Yes that sounds like the answer forget about the main switch its usless just use foot switch.
I have not updated firmware yet I will do it and confirm that is the issue.
Yes Jay and beatbuddy are great , too marks to customer support for sure.
I do hope for their sake and customers that they source a better switch , I have taken one appart and it is very poor quality and a bad design , its designed to fail , its the only thing letting down a great product , one component.
All switches especially foot stwutches should have stoppers so the switch can only ever be depressed to the stopper , the Alfa switch in the unit has no fail safe mecanism and it is just a very thin strip of metal , with very delicate ends on it about 1.5 mm across , extremely weak.
Anyway hope my foot switch fixxes issue after firmware update.
I just get the latest firmware I am guessing ?
I’ve worn out a few units, myself, but I wouldn’t say the switches are junk. We rehearse every week and play 60 shows a year, so that’s about 110 nights at a conservative estimate of 35 songs each, times 3 verses, 3 choruses, and a solo, plus about 7 internal fills. That’s about 54,000 main pedal presses multiplied by the two-ish years years the switches last before I start to worry, and you have, essentially 100,000 presses. That’s quite a lot of hard miles by any switch’s standard.
My issue is not the quality of the switches, because my math says these hold up pretty well; My issue is with how hard it is to replace them. So, if I was doing anything with the Beat Buddy, I’d leave the switch alone, and I would modify the chassis so the switch is easier to access and replace.
But I am curious about any setup that has burned through three in four years: Are you playing a lot more than us? Is it mounted on a pedalboard? Do you store it sealed in a gig bag, or does it live on a basement floor? Is your climate really damp or dry? Because it seems really odd that I’m consistently getting (conservatively) 100,000 presses before I see any issues and you’re burning through them about 3x faster.
my unit is mounted on a peddle board next to Voice Live 3 not much gigging maybe 3 or 4 per year , then just practice in my house
And you’re burning through switches every (let’s call it) 15 months? That is crazy. Does it live out in the open in a really damp basement, maybe? There’s got to be something environmental going on, because, like I said, over 100k presses before I even start thinking about it.
No the switches are definitely junk no question about it , I have taken one apart , it speaks for its self its a poor design when you see it , you stats mean nothing but luck , I do not play in a band I do my own thing , I am extremely gental , so gental with the unit I tread on egg shells with it , too scared to press the foot switch knowing how weak it is , I often miss fills and transitions because I fear pushing on the switch , and it still broke I could not possible be more careful , and I should not have to be paranoid of breaking it using it gently while sitting in a chair playing guitar , not standing no weight at all on the switch.
Hey I have had all sorts of pedles for 35 years , and they have had a hammering and only one unit broke a switch , my wah is the only switch to fail in 35 years
You only need to look at the switch itself it is a tinny strip of thin steel both the plasic had completely worn through where steel stip of switch hinges , and the little strap of metal is about 2mm across its width , at both ends of this strip it has half that width where it mounts only about 1mm thick , this is where it snaps , it is physically a bad design it is obvious when you see it , vertually no one should be teturning these units with broken switches , yes it happens but not when lots of people have multiple failures
There is nothing lucky about how long mine have lasted. I’ve burned through a couple, and both have been two years and over 100,000 presses old. Having other pedals that last for years is not an apples-to-apples comparison: How many of those pedals get stepped on 9 times a song on 38 songs a night twice a week?
Which reminds me, I forgot to include song stops (double-tap). So more like 150,000 presses.
I stand by my stats – they back David’s statement that they have a failure rate of about 1%. This is why I’m asking about environmental factors. Use is not killing the switches off prematurely, but maybe something else is. So, while you can ignore the fact that other people are putting hundreds of thousands of presses on the pedal with no issues, it might be worth considering that something else is causing the issue – something else that might be addressable.
But my question was to @Mzladd: Can you tell us more about your environment? Maybe we can figure out what the actual issue is. Because you seem to be eating these a lot more quickly than seems normal. Could just be bad luck, but it could be something else.
Well fair enough comment about not comparing this pedal to others yes it definitely gets far more of a hammering than any other pedal would , I say the same thing about the physical design however , I used to have photos of the broken switch and its internal design and workings , it has no stopper any good switch should have a stopper imo , so it can only ever be depressed to a given point this switch does not have one and its parts are very delicate , the parts should be much more solid imo.
Yes the switches are tested to failure 100 k plus , but by a machine that has a stopper that only goes to the same preassure every press.
Anyway the topic is a bit pointless , I was mainly posting to see if stuck in tap tempo was a bug , the switch actually feels ok to press with fingers , it clicks evenly and does not bind or have any erratic behavior , I am suspicious that it is something else , I will up date firmware tonight or tomorrow and put it to the test after configuring other foot switch.
And if it works fine I am happy as I can very easily replace other switches , the Alpha switch in main pedal is very short non standard size nothing else fits and it has a small circuitboard on the back with 6 pins soldered , I would need a solder sucker to replace it , easy enough to get and do.
My fix is not to send it back and wait two weeks or so , but to buy a small box of Alph switches dirrectly from the supplier in the UK as I tracked down the model number and make , now that would be easiest if it is the switch or not , I should have done that as soon as I got last unit , my bad stupid I could have a box of 20 switches lol which I will soon as I will fix it.
I hear ya.
Is the travel shorter than normal on these, or is it just the shaft that’s shorter? You could adjust the nut on the shaft for height, but if the travel is shallower, that’s a bigger problem, as you suggest.
Meanwhile, we play pretty often, so I have both the luxury and the requirement to own two Beat Buddies – the one I’m gigging with and the one that lives in my gig bag for when the gigging BB goes down (which, as I said, has happened twice – both times at gigs, never at rehearsals). I have duplicates or multiple ways to do everything, because I rely on it all, week in and week out. But I also know that owning two of these relatively expensive pedals is a much less appealing option if you’re not playing regularly. What it does give me, though, is the ability to tolerate the pedal having to go back for repair or replacement. It’s cheap insurance that, in my situation, just makes sense.
Off-topic: Did you say you were in Iceland? Or was that someone else?
no basements in Florida and always ac , so i attribute it to my style of blues playing with a heavy foot? i really couldn’t tell you but im happy with an external foot switch 
Glad to hear it, but it’s still weird.
Happy Festivus!
(Yes, that’s today!)
Yes merry xmas to you too.
Update , I installed latest firmware , it did not fix it and I cant access menus now they are blank as in they have a message but for eg… you go to about to check firmware update and no firmware number , you try to configure foot pedal and nothing in menu just an irrelevant message that does not say there is a problem just no list to configure anything.
I can not remember message Id have ti look again but it needs to be sent back , I suspected a software break down as the switch sounds right and feels right , and now this additional problem it has completely failed.
Try downloading the firmware again and reinstalling. See if that helps.
Thanks tried that several times , carefully backing up files before starting , also tried a new SD card formated in same file system and installed firmware and other folders on original SD car like drums effects etc…and no difference , I will try again but seems pretty clear it is a software issue , but will thoroughly exhaust all tests before shipping it.
Based on your first post to this thread as well as the one above, I’d offer the following: contact @BeatBuddy_Support to see if Singular Sound’s overseas distributors (your local music store?) will honor a warranty exchange. I’m inclined to disagree with your last issue about it being a software issue as it does not appear other users are reporting problems similar to yours. Not saying that it couldn’t be related to faulty firmware, just that it’s unlikely based on what’s been mentioned in this forum. Not knowing exactly what the messages you were seeing conveyed, it would be hard to pinpoint the exact cause. I’m sure you’ve probably already checked, but make sure the SD card is not locked, that it’s formatted to MS DOS 32-bit and that you’re plugging the SD card into the computer SD slot reader (don’t use the USB connection method).
Beyond these suggestions not much else I can suggest. Hope you get it resolved.
Man, that sucks. I hope you get it resolved quickly.
Thanks , yes I will see what I can do from here , double check I have done things correctly re firmware , and no I did not use usb , I have read bad things about it like bricking the unit.
I will also see what my music shop can do re honoring warranty , Not sure what I have regards to paper work and dates , it would only be about a year since last unit was sent to me , will have old emails with Jay possibly.
I have spent a lot of money at the Rock Shop and it was me who put them on to beatbuddy and infinity looper so they may be helpfull
Thanks again , and yes from memory and what others have said tap tempo flashing up and being stuck is also symptomatic of failed switch.
Will see.
My local shop does not stock beatbuddys , they had one once must have been second hand , I will have to send it back.
Re the firmware that was my bad , after changed to latest it changed all menus and they worked different I did not recocnize it , after playing around I realized nothing was wrong with firmware.
The beatbuddy has a broken switch obviously , its still stuck on tap tempo after trying to configure footswitch , it seems you can not full configure the footswitch for fills there is no option for fills just stop and start pause , is it supposed to be like that ?
So I need to contact customer support