Flatline failure, crazy osc/distortion. Please help!

[jstack]

Thank you for reading, i'm relatively new to electronics, but i cant wait to learn more!
I have been reading electronics books day and night but i really wanted to get my feet wet in DIY. I have built a few other pedals but they have all worked on the first powerup. This is a great test for troubleshooting!

I'm nearly positive everything on the board is wired correctly. I have gone over it so many times, and i have tested almost every connection with a continuity tester. I have even taken a picture to compare!

In all of the other troubleshooting guides i have seen, people posted voltages of their opamp. So these are they.

VDC (TL072)
1] 7.5
2] 4.4
3] 2.2
4] 0.0 (gnd)
5] 4.4
6] 4.4
7] 4.4
8] 8.8

Since i don't really know as of yet what other information to give, heres some random voltages!

On the Vactrol i used (VTL5C2);

When i am maxing out the input (slamming on the strings) the voltage of the negative pin on the LED drops to 3.7 vdc.
When i turn the volume off the voltage of the negative pin on the LED goes up to 4.8 vdc.
On the LDR end of it, both pins are at 4.3 vdc no matter what the input.

I really appreciate the help! I need to have this thing finished by next week for a gig!!! Or else ill have to buy one =[ (no fun).

[MartyMart]

Hi, did you build the strip-board/Veroboard layout that's around here ?
Have you checked for all the trace "cuts" if so ?
This stuff can be a bit unforgiving, you MUST make sure that all the copper is gone from
the cut and that not even a tiny "hair" of copper is left .. use a mag glass, otherwise NADA !
Also check for any small solder "blobs" and cold joints ( dull/cracked looking )
Pin 1 of your TL072 shouldn't have 7.5v on it, check around that area, having read what I said
above !!
Got the Vactrol the right way around ?
Is your ground connection good ?
Keep going, you're almost there ....

Marty.

[jstack]

Thanks for the response!
I built the layout in MarkM's gallery on perfboard.
Here is a link to the page.
http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/MarkMs-Gallery/album15/album76/Flatline+Compressor+LAYOUT.png.html

Everything is correct as far as i can tell, layout wise (nothing reversed or excluded). I have used the continuity setting on my meter and gone to TOWN with ground all over the circuit.
If it would help i can take pictures of the bottom and top of the board...

Here is a quick soundclip to demonstrate how crazy this sounds! Maybe it will give a clue as to what might be wrong?
http://media.putfile.com/flatline-troubleshoot-

[jstack]

YAY!!!
I figured it out!
R6 (10k) in my build was cooked. I have never had a malfunctioning resistor, i didn't really think it happened all that often...
I guess from now on i'm going to test each resistor before soldering it in.

Thank you so much for your recommendation MartyMart. It was when i started looking around there that i realized it had to be that resistor!
Back to reading electronics books! Long live DIY!!!

[MartyMart]

Hey, that's great that you "de-bugged" it - well done
Flatline is one of my most used comp's - real nice and a great booster also !

MM