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Got the diodes situated and verified continuity to my anode, continuity to the cathode and ground. Got it back together. It still modulates but now the lower octave just disappears sometimes. The bass only sounds horrible. The pedal is unusable as is.

If it were a 60 buck pedal I'd just say eff if, buy another and build it. This one is too expensive for that. So, I'm at a loss at where to go from here. I was hopeful that rotating the diodes would fix the issue but it didn't. I've seen youtube videos of it working properly. Sounded great. That's why I bought it.

I'm frustrated and at a loss. All suggestions are welcome. Thanks!

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-Jamie

Are you certain you have all the transistors in the correct spots? We can't see those in the pics.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

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

Yes. I verified all the transistors are correct and oriented properly, as well as capacitors, ICs, and diodes (except for the germaniums which the instructions were incorrect). I corrected those. I know the resistors are correct as well. I’m colorblind and use a multimeter to identify them before I start. I check them again before I place them on the PCB and solder.

_________________
-Jamie

If flipping the diodes around only made it worse, then D5 is most likely either damaged or isn't making good continuity with the PCB.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

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

I verified continuity with the D5 cathode and the C24 (220n cap). I also verified continuity with the D5 anode and the A ring.

I used the multimeter on the D5. If I put the red prong on the cathode and the black on the anode (which is opposite of how I thought it should work) I get a reading of .608. If I reversed the prongs I got 0. Same is true with the D1 with a reading of .596. This is with the assumption that since I was told my diodes were backwards, the dot is the cathode and the non-dot side is the anode. When I installed them, I assumed the dot was the anode and installed them that way as you can see in the pic I provided.

_________________
-Jamie

So, a question for people who use this pedal: Do you find that guitar volume matters? For reference, I'm playing a Strat with Seymour Duncan Hot Rails on the bridge. I had some time to thoroughly test today and I found that with my guitar all the way up (or low), I get modulation. With my guitar at about 5 or 6, it sounds exactly how I expect it to sound. Both effect and bass only. It seems to track better there. A hair lower, 4 or 5, for bass only. I think the pedal is working now I just have to be mindful of my guitar volume. Let me know your findings.

That said, I have new Ge Diodes on the way and will replace the ones I have with them when they arrive. Just in case...

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-Jamie

I've never noticed that to be an issue. If anything, I would say I've noticed the opposite - that it doesn't track well when the input signal is too low. But I could see how too much input signal could cause poor tracking as well. I'm not sure how hot Hot Rails are though. I think the hottest pups I've ever tried the Octave Divider with are probably Gibson BurstBuckers.

If you're expecting perfect tracking like you would get with a POG, then you are going to be disappointed. However, you can expect tracking much better than what you posted in your sound clips, so something is definitely not right.

If you have a compressor, that might help to put it in front of the Octave Divider to keep signal spikes from making it go crazy.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

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

Yeah, IDK. The Hot Rails are hot. At 10 it breaks my tubes. I have to dial to a 7 to get a clean sound.


I'm very happy with the tracking now that I've discovered this. I'm good with it. I roll my volume for my fuzz pedals anyways so this is something I'm used to. I also like that if I want the weird modulation I can adjust my volume for it - go all Radiohead "OK Computer" blips and squiggles...


I have a compressor in front of it (Mimosa Jr) and a boost (Electro-harmonix Soul Food JHS Mod).

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-Jamie