The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[Sushi Box FX]

Yet another example of great customer service from Sushi Box. No shocker. Dispite the company being a one man operation with Nathan probably about as busy as a one armed paper hanger with his family obligations, day job, and life in general ... he managed to find the time to hook me up with some world class customer service. YOU DA MAN, Nathan.

I do what I can I feel like I don't have customers, I just have a bunch of friends that happen to give me money in exchange for goods and services.

Also, not sure why I didn't notice earlier, but happy page #666 everyone (dang, 667 now)

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Troubleshooting begins.

checked all my solder joints and everything looks good. Any joint that looks like it bridges another actually shared a common trace (there are 4 or 5 of those on the board). Resistors all look good. I solder them from the top so the bottom of the board might look like some aren’t soldered but they’re good up top.

I compared them with my unpopulated PCB to make sure. As an aside, having another PCB right next to you when running down problems sure makes things nice.

Next I checked those little things that sometimes cause problems if overlooked. Checked the 555 chip, it looks good. Q1 seems to be oriented correctly. Electrolytic caps seem to be correctly oriented.

Potentiometers have covers so I know they’re not making contact with anything.

Now I wish I still had my old signal tracer pin.

if anyone wants to take a peek at my board, I might have missed something super obvious. Feel free to point it out.

View attachment 4779782 View attachment 4779783 View attachment 4779784

Nothing is jumping out at me, orientation of everything looks right. Have you double/triple/quadruple checked your "thwitch" board wiring?

This is my build for comparison.

 

[Hasty]

Have you double/triple/quadruple checked your "thwitch" board wiring?

This is my build for comparison.

Yep. I even wired it up to my Uber switch to see if that made a difference.

Thanks for sharing your build! I’ll compare it to mine on the big monitor.

Next step ago that might be to wire the IJ/ OJ/J directly to bypass the switch altogether.

Oh I also tried a few different tubes. A 12AX7 Psvane and an older JJ 12AU7. No difference.

 

[Hasty]

Ohh. I like that ribbon cable. Do you have a part number for that one? That would make for a cleaner build. I was also wondering if I was getting some chatter from the individual 22ga wire I was using. Low risk there… but I’m getting to the point where I’m looking for any tiny thing.

 

[Pedalnetics]

Now I wish I still had my old signal tracer pin.

I have this one from THCustom and like it; still need to design a 3d printed case for it though, it's awkward to hold. They sell a case for it now, but not when I ordered mine:
Link Removed

 

[Hasty]

I have this one from THCustom and like it; still need to design a 3d printed case for it though, it's awkward to hold. They sell a case for it now, but not when I ordered mine:
Link Removed

I was looking at that exact one! How do you like it?

That’s where I get my Uber switches from. A very nice switch, however that one you posted is probably gonna end up in my shopping cart for 1590A builds. I love how it’s laid out for tight builds.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Ohh. I like that ribbon cable. Do you have a part number for that one? That would make for a cleaner build. I was also wondering if I was getting some chatter from the individual 22ga wire I was using. Low risk there… but I’m getting to the point where I’m looking for any tiny thing.

If you're not getting signal then wiring shouldn't make a difference, but if it otherwise works perfectly and is just noisy, then lead dress will help. These are the ribbon cables I use, I'm a big fan: Ribbon Cable - 6 pin - 3.5" - Prebond - StompBoxParts

 

[Hasty]

If you're not getting signal then wiring shouldn't make a difference, but if it otherwise works perfectly and is just noisy, then lead dress will help. These are the ribbon cables I use, I'm a big fan: Ribbon Cable - 6 pin - 3.5" - Prebond - StompBoxParts

Im getting a signal, but it’s so quiet I can barely hear it. With the gain up all the way and the volume at 85% the signal coming through the SH is barely above a whisper. However I’m also getting a low level white noise all the time. The bass itself sounds nice and clean, even with the gain all the way up I never get breakup. It’s almost like the signal is missing the gainstage altogether. I see the heater plates glowing, so it’s getting power.

quick pic of the gain up and volume down. This is only showing the white noise on the meter.

Here’s a shot with the gain up and the volume at around 80%. Just white noise. If I go above this the taper rises quickly and I get a squeal.

So weird.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Im getting a signal, but it’s so quiet I can barely hear it. With the gain up all the way and the volume at 85% the signal coming through the SH is barely above a whisper. However I’m also getting a low level white noise all the time. The bass itself sounds nice and clean, even with the gain all the way up I never get breakup. It’s almost like the signal is missing the gainstage altogether. I see the heater plates glowing, so it’s getting power.

quick pic of the gain up and volume down. This is only showing the white noise on the meter.

View attachment 4779846

Here’s a shot with the gain up and the volume at around 80%. Just white noise. If I go above this the taper rises quickly and I get a squeal.

View attachment 4779847

So weird.

Yeah something is definitely off there. This is the "v1" Space Heater so there's no trimpot to limit output level, bass signal should be LOUD with the knobs turned up. I would suggest reflowing solder joints in case there is a cold connection or solder bridge somewhere, that has solved countless problems that I've had in debugging and usually where I start when I don't know where else to start.

The next step is of course measuring voltages to make sure you're getting the right voltage out of the SMPS, but that part can be scary. If you're willing to try it out, here's what I would recommend:

1. put the PCB back in the enclosure to reduce risk of it accidentally touching something it shouldn't
2. connect power input wires back to jack (obviously)
3. put the negative multimeter probe inside one of the enclosure screw holes; this circuit connects ground to the chassis through the 1/4" jack sleeve connection, so the entire enclosure is electrical ground
4. with the tube removed, stick the positive multimeter probe into pin 1 or pin 6 of the tube socket
5. keeping your hands and all other body parts away from the circuit, plug in the pedal and read the voltage on the multimeter display

With the 100k plate resistor obviously plate voltage is going to be lower than B+ voltage, I don't remember exactly but I think it should be around the 150-180V range. If you're getting something closer to the 9V range, that means your SMPS isn't working and you need to look there.

 

[Hasty]

Yeah something is definitely off there. This is the "v1" Space Heater so there's no trimpot to limit output level, bass signal should be LOUD with the knobs turned up. I would suggest reflowing solder joints in case there is a cold connection or solder bridge somewhere, that has solved countless problems that I've had in debugging and usually where I start when I don't know where else to start.

The next step is of course measuring voltages to make sure you're getting the right voltage out of the SMPS, but that part can be scary. If you're willing to try it out, here's what I would recommend:

1. put the PCB back in the enclosure to reduce risk of it accidentally touching something it shouldn't
2. connect power input wires back to jack (obviously)
3. put the negative multimeter probe inside one of the enclosure screw holes; this circuit connects ground to the chassis through the 1/4" jack sleeve connection, so the entire enclosure is electrical ground
4. with the tube removed, stick the positive multimeter probe into pin 1 or pin 6 of the tube socket
5. keeping your hands and all other body parts away from the circuit, plug in the pedal and read the voltage on the multimeter display

With the 100k plate resistor obviously plate voltage is going to be lower than B+ voltage, I don't remember exactly but I think it should be around the 150-180V range. If you're getting something closer to the 9V range, that means your SMPS isn't working and you need to look there.

I'll reflow first. That's the easiest and most likely culprit. Sometimes those solder joints can look good on the surface and be totally lying to me. If that doesn't work then I'll look into riding the lightning (in a careful and controlled manner on my bench). If all else fails I have a second board... that was planned for a non-pedal application... but that's fine.

 

[Hasty]

Well I reflowed everything, nothing really seemed suspect but it's always good to be sure. No changes in the output.

Checked voltages. Pin 1 and Pin 6 both show 99.3V.

I'll probably build the other board up this weekend and see if I get different results. Bummer. I know I've missed something, just not sure what it is yet. I'll leave it alone for a bit then play with it another time.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I'll leave it alone for a bit then play with it another time.

There's a lot to be said for that as well. I've had plenty of problem circuits that just needed fresh eyeballs looking at them. Walk away and come back.

 

[Hasty]

Well... number one wasn't playing nice... but Son of Number One came back with a vengeance. Sounds awesome and perfect! Now I just need to come up with some artwork and get it finished up.

I'm wondering if one of the components on the first board was either bad or got too hot (I'm looking at you Mr 2N3904!). I set my iron to 600* and try to limit contact, but maybe I held it on something a little too long.

I have a really old 12AU7 from an old Hammond organ. I might put that tube in this box and see how I like it since this will primarily be a preamp.

Thanks for tolerating me on that other board. Maybe next week I'll take a look at it... or maybe in a year. That's how I got my Divided Octave clone working... got frustrated and put it in the parts bin for a year. Then I was gonna pull all the chips and noticed one the IC's had a bent leg in the middle that was impossible to see when it was on the board. Now it's one of my favorite pedals.

 

[Pedalnetics]

I set my iron to 600*

I hope thats Fahrenheit?

 

[Hasty]

I hope thats Fahrenheit?

Fahrenheit or Kelvin… it’s about the same. I’m not too picky.

 

[bonin in the boneyard]

Fahrenheit or Kelvin… it’s about the same. I’m not too picky.

Lol, nice

 

[CH Design]

Has anyone had any luck running a simple pedal (like a buffer) between two Sushi pedals to cancel out the oscillator noise?

I have a SH that I want to use to push a hot signal into my incoming More. I’ll pick up a simple buffer before my More is delivered if that’s going to work.

 

[Thumper]

I figured out my new-to-me HW Finally, as per Nathan's advice, I used a dedicated One Spot to power it. Also, not much volume until around 3 o'clock level and gain, running it maxed out is sweet. The UA I got to push it is having issues, I took off the bottom plate to have a look, I did notice the negative wire of the input jack is touching the case. The output jack negative wire is not touching the case. Could this be my issue either way?

 

[mmbongo]

Has anyone had any luck running a simple pedal (like a buffer) between two Sushi pedals to cancel out the oscillator noise?

I have a SH that I want to use to push a hot signal into my incoming More. I’ll pick up a simple buffer before my More is delivered if that’s going to work.

I'm wanting to use my UA and Slampegg on the same board but sadly no matter what I put in between them they just make too much noise. It goes away the instant I unplug power from one of them. I'm going to have to figure out which one to replace or do without.

 

[CH Design]

I'm wanting to use my UA and Slampegg on the same board but sadly no matter what I put in between them they just make too much noise. It goes away the instant I unplug power from one of them. I'm going to have to figure out which one to replace or do without.

What have you tried?