Just been reading a bunch of boss manuals for various pedals and the Katana.. and it mentions turning power on to your amp last when starting up, and turning the amp off first, then all the pedals when turning off..
Or else malfunctions may happen and the world dies..
Is it necessary?
My 3 pedals and amp are all plugged into the same mains extension... so all I do is plug that one extension in, switch on at the wall and all of it gets power at the same time.. the boss pedal instantly turns on when power is switched on, the others don't. I presume they have latching switches or something.
But am I getting confused?
Do they mean power on, as in, the amp/pedals own switch is switched OFF but the mains its plugged into is on?
I mean, I've just been here switching shit on at the wall all at once and then, well turning the amps switch on to power it up. Then when I'm done ill sometimes unplug the guitar first, or sometimes switch off the amp first, and finally switch the mains plug off..
I thought the only real no no was turning a head on without a cab being connected?
The only easy day, was yesterday...
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Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after youYou shouldn't run your pedals at 240 volts.
A valve output stage is not going to be bothered if it bangs on with the rest of the kit since obviously it takes time to warm up!
Bang a V amp off (i.e. NOT via a standby switch) often causes a crack and sometimes a dying 'Wheeeee!' noise but that should bother guitar speakers not one jot.
Transistor OP stages used to make a hell of a bang when switched on or off but things SHOULD be better these days. Really powerful amps have delayed relay switching.
The other problem is transients generated by ancillary gear, pedals and such. No decent guitar amp should be bothered by these and speakers should be adequately rated but the noise might offend. You would not be popular shall we say if you sent such a din through a 2kW FOH PA!
I am a firm believer that these days 'we have the technology' and decent gear at sensible prices should be near enough bomb proof.
Dave.
I mean hell, i've been doing the same thing with a 10 year old line 6 spider 3 (the horror!) since I got it.. still works without a hitch haha..
Haha true that. I always keep mine in gear when parked though, just incase the handbrake thats never failed ever, fails... lol!
Unless like me you live top of a hill! Oh! Beat me to it (only one cup o Joe so far, up till 2 recording for son)
Dave.
Turning the pot down to zero increases track wear for no good reason, and not leaving a car in gear when parked is potentially dangerous.
Quite a few people have been killed by a car running away when the handbrake failed… none of them would have been if it had also been left in gear. (Or with an automatic, make sure the handbrake is on as well as the gear lever set to Park.)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
She's never left a car in neutral again and I wish my wife wouldn't but she does.
I blame staying in Brixham for that one...some hills my old motor struggled to get up they were so steep!
In certain weather conditions brake systems can freeze up and then you leave the car in gear, brake off but with front wheels turned into the kerb.
Ladies CAN be less than sympatico with motors! My daughter knocked the clutch out of her Amera in 30,000 miles. I just had my P reg Proton done at 92,000 and it is a stronger engine.
Dave.
As for the car, whenever i do make a point of leaving it in gear when parked, i always forget to return to neutral before starting. But now ive got a car where one needs to depress the clutch and pressing a button, i guess it doesn't matter if i forget to start in neutral.
I also have a car where you have to put the clutch down and press a button to start it now, but I still always make sure it's in neutral first - force of habit. I sometimes think it's daft since I have the clutch down, but I still do it.
Luckily amps don't really matter as much! Although making sure the knobs aren't all turned *up* full before you turn on is possibly a good idea . I've seen that happen a few times, usually when kids have been fiddling with amps in a shop and someone plugs a guitar in and flips the switch...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Turning the pot down to zero increases track wear for no good reason," If true then modern pots must be total crap!
Virtually every radio and TV had an 'on-off volume' control so the volume pot was ALWAYS turned down. Yes I changed a few VCs but only after a decade or so and in houses with coal fires when EVERYBODY smoked!
Ha! Now I recall it, it was the TONE pot that went crackly because it rarely got shifted! Quick squirt of Electrolube, Servisol or later WD-40... Sorted.
Dave.
Those old pots were massive high-quality military-spec components anyway though, even in your average domestic radio. A completely different thing from the crap in most modern amps...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Yes IC, I seem to recall SOME radios had a 'tone-on/off' but that still leaves valved tellies which rarely had a tone pot. Many had concentric front controls tho'. Volume/tone/power and Brightness/contrast. The switch was always on the VC though IIRC.
And yes, the pots were 2" diameter 'Morganites' or other good brands these old grey cells have long forgotten.
Do you remember Radio Spare 'pot kits'? Qualiteeeee!
Dave.
The modern plastic-cased ones aren't too bad, but they're not remotely in the same engineering league.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein