Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Not sure how my title was changed but this is in regards to a large beaver triangle.

First off - here are images of both sides of the pcb and my switch

Bypass works fine
LED turns on but no sound
Tried with a power supply (true tone cs12) and different batteries.
Quadruple checked my joints for stray bridges or splatter.
Reflowed everything.
I've been tracing with a continuity checker but haven't found any issues. The only think I'm not certain on how to test are the transistors. Im scared I may have heated them up too long but I'm not sure what im looking for. Maybe it's not the transistors and another set of eyes will be able to see my faults.







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I wanted to add another image with the center pot moved our of the way. I just got done tracing the pcb AGAIN. I'm at a serious loss here and extremely discouraged. This is build number 4 and have run into anything this ambiguous.

Posted on another thread - here are my transistor values. I'm not sure what they mean but it seems wildly inconsistent

Q1
B 1.33
C 5.16
E 0.74

Q2
B 1.35
C 7.86
E 0

Q3
B 1.44
C 8.39
E 0

Q4
B 0.61
C 4.36
E 0.01



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Can you please label each result from this diagram of the LB transistor numbering:

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

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

Done. Thank you.

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OK, thanks for doing that. I also re-ordered them 1 to 4, top to bottom--just easier for me to absorb the data when they're listed in the order that signal passes through them.

I think you may have Q1 and Q4 switched, though, since Q4 is always the one with the higher emitter voltage in every LB I've measured. The larger resistor value between the Q4 emitter and ground causes this.

A collector voltages on Q2 and Q3 look quite high. They should be running right around 4V, plus or minus a few tenths. Not sure if the transistors are causing this or if you might still have a couple of weak solder joints in there somewhere affecting the voltage bias on those transistors. I'd go through the build and do another blanket re-flow, if it was me: 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

Ok I can do that. So those voltages don't indicate bad transistors but more so user error? I was considering ordering a new batch of transistors and socketing the new one s

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Could be either one, though solder quality problems are BY FAR the most common issue we see here. So I'd try a good comprehensive reflow before replacing the trannies. You might even consider purchasing (or making your own) SIGNAL TESTER to trace out the signal path and pinpoint where the signal is dropping out. It's a very useful tool that anybody planning to build even a few pedals should consider having on hand.

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

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

Will continuity checker with a light do the same job or is a signal checker a different beast here?

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Totally DIFFERENT ANIMAL. You actually hear your signal at various test points through the circuit.

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

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

Sound good. Ill make one out of a jack tomorrow. Thanks.

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So I traced the signal and it drops at Q2 and/or the diodes heading out towards R12 and Q2 tried reflowing to no avail.



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Do you have signal on the base (middle leg) of Q2?

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

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

Yes. But dissapears on c/e.

Also the halves of the diodes leading out to R12 cut out signal as well. But the halves coming from c6 are clear and loud.

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There should be signal present on the collector (increased in volume vs. the incoming signal on the base). Looks like Q2 is bad. Replace it and see where that gets you.

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

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

Ok the collector now gives me signal but the emitter and r15 are silent.

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The emitter shouldn't have any signal on it. Not every component (or even most of them, usually) in these effect circuits should have signal on them. For now, I would concentrate on looking at the base (incoming signal) and collector (outgoing signal) on each of the transistors. These are the sequential signal gain stages of the LB circuit.

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

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

Ok thanks. Replacing this transistor gave me more signal throughout the consecutive components but I stopped because I was trying to "fix" the emitter. I'll continue tracing the circuit tonight.

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Base & collector on Q3 is the next thing to test. If they both pass, then switch the toggle that's beneath the Tone pot to the "on" position (which bypasses the tone stack) and test Q4.

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

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