Electro Harmonix Little Big Muff Pedal PROBLEM!

[WarKites]

Hello!

 

Just looking for some advice on a problem/fault I've been having with my Electro Harmonix Little Big Muff pedal.

 

So here we go:

 

When the pedal is on I have no problems, it works exactly as expected. However, when I turn off the pedal I rarely get any signal coming through from my guitar. This can sometimes be solved by turning the pedal on and off a few times, or by holding the switch down halfway (just before the switch clicks). This does not always work and sometimes I only get broken signal coming through.

 

I do not know the year of the pedal but I have uploaded some picture below of the casing and the circuit board if it helps!

 

If anyone could help then that'd be great!

 

Thanks a lot.

[goodhonk]

sounds like you need to replace the switch.

 

http://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/cic-blue-3pdt/?page_context=search&faceted_search=0

 

XeCLflUP2iw

[t_e_l_e]

^second this, if half pressed switch sometimes helps, it most likely the switch is faulty

it could be a bad solder joint at the switch or something burnt through replacing the switch sounds to be the easiest option

[Phil O'Keefe]

Yup, I agree with 'honk and tele - it's almost certainly a bad switch. It's an easy fix if you can solder, and not a hard or expensive one to have a tech do if you can't.

[WRGKMC]

Before jumping to replace the switch, I have a couple of suggestions for getting a few more years out of the switch you have.

 

The switches run on very low voltage passing less then a volt so there isn't any contact arching. There are some plastic parts that wear but you usually feel that in the switch when they wear. If the switch has a nice solid snap, its likely still good.

 

The main problem is the switches has conductive grease on their contacts that dries up or becomes contaminated and either gets sticky on the contacts so they don't completely close or the grease starts acting as an insulator.

 

The switches are sealed so its difficult to get in there and clean those contacts which is all those switches usually need too become fully operational again. You could just spend $10 and replace it, but I've had allot of success using a few different tricks.

 

If you have some contact cleaner you can often get it into the switch a few drops at a time down along the push button sleeve. You give it several drops and work the switch a few time, then a few drops more, over and over tille you get some liquid if the switch. The contact cleaner re-liquefies the contact grease inside and the switch begins to operate normally again (and often lasts for many years)

 

The other method is to reheat the solder contacts. These contacts heat the contacts straight through to the inside contacts and again re-liquefies the contact grease to make good contacts. Don't overheat them by the way or you can damage the plastic that holds the contacts in place.

 

The third and last way is to open the switch and manually clean the rocker contacts. You have to be real careful doing this because there's some springs in there that can go shooting across the room and good luck on finding them. The setup in there is really simple and even if the attempt winds up going bust its good to get a look inside those switches so you know how they work. I've fixed dozens of them over the years, even the high voltage type that get carbonized inside.