A Problem with DIY fuzz stompbox FX pedal

Forum dedicated to helping people debug and troubleshoot non-functional pedals or builds. Please use an clear and informative title, indicating circuit and basic problem. Don't forget to mark the issue as fixed if this is the case.
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Amynio
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Post by Amynio »

Hello!
Here is my First post. :popcorn:

I was wanting some help with a fuzz pedal kit I recently bought on ebay. I'm relatively new to electronics and I'm no genius in this area, but I've been really frustrated for the past few days. I built this circuitboard exactly as I was instructed, yet it doesn't work and I can't figure out why.

The guy never send me a circuit diagram, but instead, more of a literal interpretation of what it would look like. Here it is -
Image

If that is a little hard to make out, here is my own circuit diagram that I drew up
(I apologize in advance for the poor quality and clarity of the diagram, I've never drawn one before)
This is the DIODE in the circuit diagram 2N3904 http://www.kynix.com/Detail/1243138/2N3 ... T%2FP.html and 1N4148 DIODE GEN PURP 75V 150MA SOD523
Image
When the switch is off, and the effect is bypassed, the guitar sounds fine, as if it was plugged in to the amp with no alteration to the sound. When I turn the switch on, I get a really crappy result. If the potentiometer is turned all the way to the left, I get a little bit of the original signal, but it's quiet and a bit lo-fi. When I turn the potentiometer to the right, I lose sound altogether... silence.

Another thing worth mentioning is that it doesn't seem to make a difference whether the battery is plugged in or not. I've tested the battery with a voltmeter and it's definetely working and has a lot of juice. I've also tested the battery socket on a breadboard incase the socket was faulty, but the socket is working fine too.

I know this isn't a lot of information to go on, but I was hoping that some of you veterans out there might be able to narrow it down for me. Based on this information, can anybody narrow down what part (or possible parts) of my circuit is faulty/busted? I have no doubt that the circuit is set up exactly the way I was instructed, and I was very careful with my soldering, there's no globby solder bridging the strips on the board.

Once again, I know this isn't a lot of info to work with, but I have no idea where to look or what to try. It doesn't work, and I don't know what to do about it

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lolbou
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Post by lolbou »

I've just breadbaorded it, and I can get the symptoms you describe when I remove the diode off the circuit. Check the diode, try another one maybe and check its orientation too?

(circuit sounds crap anyway :roll: :secret: :lol: )
- Are you a mod or a rocker?
- Uh, no, I'm a mocker.

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Tham
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Post by Tham »

Is that even a fuzz circuit ?

How can there be only one diode ?

I think you've been conned.

How much did you pay for it ?

I'll post this ''Smooth Fuzz'' which I constructed in 1986, a bit later.

Easy and cheap to build, apart from getting a diecast box.
Still a little fuzzy, but otherwise a good, practical sound.

You'll get far more value for your money.

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Tham
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Post by Tham »

I have posted the Smooth Fuzz project. Check it out.

You can do it on a Veroboard as shown in the second link,
or you may ask a friend to make the PCB for you.


Here's an even simpler fuzz for beginners, from the same
magazine, you can easily construct.

http://www.spontis.se/pdf/fuzz.pdf

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hrnn
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Post by hrnn »

Tham wrote:Is that even a fuzz circuit ?

How can there be only one diode ?

I think you've been conned.
.
It's the BazzFuss circuit. Or the 7 minute fuzz from that youtube channel

http://home-wrecker.com/bazz.html

I'm about to try it myself as it gets so good reviews.

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Tham
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Post by Tham »

hrnn wrote:
It's the BazzFuss circuit. Or the 7 minute fuzz from that youtube channel

http://home-wrecker.com/bazz.html

I'm about to try it myself as it gets so good reviews.

Sounds like any dirty 60s-type fuzz, really.

You'd make more worthwhile use of your time constructing
the ''Smooth Fuzz'' posted.


The local band member and luthier whom I had mentioned
built two for himself and his second lead - both of them used
that in all their shows. They had a green Maxon Tube Screamer
which they never even touched and just chucked it on one corner.

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smallbearelec
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Post by smallbearelec »

The kit supplier's drawing does not clearly ID tip, ring and sleeve of the jacks. Getting these connections wrong is a common beginner issue. Please look at the pics in figure 40 of this article:

http://diy.smallbearelec.com/HowTos/Bre ... aMinor.htm

Make sure that you know which is T R and S on your jacks, and then make sure that the leads from the board are connected correctly. If this is OK, I would thenuse the continuity scale of my meter to test point-to-point compared with the schem and mark off connections as I do so. The problem is much ore likely to be a mistake in wiring than a bad component.

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poiureza
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Post by poiureza »

You can see the original schematic here.
Yours would be the V1. It's a very nice circuit if you get the values right.

Common mistakes (besides the aforementioned jack connections) :
- wrong orientation of diode
- wrong orientation of caps
- wrong orientation of transistor
If the'yre all oriented like in your drawing, it should work though ...

I'm rather thinking of something else :
- Since this is a Vero built, did you turn the board the right way i.e. are the trace cuts (holes) at the right places ?
- And are you sure the board isn't flipped upside-down (again wrt. the trace cuts) ?

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