Build Your Own Clone Message Board

I purchased a 2 Knob Bender from one of the forums and it sounds great but seems noisy to me. It was the guys first build and it looks ok but just wondering if there is something that may be causing it be noisy. It's kind of a hum that I would liken to touching the tip of a guitar cable with the amp turned on. It's there when I turn the volume knob down on my guitar as well. It sounds fine otherwise. My ESV Fuzz doesn't have this issue. I didn't know if the circuit was noisy by design. Thanks.

I don't have the BYOC Bender or any Tonebender circuit, so grain of salt, but…

Very hard to say without photos. A high gain pedal like this could amplify normal noise to the point of annoyance when not playing, especially from single coil pickups. But then I would expect the ESV Fuzz to do something at least similar, and I'd expect it to go away when you turn down the volume. So my money would be on a build error such as a bad ground connection somewhere, but that's just an educated guess.

We'd be glad to help you narrow it down and troubleshoot if necessary. Post some clear, large, well-lit photos of the entire build (both sides of the PCB and all the wiring and connections), and we'll tell you what we see!

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Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

With three transistor gain stages, the Bender will greatly amplify any incoming noise source. But what you describe seems excessive.

Another possible noise source can be the power adapter you use. An easy test for this is to run the pedal on a 9V battery and see if the noise is significantly reduced.

As an aside, if you enjoy using "dirt" pedals, a good noise gate pedal is a very useful investment. My favorite is the Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, but there are many choices available.

Review of the NS-2: http://www.bestguitareffects.com/boss-n ... ate-pedal/

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

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

I'll get some pics up soon. Thanks guys.