Roob Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Hi, Got two pedals currently. A Zoom 607 and an Ibanez PD7 Phathead. I recently repaired the Zoom (loose 1/4 jack), resoldered it onto the PCB inside. However the PD7 seems to have lost it's distortion and OD almost completely. I.e. when it's turned on, sometimes it sounds no different to my clean signal, and sometimes it has only a slight effect. Last night it died completely and I had to remove it from my setup to allow me to play. Is it time for me to bin it? If I do end up getting another, examples of the sound I am after would be "Blur - Song2" and "Feeder - Buck Rogers". Any suggestions? I was never quite able to get the right sound out of the PD7, but I can't decide if thats because it was faulty or because it wasn't what I was after. Oh one more thing...does the way I have my pedals setup have any effect on the sound I will get? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 [quote name='Roob' post='583379' date='Aug 28 2009, 11:19 AM']Oh one more thing...does the way I have my pedals setup have any effect on the sound I will get?[/quote] I'd generally put distortion pedals closest to the instrument because the impedances match up better that way. New battery required in bass or Phathead? Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebasshead Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 Older versions of the Phathead had dodgy microswitches under the footswitch, could be that your's is on it's way out perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roob Posted August 28, 2009 Author Share Posted August 28, 2009 Hmm, will try switching pedals around to see if there is a noticeable difference. Got a mains power lead for it, battery in bass is brand new. Will do a check though incase it's a dud. Steve - I remember reading about that, possibly mine has finally gone. Thanks for the suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Fly Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 [quote name='alexclaber' post='583459' date='Aug 28 2009, 12:37 PM']I'd generally put distortion pedals closest to the instrument because the impedances match up better that way.(...)[/quote] I am not sure I understand why. Can you elaborate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 [quote name='Silent Fly' post='583666' date='Aug 28 2009, 03:51 PM']I am not sure I understand why. Can you elaborate?[/quote] Quite a lot of distortion pedals appear to be finicky about the impedance match between input stage on the pedal and output stage on the instrument, to the point that some work far better with passive basses than active basses. Therefore unless all your pedals before the distortion have true bypass (which in itself could add extra treble loss due to cable capacitance if you have a large FX board) then the distortion pedal will be presented with the low impedance output of a typical buffered pedal which will affect the response of the distortion. I think a big part of this is whether or not the distortion pedal has a nice buffer stage before the distortion circuitry. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarhead Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I think that a Proco RAT or Turbo RAT would be good for Song 2, I was trying one out the other day and it had a really great sound. It's around £85 new I think. Zach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roob Posted August 28, 2009 Author Share Posted August 28, 2009 (edited) Had a look at the Pro co website, are the RAT and Turbo RAT for guitars? The Juggernaught seems to be specifically for bass, or am I right in thinking it doesn't really matter? Signal goes in...box does it's work...signal comes out, regardless of the instrument . Edited August 28, 2009 by Roob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 The standard RAT is rather righteous on bass. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 [quote name='alexclaber' post='584066' date='Aug 28 2009, 09:44 PM']The standard RAT is rather righteous on bass. Alex[/quote] Plus there is an easy mod (clip off a diode or something) for more bass and less drive. Can't reccomend the Jugger, it has a pretty odd sound, but good features. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roob Posted August 29, 2009 Author Share Posted August 29, 2009 Yeah, I did have a listen to the Juggernaught on their website. It did sound a bit odd, certainly not what I was after. The RAT sounds nice though. Suspect I will be adding one to the shopping list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 [quote name='alexclaber' post='583700' date='Aug 28 2009, 04:13 PM']Quite a lot of distortion pedals appear to be finicky about the impedance match between input stage on the pedal and output stage on the instrument, to the point that some work far better with passive basses than active basses. Therefore unless all your pedals before the distortion have true bypass (which in itself could add extra treble loss due to cable capacitance if you have a large FX board) then the distortion pedal will be presented with the low impedance output of a typical buffered pedal which will affect the response of the distortion. I think a big part of this is whether or not the distortion pedal has a nice buffer stage before the distortion circuitry. Alex[/quote] i'd only really worry about that with a fuzz face type circuit which was made with a low impedence input signal in mind, most more modern pedals have an inbuilt buffer like the o/p's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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