Fulltone Soul Bender Problem

[mike shaw]

I pulled out my OLD aluminum boxed Soul Bender as was suprised that the output was really, really low. I replaced the battery without any change.

The output is fine with the box connected but turned off (true bypass) but as soon as you turn it on the volume drops dramatically.

The knobs all work and you can hear changes in the sound but the volume is really low.

My cables are fine and I'm plugging my guitar into the SB and then directly into my Marshall Class 5 combo.

I've used a couple of other OD's as a test and they work fine through the amp.

Any ideas as to what may be wrong?

Thanks!

 

[DavidE]

I owned #99 and never had a problem with it, even when I didn't use it for a long time. But the silver ones are getting pretty old. If you haven't used it, I wonder if caps dried out or non-use caused a problem with the diodes etc....? Did you check with Mike Fuller?

 

[mike shaw]

No, not yet. I wanted to get some opinions before hand.

If a cap or diode failed wouldn't it not work at all or hum? BTW, the power LED lights up fine.

 

[Don A]

My old '69 Pedal did that recently. It needed a new switch. If I fooled around with the switch it would cut in and out.

 

[mike shaw]

I don't think it's the switch. Seems to work fine, no crackles etc.

Spoke too soon - it is the switch! I tried wiggling, pulling etc. and heard a crackle and full power then it stopped. Started working the switch 'with vigor' and now it's working fine. Must have had some crud in there.

Thanks for the suggestion Don!