Just got the sparkleboost to work, but another problem...

RjM · January 30, 2005, 01:53:44 PM

I just got it to work. It's kinda cool, but since I have a SS amp, it's just a clean boost. Anyways, I use a small DPDT toggle switch for the on/off of the effect. When I turn the effect off, there is no sound at all, but when it is on, there is sound. What could be wrong?

Dragonfly · January 30, 2005, 02:05:45 PM

Quote from: RjMI just got it to work. It's kinda cool, but since I have a SS amp, it's just a clean boost. Anyways, I use a small DPDT toggle switch for the on/off of the effect. When I turn the effect off, there is no sound at all, but when it is on, there is sound. What could be wrong?

sounds like your switch is wired incorrectly....below, you'll find an easy way to wire a DPDT switch for true bypass....

also...you should still be able to get some "grit" by cranking the gain knob up...

GreenEye · January 30, 2005, 02:12:37 PM

RjM:

Sorry if you already read it in the original "Sparkle" thread, but I tried adding four diodes after the output cap, and it sounded really good. I tried all sorts of combinations of LEDs, germanium, and silicon diodes. Four LEDs sounded great. Not a ton of distortion, but some nice tones. I'd never added LEDs as diodes before, but I had a bunch of "green eyes" laying around, and I was both surprised at their sound, and the fact they didn't light up once in the circuit.

RjM · January 30, 2005, 05:21:29 PM

Yeah, I read what you said about the diodes. I'm going to try some diode combos also. Do you have the diodes in parallel, or in series?

Hmm.. I'm having more problems than one now. I accidentally put the cord from my guitar into the output of the effect, and put the cord from the amp in the imput of the effect. What could that hurt? Now, when I have them plugged in regularly, I have to turn my amp up to about 7 to get any sound from the guitar at all. Also, that is how I wired my DPDT toggle... Do you think I hurt the transistor by having the signal backwards? Also, the volume and gain pots don't seem to do anything at all. About a week ago, I had it all wired wrong, and the pots started flashing inside of them. Do you think that ruined the pots, or maybe, do I have the wrong kind of pots? The gain pot is a 5k Linear Taper, and the Volume pot is a 100k Audio Taper.

Dragonfly · January 30, 2005, 07:17:50 PM

Quote from: RjMYeah, I read what you said about the diodes. I'm going to try some diode combos also. Do you have the diodes in parallel, or in series?

Hmm.. I'm having more problems than one now. I accidentally put the cord from my guitar into the output of the effect, and put the cord from the amp in the imput of the effect. What could that hurt? Now, when I have them plugged in regularly, I have to turn my amp up to about 7 to get any sound from the guitar at all. Also, that is how I wired my DPDT toggle... Do you think I hurt the transistor by having the signal backwards? Also, the volume and gain pots don't seem to do anything at all. About a week ago, I had it all wired wrong, and the pots started flashing inside of them. Do you think that ruined the pots, or maybe, do I have the wrong kind of pots? The gain pot is a 5k Linear Taper, and the Volume pot is a 100k Audio Taper.

those are the right pots...and plugging in backwards shouldnt hurt anything...as for the "flashing", i dunno...thats a bit odd....

did you go back and recheck/verify the pinout of the jfet you used ?

RjM · January 30, 2005, 07:18:32 PM

Can you fry pots? Since they don't do anything when I turn them, I think something is wrong. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have the pins for the transistor right... I had to switch the 2nd two pins around, so I made it DGS instead of DSG. (the MPF102 I used is DSG)

GreenEye · January 30, 2005, 07:23:27 PM

Quote from: RjMDo you have the diodes in parallel, or in series?.

Unfortunately, I'm not up on the terms too well. I have two back-to-back leading one way (toward the circuit) and two others back-to-back leading towards the ground. What would you call that exactly?

QuoteHmm.. I'm having more problems than one now. I accidentally put the cord from my guitar into the output of the effect, and put the cord from the amp in the imput of the effect.

Hehe - I do that all the time. Doesn't seem too hurt much that I know of. Probably would be worse if you did it like every time.

I don't know about the pots - that flashing sounds bad.

I'm struggling with switches myself (toggles) - for the input caps and diodes. All the SPDT DPDT crap has my head spinning.

RjM · January 30, 2005, 09:04:42 PM

Yeah... I'm just now getting into this kind of stuff, and it's pretty frustrating. I have quite a bit of debugging to do.

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Just got the sparkleboost to work, but another problem...