The results can be drastically improved when the guitar effects pedals are added to the guitar’s rig. In simple words, the guitar pedal is an audio effect unit that impacts the incoming guitar signal in a way that a particular effect is generated
Guitarists get immense help from the guitar pedals when they have to play the guitar extensively, and they aim to have the utility for all the different effects and to mix in real-time.
Just like guitar brands, there is a variety of guitar pedals as well. Every guitar pedal brand has its own distinctive features that can meet your needs accordingly.
Digitech Trio is one of the most popular guitar pedals that has multiple features, including the looping effects and more. You can control the tempo, style, genre, bass, loop, etc.
The perfect design of the Digitech Trio is like a cherry on the top. Although it is quite phenomenal in its performance, you can still face some problems with it.
But you have nothing to worry about as this article discusses the effective solutions to these problems. So let’s study more of these in detail.
How to Solve Digitech Trio Problems
1. Getting Stuck
Guitar pedals getting stuck is a common problem, but it frequently occurs in the Digitech trio. It can get stuck in the middle of your performance, repeating the same loop of playback over and over again.
The solution to this problem is pretty simple, as you can do a simple reset and fix your pedal.
Make sure you are pressing and holding the guitar FX and Alt time buttons at the same time while you are connected to the power supply.
As soon as the lights start to cycle, the resetting starts as well. The Digitech Trio completes its reset when the cycle is completely lit.
2. Pedal Does Not Turn On
Users of Digitech Trio run into the issue of the pedal not turning on every now and then. Before you send the pedal to the technician, there are a bunch of things that you can try yourself first.
The Digitech trio is a great device, and one cannot doubt its setup skills, but it does have some flaws.
Whether you are using a power supply or an adapter, make sure it is properly plugged in. Another thing that you need to take care of is that the power source that has to power your device is live.
If there is no power despite the correct plugging, check the GFCI outlets, fuses, and breakers. See if they are tripped.
You can follow a few steps to get the power verified. The first step is to check the power of the outlet by plugging something into it.
Next comes the point before your pedals; it must be plugged into the wall. This point can be an AC adapter, power strip, or extension cord.
If the pedal power supply is in your use, plug it in and power it up. There is a connection between the pedal and the power source.
Check that connection and make sure both ends are connected. Next comes the input and output cables. See if they are plugged into the pedal.
Now press on the pedal and check the turning on and off of the LED or power indicator. If they are functional, they must get turned on and off upon your pressing.
The last thing that you need to check is whether the LED stays on or switches off as you wiggle the power cable.
If you observe flickering in the light, pull the pedal and inspect the AC jack of the pedal. Check the condition the solder joint is in.
It is possible that the jack is out of order because years of plugging in and out can wear the jack out. Any component that is deteriorated needs to be replaced as soon as possible. That’s when your Digitech trio will turn on.
3. Checking The Battery And Cables
The battery is the most important c1omponent to check, especially if you are not using an isolated power supply or a wall adapter. A pedal with a dead battery means that it is not receiving enough power.
It is obvious that a pedal with no power is unable to let the signal get through the rest of the signal chain,
After verifying the power and battery, you need to check the cables. Give a quick visual inspection of the cables.
Do you see any sign of the cables wearing out or getting disheveled? If not, give a little wiggle to the cables and see whether you hear any screeching or scratching sound. If yes, the cable has gone bad, and it needs to be repaired or replaced.
There is a possibility that the noise stays despite you replacing the cable. The reason is that the pedal could have some internal issue that is affecting its operation and performance.
You need to check on the cable type as well. You can verify the cable by checking its ends. Get your hands on a cable tester and throw it in your guitar case.
If solderless patch cable is in your use, trim the end of the cable. Next, you have to do the reseating of the cable into the plug as you use a twisting motion.
Another common mistake that the users frequently make is to hook the input into output and vice versa. You need to be extra careful while hooking up input to the input, and the same goes for the output.
4. Check The Power Supply
It is imperative to get the correct power supply for your pedal. Make sure the power supply you get is designed for a piece of professional audio equipment.
The supply must filter AC line noise and regulate voltage. Once you start using the power supply, do not overload it because an overloaded supply can produce unwanted noise.
Check whether your power supply is damaged or not. You can do so by plugging in a different pedal and checking the noise. If there is no noise, there is no problem with the power supply.
5. Check The Potentiometer
When you are engaging the pedal, you might listen to noises like popping, crackling and buzzing. It is because your potentiometer has gone dirty. It is common for a dirty pot to make a crackling sound. However, the fix is easy as you can clean it.
The inner part of the dial that is responsible for controlling the amount of current passing through it is called a potentiometer. Any dust or dirt getting settled in will cause a hindrance for the current.
As a result, whenever you use the pedal, you will hear a crackling sound. It is smart to do the cleaning of the pot whenever you hear such a sound.
For the cleaning process, the first step includes unscrewing the front of your pedal. The dust on the inside of the pot can be efficiently removed by using a little brush.
However, if you want to clean the dirt on the interior in a better way, you can use a lubricant or a cleaner spray. Each of the pots needs to be sprayed by the cleaner.
After you are done cleaning, plug the pedal in and start using it. The chances of the disappearance of the crackling sound are maximum after this cleaning.
6. Voltage Leakage
A guitar pedal can make unwanted noises, and the reasons are plenty. Mainly it’s the leakage of a small amount of DC voltage from the capacitors. The leaked voltage is built up in the input and output.
This very build-up creates an unsettling noise when the voltage is discharged into the signal path.
The kind of sound produced from the voltage leakage in the circuit inside the pedal is dependent not only on the quality of capacitors but also on the nature of the effect. In simple words, the noise is more if the pedal has high gains.
However, you can get rid of this sound. Just add pull-down resistors to the output and input of the signal path.
Now, the pull-down resistors are responsible for draining the leaked charge through them. In this way, the input and output are free from voltage build-up.
7. Distortion
If you face the problem of distortion while engaging the Digitech trio, there is nothing to worry about because the fix is pretty easy.
Basically, there are two causes behind the distortion, the first one being the poor connection of the connectors. Check for any dust or rust on the connectors. If there is any, get it cleaned.
The next thing that causes distortion in sound is the low battery. You can best avoid the issue of distortion by keeping your battery charged by connecting it to the power supply.
8. Compatibility
Although Digitech trio does come with plenty of features that make it multi-genres compatible, it is still prone to a bunch of problems when it is connected with guitars and devices.
Therefore, you need to be mindful of the risk caused by the compatibility issue on the pedal.
Before you pick the Digitech trio as your guitar pedal, double-check its compatibility with your instrument. It must go perfectly with the guitar you have. Otherwise, it would be of no use to you.
My TRIO+ will just stop in the middle of a playback or recording – and the red lights will just go around the STYLE DIAL. It’s very frustrating – especially when laying down a BAND track and a LOOP track. I’ve done the ALT + Guitar Effects pressed at same time at start up – A NUMBER OF TIMES – with no success. I read on a blog to take out the SD mini card on the left side – check for dust and replace it — still no success. Thank You
I have issue with the drum eq.. suddenly boomy.. no more treble …. Any suggestion?
I cannot shift out of learn mode to play? I have reset the unit
I have a seriousproblemwith my Trio Band Creator. It’s the base model. While attempting to use the learn feature, I’ve accidentally erased my entire library. All 3 channels. I’ve manually reset about 30 times, and I’ve downloaded updates. Absolutely nothing works. In fact, the reason the 2nd, and 3rd channels out is because of trying to correct the initial problem. My drummer isn’t always available when I’m working on new material, or just making demos. I’ve tried searching for a library download, but I can’t find anything. I have the manager, and updater, but neither has had any effect. I don’t know what to do.
Hello,
My digitech Band Creator Trio Plus is creating all sorts of noises on the drum and bass channels, the loop channel is fine, I have Gigs coming up and my whole setlist is on it, please help 🙏
Elie
I Purchased my trio plus last year and it did not come with instructions. I’m having troubles erasing bands I keep using up all my storage with mistakes how do I erased bands and loops
I used to be able to teach the Trio Plus a tune and jam with it endlessly. Recently after teaching the drums and bass the tune and start jamming , it only plays one chorus instead of playing until I stop it. And when I press the band button it plays one time through and stops. Any ideas why it does this and how to fix it?
I have the same problem mentioned in two comments here: Sometimes Trio + loses the tempo during playback. Does amyone know how to fix this? Reset and firmware update didnt help
Trio Plus is unstable and many of the instruction manuals solutions don’t work. Here are a couple. After saving some songs, they were all suddenly slowed down and the Audiolastic light was on, and no way to get it off without deleting the songs. With the Audiolastic light on, you cant access the looper and (as in the manual) Turning the Audiolastic dial does NOT turn off the light. Otherwise, the pedal contualy gets stuck & can’t access other functions, typically trying to go from Band to Looper or back again. I tried Reset, & Update (no fix there) either. It seems that they packed in too many multi functional controls and automated features, so that the pedal gets confused and clams up ?
Hi James. This is in reply to your above comment. Hope you get to see it!
The red light needs to be blinking rapidly before you start playing. It then goes solid as it is listening to your chord progression. But sometimes the red light continues flashing rapidly even after you have started playing. As someone mentioned in an earlier comment, this is due to a low powered signal from your guitar. You need your guitar on a higher volume for the Trio to be able to get that signal and start listening. It has happened to me a few times and then I realised I wasn’t playing loudly enough! Hope this helps!
I have one very big Problem, every now and then the playback from all i have just recorded looses Tempo, if anyone can help me i would be more than greatfull
I just turn down the volume on the bass and drums to use as just a looper.
I posted a question earlier tonight about the Digitech Trio Plus. Figured it out — I just didn’t have enough input volume from the guitar! It wasn’t getting enough of a signal, I guess. There should be a warning about this problem in their manual. Anyway, problem solved. Thanks.
My main problem with the Digitech Trio Plus is trying to use it as a looper only. I follow the instructions under “Recording Loops Without The Backing Band,” everything is set like they say, I’m in an empty song part, etc. The Band light is blinking red slowly, as it’s supposed to, and I hit the Looper button and start recording. Then I hit the Band button, and it’s supposed to start playing back. But it doesn’t, and the Band light starts blinking red fast. Very frustrating. How can I use it as a looper only when I want? Thanks for any help!