Build Your Own Clone Message Board

ok, first build here, and once i finished and plugged in, AMAZING! it felt so good to have such a great sounding pedal on the first try. go me, right?

well after a few days of little usage (not on purpose, was busy), it has developed an issue. when i click it on, it will onyl work fully if i have a very high signal (slammed chord) going into it. once this occurs, it works fine, maintianing all the dynamics it's supposed to, but if i try to click it on with even a moderately high signal (amp set to breakup, enough to get a decent crunch) it gets super quiet and tinny. will provide pics of the build before too long, but i am in the middle of the persian gulf on a warship, so it's not always that easy. like i said, when it works, it works like a charm, but unless i am windmill-strumming, it just wont. at first it seemed like a DC jack issue, since when i wiggled the DC input, it would go in and out, but now wiggling the DC in doesnt do anything. it's only the signal trigger issue, as best as i can explain it. any others encounter this? if there is another thread, please direct me, but our internet connection out here doesnt always allow for reading 30 pages of threads if you know what i mean. basically, imagine our countries navy as being stuck in 1996 computer technology. hahaha

thanks for any help in advance.

--mike

oh, and i definintely dig BYOC's new site look! nice job guys!

Hi Mike -

99% of the time issues like these boil down to a bad joint. If you wiggled and it was intermittent and now it's not means, I'm pretty sure, that that particular joint is definitely bad. I would double check the wiring to the pots, board and switches. Give them a once over with the soldering iron and see what happens...

Good luck and Anchors Away!

another Mike

Youngblood - +1 on what the other Mike said about cold joints. Wiggling wires to see which make crackling sounds when it's all hooked up is one way to search for it. Really though if you have a look at the joints in 'Stephen's tips for a successful build' you'll know what your wiring/jack/pot joints should look like. go over all of them (there really aren't that many, right? ) And post back with the results. You'll have it up and running in no time.

And, not to hijack the thread, but thank you for serving our country. Hope you get to come home soon!

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also, touch up the joints on your IC, and re-seat the IC. an impropperly soldered/seated IC can cause stuff like that.

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safe? who said anything about safe? of course He isn't safe! but He's good. He's the king i tell you!

wow, thanks for the speedy response guys. yeah, i figured this was pretty much the most likely cause. when i get off watch in an hour or two i might push some wires around. i was real worried when i got my kit, because i tried the confidence booster first, and i got nothing. partly because i was really tired and soldered the IC in backwards hahahaha. i knew which way it should go, and had it that way for the intial population of the board, but at some point switched it and some of the legs broke during desoldering, so i ghetto rigged the legs with leads to the board. this is all before testing it. i got nothing. but i proceeeded with the OD anyway, chalking it up to a learning experience. and it served good use for some wire for repairing an EHX metal muff i had that was defunct.

thanks for the support on the military thing. looks like another 3.5 months until i can get back to the good ol us of a. one thing we do have out here are good soldering workstations though and tons of multimeters, oscopes and the like. i am a firecontrolman, specifically a tomahawk guided missile technician, but i learned electronics in navy schools and a little when i was in high school. this pedal building thing is really fascinating me lately. about time i did some electronics that gave immediate results and werent engineered to kill people! another plus is who else here had their kit specially delivered to them via helicopter?

thanks for all the tips and supports, and especially the expedience. will get to troubleshooting soon enough and report back.

Yet Another Mike Here

Wow!!! Building a pedal in the middle of the Persian Gulf on a warship! That is so cool! And to think I thought it was interesting to hear from people building these things while on a moving tour bus - LOL. The helicopter delivery was the icing on the cake - LOL. I actually got a little choked up on this one. I don't think I can even comprehend just how widespread the DIY pedal habit has become. Mike, good luck on your build and God-speed you safely home to the USA!!!

Hails!!!

Mike

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Keep 'yer tips tinned, 'yer sponges wet, and TELL THEM KIDS TO SHUT THE HELL UP!!!

aha! wiley loose switch joint. soldered it right up, and took the chance to clean up some of the wiring joints and do some mods. got the film caps in, the 1n34a germ diodes set in the board-sugggested asym clipping setup, 2.7k vice the 4.7k resistor for a touch more gain, and raised the input impedence. osunds great and is all done!!! also put an orange LED in there i got for another project. as of right now, it's metal and marker. the one downside to being on a ship out here is no finishing supplies. i really want to try the (basically shellacking) technique with the cutouts and the clear coats. i guess we'll see.

but anyway, this thread's done i am sure. hopefully somone learns from it. i definitely could have figured that out myself, but i had access to a computer quicker than i did to the pedal. but seriously, you guys fast response was GREATLY appreciated, as well as your voicings of support for us out here. and i am not the only one. a friend of mine off the coast of africa on the USS Fort McHenry also got some BYOC love and is loving it. he's an actual electronics technician 2M tech, so he is a LITTLE bit more versed in this stuff i am sure. but i and whoever here on the USS Winston S. Churchill walks by shop and can hear sweet overdrive, thank you all for your support anfd guidance. see you in the states!!!!

Congrats on getting it up and running! It's a great feeling I know. No worries on the support - that's what we're here for. Pretty soon you'll be supporting someone else.

Oh, and welcome to your new addiction

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SERIOUSLY. i alreayd have like 40 pedals, and am trying to rationalize buying out all the BYOC models!!! and kicking myself for not doing this sooner before my pedal board reached the size it is now... im thinking the "mouse", maybe the lazy sprocket, the phaser since my stone is broke and i havent tried the '90, i could use a wah, i like the look of the ten band better than the old danelectro fish and chips.... i am just trying to think of a rationalization for it. i had a deluxe memory man delivered to the ship the other day (awesome! by the way) and my chief asked me if all i did was order pedals and asked me what they were all for. i kinda sheepishly pointed "well, this one goes crunch, this one goes fuzz crunch, this one goes crunch fuzz...oh, and these few echo, and these few here go wooshwoosh" hahahahahaha but yeah, about to go BYOC crazy with all the money i am amassing out here.

Haha - sounds like me trying to justify my purchases to the wife... At least I can ebay some old pedals to 'make room' for new ones. Probably harder for you to do from the ship...

A friend of mine was in the Seabees, and stationed in Africa for a while years back. No ATM, no check cashing. They were in a hotel as opposed to a base for whatever reason. No way to get money basically... As soon as he got back stateside he took a bunch of the amassed cash and bought a HUGE bass rig. Something ludicrous like 400W head, an 8x10" cabinet, and 3 basses. Plus some recording stuff and cables and the works... Something to be said for the 'all expenses paid' savings plan

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Cool, Mike! Glad you got it working. I don't even try to justify the pedal thing anymore, I just keep the door to the studio closed

Get home safe!

Mike

hahaha that way she opens the door one day "where did you get all this gear?" i was kind of like that with my last roomate. just because i thought that if he saw me with a enw pedal every few days he would get scared that i was going to skimp on rent or bill money. certainly not the case. but it was kind of funny when we were eating ramen and i walked in with a new gibson SG.

yeah, the online shopping thing has kept my spending very high. i think i have acquired half of my pedals just this cruise. probably a grands worth or so. but i am saving a lot. some to pay off the car, and some for the glorious "new amp, no expenses spared" fund. thinking Orange right now, but thats certainly something to try and test for WEEKS before i buy.