Yet Another BSIAB question...

[JayRock]

Hey all...

I am a newbie to the forum, and this place has a ton of great info, so I figured I would post a question.....

I recently purchased a BSIAB kit from GGG. I got it put together over the weekend and it didn't seem to sound right to the sound clips I've heard online. I have sockets on practically every part in the circuit to allow for easy swapping.

After troubleshooting a bit and double checking the parts, I had a .1uF and a 1 uF cap swapped. I got these back in correct and it seemed to help out quite a bit. I set the bias trim pot to about 4 VDC, which seemed to be fairly loud and open. Ok, so to this point, it makes sound, not a bad sound, but still don't sound right. So here is what I have done since... Been busy this week..

Let me describe the sound issue somewhat... With the volume and gain about 12 o'clock and ton around 3 o'clock...
The sound seems to be pretty good on higher notes, maybe the D, G, B, and E strings, but the A string and Low E string (more so the E string) sound muddy and make somewhat of a "BLATTY" sound. It isn't awful, but doesn't sound right to me, compared to other clips. The open A power chord on the A string sounds much better than the A power chord on the low E string, as the latter sounds more muddy. I don't know if this makes sense, or if anyone else has had a similar problem. I have tried to turn the bright switch on, on the amp and then dial back the tone a bit, which does help the situation for the muddy lows somewhat, but still not as defined as I would have thought, then the highs are too much. There seems to be a lack of balance. The best comparison for the low end sound is somewhat of a fuzz sound, not a tight distortion. Like I said, it isn't awful, but I was hoping for the low end to be tighter, so I can put this on my pedal board.

I made an audio probe and went back through the circuit and tested a C4 and it sounded ok (I think), basically my clean sound, but amplified a bit. I then proceeded with the audio probe to C12, and once again I think it sounds ok, not to muddy, fairly bright really. I then tried it at C9 and it just sounded really really loud, but still ok. The problem seems to be coming from the tone stack I think, because that is where I start to notice the lower strings becoming muddy. I changed R10 to a 3.3k resistor to lower the gain of the second stage a bit, which seemed to make it a bit more quiet, but still has plenty of gain. I have tried removing both C13 and C14, tried one or the other, tried a few other values, and seem to like the sound with both removed, as it allows better flexibility with the tone control. I then added a 100k potentiometer in place of R8 to try to lower the bass a bit (which is what I read on the forum someplace), which it did help to a degree, but then it got really thin on the higher strings. I have searched the net for information, and spent many hours reading about other peoples problems and suggestions with the pedal, but just can't seem to get the pedal where I really like it. It isn't bad and probably useable, but I think it should sound better, at least on the low end.

I am re-checking the components and soldering for the 4th or 5th time right now... 

I am using a PRS Tremonti SE into a Egnater Renegade for testing.

I didn't mean to start yet another BSIAB thread, but was hoping maybe ran into similar problems.

Thanks...