Bob Weil Answers Your Questions
Who
the heck is Bob Weil? Good Question! Click
here to find out.
How
do I register the warranty for my Visual Sound product? For
warranty registration, click here.
Can
I "Instant Message" Visual Sound customer support?
Yes! The Visual Sound AIM screen name is "visualsoundhelp"
and is generally available 9:30am - 4:30pm (Central Time), M-F.
Just make sure that we are signed in. If not, email and telephone
are also good ways to contact us.
Do
you have instruction sheets with sample settings that you can
download from your website?
We do now! Just click on these for .pdf files of the instruction
sheets.
Jekyll & Hyde
Route 66
H2O
Visual Volume
What
advantages does the 1 SPOT have over the PedalPower and other
pedalboard power supplies?
1) It's waaaaaay less expensive!!!
2) It doesn't take up any room on your pedalboard and only takes
up 1 Spot on your power strip.
3) It's at least as quiet as the PedalPower, maybe even quieter.
4) It has a 10ft. cable.
5) You can use it anywhere in the world... it transforms any incoming
voltage automatically.
6) It's waaaaaay less expensive!!!
7) It makes all other 9V wall-warts obsolete.
8) It can power an entire pedalboard, regardless of how many pedals
you have.
9) The voltage output is fully regulated.
10) You need one.
Is
your 1 SPOT a transformerless adapter? Does it eliminate the
60 cycle hum? I am curious as it looks the same as the "switchmode"
offered by one of your competitors.
Yes, the 1 SPOT is very similar to the "switchmode", but
has a longer cable (10 feet) and costs a lot less. We actually introduced
the prototype of it at the January 2001 NAMM show (at the time it
was called the "No-Wart"). Some German guys came by our
booth and showed us their new prototype and offered to sell it to
us, but obviously we weren't interested. So they went to the Godlyke
booth (where Godlyke displayed a live porno "star" along
with their products) and sold them. However, the Germans did take
one of our flyers on the "No-Wart" and "borrowed "
(i.e. plagiarized) our ad copy to use in their promotion... I guess
their creative writing skills were lacking.
Anyhow,
the 1 SPOT is a noiseless, high power, switching power supply,
like the "switchmode" claims to be. However, "switchmode"
is not being truthful about their adapter being transformerless and
being able to eliminate 60 cycle hum. All switching power supplies
have a small transformer in them, along with some high-tech circuitry.
Although it is much different technology than standard adapters,
there is technically a transformer in there which is the heart of
the adapter.
Regarding
the claim of eliminating 60 cycle hum, that's misleading at best.
If you have single coil pickups, there is nothing a power supply
can do to eliminate 60 cycle hum generated by the pickups. However,
any decent 9V adapter (Boss PSA, Ibanez, etc.) has regulated 9VDC
output and the voltage regulator in the adapter virtually eliminates "output
ripple" in the electrical current which causes noise in most
pedals. Good switching power supplies also have very low output
ripple, thus eliminating any extra hum in your sound. To contrast,
adapters like the Boss ACA, Danelectro DA1, Radioshack, etc., do
not have a voltage regulator and will make many pedals hum like
crazy despite ridiculous marketing claims like "Zero Hum".
How
does the 1 SPOT work with Line 6 modeling pedals? Don't they
require AC and use 1200mA of current?
Well,
it does say "9VAC 1200mA" on
the back of the Line 6 pedals, but they don't really use that. That
is simply the output rating of the POD adapter which the modeling
pedals also use. If you think about it, the Line 6 pedals take batteries,
don't they? Batteries are DC, not AC, so the pedals must really run
on DC voltage. So how do they work with a 9VAC POD adapter? The modeling
pedals have a bridge rectifier at the power input jack which immediately
converts AC to DC where the adapter plugs in. And regarding the 1200mA
of current the pedals are supposedly using, it's really more in the
range of 350mA. That's still more than an average adapter can handle,
but the 1 SPOT can handle two Line 6 pedals and have plenty of juice
left over for several ordinary stomp boxes. Why Line 6 didn't come
out with a separate adapter for the modeling pedals, I don't know,
but the 1 SPOT makes an excellent alternative to the bulky single-purpose
POD adapter.
Can
I "Y" connect 2 of the daisy chain power plugs on the
1 Spot to deliver 18V to a pedal?
There is no way to get 18V from a single 9V adapter... not even
the Godlyke one or the 1 SPOT. Think of it this way... adapters
are really like batteries in that they output DC voltage via a
positive wire and a negative wire. With batteries, the voltage
increases when you run them in series (i.e. When you line up 2
C size batteries in a flashlight, each battery is 1.5V, but when
combined it's 3V). This is because you are running them end to
end, negative to positive. You can't do that with an adapter. You
would need two adapters, taking the negative wire from one and
the positive wire from the other, tie them together, then take
the other wires (positive and negative) and connect them to whatever
you want to power.
The
point of this is that you need *separate* 9V power sources to combine
together to make 18V. Two separate plugs on a daisy-chain cable
is not two separate power sources because they're both coming off
the same wires. Now, you could get two 1 SPOT's and create a Y
cable to join them together and make 18V, but that's a lot of trouble
and expense to go through when you can just get an 18V wall-wart
adapter from Dunlop (or others) to do the same job. Lastly, IMHO,
overdrive pedals sound brittle (overly bright) when powered with
18V, *and* you're pushing the maximum voltage rating of the op-amps
so the lifespan of your pedal may be very reduced.
How
do you switch from one channel to the other quickly with H2O,
Route 66 and Jekyll & Hyde?
I designed the switches to be close enough together so you can hit
them both with your foot at the same time if you want to. That means
you can turn them both On or Off, or if one channel is already On,
hit both switches at the same time to turn the one Off and the other
On. Simple, isn't it?
How
do you spell Jeckle... Jeckll... Jeckel... Jekill... Jekel...
Yes, I think we've seen them all by now. For the record, it's JEKYLL.
What
are the dimensions of your pedals?
They
are approximately 5 1/2" wide by 6 3/8" long including
the point.
What
adapters work with Visual Sound pedals?
The
1 SPOT, Boss PSA-120, Ibanez AC-109, Morley, Dunlop ECB03, DOD PS200R,
SKB pedalboard, Voodoo Labs PedalPower, and any other Regulated 9VDC
adapter with a "barrel" plug and center negative polarity.
Do not use any Radio Shack or multi-voltage "universal" adapters.
Do
Visual Sound pedals have "true-bypass"?
No, but for some very sound reasons. And they have something which
may be better: Pure Bypass.
First,
the switches required for "true-bypass" are far more
expensive than ours and are less reliable in the long run. This
would make our pedals in the $200+ range (list price) and they
wouldn't last as long. Our unique electro-mechanical switching
system with heavy-duty switches and a "switch chip" should
last a good long time.
Secondly,
the buffering system in the pedals was taken from our Pure Tone
pedal. This pedal was built originally for guitarist Neil Zaza
who needed something to clean up his bypass tone for all the pedals
he used (VOX wah included). Pure Tone, when placed first in the
chain, made it sound like you were plugged straight into the amp
even when going through notorious tone killer pedals. We ended
up selling about 200 of these to very happy tone conscious guitar
players before we put it into Jekyll & Hyde as an added feature.
So, if J&H or Rt. 66 is first in your chain, it will buffer
everything that follows it as well as itself. Even if it's in the
middle of the chain, it will still work to some extent.
Thirdly,
the Pure Tone buffer also keeps the Hyde circuit (in Jekyll &
Hyde) stable. In the early stages of design, I noticed that the Hyde
circuit was prone to occillation and feedback until I put the Pure
Tone circuit before it. Somehow, it left all the good characteristics
in tact and eliminated the ugliness.
Is
the compressor section of the Route 66 based on the Ross or Dyna
Comp?
The Ross and Dyna Comp circuits are almost identical to eachother
(except for maybe one resistor and one capacitor). However, the Route
66 takes those designs and combines them with an original tone circuit
plus a pre-amp circuit, giving it far more flexibility and clean
headroom (clean gain potential)... and that's just the compressor!
You also get a TS-808 clone with bass boost thrown in for no extra
charge... no a bad deal!
What
happened to Visual Volume?
Visual Volume is back by popular demand! After being
off the market since 1998, we’re proud to say that the Visual
Volume 10th Anniversary Edition features an all-new design with
die-cast aluminum housing, blue and red LED’s and two inputs/outputs
for mono or stereo use. Click here to learn more about
the new Visual Volume.
What
happened to Pure Tone?
Well, since that circuit is now in our effects pedals, we didn't
feel the need to package it separately anymore. Plus, at $39.95 we
would have had to sell a zillion of them to make any money and not
that many guitarists even know that they're losing tone by going
thru certain effects. Yes, we could have charged more, but then we
would have sold even less of them. After all, how much can you charge
for something that doesn't even have knobs?¬
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Can
the 1 SPOT be used to power multiple LINE 6 Tone Core
Pedals on a daisy chain?
The
1 SPOT cannot be used to power multiple LINE
6 ToneCore Pedals, possibly due to inadequate
power supply filtering in the pedals. A 1 SPOT
can be used with one Tone Core Pedal with only
a minimal amount of noise. More than one Tone
Core pedal on a daisy chain causes too much noise
for practical use. We are currently checking
into this matter further to see if we can come
up with a solution, maybe even with the help
of Line 6. The 1 SPOT will work noiselessly with
almost any other effects pedals, even the larger
Line 6 Modeling pedals.
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Why
can't I use my old-style fuzz pedal on the same daisy-chain
as my other pedals?
Old-style fuzz pedals use PNP germanium transistors which
are electrically opposite polarity to every other pedal you
have, so they must be run on a separate power supply. Most
people who have a pedal(s) like that, run them off a second
1 SPOT. That way, you're still not using up valuable pedalboard
space or power strip space... and it's still a lot less expensive
than one of those brick-sized power supplies.
Note: You will also need the Reverse
Polarity Converter if your pedal has a barrel type of power
jack (like Boss pedals) and indicates that the power jack
is wired center positive. If your pedal has a mini-headphone
type of power jack, you will need the 3.5mm Converter.
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I plugged a 9VAC adapter (Line 6, Digitech, etc.) into my
pedal and it smelled
like smoke and won’t work anymore… what happened?
There are very few pedals that are designed to take AC voltage
(vs. DC voltage). If you feed your 9VDC (battery voltage)
pedal AC, it usually will destroy much of the electronics.
Once in a while, the pedal will survive, needing only minor
repairs. However, most of the time the entire circuit board
needs to be replaced. If you have an AC powered
pedal on your pedalboard (Line 6 DL4 for example),
be very careful to not plug the AC adapter into any of your
other pedals… not even for a few seconds. Always look at
the adapter label for the Output Voltage and make sure it’s
9VDC, not AC, before you plug it in…or just get a 1 SPOT
and put your other adapters away! |
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I noticed that your products are made in China. Why don't you make them in the USA?
We made our products through sub-contract assembly factories in the USA in 1995 and 1996, but very nearly went out of business as a result. The cost was very high and the quality control was poor. In 1997, we moved production to Taiwan and had good success there until we moved production again in 2003 to south China. The move to China allowed us to upgrade the components in our pedals without increasing cost.
If you look inside the most expensive boutique pedal or amp, you will see a lot of electronic components... none of which are made in the USA. Resistors, capacitors, diodes, and IC chips are simply not made here anymore. They're all made in Asia. Switchcraft jacks? ... Mexico. Carling switches? ... same thing. How about your iPod? ...China. So, we simply go to the source for all our components and assemble them there, too. This allows us to use superior quality components with superior circuit design, but offer the finished product to you at a fair price. This also enables us to maintain and grow our business in a more streamlined fashion -- rather than getting a larger facility, buying machinery, and charging triple for our products.
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My Boss digital pedal/recorder burned up when using the 1 SPOT and Boss won't cover it under warranty because I wasn't using a Boss PSA adapter... did the 1 SPOT burn up my Boss unit?
We have used the 1 SPOT (as have thousands of other people) with just about all the Boss pedals and they normally work fine together. The Boss PSA adapter puts out about 9.6VDC and so does the 1 SPOT. The 1 SPOT also has circuit protection built into it so that it really can't pass AC voltage or overly high DC voltage to pedals hooked up to it.
Having said that, we have had a few customers over the past few months call us about a digital Boss unit getting burned out while using a 1 SPOT. Boss will not cover them on their warranty as soon as they find out that a non-Boss power supply was being used. While investigating one of these problems, a customer sent us his Boss Micro BR recorder, along with his still-working 1 SPOT. We got the schematic from Boss, opened the unit and found that an internal voltage regulator (voltage step-down device) had burned up and caused a cascade failure of other components in the BR. This voltage regulator is made by Seiko and is specified as being "without overload protection circuit", even though Seiko also makes the same regulator "with overload protection circuit"... it probably saved Boss a few pennies by using the former regulator rather than the latter. The regulator also comes in "A" and "B" versions. "A" has a maximum input voltage of 10V. "B" has a maximum input voltage of 16V. The "B" version is specified on the Boss parts list. However, if an "A" version slipped into production by mistake, feeding it 9.6V could easily cause it to wear down over time and eventually burn up.
When we looked at the schematic, it became obvious that the 1 SPOT could not have caused this component failure. In addition, the 1 SPOT the customer sent back to us with his BR was still working perfectly. Although it's impossible to confirm it, it seems that the burned voltage regulator was probably either defective, or an incorrect regulator was used (one that had the wrong input voltage specs but got mixed in with the batch of correct regulators during production).
Unfortunately, Boss has an easy out with warranty repairs since most people do not use a Boss PSA adapter anymore, but use a 1 SPOT or other pedalboard power supply. That cuts their warranty repair expense down considerably since most guitar players are honest when asked by Boss tech support what power supply they were using.
The only thing we can conclude thus far is that Boss is having quality control problems on some of their digital products. They all have surface mount components and run internally off of 3.3VDC typically, stepped-down from 9.6VDC input. If their surface mount step-down regulators fail, the product is ruined. The only recourse a Boss customer has is to be dishonest when talking to tech support and say that they were using a Boss PSA adapter even when they were not... and most people prefer to be honest.
In general, if your 1 SPOT is still working and can still power other pedals, then it was definitely not the 1 SPOT that caused the problem.
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There
are a growing number of local dealers who do a great job of supporting
our products. If you have a favorite dealer, get them to order
for you if they don't have our products in stock.
If
you have any questions, please call us at (800) 686-3317 in the
USA, or (931) 487-9001 outside USA.
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