Problem Solving ProAnalog Manticore v1

[Chadley]

I have been a long-time lurker here, but never really posted before.  I have dabbled a bit with building my own effects and am wanting to jump back in.

I bought a second-hand ProAnalog Manticore v1 from Reverb, and it doesn't sound right. I am in contact with the seller, and we are trying to determine what could possibly be wrong with it. I have owned this pedal before and am very familiar with how it is supposed to sound.

The Manticore circuit is based on a Klon but with the two stacked pots on the gain control separated out.

The knob labeled "Gain" on the Manticore (which feeds the clipping circuit) goes from completely off at its lowest setting to completely saturated as soon as it opens up. Normally the pedal has lots of shades of clipping across the whole range of the knob. Anything from barely on to full sounds mostly the same, with a little bit of change in the last 10% of its range.

Also, when you roll off your volume (either with a guitar or volume pedal), the tone gets very muddy and dark. Usually, this pedal cleans up really nicely when you roll your volume back.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[ElectricDruid]

If a pots doesn't work right, the most likely problem is a bad connection on the pot (is it wired? Broken wire? Bad connection?) or a bad pot.

[Chadley]

If a pots doesn't work right, the most likely problem is a bad connection on the pot (is it wired? Broken wire? Bad connection?) or a bad pot.

I tried swapping the pot out and the problem persists.  Thanks for the input though...greatly appreciate it.  Still trying to track this one down.

[ElectricDruid]

Ok, well, let's have a look at the schematic and see if there's some other reason it might behave like that.

[Chadley]

[PRR]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ifnTy9aa9EtOpva4Qqfja3VQ2xpqg2VU/preview