Build Your Own Clone Message Board

It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 2:29 am

All times are UTC - 6 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 13 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 12:52 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:40 am
Posts: 10
Hello all!

I'm new to the forum. Working on my first BYOC build...I'm a decent way into soldering the components to the board. I've currently got resistors, diodes, all but 1 capacitor, and the IC sockets soldered.

I read here that the Germanium diodes may need to be reversed? I've got the striped / painted end lined up with the stripe on the circuit board (i.e. the painted side is in the square hole) as mentioned in the instructions. I just want to confirm this is correct.

I seem to have misplaced the 20p capacitor (C3). I have a 100p laying around from a previous project. Can I use a 100p there? Thought I'd consider that before emailing Keith for a replacement...

Here's a link to the schematic for reference. http://www.byocelectronics.com/board/download/file.php?id=3843

Thanks!


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 6:33 pm 
Offline
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:24 pm
Posts: 16195
Location: Albany, NY
4stringbliss wrote:
I read here that the Germanium diodes may need to be reversed? I've got the striped / painted end lined up with the stripe on the circuit board (i.e. the painted side is in the square hole) as mentioned in the instructions. I just want to confirm this is correct.

As long as you didn't receive a diode with (1) a dot at one end instead of a stripe, or (2) a stripe of a different color at each end, then what you did is correct.

4stringbliss wrote:
I seem to have misplaced the 20p capacitor (C3). I have a 100p laying around from a previous project. Can I use a 100p there? Thought I'd consider that before emailing Keith for a replacement...

You could try it and see how it sounds. Since that 20pf cap is in the feedback loop of an op amp gain stage, it's probably there just to smooth out harshness from the output of that stage. A 100pf may roll off a little top end but I'm not sure if you'd even notice the difference. Try it and see how you like it.

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

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


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon Apr 27, 2020 4:52 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:40 am
Posts: 10
Thanks @duhvoodooman!

I would love some clarification. One diode has a white dot on one end, the other diode has a white stripe at one end. No other dots or stripes. Both are wired with the white dot / stripe in the square hole. See pic (I'm noticing some solder joints are less than ideal...please disregard those for now.)

I'll put in some sockets and try out the 100p...

Thanks!


Attachments:
File comment: Pic of the Germanium diodes
diodes.jpg
diodes.jpg [ 708.65 KiB | Viewed 6275 times ]
Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2020 11:10 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:40 am
Posts: 10
I got the pedal together. I found the 20p cap. It had fallen on the floor.

I think the germanium diodes (the clear ones) are in the correct orientation, but I would love a confirmation

I've got a couple questions. Not sure if the pedal is working as designed.

  1. The Ringer seems to only bring in some fuzz. I'm not necessarily hearing an octave up as well. Maybe this is how it's supposed to be?
  2. The fuzz from the ringer is present even with the blend knob turned all the way to the clean signal. Blend seems to work for the octave down. Is this how it's designed to work?
  3. I'm getting a little bit of clipping when I initially strike the strings. Sounds like a click almost. It's not the strings or my fingers hitting the pick up. It's there when the effect is on and is present when the blend is in any position.
  4. It generally sounds really nice with some of my basses, but does not play well at all with others. Why is that? In particular my Music Man Fretless (active electronics) is useless with it. Other basses, both active and passive, sound quite nice. In particular a 60's Japanese Teisco type of bass with a couple of single coil pickups sounds great through the pedal.
I know that a bunch of the solder joints look suspect in the pic above, but there's good contact on the under side. Does getting the solder to flow through to the top part of the board really play that much of a roll in the operation of a pedal? (I'm a relative newb and don't have an electronics background)

Thanks in Advance!


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2020 10:39 am 
Offline
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:24 pm
Posts: 16195
Location: Albany, NY
Good to hear that the 20pf cap showed up!

To respond to your diode orientation question:

The diodes are both installed backwards. Unfortunately, some of these old Russian NOS germanium diodes are apparently marked in the opposite direction, with the stripe or dot at the anode end rather than the cathode. This doesn't matter when they are installed as opposing pairs for signal clipping, but in this application, it is critical. The only way to be sure is to closely examine them under magnification. There will be what looks to be a silver block at the cathode end, and that's which lead should go in the square solder pad of the PCB. Here's a diagram:

Image

Here's a blow-up of the diodes in your photo with that silver block at the cathode end marked:

Attachment:
ge_diode_cathodes.jpg
ge_diode_cathodes.jpg [ 110.7 KiB | Viewed 6132 times ]


You should correct this situation and see how the pedal sounds at that point, then repost any questions that you still have.

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

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


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2020 10:27 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:40 am
Posts: 10
Thanks duhvoodooman for taking the time to annotate the pics!

I switched the direction of the diodes. The lower octave is behaving more consistently across my instruments and sounds really nice. I'm quite happy with the tone and tracking.

I'm still getting an interesting clicky / poppy sound on the attack of each note. It sounds like a static electricity pop. It's most pronounced with the stabilizer on and the ringer off. It's unaffected by the mix knob. When the ringer is on, either it goes away or is masked by it. It's not present when in Bass Only mode.

Thoughts?


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu May 07, 2020 10:30 am 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 22, 2006 1:39 pm
Posts: 5983
Location: Richland, WA
You probably just have a faulty solder joint somewhere. Try reflowing your solder joints. If that doesn't help, please post pics.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu May 07, 2020 12:29 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:40 am
Posts: 10
byoc wrote:
You probably just have a faulty solder joint somewhere. Try reflowing your solder joints. If that doesn't help, please post pics.


I'm sure I've got some less than ideal solder joints. I'll reflow them and will report back.

Thanks!


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun May 10, 2020 11:46 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:40 am
Posts: 10
Problem solved! Turns out the problem was...? Yep, you guessed it. "It's the soldering".

It only took a handful of hours staring at the board and solder joints and tracing the signal. At some point in my process I discovered that when I removed R8 there was no effect on the sound. I figured something was up. After a bit more careful looking I discovered a solder bridge between a couple of pads which was causing a connection to be made between each side of the resistor. I took care of that and it sounds great!

At some suggestions in other threads, I changed R31 (82K) to get the octave level louder by changing it to 47K. The 47K made made the ringer a bit louder and brighter. Sounded good, but it was more than I wanted. I put in a 220K resistor and the ringer is definitely not as loud as with the 47K. It's also a bit darker and a little more subtle. I'm keeping the 220K in for now. Ultimately having a variable resistor in there would be awesome!.

I also went with a 220K at R8 (22K)to increase the Bass Only volume. I'm happy with it. The output is definitely greater than unity. I'll keep the 220K in for now, but I could imagine trying out a 100K resistor.

It sounds great with my envelope filter and adding a little more grit from my OD. I'll be able to dial in some cool synthy sounds. It just kicked a TC Electronics Sub N Up off my pedal board. I won't be missing that pedal...


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2020 8:31 am 
Offline
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:45 pm
Posts: 4684
Location: Rochester, NY
Glad you got it working! Congrats on the successful troubleshoot. Enjoy the pedal!

_________________
Scott

My band, Austin Hollow


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2020 10:06 am 
Offline
Moderator
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:24 pm
Posts: 16195
Location: Albany, NY
Good job chasing that down! Yeah, most often, it's the soldering.

4stringbliss wrote:
...Ultimately having a variable resistor in there would be awesome!

You can use a trimpot for this purpose. You just need to bend the middle leg over to touch one of the outside legs (doesn't matter which) and solder it there. Then remove the fixed resistor and mount the two outer legs of the trimpot in the vacated eyelets. If you're running as high as 220K in that position currently, then a 250K trimpot would be the appropriate resistance.

https://buildyourownclone.com/collectio ... ot3306trim

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

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


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2020 11:40 am 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:40 am
Posts: 10
duhvoodooman wrote:
Good job chasing that down! Yeah, most often, it's the soldering.

4stringbliss wrote:
...Ultimately having a variable resistor in there would be awesome!

You can use a trimpot for this purpose. You just need to bend the middle leg over to touch one of the outside legs (doesn't matter which) and solder it there. Then remove the fixed resistor and mount the two outer legs of the trimpot in the vacated eyelets. If you're running as high as 220K in that position currently, then a 250K trimpot would be the appropriate resistance.

https://buildyourownclone.com/collectio ... ot3306trim


Cool. Thanks for that tip! Sounds pretty doable. :D


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Jun 11, 2020 11:56 pm 
Offline

Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:40 am
Posts: 10
After some time with the pedal. I ended up putting a 68k resistor in there at R8 for the octave volume. It's probably a bit more than unity. When it comes in, you know it! Adjust the mix a little more to clean and it brings the octave volume down a tad. I played it with some jam buddies this evening and I thought it sounded great, when used appropriately of course. I might take it down again to a 47k, but I'll play with it like this for awhile.


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 13 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 6 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group