Tone Pad Fuzz Face, volume but no fuzz.

buildafriend · January 21, 2011, 05:29:17 PM

Okay, first off anyone who looks at this and helps is a hero. Anyone who looks at this and learns, I'm glad for you.

This is my 1st build entirely on my own. as far as i can tell, everything looks right. The volume pot works but the fuzz does literally nothing. Does this trigger any thoughts in your heads?

I am a technology student so I'm not in the dark with the terminology but I am still learning.

I used these transistors and this PCB layout. Etched it myself.

http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=682

http://www.tonepad.com/getFile.asp?id=82

buildafriend · January 21, 2011, 05:41:46 PM

I read this in one of the stickies:

5.Whether or not it's a positive ground circuit like a PNP fuzz or a Rangemaster that has been hacked to work with negative ground. This is a special case, but a common one. "Positive ground" means that the positive/red lead of the battery clip is connected to signal ground. "Negative ground" means that the negative/black lead of the battery clip is connected to signal ground when the effect is operating.

In this project it specified the component setup for a negative which i followed.

BATTER GETS EXTREMELY HOT

This must mean i have a short. How do you check for shorts?

buildafriend · January 21, 2011, 05:43:33 PM

I followed nearly the exact resistor and and capacitor values in the tonepad bill of materials. except for replacing the 8.2K resistor with a 9.2K resistor. Everything else is by the book.

buildafriend · January 21, 2011, 05:44:34 PM

The switch is bypassed to keep it simple until the circuit works.

blooze_man · January 21, 2011, 05:44:59 PM

From what I can see in the photos the ground polarity jumper is wrong. I don't know if you wired it for positive or negative ground but the way you have it is wrong for either way.

buildafriend · January 21, 2011, 05:48:30 PM

Is the ground polarity jumper the wire just under the battery + / - terminals?

buildafriend · January 21, 2011, 05:52:47 PM

I have it wired for negative ground and the caps are facing the right way.

buildafriend · January 21, 2011, 05:54:02 PM

I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN!!

buildafriend · January 21, 2011, 06:05:56 PM

I'm so happy! it's extremely aggressive and present! ITS ALIVE.

blooze_man · January 21, 2011, 07:05:45 PM

Cool. Glad I could help

buildafriend · January 21, 2011, 10:13:50 PM

hm.. now that i pay closer attention.. its sort of crackling.

Jhouse · January 21, 2011, 10:26:48 PM

Are you familiar with an AUDIOPROBE?

Make one of those bad boys and start tracing your circuit from the input until you get to the end of the circuit. It's the only real way to find out where the crackle is actually at.

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Tone Pad Fuzz Face, volume but no fuzz.