Build Your Own Clone Message Board

OK I removed all the capacitors that were in the wrong slots and re soldered them into thier correct locations.
Doing this makes the the entire PCB look like shit.....it is what it is.
I resoldered everything else to get a hershey kiss as cleanly as I could.
Traced all the wiring and it seems to be correct.
Still doesn't work, light does come on.
I dont know what else to do here.

Most of the pics of the solder side are of your overdrive. It's difficult to tell, but it looks like you might have a solder bridge between one of the Q1 transistor pads.

You may have damaged one of more of the resistors. You can take voltage readings of the transistors and we can get a better idea of what's going on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRFtlUn4eBg&t=3s Here's a link on how to use a digital multimeter if you're not familiar. Take readings of the E, B, and C eyelets of each transistor.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

Thanks for responding.
I just have a couple of questions.
Which one is a Q1 transistor pad?
What is an E, B, and C eyelet?
Sorry I'm a newb to all of this.

I've put the PCB layout map below. Q stands for transistor, so Keith is suggesting looking for solder bridges between the PCB eyelets on the first transistor.

E. B, and C stand for emitter, base, and collector. These are the legs of the transistor. They are labeled on the PCB.

_________________
Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

Awesome thanks!
I will have those readings tonight!

Hi
Q1 transistor pads read as follows:
E: 0.00
B: 0.55
C: 1.24

Q2 transistor pads read as follows:
C: 0.73
B: 1.30
E: 0.66

Thank You!

OK, that's a VERY low voltage on the Q2 collector. Where is your Bias pot set? What value do you see there if you dial the Bias pot all the way up (full CW)?

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

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

Hello
So I re soldered all connections and made sure there weren't any bridges.
Here are the readings I got with all pots at 10:



Q1 transistor pads read as follows:
E: 0.00
B: 0.58
C: 1.30

Q2 transistor pads read as follows:
C: 6.41
B: 1.30
E: 0.67

Thank You

Here are the voltages I see on my own Classic fuzz which works perfectly:



As you can see, your results are virtually identical, so your transistors appear to be working correctly. How is the pedal currently behaving?

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

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

I get sound when in bypass mode, but when I switch the pedal "on" i get no sound.
it gets power because the LED comes on. I've double checked that my wiring is connected to the proper locations. Unless something has changed?
I will take pictures of my wiring and post it this evening.

Thank you

Probably the best way for you to chase down the problem at this point would be to use a signal tester, but unless you already have one on hand, there are a couple of other easy things to check. The first thing I would recommend looking at is the signal path from the Level pot to the output jack. Here's how to do this:

• Put the footswitch into the engaged position and turn the Level pot all the way CW.
• Disconnect the power source from the pedal.
• Set your multimeter to the continuity test mode. If your meter doesn't have that (a few don't), turn it to the resistance mode at its lowest range setting.
• Touch one meter probe (doesn't matter which) to the solder joint for the left lug of the Level pot and the other probe to the solder tab for the tip (signal output) of the output jack. See diagram below.

You should have circuit continuity between these two points with the footswitch in the engaged position. If using the continuity mode of your meter, it should beep or an indicator light should flash. If you're using the meter's resistance mode, you should see nearly no resistance there, a few ohms at the most.

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

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

OK I engaged the pedal switch, disconnected the 9v battery.
As soon as I touched the output jack I got a max reading of 0.09 (DMM is on200m and doesn't have continuity mode) that reading quickly went to 0.04 then 0.02 then 0.00.
I hope I did it right.

Sounds right, but I'm not sure what "200m" means. Could you possibly repeat the measurement and take a photo of the meter when the reading stabilizes and post that here? Just want to make sure I don't give you a bum steer based on not correctly understanding your result.

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

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

You said to put my meter on the lowest setting.
on the DC side I would normally set mine to 20 as that is the lowest setting to read the pedals.
under that is 2000m and 200m.
Should I go back to 20 and take readings?
I posted the wiring in the pedal, did that look correct?

This reads like you took voltage measurements, not resistance. In which case "200m" would mean 200 millivolts. When measuring for continuity, you need to be reading resistance in ohms, often indicated with the Greek letter omega, Ω.

If you post a photo of your meter, I can check its capabilities and advise on how to set it for resistance.


I'm not worried about your wiring being connected properly, because you wouldn't have power or bypass signal if there were mistakes with that. The wiring of the footswitch looks correct. But having the wires running to the right locations doesn't guarantee that the connections are good--that's why we check continuity.

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

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

Set the meter as indicated by the green arrow on the markup below and repeat the test, please.

Note the omega symbol to the right of that scale of settings, denoting resistance.

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

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

OK that got me a reading of 4.5

OK, that looks fine, so the signal output path looks good. Now let's see how the input path looks. Again with the pedal footswitch engaged and the power disconnected, measure the resistance between the solder tab for the tip of input jack and the right-hand lead of resistor R2, immediately above eyelet 5 at the bottom of the PCB, marked with yellow arrows on the image below:

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

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

That reads 0.01

OK, input path looks good, too, so the problem is somewhere on the effect circuit on the PCB.

This would be my recommendation at this point:

1) Reflow all of your solder joints on the PCB. Yes, I realize you did this once, but bad solder joints, especially for novice builders, is such a common problem that it's worth repeating. Please follow these guidelines as closely as possible: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=52188 I see that there is quite a lot of solder "splash" and degraded solder mask present around the PCB, and this can be easily removed by gently scraping with a small, flat-bladed screwdriver and brushing the loosened residue away with a small brush. An old toothbrush works very well for this purpose..

2) If that doesn't cure the issue, you will need to get yourself a SIGNAL TESTER and use it to locate the signal dropout in the circuit. Of course, we will assist you with that process.

Sorry that you continue to experience difficulties getting this pedal to work and thank you for all of your cooperation with our instructions so far.

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

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

OK I re-flowed all the solder joints and added more where ever I thought there might not be enough.
Scraped any excess solder from the PCB and cleaned it with an old toothbrush.
Plugged it in and still nothing.
I have a signal tester, not sure if it still works.
Let me know where to test it at, hopefully we can figure this out.
What would it cost if I just bought a new PCB and all the resistors & transistors?

Thanks!

OK, here is the signal testing sequence that I would suggest starting with. Please do the testing in the order shown. Right/left/upper/lower directions are relative to the pedal oriented with the footswitch at the bottom.

1. Middle leg (base) of Q1
2. Middle leg (base) of Q2
3. Left leg (collector) of Q2
4. Middle lug of the Bias control pot
5. Left lug of the Level control pot

You're looking for the first test point where the signal is absent. All should have signal present, and it should get louder and fuzzier as you proceed through the list. Report your results back here. If you're not sure of how to hook up and use the signal tester, the instructions are available here: http://byocelectronics.com/signaltesterinstructions.pdf


Don't know. You'd have to contact sales@buildyourownclone.com to get that information.

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

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