Pedal Building Woes

[rr5025]

So I wanted to build a fuzz factory for my friend as a bday gift.

I find a vero layout here and a layout for wiring the switch here.

I wire it all up, following the directions to a T and boom, I ended up with a $60 paper weight.

So my question is this, how can I figure out what the hell is wrong with this? The led comes on but once activated there is absolutely no sound coming through. My signal is fine when it is bypassed. This is the second time I've had this problem, before I built a black muff clone and I had the same issue (though I think I know what I did wrong on that one).

All help is appreciated!

[Woodsbass]

Originally Posted by rr5025

So I wanted to build a fuzz factory for my friend as a bday gift.

I find a vero layout here and a layout for wiring the switch here.

I wire it all up, following the directions to a T and boom, I ended up with a $60 paper weight.

So my question is this, how can I figure out what the hell is wrong with this? The led comes on but once activated there is absolutely no sound coming through. My signal is fine when it is bypassed. This is the second time I've had this problem, before I built a black muff clone and I had the same issue (though I think I know what I did wrong on that one).

All help is appreciated!

The number one failure of all electronic devices is that it isn't plugged in. Run through the layout again and make SURE that every wire is in the right place. I know it sounds silly, but when working on my major electronics project (for EET), I did troubleshooting on a sub-system for 4 hours to find that the power for the IC was in the wrong pin.

[Downunderwonder]

Yep, zero room for error.

Verify all your trace cuts on the vero board are complete.

Make sure you got the polarity of your capacitors correct.

[seanm]

Originally Posted by Downunderwonder

Yep, zero room for error.

Verify all your trace cuts on the vero board are complete.

Make sure you got the polarity of your capacitors correct.

+1 Make sure all the "cuts" are good (I actually use a drill). Beep out the connections. With vero boards the cuts are the number one problem.

If that doesn't work, do you have a schematic? Put a signal on the input and trace through looking for the problem. A scope is best But some headphones or a cheap old speaker will work.

[rr5025]

Originally Posted by seanm

+1 Make sure all the "cuts" are good (I actually use a drill). Beep out the connections. With vero boards the cuts are the number one problem.

If that doesn't work, do you have a schematic? Put a signal on the input and trace through looking for the problem. A scope is best But some headphones or a cheap old speaker will work.

Can you explain this in a little more detail? (the scope part).

[Ibanezsr500]

http://www.diystompboxes.com/wiki/in...itle=Debugging

Scroll down to half way, you'll see a section on Audio Probes. I'd suggest using a small practice amp, or headphones with it though. Not your main bass rig. You can get some nasty pops etc. when probing around.

[seanm]

Originally Posted by rr5025

Can you explain this in a little more detail? (the scope part).

Ibanezsr500 link is a great resource for an audio probe.

The scope is an oscilloscope. You can't beat a scope for audio work. But they can be expensive, which makes it hard to justify.

I got mine used for $50. The secret is that for audio work, almost any old analog scope is good enough. And many people are (or where) dumping the analog scopes for higher bandwidth and/or digital scopes. Just make sure it has two channels, can invert at least one channel, and can add channels.

[icecycle66]

http://buildyourownclone.com/signalt...structions.pdf

You probably don't have a scope laying around somewhere in the garage. Check out the audio probe, it's all you'll need.

Make sure there is no solder bridging across to adjacent strips. Don't trust you eyes, use a magnifying glass.
If you don't have a magnifying but do have a digital camera, you can take a picture, put it on your computer and zoom in to see up close.

And as with all building question, if you can post a picture there are some guys out there who can immediatly see what's wrong.

[rr5025]

SO I ran through it with the audioprobe. I finally got it working and then when I was trying to fit all the wires inside with the 9V I heard a snap. Got back to my place and plugged it in with the bass and boom no signal.

So I run through it again with the audioprobe this morning and check every part. Every part passes a signal and after noticing and fixing a part of the copper strip that had torn off it now passes a signal.

Unfortunately the output is very low. I have to crank my amp to be able to barely hear it. Any ideas what causes this? (when I do the audioprobe on each part of the board the signal is a reasonable volume) I tried googling for this but I can't turn up any hits.

[Downunderwonder]

Stands to reason if you got good signal through the circuit it's the output jack or your output cable that is jinxed.

[rr5025]

Originally Posted by Downunderwonder

Stands to reason if you got good signal through the circuit it's the output jack or your output cable that is jinxed.

That would jive with why it worked on my friends amp.

So I guess my plan of attack is to try a fresh battery and different cable.

EDIT

I tried another cable I had laying around and still the same problem. So I guess battery is the last option. Any other culprits?

[rr5025]

So problem solved. Apparently it was my switch. I swapped the switch out and it works like a charm now!

[Ibanezsr500]

Nice! Now we need some pics.

[rr5025]

Originally Posted by Ibanezsr500

Nice! Now we need some pics.

Almost done. Since I cant fit a 9 volt I need to add a power jack and put the labels on.