first post, first pedal, first problem

[koperkio]

Hi all. I built a 1 channel looper with no led I'm using a 3pdt instead of a dpdt.



I'm using it to bypass a bf2, before it there's a ehx small clone. The problem is that when I switch the small clone on the volume of the effects is very very low almost imperceptible.
I tried 2 different wirings but the volume of the small clone is always almost imperceptible. Is it possible that the switch is broken or the wiring is not correct?

Thanx

[alparent]

First of all WELCOME! to the wonderfull world of DIY!

Second, Anything is possible! I know!

Test the switch with your multimeter.
Post a drawing of your wiring........we will help you check it out.

[Mark Hammer]

Yeah, I'm inclined to think that the wiring is a little off.  Are the send/receive jacks the two facing the bottom in that picture, or the two facing left/right?

[alparent]

What picture? I'm I missing something?

[koperkio]

The wiring is:

left side - in;
right side - out

bottom left - send
bottom right - return

@ alparent try this link  http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/7973/looper.jpg

[alparent]

I'm at work.....................its blocked.

[KazooMan]

Are you certain that the orientation of the switch is correct?  Check it with a multimeter.  Also what is the intended purpose of the short loop bridging the two lower right hand terminals?

[jkokura]

Looking at the wiring, I'm not sure that it's correct...

Look at this for some idea of how to make it work better. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v75/kev93_10/pedals/wiring/tb-loop-wiring.png

jacob

[slacker]

The wiring looks correct and it matches the link jkokura gave. Check that none of the wires are touching where they should not be, it looks like the input and return wires on the switch could be touching,

What happens if you just plug your guitar straight into it instead of the small clone, do you still get a volume drop?

[koperkio]

I changed switch, changed wiring  but now there is no signal from the bf2 and the small clone has still the same problem.



I plugged the bass guitar straight into the loop and there is the same volume drop...

[jkokura]

I can see nothing wrong with your wiring, so what are the other factors?

I'd be working at eliminating things that could be the problem one by one. I'd try going from simple setup (guitar into amp) and then add things one by one until the problem presents itself again.  If you can't see the problem, try leaving it for a while then coming back to it with fresh eyes.

jacob

[jkokura]

One more thing - I noticed the rewiring - have you used a DMM to check for continuity? Set it to do a beep test, then put one lead on either side of a wire - it could be that one of your wires are faulty. If it beeps it's fine, if not, then you need to either: resolder because it's a cold joint; or change the wire cause there's a break in it somewhere.

Jacob

[KazooMan]

I agree, the wiring looks good this time.  That is, if the switch you are using is oriented correctly.  You REALLY DO need a multimeter to check these sort of things out. If you don't have one then try to borrow one from a friend (or buy one!!!).

You need to confirm that the orientation of the switch is correct.  There was another thread a week or two ago about just this issue.  Switches from different manyfacturers have the lugs oriented differently.  The only way to be certain that you have yours in properly is to check the continuity between pins.  You might find that the switch is bad and that it has a high internal resistance which is killoing your signal. 

You should also use the meter like jkokura indicated to check the actual wires and solder joints.  One other thing you can check is the resistance across the pedal.  When the switch is set for bypassing the loop, there should be no resistance between the input and output jack tip contacts.  Hit the switch and you should have infinite resistance now.  Bridge the send and return jacks with a guitar lead cord and you should be back to no resistance between the input and output. 

[koperkio]

I made a search and I found this thread http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=81028.0.

I have a multimeter(it has no sound test) I set it on 2000 ohm( dont' know if it's the correct setting)  and I made some tests.

1° test: with loop bypassed I get 000 on in /out tips of the jacks
2° test: loop on I get I on in/out tips of the jacks
3° test: with s/r bridged I get 000 tips of the jacks

The most importat (and noob) question is: how can i check the orientation of the switch?
As i said before I don't have a multimeter with a sound test so I plugged the looper after my pedalboard with all the effects switched on to ear the sound:

the lugs are

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

and wired as in the last picture

When the loop is on I get sound beteen :

1-4
1-7

4-1
4-5
4-8

7-1
7-5
7-8

[slacker]

I've just thought of something,the looper looks correct and all the measurements seem correct, so there isn't really anything that can be wrong be wrong with it, so it could be something else causing the problem.

Here's one last thing you can do to see if it's Ok.
Plug your guitar straight into your amp and set the volume to a suitable level, remember how loud it sounds.
Then connect the looper between your guitar and amp with nothing in the loop, when the switch is set to bypass the volume should be the same as before. When the switch is set to the loop you should get silence.
Then connect the send and return jacks with a lead and switch between bypass and loop, the volume should be the same.
If it is then the looper is working properly.

If it is then the problem is probably that the small clone and the BF2 have different volumes. When you use them both together normally you wouldn't notice this because you'd just adjust the volume on your amp and that would be it, once you remove one of them from the signal chain using the looper you'll suddenly notice the difference.
Try putting them both in the loop separately and listen for the difference in volume between bypass and with the loop selected, hopefully you'll find one of them is either much quieter or much louder than bypassed.

If that isn't the problem, I'm afraid I can't think what else it can be.

[koperkio]

Hi all,
after tons of tests with 3 different switches (two 3pdt, one dpdt), different wirings and wires, the problem was...one of the mono input jacks.
It has "something" that drops the volume of about 40-50%...