TS7 problems

[sed]

I'm new to this board but I've allready understood that there is a huge amount of knowledge out there.

I'm struggling with an Ibanez TS7 tube screamer that makes some noise. It's a hissing sound almost like frying eggs. The noise goes away when the "Level" pot is turned near the ccw and cw positions. Turning the "Drive" pot has no effect on the noise. What could this be? Has it something to do with Vr or the op amp. That is what my suggestions are so far.

Daniel

[Electric_Death]

I had a TS7, they're great pedals but it wasn't quite my taste so I started modding it to death...literally

Anyway, I cleaned up the hiss and noise by installing a socket and installing a better op amp, I'll be against the 4558 till the day I die. I installed better quality clipping diodes and really, anything you try will be better than the stock ones then I changed the tone cap. I think more than anything, the better diodes got rid of the hiss noise when you jacked up the gain. Anyway I did a bunch of other crap to it but in my defense, I was stuck using a 3 dollar iron from Big Lots which lead to it's untimely death. Looks like I'll canibalize the old case however and use those nifty tone lock pots too.

You can probably get away with just changing the clipping diodes and the tone cap which I believe is right next to the op amp. Those were the first two things I did to mine aside from the op amp socket but the better quality op amp made a big difference in noise as well.

[Gus]

Daniel

  Is the TS7 new, used and/or been modded before, did you or someone change parts?

  Don't worrry about the diodes or the opamp yet.

First diodes and opamps are a taste issue.  IMO there is nothing wrong with the stock diodes in the TS7 I own a few, if one is changing parts for a different sound that often is a taste issue.

Look close at the level control body, your post reads like level control the wiper might not be making good contact in the center of the sweep did the knob get kicked when the knob was "up" ?

[Electric_Death]

Gus I'm willing to bet if he's asking such a simple question and based on it being the Tone Lock series, nothing has been done to it.
I'm very familiar with the TS7, the noise he's mentioning is the same issue mine had and it was due to three things: the clipping diodes, the retched jrc4558 everyone insists on using and the tone cap.
Changed all 3's and that wiped out almost all of the noise.

But, you can take pot shot guesses if you like

[sed]

Thanks guys for replying!

A have done some simple mods to it a couple of years ago. Didn't change the op amp but some resistors, one of the clipping diodes and the tone cap. It was supposed to be a mod that Mr Keeley recommends. If that is true I don't know. I like the sound anyway. The noise wasn't there until some months ago. Only the Level control changes the noise, not the drive nor the tone control. I can't remember that the Level pot have been kicked or something like that but maybe it's a possible cause.

[Gus]

  To be clear
It worked fine after you changed parts.  You have not used it for some time and when you powered it up it now has noise?

Two things come to mind
Is it the same battery that you had in it months ago if so change the battery and check it again?  Some batteries can have not so good internal connections to the cells and can cause strange problems. 

Are you new to soldering? if so check and or re solder the connections.

I have fixed effects that the controls were stepped on causing the wiper not to have good contact to the wafer in spots, that is why I asked about the level control.

[Electric_Death]

Could be the pots but I really doubt it, they're completely sealed and built like a tank. It's one of the features that makes the TS7 unique and better than the other commercially sold TS's in my opinion. The sea sick green reissue may be 150 bucks or so but this is a better pedal at a fraction of the cost.
Just don't mod it to death with a 3 dollar iron from big lots!

[sed]

  To be clear
It worked fine after you changed parts.  You have not used it for some time and when you powered it up it now has noise?

Yes, that's almost correct. It worked fine after I changed the parts but I have used it and usually use it with a 9V DC supplier. I have tested it with a fresh battery but no difference.

Two things come to mind
Is it the same battery that you had in it months ago if so change the battery and check it again?  Some batteries can have not so good internal connections to the cells and can cause strange problems. 

Are you new to soldering? if so check and or re solder the connections.

Well yes, I am quite new to soldering and had even less skills with the iron when I did that mod. It could be the soldering, but wouldn't that have caused noise immediately when I first tested the pedal?

I have fixed effects that the controls were stepped on causing the wiper not to have good contact to the wafer in spots, that is why I asked about the level control.

Of course this could be the case. I think it could be a bit tricky to get inside the pot because of its construction. It's worth a try though.

[Gus]

Solder connections can go bad with time.  Often cold solder joints will cause problem with time.  Look at the connections are they shiny or dull?   Sometimes the flux can cause problems if not cleaned from the PCB.