Switch malfunction on Tonebone Hot British - common?

[KennethC]

Hey guys,

wonder if any of you have encountered problems with your Tonebone Hot British pedal switches. When you step on the switch, does the connection seem flaky? Meaning, does it always engage into full drive/full volume, or is it a hit-and-miss issue where sometimes your whole sound just gets very soft, until you step a few more times to get the connection right? Just need some feedback, having this prob with a Hot British thatl I bought from someone. Thanks.

 

[SoulJah]

You're not alone KennethC, I've owned the tonebone classic before. The switches on the tonebones are notoriously for intermittence. I totally get what you mean, when you toggle it, you get a "Half Gain" sound. As if someone tweaked the output knob while you were playing it.

I have emailed tonebone about this issue but have recieved no response about it at all.

I tried spraying contact cleaner into the footswitch and that worked wonders, the intermitent problem did no occur so often. But the long term solution would be to change the footswitch asap...imagine if the problem occured on stage!

Lot's of techs out there now who would be more than able to tackle the problem for you man.

 

[KennethC]

Hey SoulJah,

thanks for the reply. Somehow I can't find that many articles/webbies that document the toggle switch problems with the Hot British. Thought I should check with you guys. =)

I've never got a togg switch fixed before, you mentioned there r many techs who can help...care to recommend some? Would it cost anything more than $20-$30?

I must say that when it's engaged fully though, the sound from the Hot British is great....Marshall-in-a-box, v nice.

Thanks again!

 

[Stillborn]

yup, had the same problem...had my classic's switch changed by Randolf...

but its not entirely the switch problem....more to the design from wat i've read/heard....cuz after randolf changed my switch it didn't really help...but he did eventually fix it....for more info pm Randolf....

 

[theblueark]

I would think replacing the switch will be about $30-50. Depends on the difficulty of the replacement. Taking a pic of the insides would help.

The usual suspects can help with the replacements, edder, goose, randolf, myself, as well as many other diyers who don't really advertise their services.

 

[gsonique]

headache :smt099
its not always the switch ...something to do with their channel transistor switching ...especially on the later units.

 

[SoulJah]

If you check out on TGP, loads of people have lamented about the faulty switches.

Hope you get your box fixed soon man!

 

[edder]

The usual suspects can help with the replacements, edder, goose, randolf, myself, as well as many other diyers who don't really advertise their services.

Thanks for the plug blueark, I don't do repairs anymore.

Concentrating on only building pedals.

 

[Ized]

haha yeah tonebone kind of gets faulty easily....just like those switches on vintage pedals.......sigh.........

 

[embryo]

Ken, sorry to hear that you are havin probs with the Hot Brit Tonebone. Yes this is quite a common problem and i'v seen through more than several units this year including the Classic. The problem is understandably usually suspected to be the footswitch first as these do break down over time from mechanical wear and tear however the intermittent volume drop problem is sometimes also extended into other areas including the on off circuit array of components.

There's another observation that I've noticed and it's the way the TB switch is mounted on the circuit board and mounted onto the chassis. Over time it's normal for the ring nut around the TB switch to loosen so it's also normal to tighten it with a spanner. The circuit board where the switch is mounted is questionably fragile. 3 things will happen, 1) The user will keep stomping harder and harder on the switch wheever he encounters intermittent behaviour, and this causes further stress on both the switch and circuit board. 2) The circuit traces on the double layer circuit board below the switch will start to crack. 3) The circuit will develop further sever intermittent behaviour when other components get taken down along the way due to the constant "godzilla like feetstomping action!".

So much for the bad news about the tonebone pedals. The good news is that it's repairable and I'm more than happy with the tones from these guys. In fact I'm a big fan of the Classic! It's got great great tones! I'm certain the Tonebone folks have been getting lotsa cutomer service flak about the above described problems. I just hope they do some engineering changes to improve the situation for their own and everyone's benefit.

Repairs are usually more complicated and painstaking as it involves diagnostic procedures which are tedious and don't necessarily always reveal the source of the problem at first.

Hope this helps.

 

[KennethC]

Thanks to everybody for their responses and comments. It's a pity that ToneBone's circuit is prone to such faults. I like the versatility of the Hot British though, think a pedal like the crunchbox might be not as good in this aspect, even though the distortion you get from the crunchbox is really gd. Thanks again for educating me guys, this quest for tone might not be so super duper long after all. Or is it.. =)

Cheers,
Ken