BR1600 2 problems

W

Wbrownj

New member
Hi all, I am new here and this is my first post so I hope you can help.

I have a br900 and have just bought a 2nd hand br1600. It is fine but there are two problems

1) a few of the buttons, for example the return to zero (|<<) and the yes buttons are not very responsive when pressed. They work but some times you need to press them a few times for it to register. It does not seem that the buttons are mechanically sticking or jamming and pressing them feels just like pressing any other buttons. It is more like the contacts of the switches need cleaning. Has anyone any advice on this? Also is it possible to safely remove the casing in order to access the contacts and perhaps spray them with contact cleaner?

2) when I plug my fender strat or tele into the br1600 front or back jack it seems to generate an unacceptable amount of buzzing background noise. I kind of got a bit of that on my br900 but only when using mains power... Batteries were ok. The buzz on the br1600 is worse and there is no option to use batteries. I use it in my home and there are no things like flouredcent lighting to generate interference. Any suggestions are really welcome. Should I be earthing the br1600 and if so, to what?

Thanks in advance.

Jonathan
 
The controls on the Boss recorders are probably the first things to wear out from use. Chances are the switches that are actuated by the buttons are not readily changeable - built-into the boards.
As to the guitar buzz - have you tried a conditioned signal, like plugging into a stompbox first?
 
To try to reduce/eliminate the guitar hum, try pointing the guitar in different directions as you play and see if that helps. Like if the neck is pointing north, try pointing it east, south, and west, and all positions in between.

Those single coil pickups can pick up electrical interference, and sometimes changing your position can eliminate it.
 
Hi and many thanks for your replies.
I did a bit more experimentation today. With the following results.
If I plug a mic into the same port as I would plug the guitar, there is no buzz at all. This is good because it tends to suggest that the br1600 is not faulty. I guess if I were to plug in a keyboard I would get the same good results.
If I plug in just a guitar lead into the port with nothing on the other end, I get buzz ( kind of expected coz I I do the same on a guitar amp I would also get buzz) but connect the guitar (I have tried a few) the buzz gets worse. The buzz is less if I use an electro accoustic (Ovation) or my ukulele each with ceramic pickups but it is still noticeable. The fender tele/strats are very bad. Putting a noise gate would only help when not playing and the buzz would still be there and be too bad when playing quiet parts.
The thing is when I plug my guitars into a guitar amp there is no real discernible buzz.
I have bought a filter mains plug but am still waiting for it to arrive so hope that will help.
I'll let you know how I get on, but any further thoughts are all welcomed.

Cheers,

Jonathan
 
Since the buttons are going bad, I'm going to assume the power supply has issues also.
Chances are the caps in the supply have gone. It's cheap enough to replace with any 12dc brick,
but replacing the caps in the supply also work. ( won't let me post link )


As to the switches, the most used ones are the first to go ( play, yes, not, stop, etc. )
I'm in the process of replacing mine. Taking this apart is fun! Nearly every screw needs to come out.
took me about 1/2 hour just to get to the switch panel. Because it's such a pain to get to I'm going to replace every switch.
I think there are 65 buttons ( quick count ) so I'm ordering 100 switches. They appear to be 6mm 2 pin type.
I'm going to order these: ( won't let me post link )50x Tactile Pushbutton Key Switch Momentary Tact DIP 2 Pins 3 6 5mm | eBay[/url] and try them. They look right.
I couldn't find anything that looked exactly like what's already in the BR1600, but a switch is a switch....
 
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