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I have a pedal that is supposed to be true bypass (using a 3PDT switch) but I noticed that there's some bleeding when it's turned off (more noticeable when I turn the gain up).

Any idea of what could cause this/how to fix it ?

I've experienced this before too. No good!

Did you check the connections of the 3PDT? Normally the guitar signal should be totally unaffected by the circuit with a proper 3PDT switch.

Pepe wrote:Did you check the connections of the 3PDT? Normally the guitar signal should be totally unaffected by the circuit with a proper 3PDT switch.

With high gain stuff you can get bleedthrough even with a mechanical bypass. You could look at the way it is bypassed and make sure that the input is grounded.

See http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf ... gi_dcj.pdf

No kidding? I always thought there's a reliable physical barrier to the other signal paths. I mean: you also don't have to worry about electric shocks if you touch the walls in your home.

I have experienced this with trems but never dirt
very interesting

would isolated power fix it?

I experience this all the time. A lot of shitty grounding here in Norway. Isolated power usually helps.

hbomb: has your avatar always been a gif? I never noticed. Freaky.

hbombgraphics wrote:I have experienced this with trems but never dirt
very interesting

would isolated power fix it?

Nope!

UglyCasanova wrote:I experience this all the time. A lot of shitty grounding here in Norway. Isolated power usually helps.

hbomb: has your avatar always been a gif? I never noticed. Freaky.

no, that was a change a few months ago, excane made it for me.

I was jealous of his and I think culturejams blinky eyes so he hooked me up

goroth wrote:

hbombgraphics wrote:I have experienced this with trems but never dirt
very interesting

would isolated power fix it?

Nope!

dang,
that sucks

I've experienced it on a few higher gain modulation and dirt. I dunno, maybe it just doesn't bother me.

Ring mods can be bad at this...my SPK and Metasonix TM-1 are both bleeders (not entirely sure the TM-1 is true bypass...though it looks like a DPDT wired for true bypass, and both of the ones I have had (different revisions) were like that). My RMA Dirty Doper does on some settings (but I think that has a buffer...but the RMA does run at higher gain/voltage/etc...doesn't bother me either way).

Part of it is the bad power (things get quieter with isolation) but usually the bad power into my amp drowns it out. SPK's high pitched whine got to me a few times but UG's doesn't have this problem. Sometimes I wonder if the switch is about to fail on pedals like the SPK (older and used)....Didn't infanem have a similar problem with the Faye Sing B switches that resulted in bleed (they were just bad switches)?

Pepe wrote:No kidding? I always thought there's a reliable physical barrier to the other signal paths. I mean: you also don't have to worry about electric shocks if you touch the walls in your home.

This is electromagnetic interference though - you won't get zapped with sufficient power through your wall, but if you held up an unshielded device that amplifies audio you might notice mains hum gets introduced into the signal. Similar to AC heater wiring in tube amps being bad news for audio if it's run right next to the signal wiring.

If this pedal is bleeding through an effected version of what's being played in bypass, that suggests that it's bleeding at both the input and output of the effect or the bypass isn't as true as first thought. Could spend a lot of time tinkering and analysing to find out why the duplicate signal is being induced in the supposedly out-of-circuit path, but the switch wiring that goroth linked to is definitely worth a try as that should simply make it shut up.

Thanks for all the info. My issue is with a DNA Analogic Smoky Fuzz, which is a really nice fuzz... I prefer it with not a lot of gain though and at my favourite settings the bleed is almost non-existent so I'm probably not going to rewire the thing, I'll live with it. I'll try a different power supply just in case. Also, I changed its placement yesterday (it used to be first, now it's later in the chain), this might make the bleed less (or more ?) noticeable...