Hand built pedal problem: disconnected wire

lukedlb

And I mean unusable hiss. 
Thank you all for your input and advice. 
Time to retire the pedal?
Does anyone understand what’s going on in the circuit?

Philtre

lukedlb said:

Breadboard in daylight:
https://imgur.com/gallery/HthsoQM

Oh my word.

"Tech", you say?

lukedlb

I did get the impression he was bouncing from one job to the next. And that clients or ex bosses are too kind to criticise. 
He was my third failed tech. 
The next one has lots of promise: builds amps and pedals, even exhibited at namm this year. By all accounts he is reliable and quick. The exact opposite of the other tech. 

stickyfiddle

Philtre said:

lukedlb said:

Breadboard in daylight:
https://imgur.com/gallery/HthsoQM

Oh my word.

"Tech", you say?

I think we can confidently say "human being in possession of a soldering iron" but anything beyond that may be giving too much credit! 

ICBM

lukedlb said:

And I mean unusable hiss. 

Time to retire the pedal?

Yes. Just bin it and buy something that's built properly and works properly. You can't rebuild this to anything like an acceptable standard without just starting again.

(Or more accurately, salvage the good components and bin the rest.)

This is not a pedal, it's an amateur DIY project at best. If this was built by a so-called 'tech', and he's working on amps as well the results could be a lot more serious than a pedal that just doesn't work properly.

lukedlb

ICBM said:

lukedlb said:

And I mean unusable hiss. 

Time to retire the pedal?

Yes. Just bin it and buy something that's built properly and works properly. You can't rebuild this to anything like an acceptable standard without just starting again.

(Or more accurately, salvage the good components and bin the rest.)

This is not a pedal, it's an amateur DIY project at best. If this was built by a so-called 'tech', and he's working on amps as well the results could be a lot more serious than a pedal that just doesn't work properly.

When he ‘fixed’ my twin reverb, he did his best to convince me that the measly output at full volume was correct, when my 50 & 100watt amps at volume 1 were louder than the twin at max. 
My mistake was handing him every repair job at once and patiently waiting for him to complete them all. 
Rather than stew, time to move on and find a pedal with the same character. I will let you all know about the experience with a new tech, hopefully next week. His pedals sound interesting and I’m told his amps are incredible. 

ICBM

lukedlb said:

When he ‘fixed’ my twin reverb, he did his best to convince me that the measly output at full volume was correct, when my 50 & 100watt amps at volume 1 were louder than the twin at max.

If you haven't already, get someone competent to look at the Twin.

For what it's worth, someone like this had been working on an amp I got for repair this week - the power transformer had been replaced with a non-original type that didn't fit the bolt holes in the chassis, so instead of drilling new holes, he jammed it *loose* into the chassis with some foam rubber to stop it moving around... much - it could still have potentially shorted against the mains input socket. This is the kind of thing you're up against with idiots who think they're techs.

lukedlb

ICBM said:

lukedlb said:

When he ‘fixed’ my twin reverb, he did his best to convince me that the measly output at full volume was correct, when my 50 & 100watt amps at volume 1 were louder than the twin at max.

If you haven't already, get someone competent to look at the Twin.

For what it's worth, someone like this had been working on an amp I got for repair this week - the power transformer had been replaced with a non-original type that didn't fit the bolt holes in the chassis, so instead of drilling new holes, he jammed it *loose* into the chassis with some foam rubber to stop it moving around... much - it could still have potentially shorted against the mains input socket. This is the kind of thing you're up against with idiots who think they're techs.

I sold it at a very reasonable price for the seller with the preavviso that it will be looked at. He works for a digital modelling company so his colleagues were keen to open it up.

Philtre

Looking at those caps I'm sure you could run this pedal at about 240v with a DC converter. Plenty of headroom. (Just kidding folks, don't try this)

juansolo

lukedlb said:

Soldered it on. Works but the hiss remains. 

Cure it with fire...

robinbowes

I was going to suggest you send it to me to take a look as I like detective work, but that is truly awful.

What circuit is it? 

R. 

Sassafras

robinbowes said:

I was going to suggest you send it to me to take a look as I like detective work, but that is truly awful.

What circuit is it? 

R. 

A short circuit by the looks of it.

lukedlb

robinbowes said:

I was going to suggest you send it to me to take a look as I like detective work, but that is truly awful.

What circuit is it? 

R. 

I'll find out from my mate who has the original one. Moving the gain pot makes a lot of noise, if that helps.

robinbowes

lukedlb said:

robinbowes said:

I was going to suggest you send it to me to take a look as I like detective work, but that is truly awful.

What circuit is it? 

R. 

I'll find out from my mate who has the original one. Moving the gain pot makes a lot of noise, if that helps.

Sounds like a Box of Rock clone, maybe. 

R. 

lukedlb

robinbowes said:

lukedlb said:

robinbowes said:

I was going to suggest you send it to me to take a look as I like detective work, but that is truly awful.

What circuit is it? 

R. 

I'll find out from my mate who has the original one. Moving the gain pot makes a lot of noise, if that helps.

Sounds like a Box of Rock clone, maybe. 

R. 

Ok, so it’s based on a jetter 45/100 circuit. The thing is I heard that pedal before the plan to build one was hatched and I was fairly unimpressed. The clone had full thick body at low gain and could reach the heights of muffdom at high gain. Super interactive controls of gain, volume, tone. 
How easy for a Luddite would it be to copy the p2p version my mate has? Could I measure the tolerances with a simple multimeter while the pedal is intact? I would be happy for a pro to build it for me. 

Lesgrandepotato

I’d probably start my mapping out what you have. Built properly without all the breadboard interference it may well play nicely.