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PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:42 pm 
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Hi everyone!

I'm hoping yall can help me figure out what's going on with my classic phaser. I've searched other posts with seemingly the same issue but all of my attempts to follow those helpful tips haven't worked yet.

The LED powers on when engaged and there's signal whether engaged or not. Twisting the trim pot doesn't seem to do anything. I feel like I do notice a change in tone when the pedal is engaged so idk.

I've tried re-liquifying the solder joints and pretty dang sure the pot isn't grounding out on the board though I'm gonna pick up some electrical tape tomorrow. I did stick a couple pieces of teflon tape on the bottom of the pot (in addition to the plastic cap) because someone suggested doing that in a video on youtube.

I haven't used any electronics skills since an intro class in high school 20 years ago so my soldering technique could use work I'm sure. I was able to successfully complete the Li'l Mouse kit earlier this month so I know I'm not completely helpless.

Thank you all so much for your time and help :)


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 28, 2022 9:30 pm 
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Hi, welcome. We're glad to help with your build.

A photo of the solder side of the board would be quite helpful for us to evaluate the quality of your soldering. Also, the photo of the top side that you provided is not high enough quality to make out the color bands on your resistors, at least for my middle aged eyes. Any chance you could take a better photo, or upload a higher resolution version of this one?

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 29, 2022 11:56 am 
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sjaustin wrote:
Hi, welcome. We're glad to help with your build.

A photo of the solder side of the board would be quite helpful for us to evaluate the quality of your soldering. Also, the photo of the top side that you provided is not high enough quality to make out the color bands on your resistors, at least for my middle aged eyes. Any chance you could take a better photo, or upload a higher resolution version of this one?

^ This! Photos need to be LARGE, well-lit & well-focused shots of BOTH sides of the PCB and all of the jack & switch wiring such that we can visually follow each wire connection. Here's an example of the kind of photo quality we love to see: http://www.byocelectronics.com/board/vi ... 10#p482910 Granted, not everybody can provide such quality--just want to give you an idea of what to shoot for.

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 29, 2022 6:40 pm 
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Thanks for the replies! Sorry trying to figure out how to get such a good looking shot because yeah compared to the pics you referenced mine are nowhere near that quality so lets see if this is any better

EDIT ok so actually being able to see up close (my eyesight is pretty crap) even with the blurry picture, I can tell there are solder joints that still need a lot of work. Other than that, are there any glaring problems yall see or any other tests I can do with my multimeter? Sorry if this stuff is pretty obvious I am very new to the world of pedal building and electronics in general.

thanks again!!


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 29, 2022 7:17 pm 
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Don't see anything out of place, so that's a positive.

Stinky wrote:
Twisting the trim pot doesn't seem to do anything.


The portion of the trimpot sweep in which the phasing works is VERY small and should be right near the middle of its sweep arc. You currently have it turned way over to the CCW side of its arc, so turn it back to the midpoint (the flat portion should be perfectly horizontal). Then turn it V-E-E-R-R-Y-Y slowly to one side and then the other if you still hear no phasing.

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 29, 2022 10:25 pm 
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When I first tried turning the trim pot it spun all the way 360 degrees but as I fiddled with it more I realized there should be two ends clockwise and CCW. Could me turning all the way have busted it?


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2022 9:19 am 
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Definitely should not spin 360º. It's possible you over twisted it and broke it. Also possible (if somewhat less likely) that it arrived broken. But in any case, since it's broken, you definitely need to replace it. I would email sales@buildyourownclone.com to request a new trimpot. They'll take care of you!

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PostPosted: Mon Jan 31, 2022 7:57 am 
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Well thats kind of embarrassing but I'll cut myself a little slack by acknowledging I've never messed with a trim pot before. Anyhoodle thanks for the tip and email. I shot them a message about getting a new one. Hopefully that'll do the trick. I have a classic chorus on the way that will tide me over. Thanks again for all of your help everyone. I'll let yall know how it goes once I get the replacement :)


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PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 8:12 pm 
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The new trim pot worked and the pedal sounds great!!! I seem to get more electronic interference from this pedal than I do from my other pedals (even a different BYOC) I live in an apartment building that has cell towers on the roof so interference is to be expected but any idea what I can do to cut some of the interference? Thank you all again for all of your help!!!


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2022 12:52 pm 
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I've never noticed the phaser to be more prone to EMI than something like say a silicon fuzz face. Is the back plate on the enclosure?

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PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2022 5:07 pm 
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byoc wrote:
I've never noticed the phaser to be more prone to EMI than something like say a silicon fuzz face. Is the back plate on the enclosure?


It was noticeably a lot worse when I was dialing in the trim pot before I put the back plate on but I still hear it more when the phaser is engaged than my lil mouse or any commercial pedal. It's not the end of the world. Once the paint on the enclosure dries, I'll try it out through my audio interface. The practice amp I initially tested it on is real bad about EMI even with isolated power and all that. Low-income housing, am I right? I'm still very happy with my pedal and appreciate everyones help!


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PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2022 7:37 pm 
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Shorter wires between the I/O jacks and PCB could help a bit.

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PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2022 8:54 pm 
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In my experience, phasers pick up noise in the power of it’s not clean. Nearly drove me insane on one of my early on builds.


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:44 pm 
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jimilee wrote:
In my experience, phasers pick up noise in the power of it’s not clean. Nearly drove me insane on one of my early on builds.


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Is it possible it's a grounding issue causing the emi? I also noticed a pretty distinct cut in the high end of my guitar when the pedal is engaged. Would adjust the trim pot affect that at all? Sorry if these are obvious answers or completely incorrect I'm very new to electronics and never used a pedal that I had to adjust a trim pot. Thank you all again so much for your help sorry if it's a bother


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2022 8:19 pm 
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Try powering the pedal with a battery. If the noise goes away, it's power supply noise. Very common issue.

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 3:32 pm 
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duhvoodooman wrote:
Try powering the pedal with a battery. If the noise goes away, it's power supply noise. Very common issue.


I had the same thought and tried using a new battery yesterday but no luck, same noise. It's not unbearable and like I said it's pretty common in my apartment. My omnichord picks it up everywhere in my building battery or wall-wart so I'm learning to live with it.

In other news, I finished my analog chorus today and it works perfectly so my confidence is boosted!

Thanks everyone for your help :)


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PostPosted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 3:48 pm 
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Stinky wrote:
duhvoodooman wrote:
Try powering the pedal with a battery. If the noise goes away, it's power supply noise. Very common issue.


I had the same thought and tried using a new battery yesterday but no luck, same noise. It's not unbearable and like I said it's pretty common in my apartment. My omnichord picks it up everywhere in my building battery or wall-wart so I'm learning to live with it.

In other news, I finished my analog chorus today and it works perfectly so my confidence is boosted!

Thanks everyone for your help :)
Wow, no kidding? That can’t be good. Do you live under power lines?


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PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2022 5:13 pm 
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jimilee wrote:
Wow, no kidding? That can’t be good. Do you live under power lines?


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Cell towers on the roof of my apartment building. Gotta keep that low-income housing affordable somehow right? It definitely makes recording more of a pain in the ass. Once I upgraded to a PedalPower2 instead of just a daisy chained one-spot I have very little noise from all of my commercially made pedals. I have a Lil Mouse and an Analog Chorus from BYOC that seems just fine too, it's just the Phaser.

I took it apart and put it back together. Now with a battery the EMI is A LOT better. Not perfect but way better. I think I messed something up while I was mucking around in there though because I feel like the phased signal is distorted a little (even plugged into the wall, battery is fresh) so if any of yall have an idea of what that might be let me know but otherwise I would say I got a lot of experience and a "unique" but still very usable out of the whole debacle :)


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2022 2:36 pm 
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Why is the 22k resistor not installed? I am also having to effects from my pedal. Maybe I should remove it?


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2022 2:52 pm 
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estjul1977 wrote:
Why is the 22k resistor not installed? I am also having to effects from my pedal. Maybe I should remove it?
The forum is slower on weekends, it takes more time to get an answer.

Vintage sound with it, modern without it. Removing it gives a deeper phasing sound.


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