Help me get out of Showfex bypass limbo

[ESE]

Hello everyone,

I have a problem with my Showfex effects processor and hope there are people on this forum who can help me find out what causes it (and most of all, how to fix it)).

The problem in short:
When I turn on the processor, it show the "normal" boot screen and then tells me it's being bypassed. There is nothing I can do for it to get out of it (I've tried all buttons and combinations).

How I got the Showfex:
Years ago I found out that some of my favorite music was recorded with a Showfex. I've then spent years trying to get one of these good old 90s machines myself, which was hard because many only ship domestically and I live in Germany. At some point I won a fierce bidding war on eBay and after some hassle getting it from the customs office, I finally had a Showfex of my own.

Getting the Showfex to work:
Then I unboxed it and... Oh yes, of course: in the States, you use a different power plug. I didn't think of that! So I still couldn't use it (nor test if it works). The problem with 110-to-240V transformers however is that they are bulky AND a large potential cause of unwanted noise. So I handed it off to a local electrician to build a transformer straight into it. He tried for a while but couldn't find one small enough to fit in. I ended up getting a 110-to-240V transformer on Amazon, plugged it in and... it was stuck in bypass mode. This is the status quo since.

Possible causes:
I contacted the seller, a well-known used audio equipment seller on eBay, and he assured me it was tested and worked well before he shipped it off. I believe him. So something could have gone wrong during shipping or at the customs office, or the electrician may have damaged it. Or an even different cause may be that perhaps the 110-to-240V transformer doesn't provide sufficient power?

What I've tried so far:
I have tried pressing every single button and combinations of buttons, to no avail. I also screwed it open to thoroughly inspect it for any damage (e.g., any broken transistors or other apparent damage, or cables that weren't plugged in well enough), which doesn't seem the case. While open, I also checked if perhaps the buttons didn't respond because they had gotten numb, which I was also able to exclude. I had no more ideas.

In conclusion:
I have no idea what else I can do about it, and I am really hoping that one or more people on this forum have an idea. I am willing to try anything and everything because after years of patience to get one of these effects processors, I truly want to be able to use it and play around with it. Thank you in advance for your thoughts and comments!

[Roger Crimm]

With power off, press and hold the play and store buttons and power it up. That will reinitialize it. If that doesn't work you likely have have a hardware problem that needs service, or as you said your transformer is the problem.

[ESE]

Dear Roger, thank you! This solved my problem! I did search for such a "reset" option in the manual but didn't find any.

I just had a great time playing around with the presets on the Showfex, you made my day!