Overdrive pedal shuts down guitar signal when disengage

Question

I´m getting back to playing guitar after a 15 years hiatus. Now I have an apparent issue with my overdrive pedal, it is a Morley Dual Boost Distortion MDB2. As far as the overdrive alone is engaged there is not a problem but when the booster is also activated then when disengage some times it completely shuts down the guitar signal.

I go from my guitar to a TCE Polytune, then to the Morley MDB2, then to a Son icake Noise Wiper and from there to the amp input. Mod and time pedals got to the FX Loop. Amp is a Joyo Zombie.

Don´t think it is a power supply issue since it happened also with a 9V battery and it says it consumes 12mA... Still it seems the Morley power supply for this pedal is a 9V 300 mA, so might that be the problem?

I´ll appreciate any clues about this. Thanks.

Answer 1

Power consumption shouldn't be an issue here, because disengaging the boost would draw less power.

My guess is a problem in the footswitch itself. The typical 3-pole double throw switch has 3 moving pieces of metal that make electrical contact. It could be a tiny patch of corrosion or patina on the metal contacts that sometimes prevents a good electrical connection. Or maybe a defect in the plastic housing or plunger assembly that prevents the metal part from moving into the correct position sometimes.

What I would do (but, this may or may not qualify as "good" advice) is take off the back and if possible unscrew the nut that holds the footswitch to the face of the pedal and kind of pull it out (careful with the tiny wires that will not be very long. don't tug or force it and don't try to stretch the wires or they'll just snap and cause a bigger problem). By pulling it out, you can spray some contact cleaner into the mechanism and work the switch a few times. Let the fumes ventilate properly for 10-15 minutes and then reassemble the pedal and test.

If that doesn't work, you may need to contact Morley (or a nearby electrician) for repair.

Answer 2

You may need to check your switches on your pedal, they could be shorting causing loss of signal when activated. You'll have to take the pedal apart to get to the switches, get you some CRC contact cleaner and spray down the contacts of the switch, unless it's a sealed switch with no access to the contacts, then you might think about buying a new pedal or switches. I don't know how expensive the pedal is, or how it was made, but it definitely sounds like you got something going on with that pedal, the power consumption 12ma, you got 300ma available, unless you have a failing power supply or cord, it's power supply could be an issue too. Good luck!!