HELP!!! Veroboard Hummingbird Clone started ticking!!

[alfonso_bundis]

Hello Everyone,

I built a clone of the EQD Hummingbird some years ago following this layout:



It worked without any problems since 2015, juts a bit of barely audible ticking.
Last week out of nowhere a a loud  ticking appeared, the pedal ticks even if I use a 9v
battery to power it, and even if the level know is rolled down to the minimum.
I open it but nothing seems to be burned or anything. This are the voltage reading I got from the transistors:

2N5089
C 0
B 0.42
E 0.01

2N5457
D 8.72
S 0.38
G 0.03

2N2646
B2 7.73
E 4.29
B1 0.04

Any idea why this ticking suddenly appeared? What can I do to restore the pedal to its former glory?
These are some pics of the board. I will appreciate any kind of help you can provide.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByQJ_Jm2TlRudmIyUlR0cjFXNFU
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByQJ_Jm2TlRuY3hlajBkZzFMOTg

[bloxstompboxes]

I would try shortening some of those wires. There is a lot of excess and where they end up lying in the box has a lot to do with picking up noise, capacitance, and ticking in most LFO circuits. Not familiar with this circuit so I don't know specifically what to avoid there.

[cnspedalbuilder]

I built this circuit and for a while, it started ticking on bypass. Then over time it stopped. My only explanation is that the 2n2646 may be sensitive to heat, because the ticking was there during the hotter points in the summer.

I agree with the other poster that shorter wires might also help.

If you go back to the tagboard fx site where you most likely got this layout, you'll find this quote in the comments.

After dealing with the damned lfo tick, I've found a way to make it barely noticeable, just in fast mode and very high volumes you'll hear a trace of this upseting noise.

You have to isolate the ground of the lfo from the rest of the circuit. Make a new cut on the lower row, just under Q3 gate. Now the lfo has no ground connection. Just solder a new wire to the left or right hole of the lover end of the 39r resistor and the other side of the wire to the ground / negative pin of the DC jack.

This way, the lfo ground is isolated from the rest of the circuit with the 39r resistor, and from the +9v with the diode. You can use a slightly higher value for the 39r resistor, but don't go up too much, 100r maximum.

This seems to be a common recommendation. I've not done it myself, but you might want to try it.