Brian May treble booster (please help a newb)

[winnetouch]

Hy guys.

I've decided to restore my old diy brian may treble booster that I built a long time ago using this pcb: http://tonepad.com/project.asp?id=40

I've decided to ditch the battery and only use the power plug. Also the pedal was in serious disrepair. It's been my first (and thus far) my only pedal project. Some of the wires got disconnected and corrosion started to set in. So I decided to clean it up and luckily all the traces are still OK.

But I've run in to a problem. I tried wiring it up as I remembered it was suppose to be but all I get is a loud Buzz and nothing more. I tried following my old reference photos and the diagram on the website above (even though I know I didn't wire it like that the first time I made it). Nothing works. The buzz comes through if the switch is pressed or not, even if the pedal is unplugged from power. What am I missing? I'm sure I'm wring it wrong but it's been such a long time and I'm really a newb at this that I probably screwed something up along the way.

I remember using a swithed jack for the output the first time around because that was all the store had at the time.

[Kevin Mitchell]

Wild guess - the output wire isn't connected to what you think it is so your guitar amp is amplifying an open or shorted connection instead of the output of the circuit.

Audio probe.

-KM

[Slowpoke101]

I've decided to restore my old brian diy brian may treble booster that I built a long time ago using this pcb: http://tonepad.com/project.asp?id=40

I think that you may have made a wiring error with your power connections. This particular board from Tonepad is a negative ground configuration and not positive ground. Also make certain that you are using the correct connections on the input and output sockets. With that type of open frame socket (your output socket ) I seem to always connect to the switched connection and not to the tip connection 

[winnetouch]

Wild guess - the output wire isn't connected to what you think it is so your guitar amp is amplifying an open or shorted connection instead of the output of the circuit.

Audio probe.

-KM

No. As fas as I can see it's connected to the correct part of the circuit. The part where it says out.

I've decided to restore my old brian diy brian may treble booster that I built a long time ago using this pcb: http://tonepad.com/project.asp?id=40

I think that you may have made a wiring error with your power connections. This particular board from Tonepad is a negative ground configuration and not positive ground. Also make certain that you are using the correct connections on the input and output sockets. With that type of open frame socket (your output socket ) I seem to always connect to the switched connection and not to the tip connection 

I don't really get that. It's clearly marked on the pcb where the 9V+ wire should go. Also I rigged the switched socket so it never connects to the switch.

Also. I just noticed that the board hums even when the power is out. Basically when there is no power going through the board the hum is still there. The hum is only gets louder when the power is on.

Do both Sockets need to be connected vie wire anywhere? I hava a referenz photo what the wiring between the sockets used to look like but one of the wires got loose so I don't really know where it was suppose to go. It was connected to the barrel of the input socket.

Also. I don't need the pedal to work only when the guitar is plugged in. It can be powered even if the guitar is not plugged in. Can I just wire the power barrel to the 9V+ pin and GND pin?

[idy]

By sockets you mean jacks. And yes, the barrel (or sleeve, as opposed to tip) does need to be connected. It is a ground and all grounds go together. Best practices all in one spot, quick and dirty any other grounded spot. And yes an unconnected ground = no sound out, only hum.

[Slowpoke101]

Have a look at the following picture. I have modified your diagram to suit negative ground.
This may help or.........

[winnetouch]

Have a look at the following picture. I have modified your diagram to suit negative ground.
This may help or.........

Hy. Are you sure this is OK? All I get is a clean signal if I configure it this way. Are you sure the power socket ground is suppose to go to the barrel not the ground of the input jack? Or did I mess that up in my diagram? Sorry about that. The stereo input jack has 3 terminals. Ring, sleeve and tip. Where does the ground from the power socket suppose to go? To ground or to the sleeve?

[Slowpoke101]

Hy. Are you sure this is OK? All I get is a clean signal if I configure it this way. Are you sure the power socket ground is suppose to go to the barrel not the ground of the input jack? Or did I mess that up in my diagram? Sorry about that. The stereo input jack has 3 terminals. Ring, sleeve and tip. Where does the ground from the power socket suppose to go? To ground or to the sleeve?

It should work but obviously it doesn't. I think it may help if I clarify some things.

With a stereo jack when you plug a standard mono guitar lead into it (which only has tip and sleeve connections ), the plug will short the socket's ring and sleeve connections together. On battery powered effects this forms a rudimentary on/off switch if the battery's negative lead is connected to the socket's ring connection - without a lead being plugged into the input socket the battery's negative lead is disconnected. In my previous picture I showed the negative from the power socket as being connected to the input's ring connection which I would not normally do. In the following image I have corrected this and I have also shown a battery option.

The power connection is shown as centre negative and the "barrel" connection is positive. This is the standard Boss pedal arrangement which seems to be the accepted standard - but never assume this, always check.

[iainpunk]

By sockets you mean jacks. And yes, the barrel (or sleeve, as opposed to tip) does need to be connected. It is a ground and all grounds go together. Best practices all in one spot, quick and dirty any other grounded spot. And yes an unconnected ground = no sound out, only hum.

or, in a lot of circuits, no ground means clean-ish out with a high impedance, really reducing output volume, since the whole circuit turns in to a big, messy impedance in series with the signal path

[winnetouch]

Hy. Are you sure this is OK? All I get is a clean signal if I configure it this way. Are you sure the power socket ground is suppose to go to the barrel not the ground of the input jack? Or did I mess that up in my diagram? Sorry about that. The stereo input jack has 3 terminals. Ring, sleeve and tip. Where does the ground from the power socket suppose to go? To ground or to the sleeve?

It should work but obviously it doesn't. I think it may help if I clarify some things.

With a stereo jack when you plug a standard mono guitar lead into it (which only has tip and sleeve connections ), the plug will short the socket's ring and sleeve connections together. On battery powered effects this forms a rudimentary on/off switch if the battery's negative lead is connected to the socket's ring connection - without a lead being plugged into the input socket the battery's negative lead is disconnected. In my previous picture I showed the negative from the power socket as being connected to the input's ring connection which I would not normally do. In the following image I have corrected this and I have also shown a battery option.

The power connection is shown as centre negative and the "barrel" connection is positive. This is the standard Boss pedal arrangement which seems to be the accepted standard - but never assume this, always check.

Nope... Still no signal when the pedal is on.

[duck_arse]

is your build a secret, or can we see photos of what you have built? it's no point in debugging a diagram.

[winnetouch]

It's no secret it's just a messy build until I figure out how to make it work. Then I'll make it neater . I'm not sure how much you can figure out by this image.

I didn't bother with the jumper wire so I soldered the blue wire directly to the trace instead of the jumper wire.

[Slowpoke101]

Thank you for posting a picture of your build. It is extremely helpful.
Now just to clarify a couple of minor issues;
First - The input jack (socket ) is the black plastic bodied one? - Guitar plugs into this one.
Second - The output jack is the open frame one? - This one goes off to the amp.

If this is correct then you have them wired in reverse - input is actually the output and the output is actually the input.
Just swap over the green wires going to the jacks and it should work OK.

Let us know how you go.

[slashandburn]

I'm inclined to agree with slowpoke. Looks like you've got your input and output wires reversed (from the Jack's rather than the board).

The yellow wire on the tip of the metal jack and the green wire on the tip of the plastic jack should be swapped around.
Edit : wait, the board shpold be wired to switch. Not the jack. Too much rum since this lock down. Jack tips should goto switch.  Circuit input should also go switch. Maybe I've had too much to drink but seems you've got the circuit input wired straight to the jack output.

[winnetouch]

I took the whole thing apart again and started from scratch. I manager to get it working, It nas a terrible buzzing sound when the booster is on though. My suspision is on the potentiometer. When its fully open the buzz gore away.