Deluxe Memory Man - Ticking noise in background

[kldonegan]

I've got one that ticks when you're not playing into it... the tick isn't there when I'm playing, but it shows up when the guitar signal fades out. This poses a problem in the studio for me, so I thought I'd see if anyone had encountered this. I don't think it's normal, since my buddy and I bought one the same day and his doesn't do this. I can't figure out where it came from... showed up a few days ago.


HELP!

 

[dverna]

Contact Howard Davis -- he helped design and engineer the pedal -- and continues to consult on it. He can advise and more than likely align it (and mod it if you want) to a level you are happy with.

http://howard.davis2.home.att.net/home.htm

 

[kldonegan]

I shot him an email. Anyone else have this kind of problem?

 

[analogmike]

DONT TOUCH ANY OTHER TRIMPOTS

If you have the new RELAY TRUE BYPASS version with two wires on the switch, this procedure will help get rid of the CHUGGING white noise you sometimes hear.
In the center right area of the board is a trimpot #7. It is above TP4 and TP5. If this does not match up with your board DON'T DO ANYTHING as you may screw it up if you adjust the wrong trimpot.
If it does match up, mark the current setting of #7 with a sharpie in case you want to set it back. It's usually horizontal or vertical.
Turn up (clockwise) the #7 trimpot to LOWER the gain of the pedal, until the noise stops. You can turn it up all the way if needed. It will also reduce the distortion you get on the repeats. But you will need to turn up the level knob on the pedal to get the same effect level. It should be turned up so the OVERLOAD light just comes on.
Good luck!!!

 

[kldonegan]

My pedal is this version, so I will definitely give this a try. Thank you so much.

DONT TOUCH ANY OTHER TRIMPOTS

If you have the new RELAY TRUE BYPASS version with two wires on the switch, this procedure will help get rid of the CHUGGING white noise you sometimes hear.
In the center right area of the board is a trimpot #7. It is above TP4 and TP5. If this does not match up with your board DON'T DO ANYTHING as you may screw it up if you adjust the wrong trimpot.
If it does match up, mark the current setting of #7 with a sharpie in case you want to set it back. It's usually horizontal or vertical.
Turn up (clockwise) the #7 trimpot to LOWER the gain of the pedal, until the noise stops. You can turn it up all the way if needed. It will also reduce the distortion you get on the repeats. But you will need to turn up the level knob on the pedal to get the same effect level. It should be turned up so the OVERLOAD light just comes on.
Good luck!!!

 

[kldonegan]

Alright... that didn't really clear anything up, and the chugging does eat into the last few repeats - it cuts them off and starts to chugging. Guess it's time to put a call into EHX... it's getting progressively worse!

 

[Starsailor]

I had the same problem with my DMM. It turned out to be a bad compander chip. Is it a tick or more of a shh shh shh sound?

 

[kldonegan]

Shh shh shh... This one is a good sounding one, too; it sounds so warm. I hope I can have it repaired by EHX instead of replaced.

 

[Starsailor]

Just send it to Howard Davis and while you're at it get the longer delay mod. It should run just over a hundred bucks to have it fixed/mod'd. Mine goes up to about 730ms(measured by my DD-20)!

 

[mcdes]

probabaly not the case, but ill give my 2 cents, process of elimination wise anyway.

mine was doing kinda same thing and it went when i re-did the goerge 'ls in its line, i think it may have affecyed it.

when i wasnt playing, it sent a rythmic screech or tick through the line, and i wasnt even playing, had me stumped.

i re-did cables and it went away.

i would really like to solder cables so i dont have any problems, but its a pain when my board is a never ending play ground which keeps changing, but im nearly there, and maybe then i can do it properly.

 

[Starsailor]

I'm no expert but I'm willing to bet it's a bad compander chip. The symptom is the exact same as what mine was doing.

 

[kldonegan]

probabaly not the case, but ill give my 2 cents, process of elimination wise anyway.

mine was doing kinda same thing and it went when i re-did the goerge 'ls in its line, i think it may have affecyed it.

when i wasnt playing, it sent a rythmic screech or tick through the line, and i wasnt even playing, had me stumped.

i re-did cables and it went away.

i would really like to solder cables so i dont have any problems, but its a pain when my board is a never ending play ground which keeps changing, but im nearly there, and maybe then i can do it properly.

The absolute first thing I do when something like this happens is change out those variables to see what's happening. I even have a mini toggle that kills my entire board so I can rule the whole board out with a flick if something is behaving weird. I used the DMM out of the pedalboard chain, same thing. Different cables, same thing. A few different guitars, same thing. Plugged in a friend's DMM, noise is completely gone. It's also happening on the last few repeats, too. I'm pretty sure I've tried all the variables.

 

[analogmike]

I have seen the compandor chip cause that too, try Howard, good luck!

 

[kldonegan]

I've just had a little email exchange with Howard, and he said it's going to be at least 2 weeks before he could look at it... the waiting game begins!

 

[Howard Davis]

I'm aware of the problems that appear in some recent production DMMs. Right now I have engineering tasks to deal with, and it will probably be another week until I can again accept repairs and mod work.

I advise against attempting to adjust the trimpots to resolve these noise issues. You might reduce the noise, but at the cost of losing headroom, volume balance between dry and effect signals, and increasing the distortion. Without using lab equipment and having the proper technical information, it is EASY to screw up the alignment in a DMM.

The present issues appear mostly due to defective or incorrect parts. If your DMM is under the manufacturer's warranty, they should service it. If not, contact me:
Guitar pedal design engineering, repairs, and custom mods:
http://howard.davis2.home.att.net/
howard.davis2@att.net

 

[kldonegan]

thanks for the reply, Howard. I'll shoot you another email in a week or so.

 

[Guitar_Ninja]

I have a Small Clone that made a swirly sound in the background all the time and would make a clicking noise when bypassed at one point. It ended up being the wire on the switch which goes to the output jack. I replaced it and the bypass ticking and swirly sound stopped.

 

[kldonegan]

Update:

Howard has finished repairing the pedal and I've just sent him a money order, so I'll have it back soon. It ended up being a bad compander chip, along with the pedal needing an alignment. The parts and labor for the alignment + compander were $80 bucks, and I think that's terribly reasonable. I can't wait to get it back.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend sending something to Howard. Top notch service.

 

[analogmike]

update:

I Wouldn't Hesitate To Recommend Sending Something To Howard. Top Notch Service.

+1 !!!