Red Llama woes

[NaBo]

I am so confused now.  :?

I have one question to pose that will clear up everything...  Has anyone actually built a 100% functional Red Llama?

[puretube]

EDIT: didn`t wanna step on anybody`s feet!

[Michael Allen]

Someone had noted that the 330u cap is reversed earilier so I think these guys noted that in their build.

The LED part is RG's Mill C. I've built a few and they work fine, i don't see how they would interfere with the Red Lama since it's simply using the unused inverters. When I made the layout i followed the schem of tying unused inputs to +voltage. Maybe they should be grounded instead eh? That's the first place i would start.

I posted a fixed version that still has the inputs tied to +voltage but the mill C has been eliminated. Try this layout, watch the 330 cap, and if it still tweaks out then cut the traces and tie the inverters to ground...

[mrsage]

I figured it out!

I figured out the problem!

(this is highly exciting to a relative newbie. I feel much like I imagine Luke Skywalker felt when he could almost see the probe, even with the blast shield down...I've taken a small step into a much larger world)

I thought I'd give audioguy a chance to have the same epiphany I did. I'm assuming you did exactly the same thing I did.

All this time I've been looking at the circuit, thinking something was wrong with it...Well, I built a second circuit straight from the schematic, and it did the same thing.

Even when I changed the value of the pot.

What does that mean? It means that it's probably not problem with the circuit itself. It's more likely that it's a problem with the pot.

So take a look at how your pots are wired, and double-check against the what the schematic says. Let me know if you see what I'm getting at...

[puretube]

thanx puretube!
EDIT: Does anyone have a schem of the 'basic hot harmonics', because its not on the site...

free information sucks...

[audioguy]

Yeah Im pretty dim witted so I'm not likly to find it. Ive experimented with pot type, grounding configurations and value but never could get it resolved.
but then again, Im not really methodical about it, so I might have been close, but missed it.

[puretube]

 :maxed out? ...

[audioguy]

Gain pot maxed- I mean turning it clockwise, the gain increases, and then at about 95% of the way it shuts off as if its back to 0.

I didnt see the 10k you're refering to, so I'll look at that as a solution.

Thanks for the help!

[mrsage]

Okay...

Well here's what I did.

I wired up the first lug to the board. I wired the second lug to the board. And I wired the third lug to ground.

In the schematic, the third lug isn't going to ground!

So I removed that ground connection and wired the second and third lugs together and it works 100%!!!


Now...

Someone tell me why that worked.

:oops:

I just wired the unused lug to ground out of habit, but when I was wiring up my Ross Comp last night, it had two of the lugs wired together on the sustain pot. I was thinking about that while trying to fall asleep, and realized that I hadn't checked the schematic to see how the Llama's fuzz pot should be wired! I just assumed.

What happens when you wire that one to ground? What does it do to the circuit to make it stop working?

[audioguy]

I wired up the first lug to the board. I wired the second lug to the board. And I wired the third lug to ground.

In the schematic, the third lug isn't going to ground!

excellent!

[puretube]

R.G. probably knows something to say about builders
being mother nature`s creatures...  

[puretube]

free information sucks...

[mrsage]

ahh, so you neither built a circuit
xactly according to the layout,
nor
xactly according to the schem...
:lol:

R.G. probably knows something to say about builders
being mother nature`s creatures...  

Hehe...

Yeah, I guess not. In my defense though, I did follow the layout...what was there of it, anyway.

Most of my other projects have used a more paint-by-numbers layout, showing all the offboard wiring as well as the circuit board. This layout left the offboard wiring up to the builder...and in this case the builder shouldn't have been trusted with such responsibility!

[NaBo]

:?   that was the problem with everyone's build?  the schematic definitely shows the gain pot wired as a variable resistor, not a voltage divider to ground...  everyone made the same mistake??  creepy  :shock:

[mrsage]

:?   that was the problem with everyone's build?  the schematic definitely shows the gain pot wired as a variable resistor, not a voltage divider to ground...  everyone made the same mistake??  creepy  :shock:

[sigh]

One more reason to learn how to read schematics...

I can stumble my way through them, but it's little things like this that catch me every time.

It was a good learning experience anyway. So when the little arrow goes back to the zig-zaggy part that means it's a variable resistor, and it should be wired this way?

[NaBo]

lol, sorry, that wasn't a dig at you... I just thought there was multiple people all reporting the same problem with the RL, no?

Anyway, to answer your question, check out the Pots - How do I wire pots? section of the DIY Stompbox FAQ on this site's homepage.  The diagram there should help a lot.

And so you have a fully functional red llama... Guess that means I can take the time to build one now!

[Alpha579]

mr sage, how does it sound now?  

[mrsage]

It's pretty nice. I don't like the higher gain settings, but at medium to low it's very smooth. Cleans up pretty decently with the guitar knob, too, which is always nice.

As an overdrive I still like my old school grey-box DOD 250 better, but it's definitely got some good sounds in there. I can't try it with a cranked amp in my Manhattan apartment, but it's pretty nice through a clean amp.

[puretube]

free information sucks...