UK Tremolo kit

[01GrahJ]

Has any body had any experience of the quasar electronics tremolo kit?

http://www.quasarelectronics.com/1018.htm

I have just ordered one and I'm trying to find out whether they are any good.

[MartyMart]

I dont know anything about that, but you could build a "kay Tremolo"
which is very nice, for about £5, & £10 for nice enclosure & DPDT switch!!
Just search for  ....  Kay AND tremolo .... above

Marty.

[gez]

Just checked the schematic and it's not a bad little design, though values aren't included so can't vouch for input impedance etc.  

It's sine wave driven with a FET doing the modulating so it'll probably sound similar to the EA.  At any rate, it should have a 'classic' vibe to it.  Let us know how you get on.

[01GrahJ]

Cool guys, thanks for the info, but what is an EA (this is probably a silly newb question!!)

[jmasciswannabe]

The EA is another tremolo circuit. You can find it over at general guitar gadgets. Nice little tremolo circuit, not too choppy and doesn't go real fast with out a mod. My favorite tremolo build can be found at commonsound. Tremulus Lune.

[01GrahJ]

Thanks for the help guys, also, does anybody know anywhere else that sells kits in the UK.  I want to start making my own with building effects from kits as it seems easier than building on pad-per-hole board.  I tried the beginner project on this and failed spectacularly!

[01GrahJ]

I built the tremolo and everything seems OK, but when I turn it on it comes out with a horrible crackly sound, not like a tremolo should sound.  Any ideas what might be wrong?

[gez]

when I turn it on it comes out with a horrible crackly sound, not like a tremolo should sound.

Could you be a bit more specific?  Can you hear your guitar signal through this crackle?

[gez]

PS  Post voltages for the pins of IC1 if possible.

[Paul Marossy]

Are you sure that the IC chip is oriented correctly?

[Fret Wire]

Thanks for the help guys, also, does anybody know anywhere else that sells kits in the UK.  I want to start making my own with building effects from kits as it seems easier than building on pad-per-hole board.  I tried the beginner project on this and failed spectacularly!

Pete Roberts has Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face kits in both the Silicon and Germanium variety. He also sells matched Ge transistors for FF builders.
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/Qgadgets007/qs_gadgets_index.htm

Does your kit have an online assembly guide you can link to? That way we can reference it. Post the IC voltages as the others have advised.

[01GrahJ]

On the parts list, the IC is shown to be a TL082 or an LF353.  There is also a diagram of the IC on the next page with the semicircle on the left, and the numbers 1 on the bottom left hand pin, 4 on the bottom right hand pin, 5 on the top right pin and an 8 on the top left hand pin.  On the top of the actual IC it says 22AY19M, and then underneath that it says TL082CP, and there is an imprinted dot towards the bottom left hand corner.  On the underside there is a large imprinted dot with the letters 3N2 inside it.

Also I have a JRC4558 chip from a tube screamer that never worked, what would happen if i put that into the IC socket?

The URL of the instructions is http://www.electronic-kits-and-projects.com/kit-files/1000/1018.pdf

I used thick multistrand wire to wire up the pots and had to cut off some of the strands in order to fit it in the hole.  Could this be a cause of the crackly sound.  I can hear my guitar through it fine if I play softly, but once I start really hitting the strings with plectrum the horrible crackly sound comes out.

Is any of this any help?

[gez]

I can hear my guitar through it fine if I play softly, but once I start really hitting the strings with plectrum the horrible crackly sound comes out.

And you still can't hear any tremolo?  Post voltage measurements for all the pins of the IC, that will tell us a lot.  

It's possible the LFO isn't modulating the FET so the gain of the amp is always high, this would account for the clipping when you dig in with the strings.  Check the orientation of the FET.  It's also possible that the amp is missbiased but we won't know until you post voltages.  

The schematic doesn't have component values, but the skeleton is there so that's not such a big deal so long as you give us something to go on, ie readings.

[01GrahJ]

I dont know what the voltages are for the IC.  The you can hear tremolo but it is horrible crackly and uneven in volume and dies away very quickly leaving just the crackly sound still going.  This is on both the clean and overdrive channels of my amp (Peavey Classic 30)

[gez]

I dont know what the voltages are for the IC.

Do you have a multimeter?  If not, buy one.  You can get a DMM for as little as £5.  You need to take measurements so that we can ascertain what all the voltages are for each pin of the IC.  Without them, it's pretty difficult to diagnose the problem...