BossAreaForum

OK so I'm not sure how relevant this is to many people here , I know at least forumite SamXTherapy uses a GT-5! I personally love the GT-5, if you're willing to live with the idea of going through a single A/D D/A conversion the GT-5 effects actually sound amazing about as good as having a pedalboard full of any xx-2 pedal you can name, (it has an analog overdrive distortion part, sounds indistiguishable from the OD-2 in my opinion), everything included sounds amazing to be honest


anyways the only part on the GT-5 that breaks down is the expression pedal, (which is a shame bc the whammy sounds as good as the digitech WH-1!!!) I ordered metal shaft replacement pots hoping that would work but I only discovered the real flaw is that they simply didn't include a single washer that would make the entire flow of motion work correctly, as you can see

notice the angle of the metal motion transferring bit on the plastic pot shaft:
Notice the offset angle that it holds the pot





I had some some random bits in my junk drawer, I ended up with plastic washers that worked for both of my GT-5 pedals

now the expression control correctly situated with a plastic washer
Notice that it holds the pot at a 90degree angle now






and for demonstration the expression at the heel end, still correctly aligned


Stock should be OK for casual home use but the more you rely on this stupidly old pedal the more the angle will a) wear on the plastic shaft pot b) even if you wanted to replace it with a metal shaft pot its still strangling the pot from a weird angle you just need to find a washer of some sort

That's very useful info, thank you.

Yes, I do use a GT-5 but these days, only at home so I can jam without upsetting everyone. As for the whammy sounds, I really don't care for 'em compared with the Whammy DT but then, the tech on the GT-5 is much older, so there's that.

IMO, the most delicate part of the unit is the Value dial, which skips like crazy on mine unless I'm very, very careful. I'd love to be able to replace/repair that.

SamXTherapy wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 08, 2021 6:43 am

That's very useful info, thank you.

Yes, I do use a GT-5 but these days, only at home so I can jam without upsetting everyone. As for the whammy sounds, I really don't care for 'em compared with the Whammy DT but then, the tech on the GT-5 is much older, so there's that.

IMO, the most delicate part of the unit is the Value dial, which skips like crazy on mine unless I'm very, very careful. I'd love to be able to replace/repair that.

I use the GT-5 too and the Value dial does exactly the same on mine. I would imagine that it’s going to be difficult to find that part and replace it.

ahaha! Youre both 100% right the value dial stops being able to jog downward. I wonder why that is, hopefully just dust, I'll look at that next.

chromandre wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 08, 2021 1:04 pm

ahaha! Youre both 100% right the value dial stops being able to jog downward. I wonder why that is, hopefully just dust, I'll look at that next.

Mine will work in either direction but it's temperamental. If I try to spin it rapidly it'll either go in the opposite direction or jump to a random value. If I go slowly it usually works. Annoying but not - so far - critical. A fix would be very useful, though.

I've never worked on one of these. If someone can upload a video of the mechanism and how it works, i can perhaps help out?

laurie wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 11, 2021 12:20 am

I've never worked on one of these. If someone can upload a video of the mechanism and how it works, i can perhaps help out?

Yea! Please have a look!
https://i.imgur.com/Btdrd2l.mp4
sideways video, note the direction of the wheel spinning, it increases value very quickly, but its very slow to decrease value, sometimes increasing a little even though it should decrease.



Service manual lists as EVQ-WQ5F1524B Rotary Encoder, I would just replace it but it seems that the part is just destined to fail at some point, I sprayed some deoxit on my backup GT5 rotary encoder and it got even worse

Thanks - can you get a shot of what is happening behind the panel?

I'd be happy if a replacement failed eventually. My GT-5, bought new, is 22 years old. If I get another 22 years out of the thing, I'll probably be dead and gone by then anyhow.

it'll be a while before I have a moment to completely disassemble the GT-5 but I found this little clue:
the exact same part is used in roland XP-50/60/80..,

and it breaks!