Help a Beginner! May Queen - Intermittent signal.

[Rockitdog]

Hi there

This is my first post. Hope I posted in the right place.  

I am very new to the whole pedal building thing. I started off with a simple Muff circuit I found on GGG and it worked great!!! Wow! Guess thats why some call it the "confidence booster". The fuzz sounds great and I'm really happy with the result.

So.... For my second project I decided to try the May Queen (Also from GGG... Although i think the version I'm doing originally came from runoffgrooves website. It has 2 2N5088's and a J201) Everything went even better on the build than the Muff but after plugging my guitar in I got about 5 min or great biting distortion that I was loving.

Then,,,,, The volume started riding around a bit (On its own) Varying signal level with the odd cut of signal completely. I did adjust the trim pot a bit to see if it would help. It does seems to be a bit better but now it seems to "gate" out some of the sustain at lower guitar out levels.  

I've checked all wired connections with a continuity tester. I tested the circuit the best I know how (Which is probably the whole problem) Nothing seems out of the norm. I used crocodile clips as heat sinks when soldering in the transistors so I'm reasonably confidant I diddnt over heat them. I followed the instructions note for note. Ive tried different jack sockets, switches etc.... Just bizaar problem .

I'm leaning towards the trim pot.   Am I getting any warmer?

Thanks in advance and thank god for such a fantastic forum!  

Cheers
Richard

Oh! Forgot to say. Im testing with a 9v battery. There is no DC in my wiring.

[arma61]

I'm leaning towards the trim pot.   Am I getting any warmer?

Thanks in advance and thank god for such a fantastic forum!  

Cheers
Richard

Hi and welcome!!

about the trim pot, on my MayQueen I had changed the trim pot 3 times! looks like they are a good breeding ground for dust and whatelse.

also get some voltages and report back, that'll help a lot

Ciao

[stringsthings]

.... Everything went even better on the build than the Muff but after plugging my guitar in I got about 5 min or great biting distortion that I was loving.

Then,,,,, The volume started riding around a bit (On its own) Varying signal level with the odd cut of signal completely. I did adjust the trim pot a bit to see if it would help. It does seems to be a bit better but now it seems to "gate" out some of the sustain at lower guitar out levels.  

welcome to the forum

it appears as if you had the circuit working at first and then it stopped working .... if you have a multi-meter, you can check the voltages on the transistors ... that's always a good thing to do when trouble-shooting a transistor amplifier circuit ... the other thing that comes to mind is a soldering joint problem .... sometimes, a somewhat-less-than-great solder joint will hold for the initial testing phase, and then it will start causing problems ... one area to double check is any outboard wiring ( potentiometers, switches, ... )

[Rockitdog]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the help.

I did test the transistors based on the values shown on Runoffgrooves May Queen page and all voltages match up. Well, close enough........ I have a very cheap multi-meter . VERY!

Although I think I may have sorted it. I adjusted the trim pot until it got to maximum "gain" (About 1 o'clock) And all seems fine now. In fact I love it!

I guess it could be a short somewhere that came back into contact when the enclosure was screwed together. Think Im gunna take it all out again and get some voltages. Give it a good test and subdue my craving for home made guitar tones until I know the thing isnt going to bug out on me when I need it most.

Thanks again for the help. I'll get back on those voltages.

Cheers!