Stanley FX ETAP Pedal?

[dave robinson]

Had one delivered today.
The echoes certainly nicely done, although the instruction sheet could have been checked for spelling errors.
Doing a quick run through with I would say that the suggested settings are a good start for some tunes but wouldnt take them as gospel.
It runs off a 9 volt battery so no mains ripple.
I was very impressed with Dave Robinsons examples on the etap site, so this shows what the unit is capable of.
Piet is to be congratulated for putting together such a great little piece of technology.

I've seen those suggested settings and I believe they were derived from my original findings on the first eTap2HW I had from Ecca.
All I can say is that I have slightly altered many of them since and folks need to put some time in to perfect them.
Also, the knobs on on machine may not function exactly as another, so there will be variations.

[John M]

Addendum..
It manages to drain the battery even when apparently switched off.

With guitar plugged in the LED lights up and the unit is drawing 53 Ma.
Press the footswitch, the led goes off, but the unit is now drawing a shade over 52 Ma.
So, dont leave the unit with guitar lead still plugged in as the echo box still draws current.
Do all stomp boxes work this way, or am I just being thick in thinking that a bypass switch does just that?

Need to get a mains adapter, methinks

[RayL]

It is quite normal for an effects pedal to draw current while the jack is plugged in, because the action of pushing in the jack is also the on switch for the battery.

It would be possible to design a unit where the footswitch was dual-purpose (bypass and on/off), but electronic circuits frequently take a finite time to start working (capacitors charging, delay circuits in the case of phase or flange). If the guitarist pushed the footswitch and there was a short pause before the pedal started working, he or she would be taking it back to the shop. Hence the electronics have to be on all the time while the pedal is in use.
Ray

[GuitarPhil]

Addendum..
It manages to drain the battery even when apparently switched off.

With guitar plugged in the LED lights up and the unit is drawing 53 Ma.
Press the footswitch, the led goes off, but the unit is now drawing a shade over 52 Ma.
So, dont leave the unit with guitar lead still plugged in as the echo box still draws current.
Do all stomp boxes work this way, or am I just being thick in thinking that a bypass switch does just that?

Need to get a mains adapter, methinks

Yes, that's the way most stomps work. Plugging the guitar lead in switches it on so you have to remember to unplug it when you're done. The bypass switch does exactly that, it bypasses the guitar signal around the unit and feeds it straight to the amp. It doesn't turn off the power to the stomp box. As Ray says, you'd likely get a pause before the unit powered up or, more than likely, a nasty thump or click through the amp as the stompbox circuit powered up.

Also, 53 mA is quite a hefty current for a PP3 type 9V battery so you'd be better off in the long run with an adaptor.