I must say I stumbled upon this forum by chance and was amazed by the technical info and knowledge that abounds here. My name is Derek and I'm from Northland in New Zealand. I recently found a well worn Boss OD1 pedal in a local music store and bought it. It has a black switch, black screw and 6 digit number 168 800 and MIJ. I payed about US$35.00 equivalent and took it home put in a battery and away it went. Unfortunately when I used it for a gig it worked a couple of times then got weak and fuzzy with the volume slowly increasing so I disconnected it. When I got home I checked the batt voltage which was fine but noticed one batt clip was loose so crimped it up slightly. I have played for about 3-4 hrs at home and it hasn't missed a beat but wont know until I use it this weekend. I can get some incredible blues/rock tones out of it. I am using it in front of my Vox AD50VT Valvetronic amp which I recently modified with an effects loop thru which I plug my Behringer EQ700 pedal. Would the loose battery connection have caused the problem or may there be a bad joint/component possibly?
Welcome, and eh.... nice find I don't know what the problem is but there are lots of forum members (read: Dr. Bob )who know anything about technical problems and don't mind to write a whole story about it I'm more of a smilie user
$35 for an OD-1 is bargain even if it needs some TLC. Old Boss pedals do sometimes suffer from some intermittent problems. These usually comes from cold solder points corroded jack sockets potentiometers
The last two can often be fixed with some contact spray while the cold solder points are harder to find. Battery clip and switch can also give problems but the symptom is usually can't turn on/off.
I forgot to mention I cleaned the jack sockets and battery connections with switch cleaner and cotton buds. I removed the knobs and sprayed cleaner down the pot shafts but they are fairly well sealed but do not make any noise when adjusted. I guess I will have to wait and see whether there is a recurrence of the problem when I play on the weekend.
quote:Originally posted by Dr. Bob Sounds like you've already done some PM - Preventative Maintenance. Hope it all stays good for you.
Regards Dr. Bob
Sound advice when getting an used pedal. I'm amazed at some of the crud that comes off the plugs contacts when I clean them, makes me wonder if some people play in fields. Or even how long they've been sitting in someones garage, I found cobwebs in one...
Ha ha speaking of cobwebs I found a dead fly in one of mine. Maybe that's what the spider was hoping for !!!
Hi ronster & Guys
In the Ibanez TS-10 screamer that I got last year, When I was cleaning it out, it had Mull (Dope) clippings in it.
I wrote about it in another thread a long time ago. Lucky it was a local pedal & didn't have to go through Customs. That would have given me a trying to explain that one...
You see, that must be that special magic, that creates the Urban Myth Tone of the TubeScreamers...
The clippings, went straight into the nearest bin.
A follow up to the original post. It must have been the loose battery connection as my OD1 hasn't missed a beat since. It sounded awesome and certainly cuts thru the mix when playing with other musicians. It has simple controls too which suits me as I am not really a knob twiddler kind of guy. I was obviously at the right place at the right time to pick up that bargain as I haven't been to that store for probably over two years now. I also haggled the price down so I am wrapped. I saw on the INTERNET someone in Australia had a first issue OD1 for sale for AUS$495.00.
Hi there folks-Newbie here
Posted - 08/23/2007 : 11:01:00
)who know anything about technical problems and don't mind to write a whole story about it 
