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So it took about 3 years, but weirdness has begun to creep in...


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My 69 is 3 years old now (well I've had it for 3 years. It's a 2012 build). Was rock solid until just recently...the problem is minimal, but annoying. If I roll off the volume completely, and don't touch anything on either the guitar or the POD for a couple of minutes, the volume mysteriously returns, as if I had rolled it back to 100%. Weird. I'm always connected with VDI...never use the battery. Was using models at the time, not sure if the mags do it, as I don't use them much...just started in the last couple of days.

 

Discuss...

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That's a strange one.

 

Does this happen with all presets? Is there a Vol FX in the preset(s)? If so is it possible that your VOL controller pedal is loose and slowly moving to the toe down position?

 

Can you determine whether it's the volume knob on the guitar that's misbehaving, as opposed to some other volume control in the POD? In other words, after the volume returns and the guitar's volume knob is still at a lower setting, how does the volume behave when you increase the guitar volume back to full?

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Mine was doing that for a while but it seems to have gotten over it.  I would roll the volume all the way off and put the guitar on a stand.  Within a couple minutes the guitar volume would go to full on.  I'd pick it up and roll the volume knob up and back down and it would seem normal for another few minutes before it would do it again.  I have not made any changes to the firmware since but I haven't had it happen in a long time.  I'm always connected via VDI to a HD500X.

 

I'll experiment with it tonight and see if it will reproduce the problem while connected to my Helix.

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Mine does that too. Also after three years the tuning wheel has a mind of its own. It sometimes returns to standard tuniing in the middle of a song. It's always plugged into  a HD500 via VDI. I haven't tested it with a normal cable.

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That's a strange one.

 

Does this happen with all presets? Is there a Vol FX in the preset(s)? If so is it possible that your VOL controller pedal is loose and slowly moving to the toe down position?

 

Can you determine whether it's the volume knob on the guitar that's misbehaving, as opposed to some other volume control in the POD? In other words, after the volume returns and the guitar's volume knob is still at a lower setting, how does the volume behave when you increase the guitar volume back to full?

Lol...odd, ain't it? Further troubleshooting is definitely required. Not sure if it's confined to one patch or not. I was recording at the time, so I was just using the one tone, levels all set, wasn't messing with the POD once I had everything where I wanted it, so that remains to be seen.

 

As for the behavior of the volume knob... With the knob at zero, sound returns...if I then roll up slowly from what should still be "zero", as soon as I move the knob just a little, the volume drops to what I'd expect for the physical position of the knob at that point, and normal functioning returns. I can go up/down from there, and everything is fine. But as soon as I back off to nothing again, the problem repeats itself. I tried rolling off to about 50% and letting everything sit, and nothing seems to happen. Still functions normally when I pick it up, and the volume is where I left it. Seems to only be associated with backing off the volume completely. Bizarre.

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..... Seems to only be associated with backing off the volume completely. Bizarre.

Not sure whether this is relevant at all, but that reminds me that backing off the Vol knob to zero puts the guitar into a sort of sleep mode with respect to battery usage. Can't see how that's relevant when using VDI but I'm not a big believer in coincidence.......

 

EDIT:

At least it looks like there's a simple workaround:

ME: Doctor, it hurts when I do this.

DOCTOR: well, then don't do that.

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Not sure whether this is relevant at all, but that reminds me that backing off the Vol knob to zero puts the guitar into a sort of sleep mode with respect to battery usage. Can't see how that's relevant when using VDI but I'm not a big believer in coincidence.......

 

EDIT:

At least it looks like there's a simple workaround:

ME: Doctor, it hurts when I do this.

DOCTOR: well, then don't do that.

Yeah, I dunno...it seems to be losing track of the knob's position somehow, and defaulting to "full throttle". I'll have to try it with the battery and 1/4", and see if the same thing happens, as well with the mags, and other patches on the POD. Didn't have the strength to go into a full-blown analysis the other night, lol.

 

We shall see...but it is a fairly minor issue, and so far has not manifested itself while actually playing, so until the volume starts jumping all over the place mid-tune, I'm inclined to not poke the bear too much. This absolutely reeks of the kind of problem that my friendly neighborhood "authorized service center" would have trouble reproducing or diagnosing, as they're half-listening whilst I describe the issue...

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My 69 is 3 years old now (well I've had it for 3 years. It's a 2012 build). Was rock solid until just recently...the problem is minimal, but annoying. If I roll off the volume completely, and don't touch anything on either the guitar or the POD for a couple of minutes, the volume mysteriously returns, as if I had rolled it back to 100%. Weird. I'm always connected with VDI...never use the battery. Was using models at the time, not sure if the mags do it, as I don't use them much...just started in the last couple of days.

 

Discuss...

 

Sooooo this might help. Looks like it's an error with the guitar getting the right info of what the pot setting is at.

 

When I replaced the pots on my 600, I had the same exact problem. I used a lollipope soldering iron and the volume was soldered poorly. The pot connection was damaged and now if I wiggle the volume pot, one of the pegs that was soldered will come loose and read the volume as 100% even if it's rolled down.

 

Your volume pot could be damaged, sadly, and something could be loose and has a poor connection.

 

Luckily after getting a new soldering iron from ACE hardware, the solder was way better, the 1/4 jack worked again on my 600, but like I said, one of the pegs on the pot was damaged and the volume has the same problem sometimes when you wiggle it around.

 

Sadly, you might have to replace the volume pot. Worst case scenario, the volume reading error is happening somewhere else than the volume pot.

 

Good luck.

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It has got to be worth trying contact cleaner on the Pot - it might just be a build up of dirt confusing things

Indeed. The very same advice I give for similar issues. The well has run dry, though...actually the can's not empty, but the nozzle decided to crap out too. Nothing coming out. Gotta pick up another can. When it rains, it pours, lol.

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I only ever noticed it with the volume completely rolled off as well.  It never happened while playing with the volume rolled off a little.  I could have had them look at it as it was under warranty when I noticed the issue but, since it doesn't happen while playing, it doesn't bother me.

 

As for the quality, I'm very happy with mine, just as I was with the Variax 500 that I owned for about 12 years.

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I only ever noticed it with the volume completely rolled off as well. It never happened while playing with the volume rolled off a little. I could have had them look at it as it was under warranty when I noticed the issue but, since it doesn't happen while playing, it doesn't bother me.

 

I agree...as long as this doesn't blossom into full-blown uselessness, I'm inclined to leave it alone. Certainly not going to pursue a repair at this point, because quite frankly, I suspect I'd get it back with the exact same issue.

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Indeed. The very same advice I give for similar issues. The well has run dry, though...actually the can's not empty, but the nozzle decided to crap out too. Nothing coming out. Gotta pick up another can. When it rains, it pours, lol.

 

ebay. I noticed my can was getting low so I got another. that Maxpro one works great on a lot of electroncis that need cleaning. It certainly changed my world when cleaning those damn game carts for my old systems.

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