Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hi there everyone. First post here. I have built a bunch of BYOC kits and never had an issue until now. I just completed a Large Beaver triangle kit and it has low output and low distortion. I checked all my solder joints and made sure I have all the correct value components in the correct place on the pc board. I also checked to see if I had all transistors and diodes installed with correct polarity.

Everything seems to work correctly: All knobs work, all switches work, LED comes on. Just has low distortion effect and low output.

How can I troubleshoot this? Thanks!

Above eyelet 7, is that a strand of wire or a hair?

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The tone is in my hands?!
Email: nick@buildyourownclone.com

Whoa....good eye!! I am not with the pedal at the moment but that very well could be a strand. It sure looks like one. I will probably not get back to the pedal until tomorrow but I will post when I check it out. Thank you very much for the eyeball!

Looks like there’s another between lug 1 of the Sustain pot and the ceramic cap.

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"It’s your soldering."

No strand there. And the strand near 7 was a hair. No change.

One other thing I noticed. Looking at the board if I touch the two transistors to the right of the footswitch with my finger I get a light hum. I do not get a light hum touching the other two transistors. Does this info help troubleshoot?

Yeah, sorta. It points to a possible ground issue.

Recommendation: reflow all your solder joints and see where you are. Also be sure there are no bridges or stray solder anywhere. Your resistor placement is correct, I can't verify the caps, so do that as you're reflowing.

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The tone is in my hands?!
Email: nick@buildyourownclone.com

Ok. Should there be a hum when touching the transistors or not? So the ones that hum are not grounded and the other two that dont hum are grounded?

Maybe, maybe not. That's why I said 'sorta'.

usually, when you get low output, it means there is a wonky resistor value somewhere, but it doesn't look like that's the case with your build. The hum when touching the transistors may be a symptom of a bad ground, or it could just be how they are. One typically doesn't rummage in a circuit when playing through it normally, so it's not a big deal if such a thing happens as long as you don't experience it while playing, if that makes sense. Could simply be some sort of resistive or capacitive interference caused by your body, which has both to a certain degree.

My point in all this is that what you are describing could be a symptom of the larger issue, or it might not be. The same troubleshooting procedure should apply though:

-gettin signal? (a bit)
-getting voltage? (probably since it's working at least a little, and you didn't mention any LED issues.)
-components correct? (mostly, can't see the caps from the image)
-good solder joints and wiring? (We're here)

So going off the assumption that you have voltage and signal (albeit a low one), the next thing would be component placement, which as I said before, looks mostly good. So the next step would be your solder joints and wiring.

If you can snap a pic of the backside of the PCB, it may shed a little more light on the situation for us.

_________________
The tone is in my hands?!
Email: nick@buildyourownclone.com

Thanks I will get back to it tomorrow. Another thing is the 3 pos Mid switch doesnt seem to change the mids that much. Maybe when it has full gain it will be better or maybe the gain in that stage is going to ground through an incorrect resistor value. ?

I re-flowed all solder joints and checked to make sure that all components are in their correct locations on the board (resistors, caps, transistors, etc). The Mid switch seems to be a little more effective than before but I just think that there should be more volume and gain. With the Tone control engaged there is not much gain and volume. Disengaging the Tone control gets more gain and volume but still I don't think it's right. Any more thoughts? Or if you guys have questions or need info. Thanks!

Please check the areas pointed to. It's not that there are definite issues at these spots, but there is potential for issues if there are shorts or anything. One thing to do as well is get some iso alcohol on a toothbrush (or similar soft bristle brush) and clean up the flux to help identify possible bridge spots.

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The tone is in my hands?!
Email: nick@buildyourownclone.com

I cleaned the board with iso alcohol and checked for bridges and the pedal still sounds the same. When the pedal is on, Tone control engaged (at about 12 o'clock) and sustain & volume maxed the overall volume is just about as loud as the bypassed signal. I don't think this is right. I was expecting a lot more volume, gain and overall distortion. Is this correct? Thanks!

Also all four transistors have between 4-8v dc on collectors. I don't know if this helps or not... Thanks!!!

You probably have a cold solder joint on one of the biasing resistors. Have you tried reflowing all your solder joints yet?

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*patience is a virtue*

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

Yes sir. I re-flowed all solder joints. Nick is sending me replacement transistors to see if that is the fix. Thanks!!

transfer to new topic.............

Please start a new thread, as we discourage the "piggy-backing" of separate topics. What may seem to be the same problem often turns out to be caused by something quite different. Also, please include photos of your build. These should be LARGE, well-focused, well-lit shots of both sides of the PCB and all of the jack and switch wiring. Thanks.

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

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