General Pedal Questions

Can you mod my pedal?

I do not perform these types of modifications.  However, I do welcome any comments or suggestions you may have that can help with future pedal development.

What is the best way to order my effects?

One of the better explanations is provided here: tightmixblog.com/guitar/how-to-order-your-guitar-pedals-for-killer-tone/

Do your pedals digitize the dry signal?

No.  The dry signal remains analog.

Do your pedals change the phase of the input signal?

The phase of the dry signal is unchanged.

Do your pedals have internal trim pots for adjusting stuff?

No.

Will this pedal work in front of my amp?

If you run your amp clean, then yes.  If you use overdrive, then effects such as reverb, chorus and delay work best after the overdrive.  If you use the overdrive in your amp, then these effects should be put in the effects loop.

Will this pedal work in my effects loop?

My pedals work with "instrument level" or "-10 dBV" effects loops.  It may also work in other effects loops; but since there is a lot of variation between effect loop levels, I make no guarantees.  Generally speaking, if similar 9V-powered pedals work in your effects loop, then my pedal will probably work.

This is why I accept returns: if it doesn't work in your loop, you can send it back!

Warning: FX loop rant follows...

Amp makers are notorious for designing effects loops that don't work well with effects, especially instrument-level effects.  Why?  I used to think this was because they are cheap (and some of them are), but I have learned that at least one highly-sought-after parallel loop mod kit with adjustable send/return levels only works with +4dBu line-level gear.  If you're going to make the send and return adjustable, then why not make it work with both instrument and line level gear?

An ideal effects loop should be pre-master volume and operate at instrument level (or selectable instrument/line level).  What you most likely end up with, however, is an effects loop that is post-master volume: so it will be instrument level at low volume and line level at high volume.  This results in effects that sound noisy at low volume and/or overload at high volume.  This is not the effect's fault; it's poor loop design!

If you have problems with instrument-level effects in your loop, you may want to try an Ebtech LLS2 Line Level Shifter.

What kind of power adapter should I use with your pedal?

A list of recommend adapters is on this page.

I read in an online post that ...

Stop right there.  Generally, anything you read on a forum (that someone said that I said) is probably either the poster's speculation or out of date information.  The only source of accurate information about my pedals is here on this site or directly from me.

Why are your pots mounted to the PC board and not the chassis?

Aren't chassis-mounted pots more durable? That's what everyone else does.

Early in the testing of the first Wet Reverb prototypes, I would stand on the pedal with my full weight across the switch and 2 knobs. The pedal never suffered any damage and always worked perfectly. Yes, the PCB will flex slightly, but the knobs will bottom out before it flexes too much. The PCB is double-sided FR4 with plated-through holes and is quite durable.

Now, I don't recommend that customers do this intentionally, but my pedals are plenty capable of handling the occasional misguided step. I have sold many pedals and never had one returned with a damaged pot. Several customers have commented that my pedals are more reliable than similar pedals from other manufacturers (and none of their issues had anything to do with the pots).

This is an issue of perceived durability as opposed to actual durability. The PCB-mounting method is more robust than most people think it is, while the chassis-mounting method has other potential issues of which most people are not aware. For instance, if your chassis-mounted pots are soldered to the same PC board and not in perfect vertical alignment (which they rarely are), then torquing down the nuts on the pots will stress the PC board and solder joints. Hand-wiring also has issues such as inconsistency and cost.

So while I probably could have found a way to use chassis-mounted pots, it would made the pedal more expensive (requiring a cable-attached daughterboard); but it would not have added any real value that justified a higher selling price.