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I just finished building the classic compressor kit with the vintage upgrade. It's important that I first mention that I am somewhat unsure as to what compression pedals do exactly. Anyways, in my build, the level knob seems to work as it should and the bypass works, but the sustain knob doesn't seem to do all that much except make the signal louder without turning the level knob. However, when the sustain knob is engaged about 80% or more, I do notice that it seems to have more attack (or punch), but its only when I play spaced out notes. Overall, its a very subtle change, I feel like it should be more compressed or something. When Also there could be two potential problems with my build. The first is that I installed both IC sockets because I did not see until later that only one could be used (so I only have the vintage IC installed, but there's an empty socket still soldered in place for the other IC). The other potential problem is a solder pad that is slightly damaged. I originally thought the pad had fully fallen off the board, but it seems that only a bit of it has come off. It happened while my solder was not melting and I guess the pad got too hot or something and lifted off slightly. I will add a picture of the solder pad if anyone is interested/if someone thinks there is an actual problem with the pedal. Here's a link for a small demo of the pedal being used, I made comments that detail what wiper position each pot was at during each riff. Let me know if it sounds like it should, I would greatly appreciate anyone's help.

Compressor Demo:
https://soundcloud.com/user-895252217/c ... hort-demo3

It sounds right to me. Don’t work about the socket, it’s just that, a socket, so no worries. If you have clear, closeup, well lit pictures of the lifted pad, we can have a look, but that’s fixable if it’s causing an issue also.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Pedal building is like the opposite of sex. All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

From your description and the linked audio clip, it sounds to me like the pedal is working fine. Yes, a compressor is definitely one of the most subtle of effect pedals. Its function is to limit your initial note attack and then sustain the volume of the output for a longer time. So, in a nutshell, it evens out the dynamics of your playing. I think this is exactly why you state that "the sustain knob doesn't seem to do all that much except make the signal louder without turning the level knob." The sustain comes across as an increase in volume, and since it takes a small interval of time to "kick in", a compressor is often said to make notes "bloom." Turning the sustain pot up or down will accentuate or mitigate this effect.

If you're someone who likes a lot of pick dynamics in your playing, then you're unlikely to be much of a compressor fan (personally, I fall into this category). But they are very popular in some music genres; country players are known for using a lot of compression, particularly for fast/"chicken pickin'" styles.

Would be happy to take a look at a couple of good quality close-up photos of your damaged solder pad. I suspect it's not a problem, but you can check that using the continuity setting of a multimeter. We can provide direction on how to do that. As for the extra socket you installed, that will have no effect on the pedal's performance--sockets are just a holder for components so that they can be easily removed/replaced without soldering/desoldering.

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

Hey thanks for thanks for the help. I thought I was probably just misunderstanding the nature of the pedal and how it subtle it was supposed to be. Thanks for explaining what a compressor does as well. I've attached two photos: one of the entire board, and a close up of the pad I'm afraid might be damaged. If someone wants to walk me through testing continuity that would be great.

You want to confirm that there is a direct connection between that damaged pad (which really doesn't look too bad at all) and other components connected to the same board trace. On the marked up PCB image below, I've marked the connection point of that damaged joint (one end of a 1M resistor) and two component leads connected to the same trace above and below. So there should be continuity (i.e. essentially no resistance) between the yellow point and either point marked in fuchsia.

To confirm that, do the following:

• Disconnect your power source from the pedal.
• Set your multimeter to its continuity mode, designated by an icon looking like sound emanating from a single point. If your meter doesn't have a continuity mode, set it for the resistance mode. If it's not an auto-ranging meter, set it to its lowest resistance range.
• Touch one probe (doesn't matter which) to the pad marked in yellow and the other probe to one of the pads marked in fuchsia. If using continuity mode, the meter should beep to indicate continuity. In resistance mode, the reading should be nearly zero and not more than a couple of ohms at most. A high or infinite resistance would indicate that the connection to the trace is broken.
• Repeat the continuity measurement for the other fuchsia pad.

_________________
“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2