Thunder Storms and Effect pedals

[Sylver]

So, I was at work last night and there this little T storm ... It passes over and I think nothing of it. Go home and plug in to play, I get no sound from the amp. OK, nothing to worry about, probably a dead battery or cable ... trouble shoot. Guitar and amp are both fine. THe Big Muff, last in the chain is fine. But my Sparkle Drive and Crybaby are both MIA. OK, change batteries, brand new. BOTH are still dead. The Sparkle drive passes the signal in bypass mode. Both pedal LEDs come on, but no signal gets to the amp. DAMMIT! Wife said she went into the studio DURING the T Storm to look for something, effectively turning on the whole room(I usually power the room down when I leave, just in case there's a thunderstorm or something). Here's the funny thing ...I don't leave my effects plugged in because it drains the battery, but I pull the plugs out halfway, so I can plug them back in quickly. Now this means that, if I took an electrical hit, it when from the line cord of my amp, to the amps input, to the Big Muff(Leaving both of them untouched), arced across the plug at the input of the Muff to the Sparkle drive, FRIED that, Then arced across the input of the Sparkle Drive, to the Cry baby and friend that too. I also lost my Cable modem Router, which my wife neglected to power down when the storm began.

 

Ouch. I am so upset.

 

This seems so unlikely, but I was just using everything the night before, and it was all fine. It's just not fair. I take really good care of my stuff and go through extra precautions to make sure it's safe. The only other thing I can think of is that maybe it was the air conditioner compressor sending a spike throught the line, but like I said, I was playing the whole time, so I think I would have noticed them going out, unless it happened between the time I put my amp on standby and unplugged the pedals, which would have been about 30 seconds. This sucks. The Sparkle drive is under warrenty, but the Crybaby, I got used. I already replaced the Pot on it which was $25, paid $30, I guess it makes no sense to fix it again. It figures that the one that survived is the cheapest of the three. (And the most usless with out the others. The Wah and the Sparkle drive really make the Big Muff come alive)

[Guitr777]

Did your wife mention about a lightning bolt that hit close by? I've seen similar wierd things with lightning and telecom gear.