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Guitar FX Layouts
Here's a collection of vero (stripboard) and tagboard guitar and bass effect layouts that we have put together
covering many classic and popular effects in growing numbers. Many of these have been posted on
freestompboxes.org, so check that site out for great discussions on building your own effect pedals. Enjoy the
builds and please also visit us on Facebook and Twitter

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Friday 4 May 2012 Blog Archive

Fault Finding a Build ► 2023 (4)

► 2022 (28)
I thought that some sort of debugging guide would be a useful addition to the blog. I get a lot of requests
about non-working builds and always have basically the same answers, so this is a first port of call for anyone ► 2021 (2)
having problems.
► 2020 (11)

The build I'm using in this guide for simplicity is an NPN silicon Fuzz Face I built a while ago: ► 2019 (9)

► 2018 (40)
► 2017 (123)
► 2016 (128)
► 2015 (46)
► 2014 (203)
► 2013 (280)
▼ 2012 (300)
► December (26)
► November (8)
► October (21)
► September (23)
► August (14)

► July (19)

and yes I know this one wouldn't work without transistors! :o) ► June (17)
▼ May (22)

1) Transistor Orientation Hipkitty Oxblood

Distortion
With my earlier layouts (hopefully not so many recently) I used the transistor symbol purely as a graphical Skreddy P19
representation of a transistor. I always included the required pinouts but often people have taken the
orientation as correct (understandably unless you've known what I've written about it in the past) and so if
EHX Screaming Hog
you're having problems with a transistor build (especially from an older layout) then first thing to do is check Rangemaster with
the datasheet for your own transistors to make sure the orientation matches. I always socket transistors to switchable input caps
allow me to experiment with different types and gains and would always suggest everyone else do the same.
Austone Textone Fuzz
You can use PCB header sockets (found on eBay) which cost me £5.55 for 20 strips of 40, which is enough to
Nutz
socket 266 transistors. Not a lot of money to allow you to experiment easily with every build. As a bonus it's
also easy to turn a transistor round if the orientation is wrong. Maxon OD820
Barber LTD Silver
Rab Fuzz - modified Kay
Fuzz Tone
Kay F1 Fuzz Tone
 Death By Audio -
Harmonic Transformer
EHX Muff Fuzzes!
Roland BeeBaa AF-100
EHX Hogs Foot
Keeley Java Boost
Ampeg Scrambler
EHX Screaming Bird
Devi Ever Hyperion 2

Fault Finding a Build

Negative Voltage
2) Faulty components Inverter
ToadWorks Mr Squishy
This is really something to check before a build. Once the components are in circuit you can't guarantee they Compressor
will measure accurately and as you can get a cheap multimeter that can measure both resistors and caps for
not a lot of cash, then everyone should be doing this first. I've done a number of builds where I was tearing MXR Micro Amp with
my hair out and as I destroyed the board in anger, measured components afterwards, usually to find a faulty tone control
electrolytic cap. If you have the patience then do it because it can save you a lot of heartache. If you don't Rogue Sound Hatchet
have the patience, then develop some! :o) Harry

► April (23)
3) Cold solder joints
► March (32)

If you're getting noise (or no sound at all) from your build, then a good thing to check is for cold solder joints. ► February (69)
► January (26)

► 2011 (16)
► 2010 (64)

You want all soldering to be shiny and so look out for dull looking points or pitted solder, and reflow if
necessary to make sure you've got a strong connection.

4) Unwanted Bridges

When you make a track cut in vero you always run the risk of leaving a burr that is making an unwanted bridge
across tracks which will almost certainly stop the build from working properly. Similarly solder can stray
sometimes to cross the groove between strips and cause the same problem.

If you've got a multimeter the best way to test this is to use the audible diode test to check for continuity
between consecutive tracks including points in the row which have been isolated by track cuts. So in the Fuzz
Face example this is where you would want to look for continuity.
If an unwanted bridge is found then use a sharp knife to cut between the tracks and break the bridge. It may
be worth using a magnifying glass to make sure nothing is left which could cause additional problems in the
future.

If you don't have a multimeter then just score between all the tracks with a sharp knife, or better still a small
hacksaw, to make sure there is complete separation.

5) Checking placement and cuts

I often come across problems with builds where a part was soldered to the wrong hole, or a cut misplaced and
again in most cases this would stop the effect working. With smaller layouts it's easy enough to go over
everything and double check but I use a visual method to help me check for placement errors. Anyone who
uses a graphics editing program like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro should be able to do this easily enough, but
not everyone wants to mess around with graphics programs to fault find a build, and if that is the case then just How brave are you?
check your placements critically against the layout, counting holes to make sure everything is where it is
intended to be. You can ignore the rest of this section and skip to number 6. Unverified (111) Verified (1116)
I take a front and back pic of the board and then use the layout pic to create a semi transparent layer over the
top. For the top of the board just select right round the board layout and copy and paste it as a new layer over
the top of the front photo. Then you can make it semi transparent by setting the layer opacity. Then use a Type
deformation tool to line up the layout with the photo (it's easiest to try to lineup the vero holes as points of
reference). The results make it very clear where everything should go and highlight errors Acoustic (2) Amp (7) Amp Emulation (41)
Autowah (9)Bass (48) Blend (8)
Booster (147) Buffer (20) Charge
pump (22) Chorus (11) Components (3)
Compressor (30) Delay (24)
Distortion (259) EQ (17)
Filter (36) Fuzz (378) Gate (5)
Guide (7) Looper (1) Misc (5) Mixer (7)
Modification (1) Modulation (8) Noise (31)
Notification (11) Octave (41) Other (4)
Overdrive (392) Phaser (18)
Pitch (4) Pre-amp (26) Reverb (11)
Robot (1) Splitter (6) Swell (2) Tremolo
(25) Utility (25) Vibe (8) Vibrato (6) Wah
(28)

Popular Brands

Ace Tone (2) Ampeg (2) Apocalypse

Do the same with the reverse side (don't forget to mirror the layout before pasting over the picture so it's the Audio (4) Arion (2) Baja (7) Barber (8)
correct way round. Barcus Berry (1) Bartolini (1) BBE (6) Bixonic
(1) Biyang (1) BJF/MP (29)
Black Arts (11) Blackout Effectors (3)
Bogner(1) Boss (15) Brunetti (2)
Buddah (1) BuggFX (1) Butah (1) Butler (3)
Buxom (1) Buzztone (2)BYOC (6) Caline
(3) Carl Martin (4) Carlsbro (1) Castledine
Electronics (1) Catalinbread (19)
Ceriatone (1) Colorsound (13)
Commonsound (2) Cornish (3) Creepy
DAM (22) Dan
Fingers (1) Crowther (1)
Armstrong (6) Danelectro (8) DBA (2)
Death By Audio (12) Demeter (4)
Devi Ever (13) Diezel (1) Dinosaural (1)
DOD (21) Dunlop
DNA Analogic (1)
 (10) Durham (2) Dwarfcraft Devices (1)
Earth Sound Research (1) EarthQuaker
Devices (25) Electro
Harmonix (40) Emanating
Fist Electronics (4) Emma (2) Fender
(3) Foxrox (1) Foxx (1) Frantone (5)
Friedman (4) Fulltone (10)
Fuzzhugger (5) Gretsch (2) Guild (1)
Guyatone (2) HAO (5) HBE (2) Hermida
(1) Hornby Skewes (5) Hudson (1)

Hughes & Kettner (1) Ibanez (32)

Jen (5) JHS (6) Joyo (1) Keeler
Idiotbox (1)
(1) Keeley (9) Kent (1) Klon (8) Korg (1)
Krank (1) Kustom (1) Landgraff (5) LEHLE
(1) Lovepedal (22) Lovetone (2)
Madbean (32) Maestro (7)
Marshall (13) Maxon (9) Menatone
Using a filter on the track side can make it more obvious where the photo and layout cuts are. This was using (7) Mesa (3) MI Audio (6) Mid-Fi
a simple "Darken" blend mode Electronics (4) Mojo Hand (2) Monster
Effects (1) Moosapotamus (1) Morley (2)
Mosrite (1) Musitronics (3) MXR (21)
Nobels (2) OKKO (2) Palmer (1) Parasit
Studio (3) Peavey (1) Pigtronix (1) PJP (6)
Prescription Electronics (1) Pro Analog (1)
ProCo (3) Red Witch (1) Rockett (2) Rocktek
(1) Roger Mayer (10) Roland (1) Ross (1)
Rothwell (2) Rotosound (1)
Runoffgroove (25) Sansamp (2)
Schaller (3) Schumann (2) Selmer (1) Shin
Ei (4) Skreddy (11) Sola Sound (2)
SubDecay (2) Sunn (2) T-Rex (3) Tech 21
(2) Tech21 (1) Thorpy FX (1) ThroBak (1) Tone
Factor (1) Trombetta (1) Tubeworks (3)
Tycobrahe (2) Univox (5) Vemuram (1)
Vertex (1) Visual Sound (1) Voodoo Lab (3)
Vox (11) Walco (1) Wampler (12)
Way Huge (9) Whetstone (1) Wren and Cuff
(1) Xotic (5) Yamaha (1) Yerasov (3) Zinky
(1) Zorg (1) ZVex (22)
6) Measurements

If the above all looks good then we need something else to give us a clue to where your problem arises. The
best way to provide this is to measure the DC voltage between all transistors, ICs, regulators etc and ground.
Any voltage that isn't in the right sort of ball park will stand out like a sore thumb, so if you want help make
sure you do this first to give us something to work with.

To assist you in giving us the correct information, ICs follow the following numbering convention:

1----8
2----7
3----6
4----5

and if the circuit contains transistors be sure to identify collector, base and emitter when giving voltages.

7) If all else fails .....

If all of the above check out ok, then the problem must be an incompetent layout designer! :o) In this case
post a message to the board including any front and back pics you've taken, along with the pin voltages
mentioned in (6) and that could really help identify the problem area.

Hopefully you have more successes from this blog than failures to make the frustrations worthwhile.

Posted by IvIark at 17:59

Tags: Guide

61 comments:
 Life-Proof Seat Covers
Martin 4 May 2012 at 19:22
Seat Covers Unlimited

Hi

Useful guide.I´m having problems with troubleshooting my Woolly Mammoth build.I did all of the
above except checking capacitors.I have a multimeter but it is´nt capable of measuring capitance...Is
there a way to check capacitors without having to buy a new meter??

Thx :-)

Reply

Replies

IvIark 4 May 2012 at 23:46

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttzqpTWDDAc

Or just get one of these:

Total Pageviews
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260841152985
36,813,410
They're really good. I've got the model that this one replaced and it measures pf values
much more accurately, and uF values much more quickly than a much more expensive
meter that I've got.
Recent Comments

Reply
IvIark commented on Little Angel
Chorus Nye Edition Amz: “No
connection. They’re both simple
variable resistors, not voltage
Martin 5 May 2012 at 19:19
dividers”
Ok cool.New import tax-laws for non-EU countries will charge me an insane amount of money for any
purchase over 9£ so i´ll have to look for something within the EU.I suppose one could go all the way Fx_adiks commented on Little Angel
Chorus Nye Edition Amz: “Where is
and get an Atlas ESR but how about this one:
the speed 1 and depth 1 connect. Is it
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LCR-RCL-INDUCTANCE-CAPACITANCE-RESISTANCE-METER-W- on ground?”
Leads-/260838255647?
pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item3cbb2bec1f Shazbat66 commented on Heartthrob
Tremolo: “Looks like a while since
Will it be able to do the same? postings here. So I thought I'd add a
positive note. I've just built this and
Reply it's working perfectly. I added a
volume control just in case i need it
Replies and included…”

Caelanq commented on Ehx Green

IvIark 6 May 2012 at 01:40
Russian Big Muff: “I know this thread
I've honestly no idea, I've never seen or used that model. Are you in the UK? If so, you is pretty old but wondering if anyone
don't get charged duty unless the transaction would incur duty of at least £9, not a could help. I have built this pedal and
it powers on, I get a signal etc but it's
purchase over £9. I buy from China, Thailand, Malaysia, the US, in fact just about
not really fuzzy, sounds almost like
everywhere all the time, and I've only been charged duty once ever. And that was about
I'm playing…”
£70 order of resistors coming from the US. I frequently place £30-£40 orders with China
and never had any charge. Dc0 commented on Spaceman
Sputnik Ii: “Success! I was able to get
rid of the massive squealing when
Drift is turned on by buying a 10-piece
Martin 6 May 2012 at 11:04
bag of germanium transistors,
No i´m in Denmark.Any purchase over 9 £´s will set me back an additional 25-30 £´s for measuring all the hfes using a
import tax + "Handling"...>:-(.(No more Tayda orders for me). transistor tester, then plugging in…”

IvIark 7 May 2012 at 16:25 Current Most Viewed Layouts

That's ridiculous. Governments create smugglers by imposing this sort of draconian
Greeny's Vero Build Guide
restriction. Still you could always get orders shipped to someone you know elsewhere in
A number of people have asked me to
the EU first who could then forward them on. You'd have to pay shipping from the them to
do a build guide for one of these
Denmark but it'd be a lot cheaper than that sort of duty.
 effects, but I noticed the
other day that one of the
STAALHAAR 1 October 2012 at 19:32 guys here (timmy)...

Hej Martin Hvorfor handler du ikke i Tyskland...Musikding og Banzai har det meste...Det er
helt normalt med moms + Told mm. hvis du handler uden for Eu.
Sorry Folk´s This was in Danish..
Vero Layout Guide
Hilsen fra Ole Staalhaar København From Schematic to
Stripboard September
2012 ©
http://tagboardeffects.bl
Martin 17 October 2012 at 00:52 ogspot.com Updated 23rd September
Hey Ole.Yes i use Banzai,Musikding etc...But some things you can´t get from within the
2012 A lot of people have asked...
EU...And some low price shops like Tayda in Asia are just off limits for us danes.
Blackout Effectors Musket Fuzz
Reply I wanted to make this one suitable
for a 1590B, but thinking about it, not
many people are going to put a 6
knob effect into a 1590B. Still ...
Martin 8 May 2012 at 21:57
Offboard wiring
Yes it is absolutely ridiculous!.They keep changing the laws.It used to be 40 £ value before you should
pay tax...And now it´s a mere 9 £´s.I´m ok with paying the "Moms"-tax of 25% of the value but their A few people have
commented on posts
"Handling"-charges are the kind of stuff that makes you see red.They will charge you 20 £ for nothing.
asking about offboard
wiring. I use a daisy
I guess one could do it like you describe or if i make very large orders it could still be cost
chained power supply, so for things I
effective...Problem is my economy can´t handle spending 100´s of £´s at one time. build for myself I r...

Customs is currently holding on to a box of PETP capacitors i got from Ukraine.I paid like 15 £´s for it EarthQuaker Devices
but with tax and "handling" they could end up being very expensive capacitors :-o Speaker Cranker
Info about the original:
Reply
The Speaker Cranker is
an all discrete dirt
Replies enhancement device designed to give
your signal some grit and a sligh...
IvIark 9 May 2012 at 01:14

Things like that make me angry. Don't mess with a man's capacitors!! :o)

I order a lot from the far east, but my orders mostly tend to be under £10 and only go over
that when I'm ordering something a bit more special like a quantity of stomp switches or
PCBs. I've noticed that most sellers that I buy from in the far east tend to put $10 for the
value every time, nice that they're helping to stop us getting ripped off by our respective
governments!

Oh and try KW-TUBES for those PETPs. He's in Lithuania so you won't get taxed.

Anonymous 9 May 2012 at 14:52

Customs? Isn't that what they Krays specialized in back in the mob days?? F@*king
Governments! 'Free market' my arse!

I notice the same Mark, the seller I get my switches from, labels them as a 'gift' lol... I keep
my orders small but frequent.

Reply

Martin 9 May 2012 at 12:35

Yeah i got some stuff from him.Unfortunatly he did´nt have the value i was looking for this time...And
he does´nt have germanium transistors.I have built a couple of fuzzes using russian GT´s.They turned
out quite nice...In fact surprisingly good!:-)

Speaking of capacitors:Polypropylene,metallised poly,mylar etc.Is there a thumbrule of where one

type is better to use in a circuit than the other?.Sonic caracteristics etc.?
Reply

jgoulds 23 September 2012 at 06:59

I've tried posting this question in other places but am having no luck.
Note
Here goes. I've got a circuit that has 2 outputs. I need each output to be volume controlled and they
both need to be sent to one audio out jack. The .jpg shows the layout I just wired up. The problem is Not all these layouts are verified and
that they are not independent; they are interfering with each other. How do I need to change this some are put together from unverified
layout to make it work. Thanks for any help. schematics. So if you have good luck,
or bad luck for that matter, then
http://i1270.photobucket.com/albums/jj611/the_8lack_hat/JlAB/Q1_zpsa4724840.jpg please let me know by dropping a
comment in the topic. Thanks.
Reply
DMCA statement: Unless otherwise
Replies noted, all media used within this site
with the exception of linked youtube
videos, is the intellectual property of
 the author, including but not limited to
mirosol 23 September 2012 at 11:20 photographs, schematics and
interpreted layout diagrams.
I've been recently battling with a similar issue. Manufacturers and product names
http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/Pots/PassiveMixer.gif are mentioned solely for circuit
identification, and where applicable
That could solve it. Didn't solve it in my case, because the two signals were just too their trademarks are the property of
different.. their respective owners who are in no
+m way associated or affiliated with the
author. No cooperation or
endorsement is implied.

jgoulds 23 September 2012 at 17:11

I will pop that on the breadboard tonight; it looks as if it may work for me. Thanks m Links

Apocalypse Audio
Reply
DIYStompboxes

Dial F for Fuzz

Christian Tersløv 18 October 2012 at 21:28
What have I done wrong, since the pedal I just finished (Tremulator), is producing hum/static noise, Dimitri's build blog, recommended
especially when I don't touch the strings? Is it a ground problem? reading for anyone wanting a DIY
walkthrough
Help is highly appreciated! :)
DiscoFreq's Effects Database
Reply
Effect Extra
Replies
FYA Electronics
mirosol 18 October 2012 at 22:14 Freestompboxes.org (FSB)
Sounds like one. Just yesterday i put that same layout together with no issues or any noise.
Fuzz Quest
Actually, noisewise it is quiet as a lamb. Do you have both jacks grounded? Did you use
Mark's offboard wiring guide (http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.fi/2012/02/offboard- Grind Customs FX
wiring.html)? Could it be just a bad joint at some ground connection?
Those would be my first guesses... Guitar FX Layouts Facebook Page
+m
Guitar FX Layouts Twitter Page

How not to make a pedal

Christian Tersløv 18 October 2012 at 22:48
I have made my own wiring guide, it's here: www.turntable.dk/diy/Wiring.jpg Killall -9 Humans
Just ignore my remarks on it : )
La Révolution Deux

/C Madbean Pedals

Parasitstudio.se - Freppo's blog

Parasit Studio
IvIark 19 October 2012 at 00:05
Nice one, I'll point people towards that when they ask about batteries Paul in the Lab

Pedal Projects

mirosol 19 October 2012 at 05:50 Perf and PCB Effects Layouts

That looks great. So there can't be an issue with the wiring itself. Bad joint woould be a
SFX Guitar Effects
likely suspect...
+m Sabrotone

Turretboard.co.uk - Pawel's PTP

Christian Tersløv 19 October 2012 at 08:56 layouts

Ivlark@ I have put up a new wiring guide (in english). You are welcome to put it on your Woody Laboratories
site, but it's very inspired by a guide from GuitarPCB - I hope they won't sue you then! ;o)

@Mirosol Thanks, I'll check all connections :o)

Reply

Unknown 23 October 2012 at 03:32

Is it possible to remove crackle from the pots ?
Reply

Replies

IvIark 23 October 2012 at 08:11

It depends what the effect is, some pots are meant to crackle

Reply
Unknown 23 October 2012 at 13:50
I have built Death by Audio Supersonic Fuzz Gun . Bias pot and Fuzz Pot Crackle . I have also built
Lovepedal
english gent and gain pot also crackles . Is it possible to remove it ? I think original effects don`t
crackle .
Reply

LettucePrey 5 November 2012 at 21:14

I have a build (not in enclosure yet) that only produces a loud buzz UNNLESS i touch the metal on
both the input & output jacks, then the effect works...Do you think this will work once it has all been
mounted in the enclosure?
Reply

Replies

IvIark 5 November 2012 at 23:23

Have you grounded the input and output sleeves?

Reply

LettucePrey 6 November 2012 at 14:06

I think I fixed it. I had 2 seperate wires going to both +'s on the DC jack. I put them both to the same
one and it's working now.

Although, I think the Belton brick was labeled wrong...It's supposed to be the long decay and it seems
short. Is it possible that one of the components is shortening the verb?
Reply

Unknown 17 March 2013 at 00:08

i'm having some trouble with just about all my builds! i'm a novice, so that probably accounts for a lot -
- but anyways, i've checked and everything seems to be in the correct spots...but i'm getting TONS of
noise (like radio stations, etc) sometimes even when the pedal isn't engaged! any help would be
awesome!

Reply

Replies

IvIark 17 March 2013 at 12:38

The box should help a lot with RF noise, are you sure it's properly grounded? It may be that
you just have a noisy supply in which case a power filtering extension could help.

A couple of things you can do with any circuit may also help, firstly put a low value resistor
like 100 ohms in series with the cupply to the board, and you could also put a low value cap
like 47pf from the input wire to ground. Both of those help with RF.

Reply

Alex 5 April 2013 at 12:19

Hi,
Some of the pedals I've built lately have no problem with my power supply at home but, as soon as I
use them somewhere else, I can here a costant noise (possibly ground noise).
How could I fix that?
Reply

Replies

IvIark 5 April 2013 at 12:51

Some places just have noisy mains, but the fact that they're quiet at yours shows that the
pedal itself isn't at fault. To try to combat supply noise it may be worth getting one of the
mains adapters for your gear that has built in power filtering which may help.

Reply

Alex 5 April 2013 at 14:15

Thanks!
The problem is that I've built some pedals for friends and they use different power supplies.
Reply

Unknown 7 April 2013 at 23:53

I Built the little angel chorus pedal on this site and I get my bypass sound fine but when i engage the
effect I get silence, I've check everything suggest above except I don't have a multimeter. Is there any
ideas to what it could be suggest I would really appreciate the help.

Reply

Unknown 10 April 2013 at 01:33

I have built 2 successful pedals with builds from this site, and the last 2 have the EXACT same
problem which is frustrating me like crazy; with power hooked up and nothing plugged into the input
jack, I have a very faint LED light on but no tone. When I plug something into the input jack, the LED
light turns off. Bypassed works as expected, engaged I get nothing. I'm doing the same thing I did with
my first 2 builds (for offboard) and I'm at a loss. Any feedback?
Reply

Replies

Unknown 10 April 2013 at 02:03

I should add that I'm using the offboard wiring layout from Beavis Audio
(http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/StompboxWiring/StompboxWiring.gif)

Reply

Unknown 27 September 2013 at 09:34

Hi, I recently finished my first build, when I plug in I get a very loud static sound and nothing else, I
think my board is fine, the problem is that I couldn't get ahold of a footswitch with nine points on it,
mine has six. (I live in South Africa) So I tried to re-design the off board wiring, I am pretty sure that is
my problem. Is there a correct way to do this? Is it even possible ?

Reply

Replies

Unknown 7 October 2013 at 15:05

My number is 082 5516 525. I am in Centurion.

Reply

Unknown 7 October 2013 at 15:04

This comment has been removed by the author.

Reply

Unknown 25 February 2014 at 23:54

I just put together the lotus pedals snowjob underdrive. The sound is going through, but only if the
drive and volume are all the way up. it almost kind of muffles the tone. But it doesnt seem to be doing
the job right either way. Help would be appreciated!
Reply

Soporifix 4 March 2014 at 14:28

This comment has been removed by the author.

Reply

Unknown 1 February 2015 at 20:19

Hey, I have quite a problem... I built a mini Chorus from a kit (not from this site, but I hope to find
someone here who can maybe help me) and the weird thing about it is, sometimes it does work and
sometimes it doesn't... I have no Idea what could cause this problem!! When it doesn't work, the LED
still glows, there's dry sound, but no effect. Also the Footswitch makes quite a popping noise which
doesn't occur when the pedal is working fine (which it really does from time to time!) so how is that
possible? I am sure that the circuit is built correctly, I've checked it at least 5 times. it just drives me
crazy!

Reply
 Replies

Unknown 3 February 2015 at 11:52

The pedal usually starts working after I disconnect the power supply (Boss PSA adaptor)
and put it on battery for a few seconds and then swap back to the normal power supply...
But even that's not always the case...
Does anyone have an idea if this hints some sort of (occasionally?) faulty component?

Reply

Unknown 18 February 2015 at 22:31

This comment has been removed by the author.

Reply

Replies

Unknown 19 February 2015 at 05:52

Hey Sandy, what sort of power supply are you using? If you have a crappy DC adapter,
they are sometimes noisy and ruin everything. Try it with a battery and see if you have the
same results.

Unknown 19 February 2015 at 15:04

This comment has been removed by the author.

Unknown 21 February 2015 at 22:53

Oops, my bad - had the test pedal sitting on top of my amp and the noise was just
interference. Moved it a couple of feet away and bingo, problem solved!

Unknown 22 February 2015 at 06:28

Woo! It's great when the fix is so simple. Except when you tear everything apart and then
realise what solves it haha.

Reply

Anonymous 1 March 2015 at 20:13

hello woll tinned copper buss ground wire work for jumps and grounds in pedals?

I have built several and nothing works.learning patience and going back through all of your suggested
steps.

I have the enclosure part nailed, I can drill and paint with the best of them, I just cannot get an effect to
hook up and work

Reply

Unknown 12 April 2015 at 03:37

I've recently just built a Suhr Riot OD and when the effect is engaged, nothing happens. But, When I
took some alligator clips and a battery snap and ran it off a 9v battery, the effect works. Is it just the
power supply I'm using? I've used this power supply before with no problems.

Reply

Replies

Ciaran Haslett 12 April 2015 at 08:45

Maybe you mixed up the power/ground pins on the DC jack? Or the jack is faulty? Or the
PSU is faulty now? You don't have much to troubleshoot as you've already found your
problem area. Measure the PSU with a multimeter. Confirm you wired the DC jack correctly.
Then plug in PSU and measure voltage on the DC jack.

You'll find your problem somewhere in that lot. Good luck

Unknown 15 April 2015 at 00:39

Thanks man!! It turns out I wired it wrong! Thanks for your help!!
 Reply

s0b9r 2 April 2016 at 13:05

This comment has been removed by the author.
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Unknown 22 May 2016 at 18:41

Hi All, I've built 3 pedals all working but having trouble with my newest. its a Rockett WTF fuzz. works
fine in bypass, the LED's work when either footswitch is engaged but i get no sound form the effect or
boost side when on?

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mardn 9 July 2016 at 09:08

hey there, i'm not sure if i just haven't seen it, but a very efficient and easy way to check circuits for
mistakes is the audio probe.
check this...http://www.guitarpcb.com/apps/forums/topics/show/7219163
just thought, i'd let you know.
cheerio

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Unknown 22 February 2017 at 07:05

Mark,

First let me say this site is absolutely INCREDIBLE! Thanks for taking the time to make this place so
cool and such a great resource.

I am just getting into building pedals and I am having a problem and could really use your help. I am
building your layout of the Foxx Tone Machine. The board looks fine, I've checked it too many time to
mention. I wired the off-board wiring per your guide and have verified that things are correct. The
problem is, I am getting nothing out of the pedal. I can't even get the bypass to work... If I can't get a
sound out of the pedal, even with the circuit bypassed, where would be the best place to start
troubleshooting?

Thanks again for everything you do, and hopefully you can help me figure this out.

Brad

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John 25 June 2017 at 08:55

This comment has been removed by the author.

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John 25 June 2017 at 08:56

Hello Mark, I built a phaser fleur (http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2016/06/4ms-phaseur-fleur.html)

but I'm having a little trouble. At first I used a stereo input jack. Got no guitar whatsoever, only
feedback which could be altered with the pots. I tried everything, grounding the output jack, still no
guitar in either on or off mode. I then used a mono input jack. So now I get guitar sound when the
pedal is both on and off. Switched on I get the same feedback that sounds like a phaser, but it is not in
any way responsive to the guitar which is being played over the phaser feedback, as if in a bypassed
mode. Can you help me?! I'm close to getting this thing to work. Disconnected the output jack from the
board ground as suggested, ran continuity tests, everything seems to be ok and looks good. The rate
led are responsive to the speed control, and the red leds are responsive to the other controls. I hear
phaser like sounds, but it's drowning in feedback noise Please help!
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Anonymous 28 December 2017 at 19:24

I just built a Cranked AC, it sounds awful. The first time I built it it works great, built it again and the
sound kind of buzzes. Checked solder joints, and went over them. Checked placement and values of
components. And biased transistors. Even rebuilt this pedal six times using new components, new
board, even tried putting on a circuit board. I continue to get this buzzing sound. I'm at a loss any help
would be appreciated.
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Anonymous 29 December 2017 at 03:50

 I fixed it I think. I had the drains biased to 4.5... I played around with resistors and got the drains to 5.9
and it sounds much better. Can anyone tell me why they say to bias the drains to 4.5-5.0 if its sounds
like crap?

Reply

Unknown 5 June 2018 at 17:09

I'm working on my first build (http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2011/02/zvex-woolly-mammoth-
vero.html) and it just doesn't sound right. At the end of the post the voltages for the transistors are
listed and mine are pretty far off. I have checked the resistors, all good, and just checked the
capacitors. I'm wondering how far off capacitor measurements can be? I've got a couple 100u that
measure 115u and a couple 220n that measure 213n and 218n. Would love to some help.
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Al Batchelor 24 April 2019 at 03:52

FOR THE KEELEY 4 KNOB COMPRESSOR IS THERE AWAY TO USE A 200K LINEAR TAPER
POTENTIOMETER AND ATTACH A 50K RESISTOR TO MAKE THE MAX 150K.. BECAUSE THERE
ARE NO 150K LINEAR RESISTORS ANYWHERE...AND I NEED 2 OF THEM I HAVE ALL THE
OTHER PARTS... THE ONLY THING I COULD FIND IS 24MM WAH PEDAL POTENTIOMETER
THAT'S 150K LINEAR.. BUT THEY ARE .$9.00 EACH.. AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF THEY WOULD
WORK..
Reply

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