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Topic: Hilton pedal, dead? ***Update 6/25/11*** |
Ben Turner
From:
Myrtle Beach, SC, USA (deceased)
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Posted 21 May 2011 12:08 pm |
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Well, I've had 2 pieces of important electronics die this week! So here's the symptoms I've been having.
While playing, volume gets cut in half or more. Tone changes drastically from fat to really thin, sounds like I'm playing in a tin can. It comes and goes in and out, except for the last time it "went out" it stayed the same for the remainder of the show.
I got everything home and set it all up to see what was up, when I plug into the pedal it does absolutely nothing now. What I originally thought was my NV400 going out must have been my volume pedal, because the amp works fine plugged directly into the guitar. The power supply to the pedal makes a high pitch whistling noise. Could it just be the power supply?
First my amp last Sunday and now my Hilton VP last night. This just ain't my week. 
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Benjamin Turner
Last edited by Ben Turner on 25 Jun 2011 11:52 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Bob Cox
From:
Buckeye State
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Posted 21 May 2011 3:34 pm
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Ben check and see if you may of got a wall wart mixed
up with another. Heck they all look the same and sometimes they don,t even have a voltage on them. Just a thought. |
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Darrell Owens
From:
California, USA
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Posted 21 May 2011 8:57 pm Hilton Pedal dead
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Ben,
It is the pedal. You need to contact Keith Hilton for a repair.
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Zum Steel, Little Walter Amp, Benado Steel Dream
Darrell Owens
www.darrellowens.com |
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Ben Turner
From:
Myrtle Beach, SC, USA (deceased)
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Posted 21 May 2011 11:26 pm
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OK. tonight I'm still getting the same symptoms with the tone going from fat to disgustingly high pitch, the bottom end still stays pretty fat but the high end looses all tone other than complete high pitch frequency. I'm using a different volume pedal, same everything else. It's not the RV7 because I took it out of the mix and it's still doing it, it's not the tuner because I unplugged it from the mix and it's still doing it. All that's left is either A) the AMP, or B) the pickup and/or guitar wiring.
Anyone have any other ideas??? 
But FYI my Hilton is still dead, I've tried it with my six string guitars, lap and still get no signal.
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Benjamin Turner |
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John Gould
From:
Houston, TX Now in Cleveland TX
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Posted 23 May 2011 11:16 am Amp!
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Ben, do you have another amp to try with the steel?
It sounds like the power supply section of the amp maybe having trouble or sometimes that's a symptom of a chip going bad. I would try the guitar through some other amp first but it sounds like the amp to me. Hard to say for sure without more information. Good luck
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A couple of guitars
Fender GTX 100 Fender Mustang III Fender Blues Jr. Boss Katana MKII 50
Justice Pro Lite and Sho Bud Pro II |
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Tim Marcus
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 23 May 2011 12:26 pm
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have you checked all of your cabling?
Its probably not the output of the guitar but you can check by plugging any other source in - even if its just an ipod or CD player. Run anything through your signal path and see if wiggling or tapping makes it cut out. Troubleshooting is all about eliminating variables one by one - start at the guitar with the test signal and work your way back to the amp.
9 times out of 10 this is caused by something simple.
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Milkmansound.com |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 23 May 2011 1:32 pm
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"The power supply to the pedal makes a high pitch whistling noise."
Uh,,,, I wouldn't even plug that thing in! |
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Ben Turner
From:
Myrtle Beach, SC, USA (deceased)
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Posted 24 May 2011 4:41 pm
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I tried all of the obvious things before I posted here, of course. It is the pedal, shipping it to Keith tomorrow. Thanks
 The guitar cutting in and out was at the fault of the pickup as I originally thought, it was reading 9K on the meter when I had my tech check it, apparently one of the coils is burnt out. Replaced it all together with a stock Emmons single coil which sounds a ton better anyway, I don't understand why anyone would put anything else in an Emmons.  
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Benjamin Turner |
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Bob Mainwaring
From:
Qualicum Beach Vancouver Island B.C. Canada
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Posted 25 Jun 2011 8:38 am Hilton Pedal, Dead
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Hi there Ben and all the other "onlookers".
My Hilton Pedal acted up last weekend setting up for an afternoon "benefit" gig ----- it just wouldn't work and sadly I didn't have any replacement pedal with me.
I felt really bad leaving the place but it was an hours drive from home which added to the ordeal.
I messed around for over an hour trying different cables and finally called it quits.
I continued down to a paying gig for the night with a "nail biting" hour and a quarters drive and kept my fingers crossed that it would work.
It all went together perfectly without any problems and the gig went well too.
I thought everything was all O.K. 'till last night when it happened again. Luckily I'd taken my old Fender pot pedal and was able to continue through the night.
The Hilton pedal is really a fantastic pedal but I'm wondering what, or if anyone else has had similar problems.
All Z.B.est.
Bob Mainwaring |
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Lee Baucum
From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
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Posted 25 Jun 2011 9:48 am
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| Always, always, always take a back-up volume pedal to the gig! |
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Ben Turner
From:
Myrtle Beach, SC, USA (deceased)
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Posted 25 Jun 2011 10:16 am
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Just an update on this post. The pedal was A-OK it was the power supply that was bad. $24 for a new supply and all is good as new. On another note, I bought another Hilton pedal much newer than mine from Ron Steenwijk(Thanks Ron!) and it is now my back up.
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Benjamin Turner |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 25 Jun 2011 10:22 am
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Ben,
When you wrote this, ""The power supply to the pedal makes a high pitch whistling noise." I knew that thing was messed up! Luckily,,, it didn't take any of the parts in the pedal with it, when it whistling past the graveyard! Nor did it burn down the house! |
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Keith Hilton
From:
248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721
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Posted 25 Jun 2011 11:34 am
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| Ben, glad to have helped you get going again. It is rare that a power supply goes bad, but it does happen. The most common cause of a power supply going bad is the power cord getting tripped over. "Maybe by a drummer when you were not around". When a power supply does go bad, it is "NOT" luck that it does not hurt the circuit inside the pedal. Nothing about electronics involves luck. When I designed the electronic circuit for the Hilton Pedal, I built in lots of protection. Here is some of the things that protect the circuit: 2 fuses, one on each power rail. Over voltage zener diode between positive and negative. Reverse voltage protection. Input blocking capacitor. Input current limiting resistors. Radio frequency bypass to ground. Ocillation protection. Boot strap diode protection for over voltage on the input. Output blocking capacitor. Output current limiting. Output bleed-back resistor to ground to prevent popping. Output boot strap diode protection for over voltage. When I designed the protection plan for the Hilton Pedal circuit I left NOTHING to luck. LUCK will bite you in the rear end. When it comes to voltage, current, and electronics--- having a plan is much, much better than luck. I won't name names, but some of the other people who have build electronics for steel guitar have ZERO protection on their circuits. Ben thanks for using my pedal. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 25 Jun 2011 11:43 am
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Keith,
Very good to hear you planned carefully for the protection of the circuitry in your pedal! As you've said, many do not. Had I known of all your work on this issue, I wouldn't have made that comment! I've lost pedals to bad power supplies, and,,, I admit,,, once plugging in the wrong type. I had a wallwart that took out my phone, and was too hot to touch and unplug. And a Whistlin' Wallwart? (sounds like something from a Harry Potter movie). I woulda turned off the breaker before even touching it!
Best,
JB |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 25 Jun 2011 12:11 pm
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Yep, when the wallwarts start whistlin' to you and the cars are talkin', time to make that move to a cave in Montana.  |
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Bob Mainwaring
From:
Qualicum Beach Vancouver Island B.C. Canada
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Posted 28 Jun 2011 9:38 pm Hilton Pedal adaptor
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Hi there folks,
Just got back from a practice session where the transformer went bad AGAIN.......it crackles and pops then goes dead. This is the second one since owning the pedal.
It's a "multi" step AC/DC adaptor ending with 500m.m. 12V. Which would be the best make/type to buy??
All Z.B.est.
Bob Mainwaring |
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Keith Hilton
From:
248 Laurel Road Ozark, Missouri 65721
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Posted 29 Jun 2011 10:28 am
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| Bob, the replacement transformer you should get depends on the year your pedal was made. I have been building these pedals for 15 years. The first couple of years I used a transformer type unregulated 12 Volt DC power supply that could be unplugged. Regulation was inside the pedal, and the voltage was boosted to 24 volts inside the pedal by a DC to DC converter. After that,up until 2008, I used a medical grade transformer type regulated +12,-12---24 Volt DC, regulated, power supply that attached to the pedal. From 2008 until present I have used a switching type regulated 24 Volt DC power supply that unplugs. The only exceptions were an experimental transformer type 12 volt DC unregulated power supply I used for 3 months in early 2008. All power supplies excpet the 3 months in early 2008, would up producing 24 volts DC. Remember----With the very early 12 DC volt power supplies I had a DC to DC converter on the circuit which boosted the voltage to +12 and -12--which is 24 volts if you go across the rails. Why 24 volts instead of 12 volts??????????--Head Room! Only the power supply has changed over the years. The circuit that makes the sound, the tone, has NEVER changed. I sell replacement power supplies, but I hear the Canadian postal service is on strike. Hope this information helps. |
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