Troubleshooting pedal boards

[olddawg]

I think I found it. Intermittent power supply jack on the compressor. Even though it is “true bypassed” when engaged it won’t pass signal with no power. But the indicator is only lit when engaged. So when it’s dead it LOOKS like it’s in TB mode.

[J M Fahey]

I think I found it. Intermittent power supply jack on the compressor. Even though it is “true bypassed” when engaged it won’t pass signal with no power. But the indicator is only lit when engaged. So when it’s dead it LOOKS like it’s in TB mode.

Then it´s not "true bypass"
Solid pieces of metal do not need power to pass electricity, including Audio signal.

[olddawg]

It is true bypassed when not engaged. If engaged with no power it does not pass signal. But the "on" indicator light is off making you think it's not engaged. It would also do it VERY infrequently.

[Enzo]

True bypass means hardwired switch. If it needs power to pass signal, then an active stage is in the path, and so not TB.

[minim]

Does it have to be a hard-wired switch. What about relay contacts? For example my Ditto looper has "true bypass" proudly printed on front, but the switch does not sound and feel like one of those 3PDT switches, more like it's depressing a little button on a board. Not sure of the technical term for it.

Maybe TC is being disingenuous, I don't frickin know.

[eschertron]

It is true bypassed when not engaged. If engaged with no power it does not pass signal. But the "on" indicator light is off making you think it's not engaged. It would also do it VERY infrequently.

True bypass means hardwired switch. If it needs power to pass signal, then an active stage is in the path, and so not TB.

Does it have to be a hard-wired switch. What about relay contacts? For example my Ditto looper has "true bypass" proudly printed on front, but the switch does not sound and feel like one of those 3PDT switches, more like it's depressing a little button on a board. Not sure of the technical term for it.

Maybe TC is being disingenuous, I don't frickin know.

I think Dawg is saying that the pedal can be in the 'engaged' mode, but with no power, it looks like it aught to be in bypass. So, no signal. If the pedal uses a relay (like mimim suggests) instead of a switch, the true bypass can be defaulted on the de-energized contacts, so anytime the pedal is not on, it has to be in bypass. Seems like a better option to me.

[Enzo]

I didn't intend a tangent, but...

A relay IS a switch.

[J M Fahey]

True.
And as escherton said, it´s good Engineering to wire it so with no power it defaults to "bypassed".

[olddawg]

What I meant is that comp pedal is a notorious gain attenuator when not turned on so I modified it with a 4DPDT switch to be in true bypass mode when not being used. But if there is no power you can have the switch in the on position with no on indicator and no signal passes because the circuit isn't energized. Most of the pedals on that board are true bypass. There are a couple of buffered ones. I have several dirt boxes and such that I swap in and out from time to time depending on the rig or the project.