Build Your Own Clone Message Board

So i have the wah drop-in kit, and it's killing me. First pedal, I've done hifi gear before with no problem, figured this'd be easy. Supposed to be a gift, and i can't get it to work. Bypassed sound works fine, i copied the wiring from viewtopic.php?f=33&t=30069&hilit=wah+no+sound+when+engaged
and that seemed to work better. But for the life of me, i can't figure out why no way or sound when it's engaged. I double and triple checked all solder joints and made triple sure all the connections were where they should be. I checked all the voltages going off of viewtopic.php?f=33&t=26652&p=212913&hilit=wah+ground#p212913 and got around 9v with battery or adaptor. All the gain pots are all of the way up (clockwise), though it doesn't seem to effect things. I'lll be the first to admit, i'm not the best solderer in the world, but these joints all seem rock solid. Rocking the pedal does literally nothing. I don't have an extreme closeup feature on my kodak, so these are the closest clean shots i can get...






Perhaps there's something glaringly obvious i have missed? fingers crossed, i guess...

ok.. clearly i did, in fact, post the photos wrong. however, opening the links in a tab seems to get them visible. Sorry, this is my first try getting troubleshooting on the internet. If there's a trick to posting these i'd love to hear it...

Only way I could get them to work

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69588044@N03/6327632337
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69588044@N03/6327634773/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69588044@N03/6327634969/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69588044@N03/6327635301/in/photostream/

I've tried like thirty different ways of posting the code for images.. Can't seem to get them up, is this a problem with a flickr? Gah.. I just want to get my way working...

Not sure if this a problem, but when i adjust the buffer gain pot, while way is engaged i get a ground hum while touching the pot with my fingers. So, perhaps foolishly i started poking my fingers around the wiring, and the output lug on the switch gets the same hum.. nowhere else am i getting this, I'l re-solder those spots, just in case..

Hello there and welcome to the board.

Components look ok.
Until we get this working, I would not leave the trimpots set to their extreme positions like you have in the pics. Set them in the middle of the rotation (for now)
I cant see your wiring.
You soldering skills are very poor. Please dont take offense, I am trying to be helpful and honest. First thing I would do is to reflow and clean up your joints, and then provide new photos showing what you fixed, along with clear shots of your wiring.
You'll get it to work.

Yes... no offense taken.. part of that is general sloppiness (working on it) on my part and part of it is This soldering iron is giving me conniptions, i really need to invest in a weller, this radioshack iron is crazy inconsistent. As right now when i'm having a hell of a time getting the tip hot enough to reflow or clean up any of the joints. Whole thing's giving off visible heat waves, but the tip itself just won't melt the solder.
That said, this is my first time soldering a board, usually i'm soldering point to point in a speaker crossover, or solid core wire to output jacks, etc... Point is i'm new to circuit boards and just hoping i haven't damaged anything due to jumping in blindly...

Anyway, i think i've narrowed it down, if i lay my finger across R6, C5 and the zero resistor on the underside of the board, while it's plugged in i get sound front he guitar and way modulation when i rock the pedal.. Presumably i shouldn't even be able to do that with a proper soldering job, but i can't fix it til i get to work tomorrow where there's a proper iron. IN the meantime, does it sound likely that is where my problem lies? bad joints at those locations leading to a lack of signal?

i just spent two hours fingering around the board and pluck guitar strings with my toe and that seems to be the only spot where i can change the silence to anything other than hum.

I'll clip the wire ties and try and get some better wire closeups tomorrow as well, i left my wire clippers at work on tuesday... I appreciate the advice and patience with the new guy..

Ok. still frustrated and increasingly perplexed.. I did my best to reflow all the solder, ten went whole hog cleaned up and resoldered. It looks like hell but i should be getting a connection straight through. realized this may not be a standard, so i added it for reference.

Still no Sound when engaged. Unless i lay a finger across R6, C5 to C4. As long as i make the connection i get guitar sound and way, albeit with loud hum. Figuring that was the point i had a problem i removed them, reinstalled and resoldered. Still having the same thing happen. Also, on the buffer volume, and only while doing this, i get increasing amount of hum as i turn it up until at max, i lose all signal. That seems strange to me, but it could be how it's supposed to work. Everything on the following has been resoldered and reflowed several times, so you'll forgive me that it looks terrible. Hope these pictures are helpful in a diagnosis. For the life of me i can't get a more clear pic of the switch, three different cameras have been unable to focus on the tangle, and i lack sufficient funds at the moment to go buy a proper camera...

[img][img]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6220/6334999801_18021b1eb5.jpg[/img]
100_0123 by rezoseven, on Flickr[/img]
[img][img]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6031/6335002379_b757097b6b.jpg[/img]
100_0124 by rezoseven, on Flickr[/img]
[img][img]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6218/6334996747_27447d31fa.jpg[/img]
100_0122 by rezoseven, on Flickr[/img]
[img][img]http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6107/6335749040_a9924dfd88.jpg[/img]
100_0130 by rezoseven, on Flickr[/img]

And perhaps advice on why none of he flickr photos i post seem to want to be visible?

Thanks, man.. What's the secret? i have a feeling i'm going to have to be posting a lot of those...

Im looking over the pictures now.

As for the camera, most people forget to use the micro function. Usually denoted by a small flower. It will allow you to take very clear close up shots.

from what I can see, wiring looks ok. The soldering could still be improved.
It sound slike your having grounding problems.
Do you have access to a meter? Any chance on better underside pics?

I have a meter at work tomorrow, and i'll figure out a way of getting better closeup pics..

Ahah.. think i've sussed the image posting... Now, I am aware these still aren't great pics, and the back of the board is look increasingly terrible.. I'm afraid if i keep resoldering wilily-nilly i'll damage the board.. (assuming i haven't yet..).. so.. with the meter, what should i definitely be testing?

OK... so it turns out i neglected to check the polarity of the 9v adaptor i borrowed from work when i first built the kit... It's positive... The dunlop one i've been using since is negative, but presumably i fried my ic board? I saw a couple mentions of this on the forums.. Ah, easily avoided rookie mistakes... I ordered a replacement op amp, and the electrolytic caps... as well as spare transistors just in case.. if, in fact, the adaptor caused the problems, is there anything else i might exact to have to change? as cheap as the pats are, i'd rather order everything i MIGHT need to replace, rather than keep going one by one, each time i come across a page that seems to be helpful...

The IC is likely the only part you'll need to replace. The transistors are the only other semi-conductors and they should be fine.

success! mostly... The new op amp seems to have worked. I am definitely getting wah type sounds... Next stupid question, I had originally installed the .022uf range cap because it increased "the bass or heel down end of the sweep", but most of the wah is happening at the end of the toe down range. At the toe p position i'm getting what mostly sounds like normal Guitar sounds... Could this be a matter of adjusting trimpots? I'm still playing around with those.. I was expecting (like on the original dunlop i gutted for this project) a throatier sound there... Did i misunderstand what the .022 does as compared to the .01uf cap? Perhaps i need to play around with the wah pot itself, change where it's teeth mesh in? Ill keep playing around with it in the meantime, I'm liking the sounds i am getting..

Ive built about 7 BYOC wahs, and my advice is to definately start with the trimmers to where their stock values are at and then slowly work from there. Also, the range cap I socketed so I could experiment with it. I never cared for the .022 cap. If I recall that is the dunlop "hendrix" cap. I actually preferred caps between .01, .015, or .018.
Lastly, yes its a great idea to tweak the potentiometer and gears to find the best sweep for you.

So after messing about with the wah, I still think somethings wrong. After replacing the op amp, and the range cap (swapped to the .01 cap), it clearly works, but it's thin sounding. Not as rich and vocal sounding as the video demos of the byoc wah pedal. Trimmers at stock. Sounds really bright and hard. Thoughts?

You say you have the trimmers at "stock" settings, but in your photo they are turned completely CCW. Did you remove each one to set it to the stock setting, and then solder it back in?

Yes... Or at the least as close as can be expected. Didn't physically remove them, but measured and turned until i got to the recommended numbers..

Hi Rez,

Thin eh? What kind of guitar/pickups are you using? Have you tried it with the other caps? Measuring the trimmers while they are soldered onto the board might not reflect their actual readings. Experiment a bit more and if you are still worried, post some fresh pics of everything.
Thanks.

Yeah I'll post some more pics as soon as I get my camera back. I'm using an epi dot modded with bourns dpdts in a jimmy pad mod, and alnico II vintage vibe humbuckers.. Not a thin sounding guitar certainly. I'll desolder the trimpots and remeasure them.