Clean Octave Blend voltages

[canman]

Hey everyone,

I built up this Clean Octave Blend:



And I'm getting signal...in fact, all the knobs seem to work.  But it doesn't sound quite right...it sounds kinda blatty, if that makes sense.  Some notes, I can hear the octave doing it's thing, but on others, it just sounds like some weird fuzz.  These are my voltages:

Q1:
C: 4.8
B: .7
E: .15

Q2:
C: 9.4
B: 4.8
E: 4.2

Q3:
C: 2.18
B: .7
E: .16

Q4:
C: 7.79
B: 2.18
E: 1.58

(Yes, I know my CBE's aren't in the same order as they are shown on the layout...I figured this way would make more sense)

So...I'm thinking those voltages don't seem right.  Well, maybe Q2 looks right.  Anyways, what do the experts think?  Maybe these are OK for what this circuit does?  I haven't been able to track down a schematic...my apologies.  But any help would be greatly appreciated!

[duck_arse]

well, now, if you can't find a circuit, you'll have to be the one to draw it out, nur?

the connections around Q1 and Q2 have me baffled on vero. it looks a little like a "companion" front end.

[slacker]

Q1 and Q2 are almost the front end of a superfuzz, the Voltages look Ok to me. The octave up section Q3 and Q4 are the first two stages of a Foxx tone machine, http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_ftm_sc.pdf so have a search around here and you'll probably be able to find what the Voltages are supposed to be.

It does sound blatty if this vidoe is anything to go by

[canman]

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it!  I would trace the schematic, but that's part of the problem...I can manage following a schematic on stripboard, but going the other way really confuses me. 

So would a companion front end mean basically doubling up on the transistors? 

Also, slacker, I looked at the schematic you posted...is there a way to know what the voltages should be based on the components around Q3,4?  The blatty sound I'm getting just doesn't quite sound as full and octave-y as that video...maybe different transistors would help.

[canman]

I listened to the video again, and compared it to what I've got...I think it sounds like the video.  I may have just had my knobs oriented differently.  But, my questions remain...how do you know what the voltages should be, based on the schematic?

[slacker]

The instructions here http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/effects-projects/octave/foxx-tone-machine/ have the Voltages, Q1 and Q2 are your Q3 and Q4, they look fine to me.

[canman]

Ah...thanks for pointing me in the right direction!  Interesting circuit, to say the least!

[R.G.]

"Clean Octave Blend" is an optimistic name, not an accurate description. If yours sounds like the video, it's probably working OK. The circuit in that thing generates an octave by generating a equivalent full-wave-rectified signal, which contains distortion products, like the other non-DSP octave products.

[canman]

Is that why all of the octave-ish pedals have some hint of fuzz going on?  I'm a really slow learner...I've been trying to learn about this kind of stuff for almost two years now... 

[R.G.]

Yes, that's why they all have some "fuzz" in the background, at best.