1988 Alesis Quadraverb (❤️) quick repair and reset.

[@marshallstack1972]

My unit's display was frozen, assumed it was a dead internal battery after 20+ years in storage. Turns out an Initialization Reset was all it needed. Working like the day I bought it now, thanks!

[@caladansoniclabs]

That’s awesome!!! Such great units! ✌🏼🙏🏼

[@antelthrope]

Thanks! this what exactly what I needed

[@DannyHardLuckWoman]

Thank you for the solid advice! Having only a couple of semesters' experience on electrical engineering amd such stuff, this was an awesome video to do some troubleshooting with ✌🏻

[@caladansoniclabs]

😊🙏🏼🙏🏼 Thank you so much for the nice comment! 😊😊

[@mthomas1091]

Thanks for the video. I'll tell you my order of events...if maybe you can help, great....I'll even take any hunches. (Btw, my voltage regulators worked fine & had the voltages you mentioned). Mine is QuadraVerb GT. Previously: It was working fine....then it sat for several weeks, maybe months.. I noticed the TS jack problem (output signal only one side....unless I pulled the other side out half-way) as I was re-organizing my gear routing & thought "oh well, I'll leave it pulled out, it's fine".. Next day: it started the jumbling-letters on display. Battery was dead. Changed it. Fixed that problem. But even then.....at best, even TS half-pulled out, the sound Wet/Dry Mix sounded like WAY too much Dry was included....always...no matter what Reverb levels I adjusted. Then I noticed L or R, one side sounded like a 100% Wet, & one side was wet but had way too much Dry (& honestly the whole unit sounded not-as-loud). By the end of the night: the power-supply died (which now makes me wonder if the power supply killed the battery earlier. PS was only about 3 years old..was an Amazon replacement one). Replaced that with another. Audio output problem still exists. I re-heated a bunch of solder points on the bottom of the circuit board.....just spitballing I don't know....but nothing changed. Replaced the TS output jack on the PCB...no change. Replaced the HEF4053BP chip next to the outputs (which I thought was responsible for the L/R back-n-forth switching to the outputs...creating the "stereo" signal)...no change. Now a couple weeks after changing the battery....Checked battery voltage: 3.0ish volts. (I could've swore it was at least above 3.2V when I put it in...I dunno...still wondering why that power supply died before). I'm not totally sure how to check voltage (or what differences to look for, where, which pin on a chip would always be, like pin#1 if that's the way to test...) OTHER PARTS I BOUGHT BTW: TL084BCN chips (there are 2 of these near the Audio Input jacks & mine look pretty worn). Caps for the "low noise" mod: 2 x 50V 100uf (actually a pack of 6....so of course I'm wondering if the other 4 can be used somewhere, even though they're not the same size etc). I'll take any shot in the dark ideas at this point...

[@caladansoniclabs]

Hey✌🏼😊 For some reason I didn’t get a notification in YT of your question. 😬🤷🏻‍♂️. I think for memory the Gt’s have a different signal path circuit? Ill try and dig up a schematic and see if I can throw any ideas out there.. Definitely sounds like you have followed a solid path though. 👍🏼

[@mthomas1091]

@@caladansoniclabs Sure thanks 🙏 . I did order some caps & I’ll be testing, especially the ones near the power supply, hopefully in the next few days 🤞

[@jdsbeau1]

how about showing how the capacitor is replaced ?

[@donshekn9114]

if you have one that seems to have really weak output and an input that clips easy is it likely just a capacitor problem? trying to record mine into my daw the signal comes in super quiet...tiny thin little sausage tracks rather than nice fat healthy sausage

[@caladansoniclabs]

Hello ✌🏼 Really hard to say with out some tests. But I would say, 90 something percent of faults I see, can be traced to failed caps, regs or diodes. All common bits and pretty easy to test with a decent multimeter. ✌🏼

[@donshekn9114]

@@caladansoniclabs can you maybe link to a video of how to remove and replace caps on a circuit board like this? I ordered a new one if it has issues i'll probably try to fix myself. As it stands I've only worked on guitar electronics and made my own patch cables etc... not unfamiliar with a soldering iron but not great either

[@caladansoniclabs]

@@donshekn9114 There’s a lot of really good ones here on KZbin (just did a quick search) All the basic soldering applies and capacitor/power safety etc. After that, one thing I would suggest to keep in mind is not overheating tracks and being conscious of multi layer pcb’s. Modifying wiring in guitars and wanting to make my own pedals was how I started soldering in the early 90’s ✌🏼 Hopefully yours will be great on arrival though, these are still one of my favourite bits of gear in the studio.

[@donshekn9114]

@@caladansoniclabs thanks!

[@enricoalle5236]

Great Video! I have also a unit like this. I really love it but there is a problem. Everytime i change the program (up or down) i ear a "bump", really boring by the way. I really don t know how to fix it. Could you please help me! Thanks!

[@caladansoniclabs]

Hey Enrico, thanks man :)) Its always hard to really diagnose without doing tests on the unit myself. My first thought would be that theres a fault in the 5V circuit, I would suggest if you have some one who is trained etc that they could check the ground and 5v rail with a meter etc and go from there. But to be honest it could be a a number of other things too.

[@enricoalle5236]

@@caladansoniclabs Many thanks! I Will try!

[@pipposgarage7598]

Hi man, thanks a lot for this video. I have a question for you, if I can: I bought an old QV three days ago. I have seen that on Bypass mode it works only on the right output. Is it a fault or there is some settings to do? Thanks again!

[@caladansoniclabs]

Thanks man! ✌🏼 Should still have both L/R outs in bypass. I’d have to check but I don’t think it’s a switchable feature. I’m away from the studio for a week at the moment buuuut I does sound like a bypass switching circuit fault which can get a bit techy through the ic’s 😟.

[@dcall7830]

Hi, my quadraverbs power button is faulty, I have to keep pressing it on and off till the power stays on, sometimes it takes 25mins of trying before it "catches". any idea on how to fix it please? it's driving me round the bend. cool sounds! sounds like 1992 , later on it sounds like a theme tune to a late 80s japanese video game. awesome!

[@caladansoniclabs]

Hello 👋🏼 I think from memory they are a slide & latch dpdt kind of switch. So it could be that the groves have failed and all you can really do is have the switch replaced. Does it power up while pressing the switch but drop out when you let go? Another thing I have seen on them is dry solder joint where the switch connects to the pcb so that could be a potential check on the list too.

[@dcall7830]

@@caladansoniclabs just noticed your reply now! thank you, I ended up opening her up and forcing the power button against the inside so it's permanently powered on. not a great solution(and kind of caveman like) but it works!

[@caladansoniclabs]

@@dcall7830 Awesome you got it to live again!! Great you narrowed it to the mechanical side of the switch or the arm to it etc. I love these units, I don’t think there’s a day in the studio that I don’t use it! 😂 It’s always great to hear back if folk are successful or not in getting something back to use so thanks for the message. ✌🏼😎

[@dcall7830]

@@caladansoniclabs yeah I'm delighted, the quadraverb was the first hardware reverb I bought, I'd tried all the best software reverb vsts, but nothing had the sound I was after, the first second I put something through my quadraverb was a proper eureka moment.

[@Pamberjack_]

Caps in Quadraverbs aren't cheaparse. All the internal components are high quality. But even the best caps from the 80s don't always last more than 40 years...

[@guitarbuzzer]

Hey mate, just wrestling with an Alesis wedge and came across your video. Thinking things might be getting a bit beyond my skills and just wondering where you are based?

[@caladansoniclabs]

Hey Michael 👋🏼 I’m in rural vic, near Beaufort. Sweet a wedge!! I’m just about to start on a Alesis Midiverb 1, desktop, which is likely similar vintage. 😎 Send me a msg if you like via the IG or FB pages. ✌🏼

[@atommachine]

My Right output is not working and ideas all look good inside , i will do the Caps first.

[@makl2k]

Same here. For me its the left output tho. I only get the dry signal that comes in straight out of it but no effect at all. Did you found a solution?