Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hey super friends,

I got my 5 knob all wired up and I got nothing. Well, bypass works and the led lights up but when I engage the circuit I get dead silence.

Where should I start?

thanks

Start by making sure the right transistors are in the right place. Make sure you only use one chip and make sure it's oriented the right way. Sorry if this seems obvious but I don't know your skill level and more than one builder has been confused about transistor orientation and how many ICs are used.

I'm pretty sure I have that right... I'm giving myself a little space then I'll double check that as well as the general wiring.

thanks!

Just do what Knight says and if you still need help just post some clear pics of both sides of the board and the switch and jacks wiring.

Hey, I checked for continuity on the IC and transistors with my multimeter (from the lead to the solder pad on the bottom of the board) and everything checked out ok. I suppose it's time to get some pics together.
Thanks again!

Check the wiring to the switch and to the jacks. No output at all usually means mis-wiring there. It's not that I know this from experience or anything

I'll definetly quadruple check that stuff this weekend. My errors are usually of that nature.

Your errors are our errors (say that three times fast ) We really all screw up the same way. That's why it's easier for us to give advice; We've all done it and continue to do it.

Ooooooohhhhhh Kaaaaayyyyyyy,
things got a little interesting tonight... I found an error in the wiring (lug 7 and wire from output jack switched). So, now I'm getting some sound.... but I think that's it.

here's the symptoms

-The tone knob doesn't effect the signal
-blend all the way counter clockwise, no sound
-attack and sustain don't seem to be effecting anything, I don't think theres any compressing going on. (I know it can be a subtle effect but I'm pretty experienced with recording and mixing so I'd hope for my sake I'd hear it)

Thanks so much for your time and thoughts

Since you're getting no signal w/the blend off, that means that there's something wrong in the compressor part of the circuit. More than that, I can't say...could you post some good pics?

Mike

The sustain and tone and level wouldn't work in dry mode (which is blend counter clock wise) Next step is posting pics. We may see something you missed.

Glad the A Team is available, I'll get some pics together this weekend.

Thunder Force unite, form of a compressor!

"I love it when a Plan comes together"

Here's two to start with...

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g251/ ... 020027.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g251/ ... 020026.jpg

I can't seem to figure out how to post with pics... the interweb wins again

First of all, you need to fix the trace error on the underside of the PCB. It in the first part of the instructions. You have to put the jumper in to make the tone control work.

There are a lot of shadows in the pics so it is a little hard to tell what's right or wrong.

It looks relatively clean, good job. There are some leads on the back of the PCB and at the bottom (were the soldered the knobs) that stick out a little too much. Cut those as short as you can. Pictures of jacks and power and switch wiring would also help. Still getting no sound when putting blend in clockwise?

Well, a couple of things: two of the orange box caps look very badly burned. Also, before you put it into the box, make sure you trim the excess leads from your soldering - they could short something. The 7.5K resistor looks pretty bad, too (upper left, just under the .001 uF Box cap).

I can't find any mention of that in the pdf I have for the instructions. I bought the kit (and downloaded the PDF) a little while ago, is this a recent update?

It's on the second page of the pdf between the title page and the Parts Checklist...

I downloaded the PDF again, I guess the first version I had was a little old. I'll get that jumpered, test the afore mentioned resistor and report back.

Thank you!

Please also check those caps! They look hosed...

hosing my caps! Oh man, does any one else wonder what they've gotten themselves into? I picked up a better mlutimeter today that tests capacitence so hopefully that will help guide me to compression.

I wouldn't worry too much about the caps. One step at a time. DId you put the jumper in yet?

Knight is right, besides, I've seen caps that look a lot worse than those work just fine. I would eventually replace them but first thing is first, put in the jumper.

Ok, so the jumper is in place, here's what's going on...

-blend knob is working
-tone knob is not
-level knob gets really loud
-trim pot has no effect
-attack and sustain have no effect on the sound

When I engage the pedal there is definetly something going on and it sounds cool but it's not what we're after. Mostly it's an overdrive pedal that can get very loud.

survey says?