FAO Steve Cambo

Alright, so my Clone Theory was working peachy for about two weeks or so, then all of a sudden one morning I step on the switch to give it a spin after some direct-out practicing and get greeted by some vicious humming feedback out the amp i've got it plugged into.

Now the weird thing is that it's absolutely quiet and good when the Clone's not on, so at first I thought it might be the pickups set too high or the mediums on the amp itself- no dice after fiddling with either of those. Fudging around with the mediums and the volume managed to quiet down the feedback, but not without horribly turning down the bass itself :\ohwell:. Fiddling with the wires produced even less effect. I haven't tried plugging the bass and the CT into a new amp, though i'll have the chance later this week

So I guess what i'm wondering is what the hell could have caused this since it hadn't been an issue before. My primary suspicion at this point is a certain someone neurotically vaccuuming the carpet in my room very thoroughly twice in a single day over the weekend while I was out . Do you think that the CT might have been given a bad knock by the vacuum or been given some sort of short circuit by all the static electricity the things kick up? Maybe all that kicked-up dust got gunked up into the thing, one of the side screws is missing, leaving a hole there. I know I know, it was fairly dumb putting all that stuff on top of a carpet to begin with, but bear with for technicality's sake here.

In any case, any suggestions in your experience on how to go about a maintenance job fixing it up? Is this something a philips head screwdriver and a trusty can of pressurized air can fix up? If not, could I take it to some music shop for them to take a look at without paying my arm and leg? Why does it seem that everyone is cursed to only hang onto their 1970s technology CTs for a limited time? Why do the corporations not let the world convert to fusion energy? What are Santa's coordinates?

Cheers in advance.

Sounds to me like it's burned through or shorted round a resistor. I mean from what you say it's picked up so much gain as to induce direct feedback (Jesus and Mary chain special, actually getting the pickup coil and the field from the amp to interact), that's pretty far out.

Check it's knobs and especially that selector switch....if it gets into a "neutral" position strange things happen.

As for repair.... I'm pigshit thick beyond anything more than diagnostics, Howver, I CAN tell you that nothing in there is exotic or so densely packed as to make repair impossible. The WORST problem you will find is getting components of the right vintage, a modern diode is NOT the same as an old school germanium one (mind you it's not a bust diode on the clone, you'd have more than whacky levels)

there should be schematics for it all over the net or someone who'll know the exact problem.....they are not complex devices, there's only so much that can go wrong. I reckon the scariest thing you are looking at is soldering in one new component.

BTW, have you tried thumping it again? Seriously, I firmly believe in percussive maintainance..

Mate of mine has a couple of EH pedals and his dad's a proper electronics geezer I'll ask (tho, one of his pedals is a big Muff and I doubt anyone would notice if it started turning up the gain).

There's a thought.... if the in or out gain is controlled by a trimpot (little knob with a screwslot) it could have shorted through, they do that.

Steve Campbell wrote: one of his pedals is a big Muff .

ahhhh, so that's why my GS-10 has a preset called 'biggest Muff'

I was thinking clowns pockets..

BA wrote:

Steve Campbell wrote: one of his pedals is a big Muff .

ahhhh, so that's why my GS-10 has a preset called 'biggest Muff'

I was thinking clowns pockets..

LOL

Tis called a big muff cos it FUCKS GUITARS

it's ilegal to use one on a bass. (King crimson did tho)

Whatever your GS-10 is doing, it's NOTHING like a real muff stuck through a 150W Orange stack with the valves glowing blue-white.

Thanks again, I just might just pop the thing open once I gather up the nerve.

Hannett of the Apes wrote: Thanks again, I just might just pop the thing open once I gather up the nerve.

be mellow, there's nothing terrifying in there, in fact compared with a modern stomp box, it looks positively stone age :D