So I have a Rangemaster I built a couple months ago that I gigged a few times. I had some popping problems, so I decided to add a pull-down resistor. Long story short, I got everything put back together and working...sort of.
Now it works just fine--as long as I don't play too hard. As soon as I slightly snap a string, it immediately silences the effect, and it doesn't recover. Once i bypass the pedal for a few seconds and click it back on, it works again until I play aggressively.
I got back in it and removed the resistor, thinking it was the culprit, but the problem persists...I tested all the applicable points, and my voltages look respectable for the transistor I'm using.
Any thoughts?
Coupling capacitor is letting current through. Check the polarities of all your caps and look for shorts around them.
Any time something becomes quiet, then fades back in, it is a biasing problem. Any time.