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Old 03-20-2018, 10:07 AM
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Methos1979 Methos1979 is offline
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Default Do magnets affect effects pedals?

Apparently, the answer to that is 'yes, sometimes'.

Our current setup has everything up on a metal music stand. Until today I had all the pedals anchored down with 3M heavy duty hook/loop tape. It worked fairly well. But I like to move things around, add pedals, remove pedals, you know, try out new things. I thought to myself, how about using magnets with sticky back tape to hold the pedals down? It would allow for infinite and easy moving around. My only question was, would strong magnets affect anything in any of my pedals? Only one way to find out.

So I went on Amazon and ordered some small but strong neodymium rare earth magnet bars. They are relatively inexpensive and have a lower profile than regular magnets. I got them today and pulled off all the pedals and removed the 3M tape and installed the magnets. As hoped, everything worked like a charm from a holding standpoint. I was able to move things all around and find some better positioning. Now it was time to test it out live.

Right out of the gate something was off. The volume would swell up and down and I thought for sure that must be from the magnets. I did incorporate a new chord that was suspect so I swapped that out with the normal one and that problem went away. I started to play and everything seemed okay except for the TC Electronics BodyRez pedal which did not seem to do much of anything when activated or the effect dial moved. So I powered down, removed the magnets and went back to the 3M tape and it now works as it should. So it would seem just that one pedal is affected negatively. Interesting.

The other pedals in the setup are an LR Baggs PARA DI, a TC Helicon Harmony G-XT, and a Behringer Xenyx 1202FX mixer. None of them seem to be affected. I'm not sure if the magnets are affecting the foot switch or the electronics for the BodyRez. I've got a little TC Electronics mini Delay pedal due in today so I'll try that and see what happens. It's a unique setup and I like how it's working out. I plan to post a video review once I get the delay in and the setup tweaked in as a few people that saw it in my YouTube review of the Bose have asked for information about it.

Anyone else there ever try using magnets to hold pedals? Any experiences like mine?
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Old 03-20-2018, 10:50 AM
Gordon Currie Gordon Currie is offline
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Anything with an inductor could be affected by an additional magnetic field.

I would imagine you would see no effect on a digital effect box, but analog could be susceptible.

I really can't think of anything specific, it's been 35 years since I worked in the electronics field.
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Old 03-20-2018, 10:58 AM
Big Band Guitar Big Band Guitar is offline
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Default Yes

I don't use pedals but magnets could have an effect, depending on what is inside the pedal.

Transformers: power, isolation, impedance matching, chokes, LC networks, any coil with or without a iron core. There may be others I may have forgotten can be effected by magnets.

A magnet can bring the core closer to saturation which may or may not effect the circuit. Look up saturable core reactor, that would be an extreme example but the principal is the same.

Sounds like you should stick with Velcro.
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Old 03-21-2018, 06:47 AM
varmonter varmonter is offline
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Interesting and timely . I just added two strong magnets
to my ipad mic stand holder to hold my kk pure xlr preamp.
it works great for holding but i haven't tried plugging it
in. Do you think it will effect this preamp or my ipad?
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Old 03-21-2018, 07:28 AM
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Methos1979 Methos1979 is offline
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Hard to say. Once I replaced the BodyRez magnets with the 3M hook tape everything worked fine. I did some Googling on the subject last night at work and there were several threads where people inquired about whether it was bad for electronics and the general consensus was that it was very bad but there was no empirical evidence of it and the threads were all 6 years and older.

So at this point I'm just going to continue to use it where I can. If something fails over time I'll post back here. On the three pedals I'm still using it on there is thick 1/8" 3M tape holdin the magnets to the pedals so that's a barrier plus they are located at the outer edges so I'm kind of thinking it likely won't matter with these pedals.

Let me know if you find differently. I'd only be worried about your iPad because of the expense. All of my pedals are relatively inexpensive and can be replaced for under $100 used and in the case of the mixer, new.
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Old 03-21-2018, 09:22 AM
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Bob Womack Bob Womack is offline
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Well, there's this...



Bob
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Old 03-21-2018, 09:35 AM
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Small ceramic magnets would probably not cause the problem, as i doubt the magnetic field would have much strength or effect inside the metal body. You can even get cut-to-length magnetic tape that has a lighter hold. Rare earth magnets, however . . , unless you ABSOLUTELY need the power and strength of a rare earth magnet, you (and the planet) are better off without them. Velcro is probably the best solution -
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Old 03-27-2018, 05:30 PM
agedhorse agedhorse is offline
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I can't see how a static magnetic field from a magnet could possibly cause any issue with a modern pedal (say one made within the last 30 years) that does not have a hall effect sensor, or inductor based eq. It's very difficult for the magnetic field to penetrate through a metal enclosure (especially ferrous metals) but even then there's nothing sensitive (with the exception to some tube circuits where the cathode is not a low electrical impedance to ground, as the cathode acts as a shielding element).

I would suggest going back and trying your experiment again, just to be sure you weren't missing something. Fender used rare earth magnets as feet fro their earlier Rumble series amps, they fit into a pocket with a steel bottom on the cabinet to lock the amp into place. We didn't ever have any issues that I am aware of.
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Old 03-27-2018, 05:59 PM
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Mr. Jelly Mr. Jelly is offline
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For switching around pedals I covered the surface the pedals would sit on with carpet. Low knap stuff found at handy man .. whatever. Cover the whole surface. Then I put velcro tape on the bottoms of the pedals.
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