Trying to fix a friends Lovepedal Vibe

[irmcdermott]

So, a friend of mine told me that his Lovepedal Vibe has been giving him some trouble. He says that when in his signal chain, the Vibe sounds great when it is on, however, when the effect is bypassed and in his chain he gets a big loss in his high end clarity, as well as reduces volume. I cracked it open and looked at it, and there isn't anything wrong with it visibly, all the wires and solder joints look alright. I'd like to get this thing fixed (if possible) and back to him this week (as I am leaving the country for 8 days on Friday). Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! When you plug directly into the effect it's fine, it's only when it's in his chain that this happens.

Also, Lovepedal has totally been shooting him BS saying they won't fix it "due to the rare nature of parts, they can't do anything about it." And he had to email them twice just to get a response.....

Thanks everyone! Help is greatly appreciated!!

[CapnCrunch]

I'm a neophyte, but I would suspect the switch wiring, or the switch itself.  If all the solder joints are good, and one connection is not touching another, I'd swap out the switch.  It sounds like signal may be getting shorted to ground when the pedal is switched off. 

I'd also check the in and out jacks to make sure that they are making good solid mechanical connections with the plugs.  I had an old distortion pedal that did something like you describe.  The input jack had gotten tired.  I "re-tensioned" it and the problem went away.  It sounded o.k. engaged, but there was a noticeable volume drop when it was in the chain and not engaged.  It made some other noises though when you moved the pedal or stepped on it (from the plug slopping around in the jack).

[irmcdermott]

thanks! my first thought was the switch or jacks as well, since it only happens when the pedal is bypassed. i've got an extra switch around, maybe i'll try swapping it out tomorrow. this is my first time fixing someone elses pedal, so even though swapping out the switch is super easy, i still find myself somewhat nervous

anyone else? i think this is the issue, but would be interested if anyone else had different ideas.

[irmcdermott]

Replaced the switch and it's still doing the same thing!!!! can't see anywhere in the pedal where it might be shorting to ground, but i'm at a total loss.

[Haberdasher]

Did you test the wires going to and from the jacks & switch for continuity?  There may be a bad wire in there somewhere.

I dunno, I wish I could help more.