MXR distortion + , need help please

[SmithB]

Hi, I'm busy building a clone of the MXR distortion. I got the schematic and bill of materials from General guitar gadgets. So I laid it all out on the breadboard to prototype it before I put it in a box. The LED is working but all I get is a buzz sound and I'm still a beginner so I have no idea what to do. Note that I don't have a 3pdt switch wired yet because I don't have it yet. Thanks in advance for anyone that helps. 

[smallbearelec]

I laid it all out on the breadboard to prototype it

I'll do my best. Are we talking about a solderless breadboard like this?:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/beginnerboost/Fig2.jpg

If so, can we see a pic of what you have set up?

[SmithB]

Yes i'm using a solderless breadboard.

Here's some photos of my lay out:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n3b9baxh62el522/image1.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/77t4k0wvl55ir88/image2.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p8b7p9y4rozbywi/image3.JPG?dl=0

[smallbearelec]

OK. First the good news: Choosing to breadboard this thing before committing to solder is exactly the right thing to do. Your mistake was a normal beginner one: Your layout is very haphazard, and this makes it hard to trace and find errors. I'd suggest that you start from scratch. First print out the schem. Then pull everything out and lay it out again a little at a time. Take the time to square off corners and use bare-wire jumpers to make all your connections easily visible. Every time that you make a connection, mark it off with a highlighter on the schem. It should look more like this example:



The full tutorial that the picture came from is here:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/beginnerboost/

It's a different circuit, but the method is what counts. When you have re-done your layout, post a clear pic here and we'll discuss the off-board connections to pots, jacks and power.

[SmithB]

Ok thanks I'll try that and then post new pictures. Appreciate the help so far.

[Hatredman]

And then, what happened?