Distortion+ Finally working! But...

[WildMountain]

Hey guys, it finally happened (almost).
I haven't been doing much DIY last months because of lack of time (lame excuse I know), but of course it kept itching so I needed to scratch.
Tonight I finally got my first pedal working! Woohoo!
For some reason I wasn't able to put the distortion+ that I already got working in a metal case with LED and 3PDT stomp switch. After first discovering that I had the 3PDT switch turned 90 degrees the wrong way (how many dumb newbie mistakes can ONE person make, I seem to be making ALL mistakes possible), it still didn't work.
Now everything seems to work fine but for two things. The power isn´t interrupted by pulling out the input jack, even then the footswitch can turn the LED on and off. Any ideas as to what I did wrong there?
And when I turn level and drive (almost) all the way up, the pedal is very noisy. Is this the case in any of your Distortion plus builds?

[Gabriel Simoes]

If you have used 741 ic, maybe thats your noise problem ....
About the power ... double check your wiring .... maybe you have soldered your power source ground (battery clip od dc jack) to the jack ground instead of the center pin (forgot the name hehehehe)
And be happy, the first pedal we never forget! =)
Good luck
Gabriel

[WildMountain]

I did use a 741, so that could be the problem. Do you have a suggestion for replacing it? What would that do to the tone of the pedal?
I´ll check the wiring, that´s probably what went wrong.
Strange thing, I seem to be inventing new ways to do these things wrong all the time. It never occured to me that you were supposed to check which way the 3PDT switch is oriented, that isn´t a problem with a 2PDT switch.
I AM very happy though, you are right, this first pedal is worth celebrating! Thanks for the response.

[petemoore]

I did use a 741, so that could be the problem. Do you have a suggestion for replacing it? What would that do to the tone of the pedal?
 741's are about the worst oa for noise, but even that is'nt 'terribly noisy' IME.
 There are single OAs that'll socket the same as the 741...any single OA...there are others that can just know the part #'s, I think TL07O, or *NE5534 *will draw more current, otherwise a good performer..[check that these are singles first].
 Reportedly the 741's 'characteristics' are part of teh DIST+ sound, but I opted for 'better' performance OA's.

[Gabriel Simoes]

Direct replacement for 741 what comes to my mind now .... tl071 (cheap) , opa134 (great! but not that cheap) ...
One other thing that could help PREVENTING is to use those cables like the coaxial ones , since english is a foreign language to me, I forgot the name of the cable right know, but I hope you understand ...

And to improve the sound at max, try using ge diodes instead of si ..... 4148 in this project sounds real bad to me ...

I hope this project give you enougth corage so you can start new ones ...
Good luck
Gabriel

[WildMountain]

I'm sorry but I don't understand what cables you are talking about, you mean wiring inside of the pedal, or some kind of shielded guitar cable to and from the pedal?
I'll have to check which diodes I used, as I assembled the board some time ago, then put it away for some time and now finally finished the box. I will see if I can experiment a little with it, maybe try some LED's for clipping.

[Gabriel Simoes]

I think leds will five you almost no distortion ... much less than si diodes ...
If I were you would try ge, if not using now ... to me they sound great ... best choice for this pedal ... try 2 or 3 (assym) 1n60 .... I hope you like it

And about the cable .... yep! shielded .... in the pedal ... the cable from the jack in, to prevent amplifying noise ....

[Connoisseur of Distortion]

PEOPLE! STOP BLAMING THE 741!!!   :x  :x  :x

[MartyMart]

PEOPLE! STOP BLAMING THE 741!!!   :x  :x  :x

I AGREE 100%  
I have many great sounding ( noiseless ) 741 builds, for dist/overdrive
circuits, its a great little O/A
TL071 is also a good choice, but does "sound" different in a Dist+

Marty.