Build Your Own Clone Message Board

I've taken your advise and took my time putting together the Phaser Kit

The LED works but there is no sound when the effect pedal is switched on, or in bypass - - This sounds like a footswitch problem



Can anyone spot the obvious mistake that I've missed ?

Many thanks

The wiring appears to be correct.

Touch up your solder joints on the footswitch and the jack.

If you've got a mutimeter, set it for continuity and find the cold joint.

Using the multimeter I've tested all between the lugs of the footswitch to the opposite end of the attached wires - all show electrical continuity.

I replaced the footswitch with the one from the tri-booster that I've not got working yet and the phaser came to life.

The rewards of patience are very sweet indeed :D

This is in no way an attack against you but you might want to try and be a little bit more careful about melting the insulation on your wires. It can cause a lot of problems and this is coming from someone who has been there and done that. What wattage is the soldering iron you're using? If it's more than 30 watts I'd switch to a different iron. I could write a book on all of the things I've screwed up with a 40 watt soldering iron before I learned my lesson - LOL.

I know it's not good to use 40 watt always on fx but I have one that does 20/40 and I have to say i've come to like the 40 setting because I can quickly heat the component/joint and apply solder. It takes longer with 20 watts.

I use a 30 watt and I've never been happier. I also recently switched to a chisel tip and I find it does way better joints than a conical tip does, at least for me. The only time I break out the 40 watt iron these days is when I need to do a solder joint on the back of a very large pot, like the pots in guitars or amps.

I use a Portasol butane gas soldering iron, just like this :-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/60W-PROFESSIONAL- ... dZViewItem.

I'd switch to an electric iron as soon as you can. Those butane irons can be quite unwieldy and they love to melt things. It's also very hard to get a consistant temperature out of them. Those butane irons seem pretty cool at first, but to me, it's almost like trying to solder with a cigarette lighter - LOL. Plus, 60 watts is way too hot. You might almost be able to solder copper plumbing with that - LOL.

Oh, man....don't use a butane iron. Those are just for field work where you have no electricity.

I prefer chisel tip as well. 30watt is probably the most ideal wattage for pedals, although it can be a little weak when soldering the jacks or other beefy terminals where the heat can dissapate quickly.


Anyways.....Chris. While your wiring/soldering looks better on this build, it's still not quite as good as it could be. Your solder joints look mangled and dull. THey should look smooth and shiny. I think a change of iron will help you greatly.

And when you buy and iron, dont' but some cheap radioshack one! Get a nice weller one- it's worth the extra money.