Need Help Modding My DD-3...

[I_N_J]

Hello people with more pedal experience than I...

First I'd like to apologize if this is in the wrong section. I'm new to this forum.

Last week I attempted to do an analog mod to my DD-3 according to this thread: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=57203.0

I thought everything went well, but it hasn't. The pedal still works fine, but my mod made no difference whatsoever, which leads me to believe something isn't connected in the right spot. I bought the pedal new about 6 months ago, and so far all the pictures of this mod that I've found online have had a different pin arrangement than my pedal has. I figured the pins were simply 1, 2, 3, but I'm probably wrong. There should be a couple pictures below of what I did....

First I tried between the 1st and 3rd pins, and that didn't make any difference, so I switched to the second pin and a ground. The wires run to a DPDT switch with a ,047 and ,068 capacitor on either side. (I realize the capacitors on there are ,47 and ,68. They have since been changed to ,047 and ,068, I jsut haven't gotten a new picture) I couldn't decide on a value, so I decided switch between the two.

But the mod doesn't work... Does it look like something is connected the wrong way on the effect and feedback pins? Or did I by chance mess something up on the switches with the caps? This is the 1st real mod I've tried, so I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing yet...








Should be pictures of the switches with capacitors and the pins on the knobs. Just for fun I got a picture of the switches from the top. I was pretty proud of the machining I did on there, I just can't get the mod to work.

Any suggestions?

[duck_arse]

welcome to the forum, I_N_J.

if you are doing mods in the second post on that thread, you want the wiper and ground, the wiper being the middle pin. if you take yourself off over to geofex.com, search up "the secret life of pots", and let R.G. explain nearly all you need to know on the topic. with pictures.

and, we want the picture of the switch as is now, not as was last week. much can change in the interim.

[I_N_J]

Ok, I read the article and now I'm even more confused. I now understand what the pots are doing, so I checked with a multimeter to make sure I was on the correct pin, and I am. I'm wired from the wiper pin through my switches to a ground. As far as I'm able to tell, this should be working, and I don't understand why it isn't. I got up to date pictures as well.

The way I see it, my wires go from the wiper pins to one side of my switch, then through either the ,047 or ,068 capacitor, then to the ground. I have pictures of the pots, the switches, and then the ground. I must be missing something, because I really don't get why this isn't working.

[duck_arse]

it does appear you have the right pot pins. have you the right pots? [just checking, we have to ask these q's if we can't pick it up and look ourselves.] and it does appear you have the switch wired correctly. and you are aware the new effect will only be apparent when the wiper goes further from ground, don't you? when the pot is set to min, there will be no modded sound, or verr little.

so, now meter out your switches. POWER OFF - you know that - then set yr meter to ohms or continuity. connect one probe to ground, clip it to a jack sleeve, and then probe the centre lug of the switch to see if the wire is continuous. then probe the outer lug that side, and as you work the switch, there should be yes/no/yes continuity. then try the opposite outer lug that side. all good? now do from the pot wiper to the other side of the switch, and run thru all those checks above. come back and tell all.

[I_N_J]

okay... interesting results. I get a reading other than 1 no matter what the switch orientation is... I'm not sure if the circuit is backtracking through the board somehow or what, but no matter where the switch is, I get continuity. The resistance changes as I adjust the pot, but I cannot get it to show me a 1 no matter what I do. Next step is to desolder one of the wires from one side and make sure the switch itself works right, but I'm no longer by the pedal and won't be able to work on it until tomorrow hopefully.

assuming that the switch is good though, any ideas on what the issue could be? I don't know how the circuitry on the board of this pedal works even in the slightest sense, so I have no clue what's going on.

[duck_arse]

well, what you were testing was the connection from "somewhere" to "somewhere else" first. from a/the wiper connection to the switch lug should be 0R, not some resistance. and then it should be 0R to one outer lug and 1 to the other lug. switching should reverse the states.

could be the switch, if it's been overheated, the lugs can shift and non-connect. test if the switch is shorted one pole (side) to the other. test if the caps are short. otherwise ....... hmmm, dunno.

[slacker]

I've never seen that version of the DD3 before but looking at your pictures it looks like there's only a six way ribbon cable going to the board with the pots and the mode switch on. On older versions there's more wires than that so I would guess that the pots are wired differently which is why the mod isn't working, they might not even have audio going to them and are just controlling something on the main PCB.

I like how you mounted the switches, very clever.