Freyette/VHT POS footswitch tanked at gig *twice*

[stratotone]

Ok, so I show up friday for a gig. Dial in my 2009 Freyette UL where I want it. Put the amp on standby after soundcheck, go get a beer, relax a bit before we go on.

Get onstage, first song, time for the first solo - lead channel footswitch 'blinks' and then goes back to rhythm channel. WTF? Click it again, same thing. Made sure it was connected properly, etc... figure out after some experimentation (and wasted time at the gig) that if I click it once then LIGHTLY touch it until it almost clicks, it will work. Threw me off my game, but it got me through the gig.

Went home saturday, replaced the footswitch with a 3DPT (just didnt' use one row.) Tested it, works great.

Go to gig saturday. Dial in the amp. Click on rhythm channel - MOTHER FUCKER! This one is now doing the same thing! I leave the amp on rhythm mode and roll my volume for cleans, not the best thing to do in the world but it got me through.

So, guess I get to replace another POS switch in the footswitch. I'm more than a little irritated, in years of gigging bogners, soldanos, mesas and yes, even marshalls, I can't remember *EVER* having to swap out a footswitch. I'll probably eventally call Freyette, but I had a question with my '92 CL where I sent three emails with no response and tried to call but the mailbox for support was full.

Love the products, support sucks ass. If I find anything I even like nearly as much, I'm going to shitcan my VHTs. I may try to dial in my XTC... just doesn't sound as mean, but for fuck's sake, at least it WORKS.

Pete

 

[Tawlks]

Mojo sent. I know a buddy of mine who has a spare 6505 footswitch because it's just so so shit.

I'd reccomend you go to Voodooman switches and have them send you one, but I heard they're dicks about support and are terrible about timing.

 

[Phrygian]

figure out after some experimentation that if I click it once then LIGHTLY touch it until it almost clicks, it will work.

Had the exact thing happening to me! I remember we shared our frustrations in a thread over their lack of customer support through email. I'm sure a call would be better. I got through to them by email finally by putting "3rd attempt" in the title. Anyway, I got a replacement switch and will be fixing the pedal tonight or tomorrow. I actually forgot I had to replace the switch until I saw this thread.

Love the UL though! Good luck with everything!

 

[Drew]

I had problems with my VHT footswitch too (2 button switch for a VHT Super 30 1x12). First time I had trouble since I live close to their shop in Burbank, I took it over there and Stevie took a quick look and then had me wait 15 minutes while he had somebody repair it for me (free of charge).

However, it happened again a year later and I took the footswitch apart and I noticed the way they did strain relief on the cable was not really effective and also the little plastic clip that holds the cable in place where it enters the metal box was actually cutting in to the cable and causing trouble.

I cut off some of the cable, re-soldered everything and put some plastic and tape inside to help with the strain relief and it worked fine from then on.

 

[Gsxrbusa]

Hey man any footswitch out there can take a shit. I don't think you should condemn the amp because of it. My Framus Cobra footswitch completely quit on me, took it to my tech to have him replace all the switches and rewire. Never had a problem after that. Have had Marshall footswitches fail on me as well. Have not had a problem with my UL footswitch yet (knock on wood) and I step on it daily. Once, I accidentaly moved the toggle for the EQ and thought the footswitch was fucked when in fact it was my own dumbass fault. As far as VHT/Fryette customer support goes, I have had nothing but a good experience with them. I emailed them and next day got a response. All I wanted was the Pitbull UL badge, I recieved it within 3 days. One more thing, check the switch on the back of the amp, if you have it in the wrong position the footswitch does not work correctly, I made that mistake once too. Same goes for the effects loop too. Anyhow, good luck.

 

[Gsxrbusa]

Correction, Guess the buttons on back are for EQ and effect loop. None for footswitch. But, if you have the loop engaged on back of amp it will not toggle on footswitch and same goes for EQ. If that makes sense. You probably already know this.

 

[stratotone]

Correction, Guess the buttons on back are for EQ and effect loop. None for footswitch. But, if you have the loop engaged on back of amp it will not toggle on footswitch and same goes for EQ. If that makes sense. You probably already know this.

Yep. When I replaced the first footswitch, it worked fine then the SECOND one went out. I was using the amp properly, I just think they used some cheap-ass switches on those. I have used footswitches from Soldano, Budda, Marshall, Peavey! Fucking Peavey!, Mesa (some over 20 years old) and none had switches go out like this. It's not the amp's fault, it's because they used piss-poor switches!

Pete

 

[thiswaythatway]

I had an UL where the EQ would never switch in and out. Sent the amp and footswitch back to VHT, get the amp a few weeks later and it did the same damm thing. I called VHT and I was the one getting yelled at. After i sold it i said to myself, fuck them, i just won't buy another VHT.

 

[degenaro]

Call the company on Monday, my guess is that it's the ic not the switch.

 

[Digital Jams]

Well that sucks because damn that amp is a monster, would suck that the switching is the part that tanks it for you.

 

[Gsxrbusa]

Correction, Guess the buttons on back are for EQ and effect loop. None for footswitch. But, if you have the loop engaged on back of amp it will not toggle on footswitch and same goes for EQ. If that makes sense. You probably already know this.

Yep. When I replaced the first footswitch, it worked fine then the SECOND one went out. I was using the amp properly, I just think they used some cheap-ass switches on those. I have used footswitches from Soldano, Budda, Marshall, Peavey! Fucking Peavey!, Mesa (some over 20 years old) and none had switches go out like this. It's not the amp's fault, it's because they used piss-poor switches!

Pete

..................I can see your upset Did not mean to insult your intelligence. I Am sure you know how to operate it since you own an army of amps. I feel your pain, When you pay good money for something you figure it should be perfect and work forever. When my Cobra fs took a shit I was kinda upset, I was even more upset when my amp tech said it was a cheap peice of shit. But, then again he thinks everything is a POS! It seems some of this shit they make is an after thought, like the footswitch. Something that gets used more than anything other than the powerswitch/standby should be the best it can be. I understand it is a cost thing, but if I put my name on it I would make it the best. Anyhow, put good switches in it and call it good, because the amp is a monster!

On a side note, my fucking Engl footswitch will not work when I put it on my pedalboard. Fuckin weird shit. I pull it away (like 6 inches) and it works. Some sort of signal loss.

 

[degenaro]

The thing about stuff not breaking just isn't realistic, companies wouldn't need warranties if shit didn't break. Yeah it's inconvenient, but in the big scheme of things... Shit happens. In an ideal world I couldn't have broken headstocks on Strats or necks break out of the pocket on Teles...

 

[stratotone]

Call the company on Monday, my guess is that it's the ic not the switch.

My guess is it's the switch. Here's the symptom on Friday:

Click lead FS, light flashes momentarily, but won't activate lead channel. hit the switch one time, then LIGHTLY depress it immediately but not to the point of clicking, it works. I replaced the lead FS (which was a DPDT) with two poles of a 3DPT. Lead FS works perfectly now - and was fine at the gig last night.

Then the same thing happened last night except it was the rhythm FS. I'm going to bet if I replace it too, problem will go away. I don't think it's an IC issue because I was able to fix it by replacing a switch. If I replaced the switch with a known good one and the problem persisted, then yeah, something with the IC/Relay/LDR/Optoisolator/whatever is goofed on the board.

Don't get me wrong, I'd rather it be a switch because I can test/swap that out.

Pete

 

[stephen sawall]

All amps, cars, women, everything, etc has a problem or maintenance sooner or later. Fryette support has always been good to me. They have always been fast at a reply, it has been a little slower lately. I am not going to guess why.
I hope the problem is resolved soon for you.

 

[stratotone]

The thing about stuff not breaking just isn't realistic, companies wouldn't need warranties if shit didn't break. Yeah it's inconvenient, but in the big scheme of things... Shit happens. In an ideal world I couldn't have broken headstocks on Strats or necks break out of the pocket on Teles...

Comparing a broken headstock on a guitar that had to suffer some sort of trauma/violence to a footswitch crapping out because they used inferior parts is a bullshit analogy. If I was using the footswitch as some sort of hammer or dropping it or being stupid with it, sure, I could have caused it. I've never seen a headstock suddenly break on a guitar from someone playing a song with it.

I will say that yeah, something never breaking isn't realistic, but a footswitch going out on an amp that retails for close to $4k is pretty bothersome. The footswitch was a DPDT Cliff, which I always thought was good quality. Oh, and I did test it with a multimeter, one set of poles was goofed on it. I'm sure I'll find the same thing on the rhythm switch.

Pete

 

[stratotone]

All amps, cars, women, everything, etc has a problem or maintenance sooner or later. Fryette support has always been good to me. They have always been fast at a reply, it has been a little slower lately. I am not going to guess why.
I hope the problem is resolved soon for you.

Thanks. Unless something is frying (ha ha) the switches, I should be able to replace the next one and just keep on truckin', but I wouldn't mind getting a replacement switch as a spare. We'll see what happens when I contact Fryette about this.

BTW, the amp sounded AWESOME which really makes this a pain in the ass. I really don't think I've ever had a better live tone and I've used some killer amps in the past (bogners, mark series mesas, old rectos, buddas, etc.)

Pete

 

[glassjaw7]

Sucks man, but it happens. My rectifier fs took a poo during band practice a few years ago. And I baby my stuff. Just a bad switch in there, but I got if fixed and it has been trouble free since.

 

[stephen sawall]

BTW, the amp sounded AWESOME which really makes this a pain in the ass. I really don't think I've ever had a better live tone and I've used some killer amps in the past (bogners, mark series mesas, old rectos, buddas, etc.)

Pete

Fryette makes my favorite high gain amps. I like a lot of them but for my taste ..... I was jamming with a keyboard player a few weeks ago and he said "I have never heard a guitar amp that does that before. I can really hear all the different notes of the chords."
Some of the stuff I do uses complex chord voicing and a lot of amps just do not reproduce it. You can hear everything with the Fryette stuff.

 

[stratotone]

BTW, the amp sounded AWESOME which really makes this a pain in the ass. I really don't think I've ever had a better live tone and I've used some killer amps in the past (bogners, mark series mesas, old rectos, buddas, etc.)

Pete

Fryette makes my favorite high gain amps. I like a lot of them but for my taste ..... I was jamming with a keyboard player a few weeks ago and he said "I have never heard a guitar amp that does that before. I can really hear all the different notes of the chords."
Some of the stuff I do uses complex chord voicing and a lot of amps just do not reproduce it. You can hear everything with the Fryette stuff.

YUP! Play a guitar with the Feiten tuning system through one and you'll really be amazed, it's something else.

Pete

 

[stephen sawall]

The tone, definition, articulation, control, dynamics and feel are all there. There are a lot of good amps .... but a lot well not measure up in one way or an other.