New (broken) pedal day!

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laurie
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Re: New (broken) pedal day!

Post by laurie » Fri Jun 26, 2026 6:55 pm

So this isn't "new" ... I bought this PS-2 nearly 2 years ago when pepe found it here in Canada. Non-working. MIJ, PSA power, blue label. So a nice pedal if I could get it working.

It has taken a long time for me to get it done - I kept hitting a new issue every time I thought I was done. Probably 10 hours total repair time :shock:

Main issue was the through-hole electrolytic caps. All now replaced. Plus the mode switch needed a good flooding with Deoxit. And a lot of other little issues like broken wires and dry solder joints.

Add this one to the body of knowledge about PS-2 pedals needing a recap. The "unknown" pic is the test of one of the 10uF capacitors. Completely failed.
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Last edited by laurie on Sat Jun 27, 2026 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Pepe
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Re: New (broken) pedal day!

Post by Pepe » Sat Jun 27, 2026 4:35 am

Phew! What an annoying job. But now it finally works again?

Which one of the sandwiched boards had the worse capacitors that needed replacement? Only the board with the through-hole components features electrolytic capacitors, am I right?

laurie wrote:
Fri Jun 26, 2026 6:55 pm
The "unknown" pic is the test of one of the 10uF capacitors. Completely failed.
Again those darn miniaturised 10µF capacitors, I assume? My KORG BX-3 organ was full of them. If you spot any of these in a faulty '80s pedal - as well as compact-sized bipolar capacitors - replace them without thinking twice! In most cases the compact long life 10µF/25V Panasonic FC capacitor is a good and fitting replacement.
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laurie
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Re: New (broken) pedal day!

Post by laurie » Sat Jun 27, 2026 11:59 am

Pepe wrote:
Sat Jun 27, 2026 4:35 am
Phew! What an annoying job. But now it finally works again?
Yes, perfectly. It is actually a really nice pedal - i can see (hear) the attraction.
Pepe wrote:
Sat Jun 27, 2026 4:35 am
Again those darn miniaturised 10µF capacitors, I assume?
Yep. Replaced with tantalums.
Pepe wrote:
Sat Jun 27, 2026 4:35 am
Which one of the sandwiched boards had the worse capacitors that needed replacement? Only the board with the through-hole components features electrolytic capacitors, am I right?
Both boards have them. The SMD board is the "analog" board, and the caps on it were fine. The digital board ("ET board") was the one with the through-hole electros.

Things are very (very) tightly packed in there. Small wires. The wire to the output jack broke off twice wile I was doing the repair, just from moving the board around.

The other idiosyncrasy is that the DC ground flows through the pedal housing - there is a wire from the boards to the screw that holds down the LED, and the circuit flows back into the boards through the sleeve of the input jack. Weird. And frustrating until you figure it out because nothing works with the pedal guts out of the housing until you jumper that connection.

The other thing I found was that the previous owner had obviously tampered with the trimpots. I had to use the scope to reset them.

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Re: New (broken) pedal day!

Post by Pepe » Sat Jun 27, 2026 1:25 pm

laurie wrote:
Sat Jun 27, 2026 11:59 am
The other idiosyncrasy is that the DC ground flows through the pedal housing - there is a wire from the boards to the screw that holds down the LED, and the circuit flows back into the boards through the sleeve of the input jack. Weird. And frustrating until you figure it out because nothing works with the pedal guts out of the housing until you jumper that connection.
Indeed, that's a very, very bad design choice. :shock:
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Re: New (broken) pedal day!

Post by Pepe » Fri Aug 28, 2026 11:12 am

I have two Schaller pedals on the way to me, a working TR68 Tremolo, which is often regarded as being one of the finest sounding tremolo units out there, plus a broken "Wha-Wha-Fuzz".

I bought the units from a man who is considerably older and is now parting with some of his belongings. His son helped him with the online ads and pictures, and he hadn't yet made photos of the tremolo pedal. I only know that it is a silver model, but it could either be an early version with aluminium chassis (which I hope), or a later model with plastic enclosure and silver hammer-finish paint.

The "Wha-Wha-Fuzz", an early model with that same silver finish (and not black as later units), is missing its original footswitches, one has been replaced, the stereo potentiometer may not be original (it has a very long axis), the nameplate is missing (but I see quite a few of the early silver units without nameplates, like here - one in that Instagram picture also has the Marshall-amp-type knob, so this seems to be the original state*!) and there is another obscure jack on the Output side for an unknown reason. Maybe it was an attempt to remove the volume pedal function of the unit, thus the missing footswitch at the heel position (bummer, these vintage Marquardt switches are rare!). This repair might be a bit tricky, but let's wait and see!

*I did some more research. Apparently, the early pedals didn't have a nameplate, while the later models featured a dedicated recess in the treadle for one. This unit has no recess at that spot; it is completely flat. The brochures from the year 1970 until 1972 do also feature this pedal, without a nameplate, but with another style of knob. That is a common inconsistency in the history of Schaller effects.

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(Pictures are from the online ad.)
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Re: New (broken) pedal day!

Post by laurie » Sat Aug 29, 2026 8:02 pm

Interesting!!

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Re: New (broken) pedal day!

Post by Pepe » Mon Aug 31, 2026 11:15 am

A-lu-mi-ni-um!!! :mrgreen:

Whoohoo! The parcel with the two Schaller pedals has arrived. The Tremolo is from the first versions with aluminium chassis. It has already been recapped (some capacitors are even my favourite Panasonic FC!), but it needs a good cleaning of the switches and the potentiometers. And it sounds fantastic! A real steal for the 99 EUR that I paid! :o

The Wha-Wha-Fuzz needs some TLC. The second jack served as a power jack at some point, but someone has messed up the connections, etc. Well, I can't complain about boredom. :?

Pictures to follow!
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Re: New (broken) pedal day!

Post by laurie » Mon Aug 31, 2026 4:26 pm

Nice score!

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Re: New (broken) pedal day!

Post by Pepe » Mon Aug 31, 2026 6:25 pm

The 99 EUR were for the TR68 Tremolo alone, shipping or the broken Wha-Wha-Fuzz not included.

Pictures of the "before" state. I haven't done anything yet, but I am sure that the pedal will look a lot nicer once I'm finished with the maintenance.

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The Speed switch is a great thing! This tremolo can be set really fast! And don't ask me why everything is in English, except "Frequenz" (in written form, the word "Amplitude" is the same in German and English).

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The board, already with new electrolytic capacitors (I just removed the board: that was a rather clumsily done recapping that I have to redo).

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And the dual gang potentiometer is definitely not original, that's what this abused treadle told me.

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Whoever did this to the pedal ... shame on you! :(

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Re: New (broken) pedal day!

Post by Pepe » Wed Sep 02, 2026 12:39 pm

Yesterday I finished the cleaning and maintenance of the Schaller Tremolo. Have a look at the solder side of the PCB! This is how it was before I started. Whoever did the first recapping, did a terrible job, and I completely removed the solder at those parts:

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This is how it looks now.

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The other four electrolytic capacitors are now Panasonic FC as well. Switches, jacks, battery clip and potentiometers were cleaned.

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Sadly, over the decades, the hammer finish paint has come off around the engraved letters. I tried my best cleaning them, but to little effect only.

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Doesn't the TR68 Tremolo look great next to my TV66/67 Tonverzerrer? This is a fantastic sounding pair, too!

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