Chase Bliss is discontinuing five pedals due to UK and EU safety regulations
Chase Bliss is completely discontinuing five of its most notable pedals, due to sales regulations in the EU and UK, as the brand has discovered parts within the pedals “are not compliant with market access requirements in the UK and the European Union”. The remaining stock of the Condor, Warped Vinyl HiFi, Thermae, Dark World and Preamp MkII will be sold in the US only via a new storefront – but after that stock is gone, will be unavailable to purchase new worldwide.
READ MORE: Chase Bliss Lossy review – dial-up internet never sounded so good
The five pedals are being discontinued due to a specific analogue component: an LDR (also known as a vactrol). This changes its resistance based on how much light is hitting it. I’s commonly used in guitar effects like compressors and tremolos – if you’ve ever wondered what makes an optical tremolo optical, it’s the fact that an LDR is following the brightness of a pulsing bulb in order to modulate the signal.
However, LDRs often rely on the use of cadmium sulphide (CdS) – and it’s this material which is regulated in the EU and the UK. While there are LDRs that use other materials, cadmium sulphide-based LDRs are often the most useful in analogue audio applications. While the UK/EU materials regulations (RoHS) did once offer an exemption for cadmium sulphide in audio applications, it seems this exemption has expired.
Chase Bliss shared the news in an Instagram post (see below), but also gave customers more detail about the decision in an email. The email explains how Chase Bliss is extending the warranty of the affected pedals – the Condor, Warped Vinyl HiFi, Thermae, Dark World and the Preamp MkII – to a full lifetime warranty, and will pay for postage both ways if a repair is needed. “We want these pedals working and making music with you, not in landfills,” it reads.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by chase bliss (@chasebliss)
The email also addresses any customers who are concerned about the harmful substance within the pedal: “CdS is a toxic substance. However, the photoresistors which contain the CdS are an internal component that is enclosed in an airtight plastic / epoxy container for the LDRs that we use, and that container is housed inside the pedal enclosure and therefore the risk of CdS exposure is, in our opinion, incredibly low. Everyone who owns one of these pedals can – and should – continue to use and enjoy it.”
The move is undoubtedly one Chase Bliss would not have made lightly – the latest version of the Condor is only six months old – and the rest of the pedals being discontinued are all major parts of the brand’s lineup. It’s unclear at the moment if the brand has any plans to replace these pedals with modified, compliant circuits or if this is totally
The post Chase Bliss is discontinuing five pedals due to UK and EU safety regulations appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
