blue box debugging - no octave effect

[Zounds!]

I built a Blue Box on vero (from SabroTone - http://www.sabrotone.com/?attachment_id=1357 )about a year ago and it worked perfect after I added an LPB1 to the end to boost the volume. A few weeks back I "borrowed" the LPB1 for a different build (just desoldered the in, out, power, and ground wires, leaving the Blue Box not functioning) and just got around to rewiring the Blue Box and getting it working again (without any boost at the end). Now that it's rewired I'm not getting any octave effect -- just fuzz. The blend pot has has a minor effect on the tone I think, but it's not blending in any octave at either end of the pot, and this is the second pot I've tried. I tried to audio probe around IC2 and got an extremely faint signal on a few of the pins. The pedal passes the fuzz signal even with IC2 and all of the transistors pulled out, so something seems awry for sure. Here are my voltages (powered by a 9v adapter) -- hopefully something will be a red flag for someone who knows what they should actually be:

IC1
1 – 5.43
2 – 5.54
3 – 4.98
4 – 0.00
5 – 3.70
6 – 5.39
7 – 1.41
8 – 9.40

IC2
1 - 0.15
2 - 0.01
3 - 0.99
4 - 0.00
5 - 0.19
6 - 0.00
7 - 0.00
8 - 0.00
9 - 1.07
10 - 0.00
11 - 1.38
12 - 1.07
13 - 0.99
14 - 0.00

Q1
C – 1.38
B – 0.21
E – 0.00

Q2
C – 2.20
B – 0.01
E – 0.00

Q3
C  - 3.00
B – 0.06
E – 0.00

D1
Cathode – 9.5
Anode - 0.0

D2
Cathode - 3.8
Anode – 2.8

D3
Cathode - 2.9
Anode – 0.0

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Edit: All voltages were taken while my guitar was plugged into the circuit and being played

[GGBB]

I don't know this pedal specifically, but your IC2 pin 14 should have power somewhere near +9V. That's a big problem. Check for shorts, bad solder joints, etc.

[Mark Hammer]

The dual op-amp in the pedal provides two functions.  The first op-amp stage feeds an envelope follower and provides an envelope signal hot enough to drive the collectors of the two transistors that act as gates.  The gates cut out before the sputtering starts, or at least not long after it starts.  The second op-amp provides a signal hot enough to feed the 4013, as well as yield a fuzzy sound.

Two things to know about the 4013: 1) it is static sensitive and CAN fry, and 2) like all such devices, the input has to be above a certain threshold to make it do what it does.  So, it IS possible that you have accidentally laid waste to a 40-cent chip and need to replace it.  It is also possible that, for whatever reasons, the signal reaching the input of the first flip-flop stage is juuuuuuussst below the triggering threshold.  Note that sometimes different brands of CMOS chips can have slightly different threshold voltages (and I do mean slightly).

[Zounds!]

Hmm thanks for the advice everyone. I'm going to order a few more 4013s as I imagine (correct me if I'm wrong) I'd have to have a lot of different errors in my build to make all of my voltages be so low/non-existant on IC2. Since the circuit was previously functioning properly and all I did was switch up my wiring a bit, it seems more likely that I probably fried the chip. Will report back once I have a fresh one in there. Is the fact that the pedal still works when the transistors are pulled strange behavior? They're getting voltage, but I can't tell if the fact that I can pull them and still pass signal indicative of some larger error somewhere in the build. Or is the circuit supposed to work without them, but just not the gating portion of it?

[Mark Hammer]

Hmm thanks for the advice everyone. I'm going to order a few more 4013s as I imagine (correct me if I'm wrong) I'd have to have a lot of different errors in my build to make all of my voltages be so low/non-existant on IC2. Since the circuit was previously functioning properly and all I did was switch up my wiring a bit, it seems more likely that I probably fried the chip. Will report back once I have a fresh one in there. Is the fact that the pedal still works when the transistors are pulled strange behavior? They're getting voltage, but I can't tell if the fact that I can pull them and still pass signal indicative of some larger error somewhere in the build. Or is the circuit supposed to work without them, but just not the gating portion of it?

Um....YEAH.
IN fact, the only way for the signal to get to the output is through those transistors.  So if you still get signal, then something is making contact where it shouldn't.  This looks like a good reason to check for unintended solder bridges, and the like.  The 4013 may still be fried, but you've clearly got some other issues to contend with.

[Zounds!]

Hahaha yeah I guess I figured. Damn. Guess I've got myself another "custom" build.  I have a hunch that the 4013 is fried...but I think the transistors have always been like that. Since the pedal sounded pretty good when I first put it together I probably just ignored it. Oh well, back to the work bench!