ts-9 wiring help...

NateS · #1 07-10-2010, 08:52 PM

i'm starting to try to get into making effect pedals, and for my first attempt at doing anything i switched out the LED in my ibanez ts-9. It was a really dim red LED, so i switched it out for a bright purple LED.

Everything went well, until it came to putting the circuitry back into the pedal enclosure. I forgot to mark witch pot was drive, tone, and level, and i CANNOT figure it out!

Every schematic i can find for a TS-9 has all of the off-board components labeled A-N, while mine is numbered 1-14, and every wire color underneath. The letters that every schematic does NOT match up with my numbers.

I thought i figured it out last night when i did it, i played with every pot until i figure out what it did to the signal, etc, but now it's not working....it sends a clean signal out, whether engaged or not, and the pots don't change it. ***?

long story short, would a brave soul open their ts-9 and tell me what colors are connected to which pot, and which colors are connected to the input and output?

Between this and my first effect utterly failing, i'm feeling very down about this whole DIY thing...

**TheFantod** · #2 07-10-2010, 08:56 PM

Bookmark this site! www.beavisaudio.com

I do believe this may help...
http://www.beavisaudio.com/gg/images/Ibanez_TS9_2.jpg

NateS · #3 07-10-2010, 09:09 PM

beavis audio is a wonderful site, i've read pretty much everything on there.

alas, that photo doesn't help - i need to know what's on the other side of those wires...

**TheFantod** · #4 07-10-2010, 09:14 PM

Crap! Sorry, should have read your posting more carefully.

Hmm...how about this? Maybe that would help via process of elimination?

**TheFantod** · #5 07-10-2010, 09:16 PM

Ooh, better pics here!
http://tubescreamermods.blogspot.com...bly.html#start

McSpunckle · #6 07-10-2010, 09:45 PM

Should be pretty easy to figure out which pot does what. Just turn it and see what it does.

The fact it puts out clean signal no matter what shows that the switching circuitry may not be working.

Anyways,

http://stompbox.cafe24.com/image/ts-808-schem-1024.jpg

NateS · #7 07-10-2010, 09:52 PM

oky, thank you guys A LOT - you were both helpful, especially you, TheFantod.

So, now I've figured out which pots do which, and they were in there how i had them in there the last time.

Now the pedal does nothing V_V. At All. V_V.

this sucks.

**TheFantod** · #8 07-10-2010, 10:04 PM

First off, don't get discouraged. I've only been at modding for about 6 months, and I've had some let downs too. 99% of the time, it's something really simple.

First, the obvious. Power supply, volume knobs, right instrument plugged in, etc. I almost had a freakout one night, all because I had left the headphones plugged into my practice amp.

Now, on from the obvious. It's likely that a single wire or component has either come loose, or gotten bent, creating either a short or breaking the circuit. Go through and check all the caps first. Then check all the leads you can.

If all else fails, you can always go here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforu....php?board=2.0

These guys really, really know their stuff and can be extremely helpful.

Drop me a PM if you want. I'll be up for a while!

McSpunckle · #9 07-10-2010, 10:24 PM

I've been looking at the schematic trying to figure out if changing the LED could hurt anything, and I don't see how it could. Worst that could happen there is the LED not work.

As Thefantod said, check all wires-- make sure they're not coming loose anywhere. A lot of times if you're not careful, you can pull a wire loose. They're often pretty thin and easy to break from the joint.

Especially check wires number 2, 14, and 15.

NateS · #10 07-10-2010, 10:56 PM

looking over the wires, wire 13 - purple, running to the volume pot, on lug 3 - has a broken strand, but it looks to be only one of the strands. would it be worth it to desolder the joint to restrip the wire? especially if it is only one strand...

wires 2, 14, and 15 looks fine, as far as i can tell - the unit does receive power (at least the LED lights). I'll continue looking over the joints

EDIT: I just went through with my multimeter checking voltage - power seems to be going all the way through the circuit board, i couldn't find a single lead that didn't read a charge

**TheFantod** · #11 07-10-2010, 11:23 PM

When you say "strand," are you saying that the wiring inside the purple cable is woven, like a guitar cable? I ask because all the wires I've ever seen in Boss & EXH pedals is solid.

Do you have pics?

-EDIT-

Okay, duh, woven cable. My bad.
At this point, if you haven't already, go to bed! We're in the same time zone, and it's getting late, and you're probably pretty frazzled at this point. Put it down, walk away, and hit the sack. Pick it back up tomorrow morning with a fresh set of eyes & hands.

Keep us posted though!

McSpunckle · #12 07-10-2010, 11:28 PM

No reason to worry too much about a broken strand... just make sure it's not shorting on anything.

The LED turns on and off, yes? The signal from the circuit just isn't going through?

-edit-

That purple wire is directly grounded, so definitely make sure it's not touching anything.

NateS · #13 07-11-2010, 02:04 PM

it's not touching anything, the wire coating comes to within a multimemter contact point's width of the board and the break is ever lower, i could barely see it until i looked hard.

i'm not the best with a multimeter, but voltage is read through everything on the board, all the way through.

**TheFantod** · #14 07-11-2010, 06:27 PM

Can you post pics? That might help. One of us might see something you're missing.

cheapbasslovin · #15 07-11-2010, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McSpunckle

The LED turns on and off, yes? The signal from the circuit just isn't going through?

This seems a really important thing to rule out if you haven't already.

Seems to me the thing to rule out first is the LED. I could envision some scenarios where improper LED selection or application could lead to the LED lighting, but not changing the state of the unit. Unfortunately I do not have enough knowledge to confirm if my visions have any root in reality

.

Still, you changed the LED, now it doesn't work. The place to start (if you don't see anything more obvious) should be there, IMO.

NateS · #16 07-12-2010, 08:38 PM

My camera takes decently good photos with the flash on, which makes the board to glary to see anything, and if the flash is off then the photos are literally always blury...I'll try tonight with less light and maybe it'l look better

NateS · #17 07-17-2010, 10:12 PM

so, i was looking the circuit over again..and i found two resisters that were touching. I bent them apart, plugged everything in, and it works! Back on the pedalboard my TS-9 goes!

I missed it at band practice....

thanks for the help, TheFantod, and others.

McSpunckle · #18 07-17-2010, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassk81976

My camera takes decently good photos with the flash on, which makes the board to glary to see anything, and if the flash is off then the photos are literally always blury...I'll try tonight with less light and maybe it'l look better

Try finding an exposure compensation button, and setting it to +1, and putting something like a coffee filter over the flash. Works like a charm, I assure you!

I guess that's for future reference, though, since you figured it out. Glad it was something simple like that and not something hard to fix!