`All finished but can't get any fuzz. The Clean, Presence, Bass and Master knobs work as they should. Rolling off the Clean knob gets a rythmic thumping sound. Turning the SF Gain and SF Bias gets radio interference. The SF Tone switch appears to work, as does the Fuzz Mix knob (like a reverse Clean knob). Alas, no fuzz.
You're brave. I know that sound well. I tried to read the schematic but it seemed quite different at a glance. How Anders does this stuff without losing his mind is beyond me. Respect. You should take voltages and check your joints and then I would probably try to follow the signal with a probe. (I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.) Maybe you'll have better luck reading the schematic than I did.
Hi Anders, hoping you can help. Checked the schem. and found a couple of differences around the 4558 IC, although I don't know if they would make a world of difference. IC gain 2 should connect to a 4u7 (not a 1u) and there is a 220u missing somewhere. The rest looks good but I'm not a great reader of schematics. Cheers
Hello Brave Man! Sorry for not responding earlier but I have zero spare time at the moment... 1uF in the upper left corner should be 4,7uF, indeed. The 220uF cap is mentioned in the BOM but is not visisble in the schematic. I suspect the latter one is for power filtering and should not make any impact on the overall sound.
Ok, IC section working, hopefully you'll get the Super Fuzz section working soon as well!
Thats exactly what i thought also, so I did change it along with the 4u7 in the top left corner. The 4u7 made a difference to the IC Gain but the 220u didnt change anything. I'm probably looking for a solder bridge, same happened with the IC Muff side - minute solder bridge
I'm getting fuzz out of the SF side but its super low volume and the fuzz pot does nothing. Voltages seem wrong in this section also, I can only bias Q4/5 to a max of 1.8v with the Bias pot. Q2 gets 9v but Q1 only gets 1v. Confused but potentially close.
I'm gonna have to let someone else take over on this one. Here's where I am at:
Here's what works:
- Presence, Presence SW, Clean, Bass and Master - IC Gain, IC Tone Bypass SW - SF Tone SW (you can hear a change in tone) - SF Gain - SF Bias
Here's what doesn't work:
- IC Tone
SF side is horrible, gated and has grounding issues. When you turn the SF Gain turn full you get radio interference and touching the side of the enclosure causes grounding hiss. The best transistors I tested for SF (and I tested lots) had a hfe of around 125 Grounding issue needs figuring out on the SDF side, I believe R46 (100K is missing) so I added. IC Tone needs fixing, I also changed the top left capacitor from 1uf to 4u7.
It wasn't Ben but it made no difference whatsoever when I added it. I actually haven't boxed mine yet, had one prepared but can't get rid of the radio interference on the Super Fuzz side. I thought it was Q4 / Q5 not biasing at first but I replaced the 10K that connects the Q4 / Q5 to power with a trimmer but that didn't fix the noise issue. It could be my board or there could be a ground issue somewhere. Let me know how you get on. If you are noise free then happy days!!
Thanks Ian. So far everything except the SF is working so I’ve got some work to do finding out why. The IC side is insanely loud though. I almost blew a window out 🤣.
Yeah, the IC side it pretty damn good. I did check the Super Fuzz on this site and on Tagboard to see if there were any differences, or any parts missing, but I couldn't see anything. Reading the comments it's a pain in the ass to get going.
Progress, sort of. SF side is working, but with lots of noise and some high frequency whine. It's also a lot quieter than the IC side. Do you notice the IC gain knob dramatically effects the SF gain/tone even when the fuzz mix is all the way to the SF side?
Same result as me then Ben, bloody high frequency radio whine (couldn't even tune in a decent station). The SF side is quieter but the IC side is stupidly loud. You are right about the fuzz mix, possibly because the IC side is so loud and has a ton of gain(??). Have you measured Q4 / Q5 voltages. I had the collector on 1.8v max and it should be around 3v. That's why I changed out the 10k resistor for a trimmer, although when I got the right voltages it didnt get rid of the noise but was a bit louder. There must be a missing ground somewhere, can't think of anything else.
Yeah I just tried the same thing with that 10k resistor and had the same results as you. I tried different transistors at different gain levels as well, but nothing made a significant enough difference to call a break through. Think I’m going to sit on it for a while and take another look at the schematic. I can’t imagine the DeadendFx PCB sounds like this so there must be something missing.
To be honest Ben, I took mine apart the other day but used the enclosure for and similar idea to the Silver Rose:
Cornish Big Muff into a DBA Octave Clang (switchable with a DPDT footswitch) into a DBA Evil Filter. Then wrapped with a Split and Blend from Tagboard so you can blend the effect(s) from full on to almost clean. Sounds mint, especially with the Evil Filter. You don't get the fuzz mix but they all have their own volume control so you can get a similar effect. Loads of knobs and switches to play with. Bit of a nightmare sticking it in a 1590XX but it fit.
Anders, verify this bad boy - its working!!!!!! Did some resoldering as a last resort and bingo, it works - must have had a cold solder joint somewhere. Only one change is the top left capacitor from 1uf to 4u7. Also reverted back to 2N2222A transistors as they sounded better when the circuit finally came to life. I also used a A100K for SF Gain but I guess the original B50K is also good. Finally!!!
No way! I thought this would stay unverified like forever. And after finishing this layout I was quite fed up with drawing since it was quite a nightmare!
Really glad it turned out well. I'll change the the power filter cap, 4,7uF cap and give it a tag ASAP:
Thanks for the layout Anders, I just finished boxing it up last night and haven't had a proper play yet but its sounding very good. - Gave me 5 days of pain but worth it
I've gone back this to check the volume and hiss problems on the Superfuzz side. If you change the 15K resistor in the bottom right of the board to something lower (between 8K to 12K) you will get a decent volume boost without changing the tone. To lower the hiss, remove the 22K resistor connected to SF Bias 1 and connect SF Bias 2 direct to ground (ground connection on battery or jack). Its a big improvement, not perfect but makes the pedal usable!
Will this fit in a 1590a? This thing is nutz.
ReplyDeleteYou might have to load the components facing down, but you never know until you try. I believe in you.
DeleteThanks man, that means a lot (tear). This thing is pretty cool. I love the circuits in parallel concept.
DeleteDoes veroboard even come this big!?😵💫😂
ReplyDeleteWow that looks pretty crazy!
ReplyDeleteStarted this tonight, will let you know how it goes
ReplyDelete`All finished but can't get any fuzz. The Clean, Presence, Bass and Master knobs work as they should. Rolling off the Clean knob gets a rythmic thumping sound. Turning the SF Gain and SF Bias gets radio interference. The SF Tone switch appears to work, as does the Fuzz Mix knob (like a reverse Clean knob). Alas, no fuzz.
ReplyDeleteYou're brave. I know that sound well. I tried to read the schematic but it seemed quite different at a glance. How Anders does this stuff without losing his mind is beyond me. Respect. You should take voltages and check your joints and then I would probably try to follow the signal with a probe. (I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.) Maybe you'll have better luck reading the schematic than I did.
DeleteHi Anders, hoping you can help. Checked the schem. and found a couple of differences around the 4558 IC, although I don't know if they would make a world of difference. IC gain 2 should connect to a 4u7 (not a 1u) and there is a 220u missing somewhere. The rest looks good but I'm not a great reader of schematics. Cheers
ReplyDeleteHello Brave Man!
DeleteSorry for not responding earlier but I have zero spare time at the moment...
1uF in the upper left corner should be 4,7uF, indeed. The 220uF cap is mentioned in the BOM but is not visisble in the schematic. I suspect the latter one is for power filtering and should not make any impact on the overall sound.
Ok, IC section working, hopefully you'll get the Super Fuzz section working soon as well!
Lol!! Cheers Anders, its probably another tiny solder bridge somewhere. Your layout looks good against the schem..
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHalf way there, IC Muff side is working
ReplyDeleteI think the 220u should replace the 10u next to the 47r on the right side of IC5 looking at schematic. Might be wrong though.
ReplyDeleteThats exactly what i thought also, so I did change it along with the 4u7 in the top left corner. The 4u7 made a difference to the IC Gain but the 220u didnt change anything. I'm probably looking for a solder bridge, same happened with the IC Muff side - minute solder bridge
DeleteI'm getting fuzz out of the SF side but its super low volume and the fuzz pot does nothing. Voltages seem wrong in this section also, I can only bias Q4/5 to a max of 1.8v with the Bias pot. Q2 gets 9v but Q1 only gets 1v. Confused but potentially close.
DeleteFound the problem - SF fuzz is now mega loud. Will test again tomorrow to confirm
ReplyDeleteAny changes required?
DeleteMeh, thought I got this working but alas its not to be. Everything but the superfuzz is working
DeleteI'm gonna have to let someone else take over on this one. Here's where I am at:
ReplyDeleteHere's what works:
- Presence, Presence SW, Clean, Bass and Master
- IC Gain, IC Tone Bypass SW
- SF Tone SW (you can hear a change in tone)
- SF Gain
- SF Bias
Here's what doesn't work:
- IC Tone
SF side is horrible, gated and has grounding issues. When you turn the SF Gain turn full you get radio interference and touching the side of the enclosure causes grounding hiss.
The best transistors I tested for SF (and I tested lots) had a hfe of around 125
Grounding issue needs figuring out on the SDF side, I believe R46 (100K is missing) so I added.
IC Tone needs fixing, I also changed the top left capacitor from 1uf to 4u7.
Good luck
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHi Ian, was that 100k at R46 added to the updated layout. Not sure where to look for that. Just checking. Cheers, Ben.
DeleteIt wasn't Ben but it made no difference whatsoever when I added it. I actually haven't boxed mine yet, had one prepared but can't get rid of the radio interference on the Super Fuzz side. I thought it was Q4 / Q5 not biasing at first but I replaced the 10K that connects the Q4 / Q5 to power with a trimmer but that didn't fix the noise issue. It could be my board or there could be a ground issue somewhere. Let me know how you get on. If you are noise free then happy days!!
DeleteThanks Ian. So far everything except the SF is working so I’ve got some work to do finding out why. The IC side is insanely loud though. I almost blew a window out 🤣.
DeleteYeah, the IC side it pretty damn good. I did check the Super Fuzz on this site and on Tagboard to see if there were any differences, or any parts missing, but I couldn't see anything. Reading the comments it's a pain in the ass to get going.
DeleteProgress, sort of. SF side is working, but with lots of noise and some high frequency whine. It's also a lot quieter than the IC side. Do you notice the IC gain knob dramatically effects the SF gain/tone even when the fuzz mix is all the way to the SF side?
DeleteSame result as me then Ben, bloody high frequency radio whine (couldn't even tune in a decent station). The SF side is quieter but the IC side is stupidly loud. You are right about the fuzz mix, possibly because the IC side is so loud and has a ton of gain(??). Have you measured Q4 / Q5 voltages. I had the collector on 1.8v max and it should be around 3v. That's why I changed out the 10k resistor for a trimmer, although when I got the right voltages it didnt get rid of the noise but was a bit louder. There must be a missing ground somewhere, can't think of anything else.
DeleteYeah I just tried the same thing with that 10k resistor and had the same results as you. I tried different transistors at different gain levels as well, but nothing made a significant enough difference to call a break through. Think I’m going to sit on it for a while and take another look at the schematic. I can’t imagine the DeadendFx PCB sounds like this so there must be something missing.
DeleteTo be honest Ben, I took mine apart the other day but used the enclosure for and similar idea to the Silver Rose:
DeleteCornish Big Muff into a DBA Octave Clang (switchable with a DPDT footswitch) into a DBA Evil Filter. Then wrapped with a Split and Blend from Tagboard so you can blend the effect(s) from full on to almost clean. Sounds mint, especially with the Evil Filter. You don't get the fuzz mix but they all have their own volume control so you can get a similar effect. Loads of knobs and switches to play with. Bit of a nightmare sticking it in a 1590XX but it fit.
That sounds like an awesome idea!
DeleteAnders, verify this bad boy - its working!!!!!! Did some resoldering as a last resort and bingo, it works - must have had a cold solder joint somewhere. Only one change is the top left capacitor from 1uf to 4u7. Also reverted back to 2N2222A transistors as they sounded better when the circuit finally came to life. I also used a A100K for SF Gain but I guess the original B50K is also good. Finally!!!
ReplyDeleteoh, and its 43 links
DeleteYou deserve a ribbon or a trophy or something. Anders deserves some sort of sexual favor.
DeleteLol!! Amazing how he puts together these things
DeleteNo way! I thought this would stay unverified like forever. And after finishing this layout I was quite fed up with drawing since it was quite a nightmare!
DeleteReally glad it turned out well. I'll change the the power filter cap, 4,7uF cap and give it a tag ASAP:
Thanks for the layout Anders, I just finished boxing it up last night and haven't had a proper play yet but its sounding very good. - Gave me 5 days of pain but worth it
DeleteJust finishing up this beast. What difference would a 9.1v zener make in that position? Is the 10v an essential?
ReplyDeleteI used a 9.1v Ben, doubt there would be any difference
ReplyDeleteCool, thanks Ian 👍.
DeleteHow is your Super Fuzz side Ben, it is noisy when you move the Bias knob?
DeleteHaven’t quite finished yet on account of a missing pot, but I’ll report back as soon as I’ve got it fired up. Cheers, Ben.
DeleteThanks Ben
DeleteI've gone back this to check the volume and hiss problems on the Superfuzz side. If you change the 15K resistor in the bottom right of the board to something lower (between 8K to 12K) you will get a decent volume boost without changing the tone. To lower the hiss, remove the 22K resistor connected to SF Bias 1 and connect SF Bias 2 direct to ground (ground connection on battery or jack). Its a big improvement, not perfect but makes the pedal usable!
Delete