Fixing a Muff Clone

McHaven · #1 03-21-2009, 11:30 AM

So, I’ve got a modded/handmade muff clone that’s stopped working. I don’t have any idea what it is that’s wrong. It used to work, then I started to rehouse it in an EHX Nano casing (which it barely fits. Ugh) My pedal tech rewired the whole thing to cut down on the rat’s nest of wires it had. It still looks pretty ratty though. The pedal worked for awhile when he had it, then before I picked it up, it wasn’t working.
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The true bypass still works. I can get sound to pass through when it isn’t engaged. The LED also still illuminates when the pedal is engaged. The connections to the pots and switch all look good, but I’m by no means an expert. I’m not well trained enough to spot any problems on the board itself. I sent an email to the builder about it, with some gutshots but he hasn’t gotten back to me, so I’m turning to you all for help.

If it comes down to it, I’d be willing to ship it to someone for repair. Here are a few gutshots. This is the best my camera can really do, so hopefully they’re good enough.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v23/nettor/ttrip/trip 2/S7300417.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v23/nettor/ttrip/trip 2/S7300434.jpg

I didn’t have nearly as many good shots as I thought I did. Let me know if anyone has any ideas, or needs any specific shots or details.

roflol · #2 03-21-2009, 11:37 AM

loose wire for sure or snapped cable.

rratajski · #3 03-21-2009, 11:52 AM

Those wires were cleaned up?! That still looks messy.

I'd clean up the worms of wires, then trouble shoot from there. I agree w/ roflol, it sounds like a wire issue.

McHaven · #4 03-21-2009, 11:53 AM

Well I know my project for today. I'll map out the wires, then redo them. He at least told me he cleaned it up.

Ryan, if I can't get it cleaned, expect an order from me

rcubed · #5 03-21-2009, 12:24 PM

Is the circuit getting power? Check the voltage from the collectors of each transistor to ground.

Also, those links aren't working for me.

McHaven · #6 03-21-2009, 12:35 PM

There's a break in the link because my album has a space in its name. You'll have to copy paste to get them to show up.

Would I just use a multimeter to do that? I'm really really...challenged when it comes to circuitry.

rcubed · #7 03-21-2009, 01:06 PM

Set the multimeter to DC volts and take the black probe and use the ring of a jack as ground and the red probe to the collector of the transistor. I'm not familiar with the voltages for the Muff but I'm guessing you should see ~4.5V to ~7V. Also check to make sure you get continuity from the footswitch to the input and output of the circuit.

McHaven · #8 03-21-2009, 03:42 PM

Well, I'm working on this with a family member who is way better at this than me. However, we've got one loose wire coming from the board. We've poked it every little place with the pedal on, but it makes no difference. We're completely stumped. This PCB doesn't match any other PCB layout I've seen online. I need a good sure fire way to see if signal or power is getting through the board to the output. I don't know how to identify the collector on the transistor so that method doesn't really help me.