ce-3 no longer 'chorusing'

[LoKi6922]

this sucks.. because i really enjoyed that pedal. very metallic and trebly, not your current 'woofy' chorus sounds that people seem to enjoy... very 80's sounding.

it quit on me on sunday... not sure why exactly.. i noticed the led not lighting, but it was still chorusing ... a little scratchy with a 'clip' sound at the end of the warble... so i replaced the led with a white one, didnt' change the resistor or anything, and it lit up with the effect... on battery power.

when i plugged it in to dc, it was very dim... not sure why.

then i decided that maybe it still wasn't working properly, so i tried it out on my amp... lo and behold! no chorus. it changes the sound, and the output is increased now on bypass... so what is wrong? do i have a loose ground somewhere?

my digital MM is lost... so i'll have to get a new one this week, but i have a show to play tomorrow night, and a chorus would be most welcome. any thoughts or ideas?

i'm not sure what to check now... without my MM i'm at a standstill..

[puretube]

1st: track down the traces, and draw up the circuit;
2nd: post it here;
3rd: get hundreds of views of that thread...

(sorry - of course this was ironic/sarcastic -  :oops: - nevermind).

maybe just a tracking-off BBD-bias-trimpot?

[Paul Marossy]

Are you sure that the bypass switch isn't just stuck in the on position?

[wampcat1]

If I had to guess, I'd say touch up all the solder joints. That will alot of times fix the problem if it suddenly quits on you (IMO).

The power problem -- if it takes an aca adaptor, and you are using psa, it won't light the led too awful much. There is usually a diode and resistor you can jumper to fix it though.

Sorry I can't be of more help!

Thanks,
Brian

[LoKi6922]

thanks for the replies everyone.

the switch works, i can definatley hear an on/off effect. as for the led, i didn't think about the adaptor... of course i have a psa adaptor... and the pedal is not...  :oops:

as for the rest, there are an awful lot of wires in there. i'm going to have to remove them and catalogue them and rewire the whole pedal to be sure that i don't have another bad solder joint. the 9v plug had a bad solder joint and i lost all power... thats fixed, but i still dont' have an effect.

i thought maybe it was because i changed the led... but like i said, i'm using the same resistor in series... hmmprh.

i'll keep playing with it. too bad it wont be ready for tomorrow night, at this rate..

thanks again!

[puretube]

how about replacing the white LED with one that is more similar to the stock-LED?
(the forward-voltage of the LED >might< be used by a part of the circuit, or otherwise important...).

the CE-3 is one of the "most-unknown" schematics on the web.

[pioneer_56]

Check the solder jonts, I have done a lot of modding on my CE-3 and I noticed they were very skimpy with the original solder on my board. I have went back and redone most of the joints on the board.

Andrew

[LoKi6922]

how about replacing the white LED with one that is more similar to the stock-LED?
(the forward-voltage of the LED >might< be used by a part of the circuit, or otherwise important...).

the CE-3 is one of the "most-unknown" schematics on the web.

i've noticed...

if i had a schematic i'd be at least one step ahead from where i am.

thanks for the reply, i have a red LED from my sd-1 that i can throw in there, and see if it makes a difference.

-Andrew, what sort of mods have you done to it? i think it sounds neat out of the box... not your usual chorus sound.

thanks everyone!

-Andre-

[puretube]

Joe Kramer said he intended to call Roland for the schemo... :

http://diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/viewtopic.php?t=30934

Geoff H. has at least a partly traced schem...

[Geoff Hunter]

Hey

Do you get the same problem on OUTB as well (as OUTA)? also does changing the Mono-Stereo switch make any difference?

Geoff

[LoKi6922]

same problem with A or B. when i change from mono to stereo, there is an audible click, and a definate texture change in the sound, but still no actual chorus.

it seems that in bypass, i'm getting more output than with the pedal disconnected.

i always used to get slightly less volume, and more treble when i clicked it on before. now it seems that if i play hard, it makes a woofy slightly distorted sound when the pedal is in bypass. when the effect is on, it sounds like its almost a doubled tone, hard to describe, but not the metallic warble of this 80's chorus.

elements of the chorus are still apparent, but neither rate or depth controls function, and it definately is not sounding like it should.

its a great pedal, i wish there was more info available.

[Joe Kramer]

Joe Kramer said he intended to call Roland for the schemo... :

http://diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/viewtopic.php?t=30934

Got it!  Have no scanner or webspace, but can email a good quality digital pic.  Contact me.

Regards,
Joe

[puretube]

Hah!! :
we had a brandnew case of "Through-Zero-Posting" tonight...
(is it the full moon?)  
http://diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/viewtopic.php?t=30934&start=15

[Joe Kramer]

"Through-Zero-Posting"

. . . . :lol: !

[puretube]

THANX, JOE !!!


well, at first glance, it doesn`t look that terrific different from other similar boxes, but there sure is a lot of FET-switching involved (which I personaly dislike...), which can make de-bugging more complicated.

[Joe Kramer]

THANX, JOE !!!

My Pleasure!

well, at first glance, it doesn`t look that terrific different from other similar boxes, but there sure is a lot of FET-switching involved (which I personaly dislike...), which can make de-bugging more complicated.

Hmm.  I've had a few of those FET switches quit working -- better check those. . . .  Keep us updated on any progress!

Joe

[LoKi6922]

i had to borrow a CE-2 from a friend of mine for the show last night *which actually went over pretty good.. got some great audience responce on the songs, and on my tone which helps, since i'm using all my own modded/built pedals. *

the ce-2 is pretty nice, but a little bass heavy... definatley a treble killer.

can't wait to get my little metallic blue box back in business!

[Geoff Hunter]

same problem with A or B. when i change from mono to stereo, there is an audible click, and a definate texture change in the sound, but still no actual chorus.

it seems that in bypass, i'm getting more output than with the pedal disconnected.  

i always used to get slightly less volume, and more treble when i clicked it on before. now it seems that if i play hard, it makes a woofy slightly distorted sound when the pedal is in bypass. when the effect is on, it sounds like its almost a doubled tone, hard to describe, but not the metallic warble of this 80's chorus.

elements of the chorus are still apparent, but neither rate or depth controls function, and it definately is not sounding like it should.

its a great pedal, i wish there was more info available.

Hmmmm could be the LFO is not working now especially if you hearing a doubled tone (the BBD will be producing a fixed, non modulated delay)

although that doesn't explain the distortion when in bypass. Damn

Have you managed to get a new DMM yet?

P.S Thanks Joe!

[LoKi6922]

i really liked the one i had! but its probably in the possesion of my exwife...

*recent divorce*

and now that radio shack is owned by circuit city, they only sell toys and stuff.

i saw a pretty nice one at a pawn shop for 40 bucks *canadian* so i'll probably pick it up today.

it might take the whole weekend, but i'll have this baby chorusing by monday!

[puretube]

if the LFO doesn`t work, the clock generator (IC4) could be working on an extreme frequency (e.g. a low one), which could cause strange distortion through artefacts;

if the BBD (IC3) is slightly misbiased (trimpot VR3 controls the bias for the complete audiopath including the BBD), it can sound distorted, but a modulation ought to be heard at the rateof the LFO when it worx...

distortion can also occur because of the opamps in the audipath being mis-biased... (which would include BBD misbias)

distortion can occur, when the FET switches don`t switch on/off fully...
(they switch by help of Q11/12, which also switch the indicator LED !!!)

The LED doesn`t light up, when Q12 doesn`t fully conduct,
or when the LED, or D8, or R13 are at fault...
OR: when the "B+" voltage is too low.

Misbias can also be caused by B+ being too low...

{just a few thoughts}

time to measure voltages  :?