Time for another "building" thread, this time for the Uglyface (http://musicpcb.com/pcbs/uglyface/). Your build photos, questions, etc. can go here.
The top question I get for PCBs in general is usually how the pots should be oriented, so here's a picture (sorry for the bad photo quality):
http://musicpcb.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/uglyfacepots.jpg
Due to popular demand, this board has holes for standoffs if you're not into board-mounted pots. :)
nice!!
I'll toss an order your way once I've sobered up!
now just ad skyripper and your selling all my favorite noicey stuffss.
*looking forward to future projects, seems your projects always tend to be right down my alley :)
I want one of these too! How can I get?
There's a link in the first post to the board. I always try to not spam the forum with links because I know nobody likes that, so I don't want to put it in huge text or anything.
Can an LFO be added to this?
It can certainly be added in the way that people have added an LFO to the Uglyface before - but there's no LFO on the board. I could make a diagram to show how to do it if anybody was interested, but you would need to wire the extra parts on a little piece of perfboard.
Quote from: Taylor on November 26, 2011, 10:33:32 PM
It can certainly be added in the way that people have added an LFO to the Uglyface before - but there's no LFO on the board. I could make a diagram to show how to do it if anybody was interested, but you would need to wire the extra parts on a little piece of perfboard.
I'd be interested in that! Been wanting to build an Uglyface with the LFO for some time.
I recently (finally) figured out the technique of adding a voltage control input to pots using a vactrol. I have also thought about adding LFO to the uglyface (I built this on Soggybag's PCB from last year or so) but have plenty of LFO's and voltage sources available from other pedals or synth equip.
Taylor, in this circuit if one didn't want to 'build in' an LFO is there a best way to use the vactrol on board? I suppose that the issue then is that the envelope is always active at the same time as the external input unless a switching jack is used? ...or else just keeping envelope amount control on low when you want the external voltage or other voltage source to be active?
Strategy
Quote from: karter2000 on November 27, 2011, 02:22:23 PM
Quote from: Taylor on November 26, 2011, 10:33:32 PM
It can certainly be added in the way that people have added an LFO to the Uglyface before - but there's no LFO on the board. I could make a diagram to show how to do it if anybody was interested, but you would need to wire the extra parts on a little piece of perfboard.
I'd be interested in that! Been wanting to build an Uglyface with the LFO for some time.
Hmm. If you had no switching and you just inject a CV into the LED side of the opto, then turning the sensitivity down (envelope off) would ground your CV. You'd probably better off switching between envelope or external CV. You may need to divide the input voltage to get it working within the right range for the opto to respond semi-linearly.
Thanks I'll experiment with this. I guess an alternative would be to add the vactrol in parallel with the freq pot. That's $5 more expensive and then there's the matter of fitting the extra vactrol. Redundant, but might be a workaround - it will be some tricky labor to desolder what I built and install switching. Unless I build a second Uglyface!! ;D
Linearity doesn't tend to be much of an issue with noisemakers for simple things like LFO's... I'm noticing that even with careful use of the vactrols it's pretty much "wild style" voltage control across the board...but still useful.
Strategy
Quote from: Taylor on November 28, 2011, 04:54:44 AM
Hmm. If you had no switching and you just inject a CV into the LED side of the opto, then turning the sensitivity down (envelope off) would ground your CV. You'd probably better off switching between envelope or external CV. You may need to divide the input voltage to get it working within the right range for the opto to respond semi-linearly.
Quote from: karter2000 on November 27, 2011, 02:22:23 PM
Quote from: Taylor on November 26, 2011, 10:33:32 PM
It can certainly be added in the way that people have added an LFO to the Uglyface before - but there's no LFO on the board. I could make a diagram to show how to do it if anybody was interested, but you would need to wire the extra parts on a little piece of perfboard.
I'd be interested in that! Been wanting to build an Uglyface with the LFO for some time.
Ditto
If I put them in one box, can I tap the Gristleizer LFO to feed the Uglyface? If so, anything extra needed, besides a switch, such as a buffer?
Yes a buffer would be a good idea. I tapped the Gristleizer LFO to a panel output, and when I patch it to something it decreases the effect/filter depth on the Gristleizer signal. I haven't built a buffer for it yet but ought to.
Strategy
Hey,
Ordering parts for this build and I'm going to just do pcb mounted pots on one of your boards Taylor.
I cant tell how wide it is though.. will it fit in a 1590B enclosure?
Or would a 125B be a better choice..
Thanks.
BTW: I built an echo base from one of your boards.. that was the nicest board I've gotten to date! Solder masked, through hole plating! It was almost too easy to build. :icon_biggrin:
Yes, it will fit in a 1590b - as I recall it's 2 inches wide. But, of course, building in a smaller box makes things a bit trickier. Glad you liked the EB board!
http://www.jiggawoo.eclipse.co.uk/guitarhq/Circuitsnippets/snippets.html - mentions envelope control, and then gives a really nice example... how would this be accomplished? i'm already putting 2 of these Uglys into some sort of enclosure.
Envelope control is a part of the basic circuit. That's what the optocoupler is doing. If you don't have any envelope happening, you may have an issue with your opto.
thanks for that Taylor, haven't built them up yet, just ordering parts now
I was trying to recycle a 10K pot to build my uglyface.. long story short.. it broke.
I dont know the math to do this but I have a spare 100K pot, what value resistor would I need (across lug 1 & 3 from what I remember) to bring the 100K down to 10K?
Thanks for any help.
Quick Optocoupler question. I've never used one of these before and was curious about the orientation. I just want to double check that I'm reading the information correctly.
Does this look like the right orientation?
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g20/ahartley/photobucket-17673-1334680154106.jpg)
The white dot usually indicates the Positive leg of the LED portion.
Does the board show that the + side of the LED needs to go in that hole?
Quote from: tiges_ tendres on April 17, 2012, 01:15:50 PM
The white dot usually indicates the Positive leg of the LED portion.
Does the board show that the + side of the LED needs to go in that hole?
Yea the + is on the left side of that pic. You can kind of see it. So I need to flip it then?
I can't really find much about Optocouplers online other than what's written on this forum.
Ok. So I flipped it real quick. This is correct then?
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g20/ahartley/photobucket-38981-1334684126830.jpg)
The end with the short legs is the LED, which should go at the top where the + symbol is. The dot shows the negative side, so you just want to flip it vertically so the dot is on the same side as you currently have it but the short legs go at the top near the sens pot, and the long legs at the bottom
9v 300ma DC power supply enough for this bad boy?
Quote from: jwar on April 17, 2012, 01:36:00 PM
Ok. So I flipped it real quick. This is correct then?
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g20/ahartley/photobucket-38981-1334684126830.jpg)
Ok, when I made my post above, I actually did not see your second post yet. It's a bit confusing and in this case tiges tendres and I gave you opposite info. This is a great example of why, when in doubt about something like this, always google the part number and look at the datasheet.
http://www.silonex.com/datasheets/specs/images/pdf/103708.pdf
The dot may indicate positive on some optocouplers. But on the NSL-32 it's negative. Parts are often confusing and different manufacturers don't always use consistent indications for things like orientation, so the datasheet is your friend.
So, you now need to flip your opto horizontally so the short legs are at the top but the dot is to the left side of the board.
Quote from: wizardsofzen on April 17, 2012, 06:51:31 PM
9v 300ma DC power supply enough for this bad boy?
That should be way more than it will ever draw, so yes that will work just fine.
Sorry for the confusion! I was not aware of that fact!
Thanks!
Thanks so much guys!
Just to be clear there are four grounds all going to the input jack on this? I just want to double check that. The ground from the 9v, board, output and 3dpt all go to the negative on the input.
And just to make 100% sure, this would be the proper orientation for the Optocoupler.
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g20/ahartley/photobucket-20228-1334774552495.jpg)
Your input jack should have three lugs:
One lug is for input, the other two are for grounding. One of the grounding lugs should be used for the negative side of your 9 volt battery. This is so the battery is only being switched on when a jack is in the socket.
The other ground lug will handle the board ground, and whatever other ground connections you need to make.
Ok cool. So here is a pic of the whole thing. Still not working right but I got the LED working (hahaha...I wired the 9v backwards! I have done that so many times it's ridiculous). No bypassed sound, which means I jacked up the input/output somehow.
I wired it according the diagram provided and this
(http://www.hawkpromedia.net/RFI/TSJack.jpg)
So here's a couple pics. I did the audio probe thing and all the parts seem to be working, so it's got to be something simple that I'm just not seeing. I usually try to walk away and come back to things when they frustrate me. I did that with a diy Robot Devil. Didn't touch it for two months, came back and fix it in five minutes. Dunno why.
First thought I had the IC's in wrong, but I'm almost positive I put those in right.
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g20/ahartley/photobucket-25849-1334790657159.jpg)
All the black wires are grounds. The green are from the pcb or 3dpt.
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g20/ahartley/photobucket-33121-1334790698833.jpg)
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g20/ahartley/photobucket-27475-1334790716967.jpg)
Dunno why I decide on this layout. I want to do an ugly face etch on there. The knobs are in inconvenient places, but it looks cool to me. Plus what's that sexy pedal in the background there? ;)
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g20/ahartley/photobucket-17787-1334790727038.jpg)
Nice! ;)
So you traced through the circuit with your audio probe, starting at the input jack. Where did you stop getting sound?
Looks to me like your input jack is wired wrong.
The green wire (on a standard SwitchCraft) should be soldered to the lug on the far left, and the far right should be ground.
Taylor,
The probe stopped at the LED. Which led me to figure out that my 9v was wire backwards. hahaha
Now I'm screwing up on the jacks. I have tried several variations and looked at switchcraft diagrams...etc.
So here's what's happening. I'll have the input lug wired up, get LED, no bypass tone, but an effected signal when engauged. So I rewired the lug to the way mentioned above. I get no bypassed tone, LED with power, no LED with a cable going into the jack. The cable must be grounding the power out or something.
So I guess I'm just confused.
Green wire to the far left (+), black wires to the far right (-) except the 9v which needs it's own ground, so put that on the center lug.
Is that correct? If so, then this jack is not a standard switchcraft.
Ok scratch that. Got bypass back when I left the middle lug empty and the output jack grounding on the enclosure instead of the other jack.
So here's what I have right now with my jacks.
I am getting bypass, LED and crazy, crazy noise when engaged. Not controllable crazy noise though. Which brings me back the the IC's. Does the orientation look correct for those in the above pic? Like I said, I got noise of off every component. So that means they're all good right? If I read the directions on the audio probe correctly it does.
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g20/ahartley/photobucket-5257-1334847075303.jpg)
FWIW, my uglyface with lfo (on vero) is still running the same battery over a year after building it, and it still kicks ass...probably got at least 40 hours of use in.
can't wait to hear the finished product...sorry if i missed it, just was reading the thread and saw ya ask about battery life.
Quote from: jwar on April 19, 2012, 10:54:35 AM
Ok scratch that. Got bypass back when I left the middle lug empty and the output jack grounding on the enclosure instead of the other jack.
So here's what I have right now with my jacks.
I am getting bypass, LED and crazy, crazy noise when engaged. Not controllable crazy noise though. Which brings me back the the IC's. Does the orientation look correct for those in the above pic? Like I said, I got noise of off every component. So that means they're all good right? If I read the directions on the audio probe correctly it does.
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g20/ahartley/photobucket-5257-1334847075303.jpg)
ummm...looking at it, it looks like you're using a switching jack on the input. that can work, but it looks like you wired it wrong. on this kind of jack, when you unplug it, it will short the tip to ground. to make it worrk like you need to, take some needlenose and bend the switch terminal so that it will instead of making contact with the tip connection, hit the shaft of the plug when plugged in.
easier to use a stereo jack, tho.
it LOOKS like you may have it wired funky. generally, you want ground to be ground...and only connect the ground (black) from the power supply to the RING connection. that way, your led won't stay on and drain the battery if the effect is inadvertently engaged.
it's hard to really see from the pictures. but it sounds like a wiring issue on the input.
if you are getting that much noise coming out of the thing, you probably have got the rest right. it is a noisy beast, and it will be damn near uncontrollable. right now from your description, it sounds more and more to me like a wiring issue.
if possible, take it out of the box, leave the switching and jacks and stuff in there, and wire it up the simplest way possible...two jacks, and a power supply. try to get it working that way first.
i have a feeling you will.
don't box it til ya rock it.
that said, look for a short somewhere near the input of the circuit on the bottom of the board. if the uglyface is producing sound, i bet there's a muddled up trace somewhere with a solder bridge, leaving the equivalent of having your thumb on the tip of a guitar cord buzzing.
the orientation of the ic's looks ok to me, but i'd have to see the layout for the pcb to check it out.
hang in there, you'll figure it out. the uglyface is a bloody unworldly effect.
one "duh" question...you DON't have all the knobs up all the way while testing, do you? if so, THAT's your problem....you gotta make sure the gate is down so the guitar comes thru, otherwise all you'll get is basically uncontrollable noise from the oscillator in it. the sensitivity pot should be all the way down to test. if up enough where the oscillator wins, the guitar will not come thru...depending on the pot value used, this could be within the first 30% or so of the rotation.
;)
It works!!!!!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAH! You guys are so cool! Learned a lot with this build, as I do with all of them! Thanks so much for being cool about telling me stuff. I'm still a bit of a noob with all this diy stuff, but love it. Nothing better than having a working product that you put together.
Now to pull everything out and etch this sucker. That at least I know how to do right the first time.
so...what the heck was wrong with it?
:icon_mrgreen:
props on figuring it out!! big step, my friend.
;)
Hey! Late response here! The damn jack was what kept it from working, plus my LED was backwards. So I used a stereo jack, flipped the LED, and it worked like a charm. Here's a little brief demo on bass I did.
I may use some foul language. My bad. hahaha
my virgin ears!!!!
lol....well done, mate, knew you'd sort it out!!!
OK, funny story. I finished my Uglyface last night around 1am. I was sure I assembled and wired it correctly, so I decided to test it out through headphones. I plugged it in, and my guitar sounded normal until I stepped on the bypass switch to engage the pedal. I got a god-awful howl. :'( Disappointed, I knew I was too tired to troubleshoot so I waited until today to check this discussion thread for ideas to locate the problem. Then I played jwar's demo. I went back and started fiddling with the knobs and discovered that it was supposed to howl!!! Anyhow it works fine, and I am really happy with how it came out.
(http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh606/bcalla44/UglyfaceExteriorFinished.jpg)
(http://i1254.photobucket.com/albums/hh606/bcalla44/UglyfaceInteriorFinished.jpg)
Just built my uglyface up and it is a go. I had a drilled 5 knob enclosure from an aborted project so I shoved it in there and added a voltage starve knob. Things with ICs don't always starve well, but this one does. This is a HIGHLY recommended mod. And it can be easily added to finished pedals. Just add a 5k pot wired as a variable resistor on the 9v+ wire to the board. Some of the things it does: if the pedal is in an oscillation mode, you can starve the squeal out but keep the tone and "reaction" to the oscillation. You can tune and alter oscillations, with the sensitivity cranked and the pedal fully starved you get a cool sub octave synth. with the freq knob cranked the starve knob will do acid drops when turned. It also provides another field of control when playing it like a standalone instrument. anyway, if you want even more out of this thing, go for it, you won't be disappointed.
Cool mod idea. :)
Anyone know if there would be a problem if I just leave the LED+ lug empty when not using an LED in my build?
That's fine.
I've heard different builds of this schematic before and some sound more lasery then others. The envelope is different in some...not necessarily this board, but I'm curious which parts and values would I change to mess with that aspect of the box.
Hi,
I've just built the ugly face but when I tested it i don't get any signal coming through. Could anyone help me here? When plugged in no signal from the guitar gets through, not a peep. However you can use the frequency knob to make a tone. the volume knob works on this tone, but the other controls do nothing. Im thinking I must have mucked up the wiring on the input or output. I've drawn a diagram of how ive wired it up, but dont know how to attach images to this post if its not a web address :icon_redface:. if someone could let me know how, i'll attach the pic.
I haven't used any substitutions for components although in the pics ive seen everyone seems to have their film caps in a box format, mine are those green ones (i can attach a pic) but are still film. Also I accidently bought a resistor that was a lot bigger than the others for the 1M. I think it can take a higher voltage or something, but its the same value so I popped it in anyway. That should be OK shouldn't it?? Again I can attached a pic of the type of resistor. I can also take some readings from the legs of the chips if that would help. It would be great if someone could help me fault find with this, I really want to get this crazy little pedal working.
Thanks
Paul
Your substitutions should be fine. T find your problem, check the debugging links at the top of this page and at the top of the 'building your own stompbox' forum. Build the audio probe from there and probe through the circuit to find where your input stops.
Finished. The LM is more sensitive than the JRC386. I wonder what different 555s would create. Almost got it first try, but soldered to the wrong 9v terminal. Only error so I'm happy. I think I have enough parts to breadboard so I may try some different values and add a LFO. Does anyone know how to kill the osc bleed?
(http://25.media.tumblr.com/a3410c0ec11e092a8151ddc01dae2ee3/tumblr_mj05lreFXk1qixyczo1_500.jpg)
(http://24.media.tumblr.com/177d785eabe7b66b23857cd682e0f6ef/tumblr_mj05q6L22E1qixyczo1_500.jpg)
If you mean bleed when the pedal is bypassed then you can use the stomp switch to ground the wiper of the threshold pot in bypass, this will shut it up.
To do this on yours remove the solid jumper wire on the stomp and instead connect a wire from the bottom middle lug to the wiper of the threshold pot.
Hi Taylor. Just finished the uglyface. Great pcb as usual. :)Added the starve pot
Where can i find the lfo wiring diagram?
Cheers, Matt
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=95172.0
Couldn't find a schematic but there are some diagrams in that thread.
Fantastic. Thankyou
I love this pedal. :icon_mrgreen: Taylor please hurry making some more pcbs (drone synth etc)
Just ordered my second uglyface
just did one of these pcbs this weekend . it was a breeze , thanks for the great pcbs !
Thanks guys, glad you had fun with it!
Just in the middle of building my 5th uglyface from taylor. I love it so much but somehow end up giving them away to friends :/
I've done the starve mod and added lfo. Does anyone have any ideas for more cool mods? i want this one to be a monster
After having shelved this one for over a year, I finally finished it. Upon switching it on, I had the same reaction as many. I heard a loud howl and hum and thought, "Man! Another one for the scrapheap." Then I played a couple of notes through it, adjusted a few of the knobs, and realized, "Hey! It's actually working!"
Thanks, Taylor! Great PCB. Fun build and very happy with the results. My first successful pedal build in a while.
Actually, I couldn't unplug this thing for at least 45 minutes after plugging it in, Too much fun! Still need to box it up. Don't know if I've got the guts to do anything as complicated as the Gristleizer yet, (hell, when I reach that point I'll be able to handle the Sub-Commander) but this thing makes sounds that definitely get you into Throbbing Gristle territory. I'm curious about the Christine now. Any similarity to the Uglyface? I like my discordant noise.
Cheers and thanks for such a nice PCB Taylor!
Glad you had fun. Gotta give credit to Tim Escobedo for the circuit.
The Christine is pretty different. If you like far out stuff you'll love t, nd there's not much overlap with the Uglyface so it wouldn't be redundant to have both. Never thought of cascading them...
Quote from: Puguglybonehead on October 15, 2013, 11:58:26 PM
After having shelved this one for over a year, I finally finished it. Upon switching it on, I had the same reaction as many. I heard a loud howl and hum and thought, "Man! Another one for the scrapheap." Then I played a couple of notes through it, adjusted a few of the knobs, and realized, "Hey! It's actually working!"
Thanks, Taylor! Great PCB. Fun build and very happy with the results. My first successful pedal build in a while.
Actually, I couldn't unplug this thing for at least 45 minutes after plugging it in, Too much fun! Still need to box it up. Don't know if I've got the guts to do anything as complicated as the Gristleizer yet, (hell, when I reach that point I'll be able to handle the Sub-Commander) but this thing makes sounds that definitely get you into Throbbing Gristle territory. I'm curious about the Christine now. Any similarity to the Uglyface? I like my discordant noise.
Cheers and thanks for such a nice PCB Taylor!
Dude i'm pretty new to electronics too but the gristleizer is a lovely simple build. Christine is wonderful and about as easy to build as the uglyface. Make sure you get the mental chip if discordant noise is your thing :) I''m currently attempting to put gristleizer, uglyface with lfo mod, christine, delay and synthacon filter in the same box. It willl be the basis of my sound
I successfully built mine, and sounded great, but when I tried to add an LFO to it it the LFO didn't work, and if the LFO wasn't switched on the IC's would run super SUPER hot and start to smell.
(http://i.imgur.com/Ez2igu9.jpg)
This is the LFO I'm using:
(http://i.imgur.com/3kM0UTg.jpg)
I've unsoldered the wire going from the LFO switch to 386 pin 5 to avoid the heating issue, but now the pedal sounds awful. Any info as to how I can successfully implement an LFO with this PCB?
Hi everyone,
I've just started building an Uglyface with the PCB from http://www.musicpcb.com/
I was wondering about the Vactrol...
The documentation asks for a VTL5C3.
I don't have a VTL5C3, but I do have a VTL5C4/2.
Is the VTL5C4/2 suitable? Will I need to put a resistor in series or something?
Here's a datasheet I found:
http://www.excelitas.com/downloads/dts_vtl5c3c4.pdf (http://www.excelitas.com/downloads/dts_vtl5c3c4.pdf)
Thanks for your help, I don't know much about vactrols!
the 5C4 has a faster response than the 5C3, and a lower on resistance. both of those facts may be useful, or not. the biggest diff is the 5C4/2 has a dual ldr. this might be usefull to you, as you can switch between a single half, the whole in series, or the 2 in parallel, each giving different resistance range responses.
my sensitivity knob stopped working after one day so and now I get no envelope sounds. no lazer sounds. no wah sounds. I used lm386. I had this issue months ago with a ugly face I bought and therefore sold it very cheap to a friend that wanted it. I also know that a lot of people are having this same problem just wish there was a solution. maybe my lm386 stopped functioning properly. maybe I should of used the JRC???? could this explain why this keeps happening to people??? or not?? I doubt this many people all got bad vactrols and a lot of people seem to have this issue I had it with 2 ugly faces.
PLEASE some one SOLVE THIS ISSUE. peoples sens knobs are not working right. it seems to be common and theres got to be a solution. im just wondering if its from using different 555 timer chips or he lm386 instead of the jrc
As I've said through email, using the actual chips specified in the document is of absolute importance in this circuit. Until you get the correct parts in your build, you can definitely expect weird results with this effect, including exactly what you describe. People have been building this circuit successfully for nearly 15 years, and there's even a boutique pedal company who sells this exact circuit, using a PCB that is a trace-for-trace clone of mine, commercially. I hope this doesn't come across as rude, I've really tried to be helpful here, but only you can solve the issue by using the correct parts. The problem lies not with the circuit or the PCB. I agree that it's a finicky build, but there's no sense "looking for a solution" when there already is one.
Once you get all the parts specified in, let us know if you're still having the same issue. Only then can anybody give any helpful advice.
I just made two uglyfacse and the first has no problems and now I made another and it's having issues. I used the Xvive VTL5c3 and an LM386 for this one. The first one I made the other day I used a Vactec VCL5C1 and JRC386.
Issues
When engaged the volume drop is tremendous, the volume knob works, the frequency knob seems to do something but not much, threshold doesn't oscillate and it's too quiet to tell if the sensitivity knob is doing anything.
The other uglyface I made years back with a LM386 and it works as it should. So I think maybe the vactrol is the issue. The Xvive has a + on the top and I have it faced down with the + matching. The notch on the side of the vactrol matches that of my previous builds so I'm unsure what it could be actually.
(http://synthcube.com/cart/image/cache/catalog/PRTvactrolXVIVEvtl5c3-800x800.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v33/JahSoul/IMG_3434.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v33/JahSoul/IMG_3435.jpg)
The output of the circuit that we actually hear is the 555 chip. The 386 and optocoupler only have to do with sweeping the frequency of the 555 oscillator around. So I'd start by looking at the 555 to see why the output is low - did you use the ICM555?
If you haven't yet, use an audio probe (http://www.diystompboxes.com/wiki/index.php?title=Debugging) and poke through the circuit, starting at the input. Check the signal at pin 5 of the 386. Also check with a multimeter the power at pin 6 of the 386, and pin 8 of the 555 to make sure those are around 9v.
I used a TLC555CP, which has the same pinout and seems to be the same overall from the other one I used which was a TS555CN. I'll try this audio probe thing out and report back with results.
Both chips are getting 9.3 v according to the multi. I did notice the chips are both very hot. I may have a bad joint the chips may not be in all in.
neither chip should get hot. pull them from their sockets and measure the voltages on the empty pins.
After removing measuring and placing the ICs back into the circuit, the heat doesn't seem to be an issue so maybe they were slightly off. I accidentally soldered the IC sockets w/the chips on them and wonder if the chips are the issue.
The audio probe seems to make sounds from 1,8, and 5 (386)that are distorted but low in volume. I'd compare to the previous box I made, but I no longer have it.
Here's volts for the the chips
555
1. 8. 9.35
2. 9.15 7. 9.25
3. 9.25 6. 9.15
4. 3.52 5
386
1 8
2 7
3 6. 9.35
4 5. 3 (starts around 3 and goes down at a decreasing rate)
Still haven't figured it out at all. Very frustrating. Anyway to tell if the vactrol is the issue? I think I put it in right, but what could be doing this?
I now have a bypass signal and no signal when engaged.
The vactrol looks like it's in right. It seems like the 555 is just not oscillating. Here's a thread where Tim talked about inconsistent results with any chip other than the one specified:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=49569.5
The TLC555's datasheet says it has a CMOS-compatible output, and that it's made with "LinCMOS" technology, but it's not clear to me whether that actually means it's a CMOS part, and I can't find any info online about what this LinCMOS process is.
So, that would be my hunch, assuming you've reflowed your solder joints and are sure there's nothing out of place on the board or wiring. Try poking around the 555 with your audio probe and see if you find any sound anywhere. Sometimes I'll also use my multimeter on the continuity setting, to check that all the grounds are connecting but also that the signal isn't shorting to ground anywhere (long wire leads touching on the other side of the board, for example.
That's weird since I've used that chip for all previous builds. I've moved on to something else at the moment. I think I should build a beavis board and unbox it and see if it still works. I'm wondering if I fried an IC since I soldered them attached to the socket.
The chips can take soldering iron heat, for the usual amount of time. (Happens millions of times per day!)
It's difficult to get help on this - if it were a fuzz face and it was making this or that kind of sound folks would spot it for you quickly. The voltages will help.
Well I replaced both chips and it works fine. Not sure what happened, but glad they were socketed.
Don't know if I got duds or something I did made that happen. I'm guessing based on the heating issue I was having that it was a loose connection and then they fried.
Glad it's all sorted!
If you need to check vactrol polarity, simply take DMM and put probes on vactrol's LED wires. Now check the DMM for diode measurement and if you measure some voltage drop, then black probe is on LED- and red is on LED+. If not measuring, try to switch, and if no measure even then, the vactrol is gone :(
Sorry for bumping this thread, but I'm a bit stuck with one thing related to this PCB. Probably someone has ideas how to investigate this properly.
I'm using a musicpcb.com plate and trying to add LFO according to the diagram:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TYJ0-IqRWIo/XOUstfyauAI/AAAAAAAAH4I/XL_GPQ5MOAgKF3xWegA2XDrBhAA4jZx4wCLcBGAs/s1600/Juan%2BLFO.jpg)
Since sensivity pot already exists on musicpcb pcb, I used injection points like this (I have also omitted C3 cap as it was advised here: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=10370.0):
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w9aHpaIAnJc/XTWuW8LK0II/AAAAAAAAH-M/HxIhbMeaSv4beyGmOLHR5Gxn7PXDQS5jgCLcBGAs/s1600/Juan%2BLFO-mpcb.png)
Does this layout to add LFO make sense at all?
I have the following voltages:
1. Sensivity pot point; LFO on: regularly varies 3.2–5V (that's a sign that LFO works)
2. Sensivity pot point; LFO off: static 5.5V (that's expected I believe)
3. 386 Pin 5 point; LFO on: very slightly varies randomly around 5.632V
4. 386 Pin 5 point; LFO off: very slightly varies randomly around 5.602V
I cannot hear any LFO applied on wet signal for some reason. The curious thing is that LFO worked for some time once I have built the circuit, but then it stopped and I can't figure out what changed.
Would be grateful for any help.
I decided to verify the PCB without LFO firstly, and found that sensivity pot was not working. I used recommended components (JRC386D, NSL-32). Firstly I replaced NSL-32 to the LED/LDR pair and saw that the LED was changing its brightness, but the sound still was not affected by the sensivity pot. I replaced JRC386D with another one and it worked. For the sake of interest I tried another NSL-32 and it was not working again.
Probably I had malfunctioning NSL-32s (common problem AFAIK). And probably I burnt JRC386D or it was bad too. I used GL5528 and a yellow diffused LED as an opto and it worked well.
Still investigating LFO issues.
I had received some requests to restock this board, so it's now back in stock.
http://www.musicpcb.com/pcbs/uglyface
Also, if you ever wanted to build a clone of the Gojira FX Mangler, you can use this same PCB. That's because the Mangler was built using the PCB I designed. I guess they got tired of paying for them after the first handful, so then they made an exact copy of the board and put their name on it. Pretty funny!
https://i.imgur.com/NOyxfWL.jpg
Source:
https://www.reddit.com/r/guitarpedals/comments/2q6cw0/gojira_fx_avoid/cn3pgc0/