I agree, it appears that something is happening, so its not a total failure. The transistors do seem weird. I agree about reverse voltage, i goofed when i was modifying the pcb, but only fired it up for a few moments before i realized i goofed (though i do realize this is more than enough time to fry every ic - which i have extra of, should it come to replacing everything)
noob question. reference voltage means the voltage coming from the adapter i'm using the to power the circuit? if so, it's putting out 8.85v. I'm afraid i dont know what exactly vref is, and couldnt find a clear answer in the forum.
pin 7 should be the v+ to the opamps, so i'd assume thats the culprit on ic3. but when i probe pin 7 of ic3, i get sound - like a buzz, what i assume is the triangle wave.
here's the pinout of the max1044 (charge pump is just below satan in the pictures):
Max1044
1: 8.71
2: 4.29
3: 0
4: -4.27
5: -8.45
6: 4.24
7: 6.42
8: 8.7
Since yours is pretty much the only functional gristleizer the diy community has to offer, would you cross-reference the voltages? i'm ready to start replacing, but dont want to get panicked and premature.