Build Your Own Clone Message Board

I build the 5 knob compressor kit, but when i put it in my pedal chain and turn it on the signal just cuts out...

I put a loop through it and cranked the volume of my amp to find that the signal does come through VERY quietly, but not in any useable way. I also showed my professor, an experienced audio engineer, and other than suggesting to fill in with some more solder, he said that he couldnt see why this would be happening..

The pictures included here were taken before I added more solder, so some spaces may seem cold, but even after filling this in, I am still seeing the same issue. Does anybody have any thoughts on this?

Best,
Derek Long

Larger photos would be a big help. Those are too small to be of much use, particularly the solder-side photo.

A couple of quick things to check:

• Be sure that the pins are fully inserted into the header socket for the footswitch mini-board connection to the main PCB.
• Have you tried adjusting the trimpot? I notice that it's set pretty far to the clockwise side--the optimal setting is usually quite close to the middle of the pot sweep.

If those things check out OK, I would suggest this as the next step: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=52188

_________________
“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

Here's the closer pictures of the PCB.. Couldn't upload an actually larger image due to the size.

The pins seem pretty fully inserted, but ill go through them again.

As for the trimpot, it only seemed to change tone (I have to put a loop through the pedal and crank my Twin to 10 just to hear anything). The signal stays consistently weak with trimpot changes.

Thanks for the suggestions, any other thoughts?

are your pots sitting on the board? because that will cause problems. Maybe try it again, but with the pots pulled off slightly. Maybe insulate the backs of the pots. It might be the angle of the photo, but that could be causing an issue.

_________________
The tone is in my hands?!
Email: nick@buildyourownclone.com

When the board was in the pedal box the pots were definitely not touching, they may be in this photo, but that isn't the problem I'm running into. My professor and I sat with the board out of the box and active and still had the same problem.

It was very touchy... The pedal would emit a lot of noise unless the input was angled correctly...but I applied more solder to the wires attaching the board to the in/outputs and still have an issue...