Russian Big Muff clone issues

[drew9000]

Hi, my name is Drew and first I wanted to say that I really enjoy the forums and have learned a ton already from you guys. I'm working on a clone of a Russian Big Muff. The main problem that I'm having is with the volume, when I have the volume pot at 12 o'clock it's a lot quieter than when the pedal is off. The tone pot also affects the volume, a lot actually; it gets very quiet as it gets turned to the treble side. The other strange thing I have noticed is change in sound when I change power supplies. I don't have a 9 volt battery to try it out with but I do have a regulated 9 volt power supply and when I use it there isn't any hum, but I have two other 9 volt power supplies that I use for my Dunlop crybaby bass and Boss bass overdrive and have never had a problem. When using one of them on the clone I'm making, the signal (actual sound of the guitar) is a much quieter and there is a lot of hum, when using the other one there is a very loud hum and no signal at all coming through, just loud hum.

Here is a link to the schematics I used: http://sovtek.webs.com/photos/SCHEMATICS/V7%20SOVTEK%20CW%201%20SCHEMATIC%20VERIFIED.PNG

The only difference is that I used 510pF caps instead of 500pF, because that's what I could get. Also, I used audio pots for the volume and tone. The transistors are 2N5089.

This is the site I used to the true bypass switch: http://omgelectronics.tumblr.com/post/1470029873/true-bypass-a-black-russian-big-muff-pi

The voltages for the transistors are:
Q1-3:
C=3.5
B=0.45
E=0.2

Q4:
C=6
B=0.6
E=0.5

For both sets of diodes the voltage is 0.4 between them and the .047uF capacitors, and 0.25 between them and the 510pF capacitors.

Any ideas as to what I did wrong? I've been waiting to get this thing working for a while now and I feel like I'm getting close. Thanks

[LucifersTrip]

Q1-Q3 look reasonable but I believe Q4 is a bit further off than you want. Here's a sample from GGG

Q4 Collector 4.0
Base 2.5
Emitter 1.8

---------------------

I would #1, get  a 9V battery to eliminate any power supply probs.

#2, look for wrong components/bad joints around Q4. If you find nothing, you can experiment by altering the 12K from collector or the 100K from base to get closer to what they should be

#3, double check your pot wiring...something seems a bit off. increase in treble should be increase in volume. does the sustain work?

you can always do this since Q1-Q3 seem ok
#4, test the the signal coming right off Q3 collector (you will have to insert a .1uF).

...and of course, you can always test the signal after each stage to hear where it went wrong. I just plug into a loose 1/4" jack, ground one side and connect the tip via alligator to the point I want to hear....basically, this
http://www.diystompboxes.com/pedals/audioprobe.jpg

[drew9000]

Ok so I got a 9 volt battery and tried it out with that, exact same results as I get from the regulated power supply, which is nice because I put it together myself and that lets me know I didn't mess it up. I double checked the pot wiring, and it is as it should be.

I checked out Q3 with the audio probe and it seems to be working just fine. I don't know what it should sound like exactly but the sustain pot does seem to change the signal as I turn it.

I went ahead and bought two 100k linear taper pots because I noticed two things. One is that the volume pot seems to match the same loudness as the clean signal when it's about 2 or 3 o'clock, which would make sense if a linear taper pot matches at 12. The other thing is that the tone is mostly bass until the very end, then it's treble. I didn't pay much attention to how the tone pot was wired when I ordered my parts, so an audio pot was a bad choice. I have no idea if that would be causing the strange change in volume, very high with bass and low with treble, but it will at least make the sound even out.

What should a big muff sound like if the sustain knob is turned all the way down? Should it clean or is it still distorted? Because when I have it turned all the way down it's still fairly distorted, in fact it doesn't change much at all.

[drew9000]

I'm an idiot, I just realized that It's actually Q1 that's off, and Q2-4 that are what they should be.