mod trouble

[stringslinger425]

hi,im having trpuble with my mods slowly swithing from one to the other on their own, but not all the way they slowly go from one to the other where the mod light starts out dim and gets brighter but they are both lit at the same time and then i lose them both . does anybody have any idea what is causing this?


my rig rm50 with sl+ and blackface

 

[roodyrocker]

Hmm, I never heard of this before. Does it do this regardless of whether the footswitch is hooked up or not? Reason I ask is that I'm thinking if it only does it with the footswitch hooked up then it has to be the footswitch/cable sending a weird signal to the amp causing it to do this. If it does it even without the footswitch hooked up then its probably in the amp itself.

 

[stringslinger425]

since the rm50 isnt midi equiped im using a midi relay in place of my foot swith sending the commands with my p.o.d. xt live but i have unplugged the relay and removed my pod from the loop but it still does it

 

[roodyrocker]

If I understand you correctly, your channels are now switching back and forth without any footswitches plugged into the amp correct?
If so, that is strange and I have no idea why it would that. Do you have a Randall factory footswitch to try with it? I'm not that familiar with the combos, I have an RM100 which has a factory supplied 3 channel footswitch that connect to the head via the Midi In jack on the back of the head.

 

[3 Mile Stone]

Oh boy, bummer. My Egnater M4 is now doing this. Mine will do two different things. Problem#1 - The second channel, upper right module slot, will slowly start to fade into the signal path, with the light glowing ever so slightly, kinda half on. Problem#2 - Other times this same channel will just come on in parallel with whatever other channel I have on at the time. It just lights up and you can hear that module in unison with the other module, they are both on at the same time. Sometimes when I power the unit up it comes on with channel two fully lit right away, and then when it comes on channel one is also lit. Does this with or without midi pedal plugged in. Any ideas guys???????

 

[3 Mile Stone]

Sorry, just giving this a bump since all you fine folks will be doing some casual Saturday board cruising. See my post above this one. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If not I guess I'll ask Frank on Monday and see what he thinks. Stayed up very late last night trying to figure this out.

 

[bruce egnater]

3 M.S.
You need to call the shop to discuss this. I have never seen one do it. What's even more peculiar is that you have two unrelated amps doing the same thing???? Is anything else wierd there? Any other things act strange like TVs, radios, light dimmers etc? Is it possible your line voltage could be very low? The symptoms almost sound like a low line voltage problem. Do you have a meter or some way to check it?
Are the modules all Randall or Egnater or a mix of both? Also, does your Egnater M4 have an effects loop?

Bruce Egnater
Amp Lounge
248-541-9100

 

[3 Mile Stone]

Hi Bruce,

No, nothing else going on strange really that I can think of, no TV, or anything that would cause RF weirdness, no dimmers etc. This actually happened to me at a gig one time, but that does not rule out voltage issues. If I power it down and turn it on again it would go away, but this recent problem has been a little more stuborn.

Yes I do have a way to look at the voltage, I will check that ASAP, although in general I live in a brand new house and I also work for the utility company that supplies the juice, so we are not known to have this type of issue in my hood.

It has done this with both Egnater and Randall mods.

Yes, it's the older single M4 type with effects loop.

Thanks for your help on this, I will call you tomorrow sometime during the day.

 

[RD/MAN]

Tommy,

The only time we have seen modules change channels by themselves is if one of the modules is not seated or connected correctly to the amp. Please remove and reinsert each module, tightening each securely. Turn the unit off and back on to reset the MIDI function. Sometimes if a module is not connected all the way it will cause the channel switching to freak out.

If this doesn't fix it, please let me know and we will pick it up and fix the issue right away.

Let me know.
Thanks,
RD/MAN

 

[3 Mile Stone]

Thanks RD Man. It sure looks like the modules are in there tight. In fact I read in another post that securing the module can be an issue. I have used a small screw driver to lightly tighten down on the module. I will revisit this solution again to see if your suggestion helps. Thanks agian.

 

[bruce egnater]

Also keep the module edge connector clean using a dry, pink pencil eraser. Don't use spray cleaners on the edge.

 

[3 Mile Stone]

Okay, thanks guys.

When I get home today I will:

1. Make sure that the module is very secure in its slot. Might check the chasis (recieving/female) end also.

2. Check AC voltage to ensure it is acceptable

3. Clean the contacts as you described

Bruce, I will be putting my new SL module that I got yesterday into that slot (awesome sound, I spent about 15 minutes with it yesterday). That should also help figure out whether it's a module problem since this will be a different module than the one I usually use in that slot. That should narrow things down enough to figure this out. Thanks to you and RDMan for the great advice, I'm sure we'll get this issue fixed soon and if none of this works I will call you.

 

[3 Mile Stone]

The culprit seems to be my old Randall Plexi module. I bought it used on Ebay. Probably the contacts are a little worn out.I left the brand new Egnater SL mod in there for hours last night, no problems. Soon after I put the Plexi in I got the parallel channel thing going again. I also noticed with the new module that when I power up the unit, all 4 LEDs stay dark until it clicks and then channel 1 is lit. With the Plexi module in it, as soon as I hit the power switch, the Plexi mod momentarily lights up and then goes off, then channel one lights up. And then on about the 3rd try channel 2 (Plexi slot) just stayed lit. Any way, this issue is resolved as far as I am concerned because I finally have my M4 loaded they way I want it.
Egnater B'man > SL > EG3 > EG3
It's great and the transition is like one amp going from clean to full on fat and loud lead.