I have built three - a Orange sunshine fuzz, a fuzz booster and a gus smiley 3 trannie fuzz.
None of them work - when I strum my guitar I just hear a popping crackley sound, like the one you get when your jack is not in properly.
I thought it was the bias - but the fuzz booster dose not even use trannies, so it can't be.
Any Ideas? I can't think what it is and I'm good at other circuits - it's just the FX that don't work.
H.
If other circuits (such as..?) work fine, and (comparable in complexity) effects don't - there should be a common mistake between all of them.
If you're building comparable non-effect circuits effectively, it really has to be something specific.
Demands (stability-wise, or just plain working) on digital circuits, radio circuits, hi-fi, stompbox etc. are waay different enough to yield a non-result where there should be a result *when it was different technology you were after* if you catch my drift.
Proposition:
Let's take the simplest effect circuit you've built and debug it here.
First thing we want to know is what you've built that works - this could give clues. We'll take it from there.
Both cables and the ckt grounds must be connected.
I would pick the one with the smallest parts count to start with.
Here are some of the things Iv'e built:
AM Radio
Various tranny amps (20W output)
Control circuits for Renewable Energy system.
Various digital logic/PIC
And repaired loads of other stuff as well.
The simplest effect Iv'e built was the "fuzz booster" (Schematic on Marcus's website)
Cheers,
H.
I think all three are wired wrong.
I know I have wired many more than three effects wrongly! (though, never more than two in a row... maybe i'm not working hard enough).
The other possibility is, all 3 have a common transistor pinout mistake. I do that as well.
Two in a row for sure. It was three in a row, but I got one oof them working.
One was the DOD440, I didn't realize it needs the specail optocoupler...it's still sitting there, I had some LDR's on it at one time, but they didn't make it work.
I started measuring every resistor before installing at one point.
If I could see the schematic and you could take some voltage readings from each of the transistors Emitter, Base, and collectors / from ground...and post them will help narrow things down possibly.
Stick with one and get it working. Post specific questions for help on this forum.
At first you will find it difficult and frustrating but stick with it, life is easier once you pass the initial barriers/silly mistakes... after that you will be much happier.....
I've got you beat. I've built 4 things (my 4th was tonight) that have not worked so far. I only get the bypassed signal. My effects building REALLY sucks!! :( I just started working on an A/B pedal, the one that's posted at Fulltone, if I can't build that, man, I really need to hang it up. I tried building a Sonic Distortion from GGG, and it took me ALL DAY to just get the light to come on, that was only after sending the positive of the battery to the resistor then the LED and ground it. Of course it didn't produce a sound. You're not alone, brother.
I think this is a ground problem. Check if you connected all ground points, and if the jacks are connected to ground too. Maybe you followed a layout that have one jack disconected from ground. This is common, because the ground will be connected to the jack using the enclosure to do the connection. And try the audio probe. There is a schematic in geofex.com.
As Marcos said, try an audio probe and you will figure out the problem.
You'll get it, don't worry.... just keep at it :D.
It will keep getting easier and easier and at some point it will all start to seem simple. Caution: once that happens you will be badly hooked on building. ;)
Take care,
-Peter
Bit of a question that might be the problem: Would connecting ground to the bottom end of the input jack and connecting ground to the tip end of the output jack be a problem? As the AF signal is technically AC I thought it would be no problem - but is it?
H.
Well that way you're grounding the signal ;) You need to use the jack tips for the audio signal.
My question would be: how do I do an audio probe? I have a multimeter, but I barely know how to work with it. I've never dealt with electronics other than hooking up fixtures in the house. But that's 2 wires (3 in Europe).
An audio probe is simply a cable plugging into your amp with a 0.1uF capacitor in line with the signal wire. Use a jumper clip to connect the ground of the cable to the ground of your effect and start by touching the signal wire to the tip connection of your input jack. You should be able to hear the raw sound. The capacitor will block any DC in the point you are testing. Follow the sound until it stops and you have found your problem or at least the stage of the circuit where the problem is. Search the archives for much more. :D
Take care,
-Peter
Here are why my DIY pedals don't work right away, in no particular order (i.e., one of them is ALWAYS first on the list):
a) Bad pots. Sometimes, its dirt, sometimes its a loose rivet, or whatever you call the thing that secures the solder lug to the resistive element, and sometimes its a poorly tensioned wiper. There are a couple of dozen ways for pots to go wayward, even if they're new.
b) I used the Bizarro world pinout instead of the real one. Given a choice between the correct orientation and the backwards mirror image, somehow I only get it right about maybe 75% of the time on a good day (chance being 50/50) and closer to 60% on a bad one. For some things, it's non-fatal, but for others its the kissof death. I particularly hate chips that only have a little blemish on the top instead of the little notch to indicate the "start" of the chip (where pin 1 and the highest number pin is). You'd figure that with just 3 pins, there would be some standardization of transistor pinouts, but somehow out of only 6 possibilities it sometimes seems like there are 40 different pinout possibilities for transistors. Keep pdf datasheets for EVERY semiconductor you use handy, and an hfe-testing meter around as well.
c) I used the Bizarro world PCB mask. Significant progress seems to have been made on this front as most folks have begun used markings that will tip you off as to whether the PCB pattern is for Press-N-Peel or the traditional photo-etch method. I made a few backwards boards that drove me nuts before I figured that one out. Of course, Bizarro world layouts require Bizarro world pinouts.
d) But it LOOKS tinned. Yeah, and she LOOKS like she's blonde too. I can't begin to count the number of ways that component leads, PC boards, pot/switch lugs and wires can look like they are properly tinned but aren't. I use decent 63/37 flux core solder, but lately, what I do is dip the stripped ends of lead wire into liquid flux and then tin them because I simply can't guarantee that the shiny coating on the wire ends really means that the stuff is conducting right through whatever corrosion and finger juice is sitting on the wire strands. If you can buy pretinned stranded connecting wire, do it and more of your projects will work first time. I also wipe down newly etched (and properly buffed) PC boards with the same liquid flux and tin all traces immediately. I've also taken to stop being such a cheap bastard and am using more new components than cannibalized ones (ah, the affluence of middle age!).
e) Don't bogart that joint, my friend. If you don't already have it, make sure your solder is thin gauge and the tip of your soldering iron is pointy and respectably tinned. Make sure enough of the component lead sticks through the pad hole and apply the solder to the component lead first. Let the solder sliding down the lead *find* the pad, because melting the solder on the pad will not necessarily result in it finding the component lead. A blob of solder is NOT necessarily a functioning joint. Thin gauge solder and fine solder tips makes sure that as you do this you don't create solder bridges.
f) But I made the board as illustrated! Sure you did. Unfortunately you unwittingly "modded" the board so that there are cracks and traces run close enough to each other to be conjoined twins. If you are a hand-drawn kinda person, check over every trace agin, and again, again, and once more for old time's sake. If you see a board that looks suspect, make another one properly and scrap the first. You're looking at either another half hour for the board or a week of troubleshooting, and aggravation. Your choice.
g) I saw the light! It may have been daylight when you started out but now it's that time of day when red and orange, and orange and brown, purple and brown, and blue and green look a bit like each other, and the tiny "nf" on the cap is indiscriminable from the tiny "pf" that is really printed there. Sadly, miniaturization has also meant that the markings on components have gotten smaller than ever. You might want to spring for a pair of those cheap plastic reading glasses with a x3.00 magnifcation at the dollar store so that everything is easily verifiable.
h) F**k you jack, I'm all right!I am beginning to firmly believe the Osama Bin Laden started out his campaign of subterfuge of the infidel west by buying off phone jack manufacturers. There more ways for closed circuit and stereo phone jacks to baffle you and lure you into deadly complacency than you can imagine. Last night I built a Tim Escobedo "Jawari" (see thread) and I couldn't figure out why the uninstalled circuit gave all outward signs of working properly until I plugged a cord into it, or why it *would* work if I only plugged in part way. Then I discovered it was a solder lug that was touching one of the plates that another lug is part of. And this was a brand new stereo jack I had just pulled out of a bag. Never assume anything about a phone jack except that it wants to deceive you at every possible occasion.
i) Verify cap orientation for electrolytics. Proper indication of cap orientation on schematics is often an afterthought. In published schematics accompanying construction articles, the orientation is often shown by open vs closed bars, which doesn't translate very well once scanned. Even if plainly visible, there is no guarantee you are working with the newly revised schematic or that any posted scanned articles include the error corrections the magazine published 3 months later. Do yourself a favour and ask yourself whether there really IS any good reason why the positive end of that cap ought to be going to ground. Make sure you aren't using caps rated with working voltages too low for what you're doing.
That'sabout 85% of what could go wrong.
Wow! Thank you so much for the advice, Mark (and Peter and everyone else)!! I never practice these things, I absolutely never tin my wire or components, I just thought that trying to put wire through some of the drilled holes in the PCB would not fit as well. Hmmm, there is a lot of stuff that I didn't think about, like the whole Bizarro world concept, that makes a lot of sense. I guess that I'm in too much of a hurry to put stuff together, fire it up and be done with it. Thanks for the tips, I'll put them into practice. :D
Don't forget to solder standing inside a salt-drawn circle (at midnight if possible) sprayed with black rooster blood. No more cold solder joints or shorted traces for sure!!! :twisted: :twisted:
Quote from: GringoDon't forget to solder standing inside a salt-drawn circle (at midnight if possible) sprayed with black rooster blood. No more cold solder joints or shorted traces for sure!!! :twisted: :twisted:
:twisted:
Actaully, a bra on the head might work well, at least it did in Weird Science. :D
Quote from: tonepoetActaully, a bra on the head might work well, at least it did in Weird Science. :D
They just don't make movies like that anymore :lol:
Thanks for all the help guys, I'll let you know how I get on :D I'm going to try fixing the fuzz-booster tonight. :?
H.
IT WORKS!
The fuzz-booster that is. It has a good boost, with slight distortion and slightly compressed output.
Thanks for all your help! In the end It was the caps I was using - the ceramics I have from an old radio seem ok, but don't work well. I tried with the metalised polyester film (these from a television) and It worked. I've also built the "begginer" project (gus smiley single tranny boost)
Cheers for the help.....Now I am addicted!
H.
Well.... I keep trying to use the big iron instead of waiting for the small one to warm up & soldering pads together. What an impatient dumbass, & I'll probably do it again 2-nite.
Regards
RDV
About the audio probe:
1. Does the jack have to be enclosed?
2. Does the effect need to be on or even have the battery connected?
3. The electrical tape is only to go around the cap, right? I mean, not the blue wire show in this diagram: http://www.geofex.com/FX_images/audioprb.gif
Sorry for the ignorant questions! :oops:
humbuck:
sometimes those ratshack capacitor assortments have caps in them that do not give you a voltage rating. Perhaps you were trying to use caps with a 5 volt rating and your power supply is 9 volts or something like that. Anyhow, glad you got it working. :wink:
tonepoet:
1. I think it's better to use an enclosed jack, but it's not absolutely necessary. That way you could fold over the cap and wrap the whole assembly with tape which keeps everything secure.
2. The effect does need to be on and powered.
3. The electrical tape is to prevent the ground from touching the signal wire and to keep the cap from moving around too much and having the leads break on you.
Here is the one that I built: http://www.diyguitarist.com/PDF_Files/DIY-AudioTester.pdf
Hope that helps and I really hope that you get one of effects working. 8)
As a general note, if you are using NTE parts, the transistors they sell are notorious for having different pinouts than the ones they are supposed to be "replacing". "Equivalent" to them is specs only, IME. And again, transistor pinouts can change between types. This is especially true of JFETs and MOSFETs - some are DGS and some are not. Run of the mill transistors seem to be pretty standard, like 2N5089, etc. Mark's suggestion about keeping data sheets for all the stuff you use is a good one. That's what I've been doing for the last year.
Great to hear that you got the booster to work. Now it's time to get the others to work, then start to build more things. This is really like an addiction.
Quote from: Marcos - MunkyThis is really like an addiction
Like an addiction? This
is an addiction! :twisted: