Connections and power: the first things to check

Some of these seem obvious, but they're all things we've genuinely run into — so it's worth a pass before you assume something's wrong with the pedal. - Check your connections. INPUT is on the right side; OUTPUT is on the left. - Use the right power supply: regulated 9V DC, center-negative. - Try the pedal on its own — just instrument → pedal → amp (or direct). If the problem vanishes, the pedal probably isn't the culprit. - Suspect your cables and power supply. These fail or go intermittent more often than anything else, so keep spares handy. - To isolate the issue, patch around your pedals one at a time until the problem disappears, then rebuild from the simplest possible chain. - To find a bad cable, flex it (especially near the plugs) while signal is running. If it cuts out or adds hum/buzz, it's bad — and don't toss it back in with the good ones! - To check a power supply, swap in one you know is good. - Pedal passes signal but the LED won't light? That usually means the supply voltage is too low — your power supply may be failing.