MXR Carbon Copy delay repeat level slowly dropping over the years?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Speeddemon
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Speeddemon

Speeddemon

Well-known member
I'm experiencing a weird thing with my MXR Carbon Copy (probably over 10 years old)...
FWIW, I'm running it in the fx-loop of my EVH 5150III 50W, next to a modded Boss GE-7, TC Harmonizer, MXR Micro Flanger, Mooer Ensemble King (CE-2 chorus) and a Boss/Roland RE-20 Space Echo.

In the beginning, I had the Mix knob at 11:30 and the repeats were loud enough. Sure, it's a subtle and dark delay, I'm aware of that...but over the years, I had to crank the mix knob more and more to get the SAME level of delay repeats output.
Yesterday I had a gig with my Maiden tribute band and even with the mix knob cranked fully, the repeats were extremely soft, to the point of being unusable for my leads. So I had to use the RE-20 for that; normally I save it for louder, specific stuff and the warp/self-oscillation function.

Does anyone seen this behaviour before with an analog delay? Could it be that the BBD chip is deteriorating?! There are no other sound artifacts or anything, just that the delay repeats output has gone softer and softer over the years.
Any quick fixes maybe?
 
I think it's more likely that something else in the chain is affecting the loop and therefore changing the perceived volume of the carbon copy than the carbon copy actually losing volume, but who knows 10 years is a long time
 
DanTravis62 said:
I think it's more likely that something else in the chain is affecting the loop and therefore changing the perceived volume of the carbon copy than the carbon copy actually losing volume, but who knows 10 years is a long time
Click to expand...
Well, I tried it on different amps, with a power supply or a battery and also as the only pedal in the loop. The problem persists.
I basically get 1 repeat (regardless of where I set the Regen knob), at about 5% volume at most, and quite distorted (moreso than expected from an analog delay). I found some references online about ESD issues with earlier batches, so perhaps mine is among those...
 
Speeddemon said:
Well, I tried it on different amps, with a power supply or a battery and also as the only pedal in the loop. The problem persists.
I basically get 1 repeat (regardless of where I set the Regen knob), at about 5% volume at most, and quite distorted (moreso than expected from an analog delay). I found some references online about ESD issues with earlier batches, so perhaps mine is among those...
Click to expand...

Interesting, that probably is an ESD thing, wild! I mean luckily it's easy to replace, but at least you got 10 years out of it
 
I have a Carbon Copy and it is probably 10 years old. Can't say I've noticed that but I don't use it much either TBH. Will try it. I was going to say it could be a tube in a tube driven FX loop but you said you tried it in other amps.

Best of luck - weird for sure. Was not aware of this known issue.
 
Is it possible to open the pedal and spray the inside of that pot with Deoxit while rotating the knob ? The pot wiper may be deteriorating .
Worth the effort ? Definitely post # 2 .
 
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