot of good quality pedals, all of which work perfectly. He used the same iso power supply as those, and the same cables, same guitar, amp etc. Then he tried different cables, supplies, amps, guitars etc. All the same. My pedal was the only problematic one.

Whatever happened at his end, when it arrived back I tried it on both my practice/testing rig, and my main live rig. Sounds fine to me on both, except for a bit of popping if the footswitches are pressed while not playing.