Electric Mistress problem...

[mudmen]

Some time ago I bought a broken 18V Electric Mistress (non-Deluxe version). Along with a friend of mine we tried to restore the unit. It's working fine now and sounds really nice but I've noticed two problems.

First of all, the pedal is bassy as hell which is not what Mistress is famous for. There's also a kind of strange ticking noise (clock noise?). It's mostly audible when RATE is set fairly high while RANGE is almost at minimum setting. I recorded two clips to show you how the pedal sounds:

In this clip at the beginning guitar is plugged into PODxt only. Then it's Mistress into POD - first bypassed and then switched on:
http://odsiebie.com/pokaz/1190351---05c3.html

Bassy, isn't it? I thought it was LPB 1 but the clip is recorded after I disconnected booster from Mistress...

And here's the ticking noise:
http://odsiebie.com/pokaz/1026666---c7ef.html

Here's what have been done with the pedal so far:
- replaced pots, all ICs (including a NOS SAD1024 from SBE)
- 3PDT switch with LED
- LPB1 booster added to eliminate volume drop

All other parts are stock and match with the schematics and markings on the PCB. Any ideas what can be wrong? Faulty SAD1024? Wrong caps somewhere? Any help appreciated...

[blueduck577]

I don't know about the "bassy" problem - the clip sounded fine to me, but maybe it sounds different in real life?

Anyway, the clock noise, inside the unit are a couple of trimpots.  I don't know about the non-deluxe version, but on older deluxes (and I assume non-deluxe) one of the trimpots is a clock null.  Just turn it with a small screwdriver until the clock sound is gone.

That is, of course, the problem is just the trimpot in the wrong position.  There very well may be other problems but this may be worth trying.

Check out this article, it may be of use:
http://archive.ampage.org/articles/1/fxgd/019350/AT_LAST_Electric_mistress_mods.html

[mudmen]

I don't know about the "bassy" problem - the clip sounded fine to me, but maybe it sounds different in real life?

Well, for me it's a way more than it should be. I found (also here) that Mistress is rather stealing the bass than adding it so it's a bit odd for me...

Anyway, the clock noise, inside the unit are a couple of trimpots.  I don't know about the non-deluxe version, but on older deluxes (and I assume non-deluxe) one of the trimpots is a clock null.  Just turn it with a small screwdriver until the clock sound is gone.

That is, of course, the problem is just the trimpot in the wrong position.  There very well may be other problems but this may be worth trying.

Check out this article, it may be of use:
http://archive.ampage.org/articles/1/fxgd/019350/AT_LAST_Electric_mistress_mods.html

Thanks for the link! Unfortunately, it's mostly about Deluxe Electric Mistress...
Mine has only 2 trimpots -  SAD1024 Bias and Feedback trim. I tried to tweak them (mostly the IC bias one) - without a satisfying result. I managed to find a spot where clock noise was almost gone but the 'flange' was gone as well...

[george]

if it's ticking the sound is from the LFO not the clock - the clock if it is set at too low a frequency it causes a whining sound.

I'm no expert on LFO's but, assuming your unit is old, it might be worth replacing any big electro cap that connects the power supply rail to ground and see if that makes a difference

hth ...