V Twin PSU polarity

[millibobs]

I have a Mesa Boogie V Twin overdive pedal which has never let me down. The PSU is an 'after market' jobbie with an adapter piece which allows you to switch centre polarity between + or -

I pulled the adapter off whilst moving my pedals around and am worried that I might have put it back on the wrong way round.

The PSU is rated (output) 12v AC 1000ma Input is 230v AC (it's a UK) pedal.

I have run the pedal with the centre negative setting and it seems to be okay but I thought I should check. Does it make any difference for this type of PSU?

Hope someone who knows about this sort of stuff can kindly help me out.


David

[dbtk44]

It's an AC adaptor, so it doesn't matter which way it goes...if it were DC it would, but AC isn't finicky about positive and negative into the transformer.

Nothing to worry about!

[millibobs]

Many thanks!

I'm grateful for that speedy response - you just made a worried old fart rest easier in his bed! I could not cope without this pedal - the best investment I ever made (well, apart from my Bassman and Telecaster, that is....).

[dbtk44]

Glad to help! I'm pretty fond of my V twin too, so I know what you mean.

[millibobs]

whilst we're on the subject

I have to fiddle with the valves sometimes to get them working - possible a loose pin. Sound familiar? Is this something I should get checked? I play it with the cover off the valves so that if it conks out, I can widdle the valve a bit. I think it's the left hand one.

[dbtk44]

Hmmm...never had that problem with mine, as the tubes seem to fit pretty snug in the sockets. Could well be the sockets need to be retensioned; problem is, with the V Twin you need to partially disassemble it to be able to get to the underside of the sockets.

Did you swap the valves around? If the same position is loose, then it's the socket...if it moves with the tube, it's the tube pins.

When I have a chance in the next couple of days, I'll partially disassemble mine and see if I can write something up about retensioning the tube sockets...shouldn't be too hard I think.

[millibobs]

Muchas gracias!

Hey, don't take yours apart to help sort out mine - you may not get it back together! I took a look under the hood when I first got it and the construction made me think, "Terminator2'!!

I'll swap out the valves this afternoon (4pm UK time) and drop you a note.

Appreciate the help.

Next, we can discuss the clean/drive mod I keep hearing about......then we can discuss cryogenic valves, then we can move on to a backup pedal for when the V twin gets a pint of beer down it (already happened once but it survived). Barber Ltd currently sits in my bag ready for the inevitable.....After that, we can go on to discuss my Lonestar and why the V Twin is a better pre-amp than the one in the Boogie!

[dbtk44]

Well, I can take it apart, put it back togather and have it work no problem ( I disassemble laptops and other electronics quite a bit ), so that's no worry...for me it's finding the time to do it! In fact I've been wanting to do a couple mods to the circuit for quite a while now, but it's about 976th on my to-do list these days..lol

Be happy to discuss that stuff with ya Millibob, although I dunno if I'll be of much help on some of it. Be happy to throw in my $.02 on things though.

Get a chance to check the loose valve yet?

[millibobs]

That dratted pedal.....

Hey feller - switching out the valves seemed to work out okay so I reckon it might have been a pin. I'll see how it fares after a few sessions. Thanks for pointing out the obvious!

Just can't believe how good this things sounds through the Bassman and as a direct recording interface - I run it with Garageband and knock out my own questionable variety of blues/rock. Check me out at www.soundclick.com/davidmillion

Really appreciate all the advice and the other comments were really just my weird sense of hmour. Then again, we can always discuss those mods....!!

[dbtk44]

Glad I could be of some help!

You really DO get a great sound out of that sucker! Good picker you are too man...enjoyed listening to your sound clips. What guitar were you using on the first clip by the way?

The clean/drive thing, I think it's only on later models...just a little adjustment on the bottom of the pedal, under a plate. Think it just gives the clean a little more grit, and equalizes the volumes out between the clean and gain channels; I think people were complaining about the volume jump from clean to blues or something of the sort, so Mesa added that. Check the underside of yours for a screwed-in plate...if ya got one, ya got it! Be careful though, the remnents of the spilled "pint" might have glued it shut! lol I got a good story about a buddy of mine who was a little pissed and not paying attention to his beer...

Never heard or tried a Barber LTD....any good?

[millibobs]

It's an oldie, like me!

The pedal is over 10 years old so I suspect it hasn't got the mod you're talking about. I'll prise it out of my board later and have a look though, just to be sure.

If the first track is 'Indulgence' that was my first effort at recording. I used the freebie Audacity software playing a Les Paul Studio (with Burstbucker Pros) through a cheap Zoom G2. It's pretty basic and the playing is quite 'stilted' but that seems to be my style - not the most fluid of players! It was a start though and some friends coaxed me back into live playing after a 25 year break on the back of it, so quite a landmark in its way.

Everything else is done on a US tele through the VTwin, Keeley Compressor into Garage Band. I also use some software called Channelstrip which plugs into G/B and makes a huge difference to the overall feel of the music - this year's best purchase!

Next electric tracks will feature the Bassman rig miked up which is how I'd like to go in future but late night recording means I need to keep the racket down! Also banging out an acoustic country-type piece just now which will make its presence known soon so keep checking back.

Barber LTD was mentioned in various blues/guitar sites and I needed a back up if the V Twin goes pop. It's an Overdive pedal that was reasonably prices second hand (around 70 GBP) and has volume/tone/drive. Not as organic as the valve (how could it be?) but a very convincing pedal in its own way. I'll be using it for recroding and live work to supplement the V Twin and add some 'spice'. A nice pedal which I need to learn more about.

Also on the huge waiting list for a Hermida Zendrive which I've heard a few soundclips of (that's how I found Soundclick!). I suspect this pedal will be giving my playing a good kick up the arse - it sounds awesome. I'll have waited a year or more for this one, so let's hope it does what I think it does! Pedal geek or what?

Sorry about rambling reply - pretty talkative today - I must need medication.........

David