I purchased a used Beat Buddy for $200 off Musicians Friend (via a Guitar Center store) to have a backup and one that I could leave off my pedal board for easy access at home. Unfortunately I have to send it back because it seems like it’s dead. I’ve tried a 1-Spot, a Voodoo Lab X8, and a random power adapter. All three work great to power my main Beat Buddy, but will not power on the used one. Now, my gut tells me that it’s just a bad unit.
But it does look different. The font on the front is more of an 80s style. The serial number is significantly lower than the new one I bought last year. It seems like I’ve read older posts about people having problems finding a power supply that works with their beat buddy.
So…somewhere along the line was there changes to that part of the pedal hardware? Are older units more prone to being “picky” about what power brick is used? I think I probably just got a bum pedal, but surely Guitar Center would have at least made sure it powered on before they listed it…right?
I have a 2017 BeatBuddy that I’ve operated on a few DC adapters that were not the one supplied with the unit. All worked OK and the only problem was one adapter that the connector would not fit, but fit OK in other gear.
I haven’t had good luck with used gear from GC. An open box electro-acoustic guitar had a split UST PU that only half of it functioned and I had to send it back. Another time they sent an incorrect item which when I called the store it shipped from to get an RMA to send it back they said they didn’t know how to do an RMA. I ended up calling the main GC office and got an RMA. I don’t think they test stuff and the buyer becomes the tester.
Other than the change in graphics, no, no changes to the electronics.
No.
It is quite possible that it’s dead however, before sending it back, test it to make sure it isn’t just bricked. You can do that by following the directions to restore a bricked BeatBuddy (BB) pedal from this link: Pedal does not power on
Thanks for the tip @persist, but unfortunately that didn’t solve the problem. I contacted MF and they sent me a UPS packing slip to send it back. Ah well.
I decided to just spend the extra $100 to get a new one from SS for the Black Friday sale. I really want one for my office (where I do most of my free jamming), and to have as a backup.
BB’ are very picky about the power connector. It’s been hit or miss if a plug would make solid contact.
Probably not your issue since you have another BB to test the power plug against, but there could be variation in the tolerance of the socket from one batch to the next. Not for the meek, but you could open up the BB and test providing power directly to the board … at your own risk of further bricking the device or electrocution.