Guitar Fuzz Effect weak & buzzing

[Hendrixisgod]

Well I finally finished up my first pedal ( http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/fuzz.asp ). I know its not a fantastic circuit anyway, but whatever i was just giving it a go. I havent added the tone controls I was planning on yet, as its still on the breadboard. I swapped out C2 and C3 with .047 uF instead of the original .47 uF for both capacitors. Other than that I made no changes. Anyway, back to my point: I can hear my guitar coming out through the amp, its just INCREDIBLY soft... Is it the schematic or my changes or some other unforeseen problem? Anyone else had this problem before?

[Hendrixisgod]

Oh and theres also an incredibly annoying buzz going on at the same time, not like a fuzz effect or anything.

[edvard]

The buzz tells me you got other problems.
Lower-value capacitors will cut some bass, but it shouldn't be that drastic.

Double check for parts that may have leaned over and shorted something.
Check for leads that may not be poked all the way in the breadboard hole.
As a last resort, pull everything out and put it back in, double checking as you go.
Maybe even put the IC in a different spot just in case some sockets in the breadboard decided to get touchy.
Hopefully you didn't accidentally short something and blow up the op-amp.
Most op-amps are almost bullet-proof but stranger things have happened...

As an afterthought, C3 probably doesn't need to be changed.
Cutting bass into the effect can be a good thing to keep the distortion from getting 'farty', but you'll probably want to keep as full a spectrum as you can going out to the eventual tone control.

[The Tone God]

To give us better information try following this thread:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=29816.0

Andrew

P.S. Please use more descriptive thread titles.

[Hendrixisgod]

Yes sorry in my fit of rage I didnt even think about the title, I apologize.
And first off let me say i found the problem which turned out to be INCREDIBLY stupid and an easy fix- I just connected a wire to the wrong terminal of the 741... What a stupid mistake. Thanks to Edvard as your reply made me focus on that area.
BUT all is not well as I thought it would be. The phrase "out of the frying pan and into the fire" seems to fit quite nicely. I unplugged my battery on accident while my guitar was plugged in through my effect and to the amp, but nothing changed! WTF?!?!?! The distortion was pretty lame though, so I'm almost glad to know that it was wrong haha. Its almost a relief at the same time. Anyway, the volume is a little bit lower than when I plug my guitar in straight to the amp, but not overly noticeable. AND the tone is a little bit distorted, but again not ovely noticeable. I'm so confused!

[R.G.]

First of all, don't get angry or discouraged. Although this is not rocket science, it does take some time to learn the zillions of bits of info you'll need.

You would be astounded to know how many posts that read almost exactly like yours have been posted here over the years. You're not the first beginner.

In general, assume you have made some mistake that seems silly. However, realize that it's only silly if you knew it mattered - which, in many cases, you don't. Yet.

[petemoore]

  After debugging thread is applied, it becomes apparent how well these methods work, and how without them, looking at it probably just takes time.

[Hendrixisgod]

Thanks R.G. for your encouragement. I've taken a step back and attempted a more level-headed approach. I noticed first of all that I did a little bit of off-board wiring with my power supply and jacks differently then I should have. I think that it was a problem, but I'm not entirely sure as my alternate wiring may have worked. Anyway its now switched back to the original schematic. The reason I couldnt tell is because I wired the voltage divider wrong! I CANT BELIEVE I actually placed the wire for the 4.5v out AFTER the second resistor! That means that my 741 was getting 0V instead of 4.5V for the bias. GAH! Well I'm off to fix the problem real quick. Again, thanks for the help/encouragement, I love this forum!

[Hendrixisgod]

SUCCESS! It works  

[edvard]

Awesome!