I was absolutely SHOCKED to discover this one thing a pedal maker doesn't want you to know!

[Iron1]

My cheap $65 Joyo Rigel Preamp Pedal dies prematurely...

Shocking! Right??!!



I don't think I even put 10 hours total on it - so that translates to $6.50 an hour... #winning

It's been sitting for about 6 months now and I decided I wanted to see how it would play with the TC Electronics BK250 I just got. Plugged it in, no lights... hit the foot switch and it passed the signal, but nothing else. Checked all the connections, tried different cables, swapped in a known good pedal that worked, then tried again and >crickets<.

So, like all musicians who aren't electrical repairmen, I did the natural next thing and took it apart.

Didn't notice anything obvious. It appears to have a lower PCB that I couldn't get to as the upper one was glued to it. Guess I now have a new addition to my "why are you keeping all this junk??" collection...

 

[DrewJD82]

Oh dude, I can see what it is-

Look to the left of the flex repac synter, about 2mm south of it, the omega smegma cap is off axis and it looks like a cold solder joint, give it a fresh joint with some good kush. Replace the filter caps after discharging them, use new caps full of discharge.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Is it still within warranty? There's so much smd in there you won't find anyone who'll want to look at it. You could put an audio probe on it but without a schematic it's pretty hard to follow the signal path so you'd end up randomly checking places looking for a fault.

 

[Mongillo19]

Oh dude, I can see what it is-

Look to the left of the flex repac synter, about 2mm south of it, the omega smegma cap is off axis and it looks like a cold solder joint, give it a fresh joint with some good kush. Replace the filter caps after discharging them, use new caps full of discharge.

 

[Sleezy E]

No shocked face thumbnail!?!?!?!?

I am dissapoint.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I see a loose kinnibler pin in the first pic.

 

[MTB1973]

You’re all wrong. It’s a faulty Fetzer valve.

 

[LeftyLoungeLizard]

You’re all wrong. It’s a faulty Fetzer valve.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Well it rhymes with yoyo. It's bound to have its ups and downs?

 

[newholland]

could be any manufacturer really. ive got a near ten year old joyo sweet baby pedal thats been used a LOT. hell even i tried to break it. still goin. try making sure your harnesses are all locked down.. wonder if your powers getting to the circuit- check that little molex jobby opposite the switch.

 

[Iron1]

I tried rotating the duct tape… but nada.

 

[TSJMajesty]

I tried rotating the duct tape… but nada.

That made me LOL. I hafta remember that one! I'll use it.

 

[TSJMajesty]

You’re all wrong. It’s a faulty Fetzer valve.

Those pedals stopped using them a while ago. DUH

 

[maguchi]

Wow, $65 bucks, 10 hours? Not a big fan of Joyo or Behringer pedals. My Boss DS-1 and SD-1 pedals have lasted a couple decades now and they would cost less than $65 if bought new today.

 

[newpedals]

Wow, $65 bucks, 10 hours? Not a big fan of Joyo or Behringer pedals. My Boss DS-1 and SD-1 pedals have lasted a couple decades now and they would cost less than $65 if bought today.

Its not about where a pedal is made but workmanship and some kind of warranty programme which helps me chose.

If I had to buy discontinued pedals, I would buy old ibanez or DOD. I would go for Boss/ MXR if getting new ones. They are built like tanks and have a warranty.

Some of my friends have boards full of Joyo, Nux, Caline, Mooer etc. but I won't usually chose them because I am scared of having them fail.

Once I parked my locked bicycle next to a friend's car, and she forgot her car keys inside on the seat. The car door was left open as we visited a diner to collect burgers. Guess what? My bicycle was stolen, while her car was still there. My lock was picked. I know that I am silly, but I don't wanna try my luck.

 

[david57strat]

For me, it's a double-edged sword.

A cheap pedal may fail in a short period of time, but because it's cheap, it can often be replaced very quickly and easily, without any regrets. As mentioned by others, because of all the surface mount stuff inside, there won't be a lot of repair places wiling to invest any time in attempting to repair one. Easier (and more cost-effective) to just replace it.

A more expensive pedal may (or may not) fail), but more likely after a number of years of use. It will almost certainly have a warranty; but by the time it gets around to failing (if it ever does), it's almost certain to be well out of warranty, but will have given you a lot of use, over the years.

You kind of get what you pay for.

I own three Joyo pedals - The California Sound, AC Tone, and British Sound. These are all Amp-In-A-Box pedals.

The AC Tone was the most satisfying, sonically, and I even recorded a few things with it. But, at what little I paid for those pedals, I never really expected much out of them, in terms of build quality or reliability. They were worth the small investment, just to see what they could do.

I know none of them are wired for true bypass, so wiring up the three of them, in series, makes for a lot of tone suck, which is unacceptable to me, under most any circumstances.

They no longer reside on any of my boards. Actually, they never made onto any of them. I bought them before I built my first board, back when I was improvising a "board-like" surface, by flipping Grundorf rack case covers upside down, to place the pedals in them :-).

I've since replaced them with pedals that are more suitable for my purposes - but I don't regret having bought them.

I got some use out of the Joyos, and I can live with that. I'd gladly give them to anyone who would make use of them. I kept them in nearly pristine shape, like I do all of my pedals.

I've never owned a Behringer pedal, but for the same reason as newpedals, I don't feel comfortable buying a pedal with less than at least pretty decent build quality, and I just don't trust a pedal I'm going to be stomping on, whose case is made of plastic, to do the trick for me.

I do own one of their cable testers, though. I've had it for many years, and it's been great.

They Joyos had their time, and in a pinch, I might use the AC Tone again (as a stand-alone, and with a single bypass switcher, like the old Keeley, pictured below, when not in use). But, it's not likely I would ever build an actual pedalboard with any of them.

I bought one of Behringer's Virtualizer Pro 1-space units, that I purchased at Sam Ash back in 2000, that I used in my racks, for general purpose reverb. It was relatively cheap (about 100 bucks), and was alright, but nothing to write home about. It finally crapped out on me, after having it for about twenty years, so I can't complain. It served its purpose. Any of my reverb pedals would smoke that old rack unit, though. Digital reverbs have improved tremendously, over the years, and I tend to buy more serious reverb units, these days.

 

[Iron1]

If there's any semblance of seriousness to this thread, I do have several Joyo and Donner products and this is the first one to fail. The Joyo BanTamp ZoMBie is a disgustingly cool little amp - blows my mind every time I use it.

Sold an amp last night and as part of the deal, the guy tossed in a Boss OD-20. So, gonna use that as a Rigel replacement and see. As @maguchi said, I've had Boss pedals since I first started playing back in the Stone Age and never once had one fail.

 

[BenIfin]

Its always the Johnson Rod