Volume fluctuations fault! Help! :-(

Bluetonic73

Hi guys, I’m wondering if someone can help.

last week at a gig, my Guitar volume was fluctuating all over the place, luckily I had a good sound engineer and we managed to get through the gig. 

I naturally assumed it was it was a valve issue. I’m playing through a 1990 ltd Ed VOX AC30.

when my tech took a look at the amp, sure enough there was a couple of faulty valves. He was surprised the amp even worked, sorted, or so I thought..

Last night at rehearsal I had a similar problem, yet I was using a different guitar and different amp!! The only common piece in the puzzle was my cables and pedalboard.

I run from my guitar through a TU-3 > Jim D wah mini > CS3 > MXR COMP > Blues Driver > Marshall Reverb. All powered from a pro quality power bank. The in and out cables are good quality and nearly new.

Has anyone any ideas or experiences of this occurring? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

ICBM

Try changing the cables first - just because they're new doesn't mean they can't be faulty. (Certain brands in particular...) You need spares anyway so it isn't a waste of money even if it proves to be the pedalboard.

Bluetonic73

Thanks, I will, but could dodgy cables produce serious volume fluctuation though? I know they can crackle etc, but they either work or don’t? am I wrong??

ICBM

Bluetonic73 said:

Thanks, I will, but could dodgy cables produce serious volume fluctuation though? I know they can crackle etc, but they either work or don’t? am I wrong??

They can also cause odd volume fluctuation.

What brand are they - something beginning with PW by any chance…?

Bluetonic73

Ah ok, not planet waves. Fender ‘custom shop’’ probably made in in China. I think one of the patches is PW

Titch

I've just had the same problem at last weekends gig, normally the volume setting is around 3-4 on the amp but I was having to run it much higher. I plugged the guitar straight into the amp without the pedal board and the difference was huge,so after a tedious process of elimination I finally found the culprit,a patch cable between the compressor and the first drive pedal.
All the other cables seem fine but they are a mixture, some are older than others and have been on the board for some time so maybe it's time to replace them all.
I've also had a couple of guitar cables in the past which did the same thing and they were Van Damme cables but since then I've been using Klotz cables and they've been fine.

tampaxboo

admittedly offtopic, but this post reminds me of my favourite internet pedal comment.

original question: My Danelectro Cool Cat Tremolo causes a noticeable volume drop. Doesn't matter where it is in the chain or just by itself. What could be wrong?

reply: does the volume drop kind of go up and down?

http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/guitar/acapella-29/1694401-

hotpickups

Yes I had this problem once and yes it was a dodgy cable I had made. Process of elimination I'm afraid to find it

Bluetonic73

Cheers Titch/ICBM. I think first call will be to replace the patch cables ( bloody expense again!) I have quite a big gig on Thursday, so hopefully sorted by then. Hopefully it’s not an intermittent fault within an actual pedal, that would be a pain to diagnose!

ICBM

Bluetonic73 said:

Fender ‘custom shop’’ probably made in in China.

OK, almost certainly a cable issue then!

These are total crap. The cable itself is fine, it's the plugs that are the problem.

Bluetonic73 said:

Hopefully it’s not an intermittent fault within an actual pedal, that would be a pain to diagnose!

If so it will almost certainly be one of the ones with the mechanical switches.

Funkfingers

Bluetonic73 said:

powered from a pro quality power bank. 

The high quality of the power supply is irrelevant if it cannot provide enough current for all of your effect units. On the other hand, it is difficult to imagine the pedal chain described in the OP would demand vast amounts of electricity.

Is there anything in particular that you or your band do whilst playing that induces the volume changes or are they entirely random? 

Bluetonic73

thanks, I don’t consider the pedal chain is particularly power heavy, I.e unlike flint strymon etc, just standard Boss stuff.

The volume fluctuations are entirely random and bloody annoying! It did seem to settle down by the end of the gig but was still apparent.

thanks for the help

crunchman

If it is a cable then it will probably only be one of the cables.  You shouldn't need to replace them all.  Buy one or two decent new ones, and swap the others out one by one until you find the culprit.

If you go through all the cables and it's still doing it, then take each of the pedals out one by one until you find the culprit.

If neither of those fix it, then given that it's happening with different amps and guitars then by elimination it's probably the power supply.

jakzek

Had the exact same problem yesterday, thought it was my valves and was very annoyed as I haven't had the amp too long.

Thought i'd do some investigating first and shock horror it was one of my Fender cables (the standard black ones with white tips). This is the 3rd one to break on me now simply from home use and none of them have lasted anywhere near a year. 

Buying myself a planet waves american stage cable as a replacement as i've heard good things about them.

Got a fender custom shop cable as an xmas present last year so i'll carry on using that from amp to pedal board as there's no point wasting it, but i'll wait patiently until that inevitably dies! 

Funkfingers

Even the cheapest line of Planet Waves cables is a step up from the budget stuff. Unfortunately, as soon as a manufacturer uses terms like "life-time warranty" and "free replacement", somebody out there will imagine that the product is indestructible. That person will then find it necessary to put this imaginary claim to the test. 

RESULT - Customer returns with claims of, "it just stopped working, honest, guv," when there are obvious signs of abuse on the cable.

crunchman said:
probably the power supply.

The power distributor device is dependent upon the house mains electricity supply. Other consumers of electricity could cause momentary drops in the supply voltage. For instance, P.A. and light rigs.

crunchman

jakzek said:

Had the exact same problem yesterday, thought it was my valves and was very annoyed as I haven't had the amp too long.

Thought i'd do some investigating first and shock horror it was one of my Fender cables (the standard black ones with white tips). This is the 3rd one to break on me now simply from home use and none of them have lasted anywhere near a year. 

Buying myself a planet waves american stage cable as a replacement as i've heard good things about them.

Got a fender custom shop cable as an xmas present last year so i'll carry on using that from amp to pedal board as there's no point wasting it, but i'll wait patiently until that inevitably dies! 

I gave up on the Planet Waves cables.  Lifetime warranty is all very well, but will you be able to find the receipt in 6 years time?  Or more likely 6 months time given my experience with them.

The most cost effective way is to buy some decent cable and jacks and make your own.  If you aren't up to making your own, or can't be bothered, then get some from somewhere like Award-Session.

http://www.award-session.com/

Stewart Ward who owns Award-Session can be very grumpy but he makes good quality cables at sensible prices.