30 days work %$#@#!!! All I want is a little compression!.. Help

[rosssurf]

I have spent an eternity working on my Flatline build. I have no idea how to wire it up! I have seen many layouts using the 3pdt blue switch that I want to use with an lED indicator.  I have posted questions here asking which pin is what on the pots. Everyone has been very helpfull. I just can figure out how to wire this up completely. Thats with the sustain and level pots and the 3pdt switch. I am about ready to throw in the towel.

Once again here is the build. I thank you all for your continued patience with me.  http://aronnelson.com/gallery/bcreekmur/flatline_compressor

[erick4x4]

Never give up, its just about to get fun!
Can you be specific with your questions?
Do you have any off board components wired? Do you need help with the pots, the jacks and switch, the LED, all of the above?

[LyleCaldwell]

http://www.diystompboxes.com/cnews/FAQ.html has all of that covered.

[rosssurf]

I have a stereo jack / mono jack /  3pdt blue  / led /  Volumepot  / sustain pot.  I must have the input tip and output tip right because I get a bypassed sound. When I click the effect on I get an LED but no sound.  I don't really understand what wires come off of the pots and go to the 3PDT. It looks like both wires on the sustain go directly to the board and are not wired to the 3PDT. I am obviously confused and until a month ago knew very little about this stuff. I play an Egnater preamp and VHT el34 power amp into a Bogner 4x12 and I am a stickler for tone. I just wanted to make a nice compressor for home recording and maybe for my live shows. I love making things myself but this is really getting to me.

[jonathan perez]

take a break.

sounds to me like its time for one hell of a chicken sandwich.

then come back with a rested mind.

and happy tummy.

[343 Salty Beans]

Okay. Here's a link to the GGG basic 3PDT wiring.

http://generalguitargadgets.com/diagrams/switch_lo_3pdt_tb_battery.gif

What the switch does is connect each column (up and down) of poles. It's basically hitting one switch to change 3 different connections. The switch will ALWAYS be touching the middle pole; depending on position, the two outer poles are what are switched when you actually switch the switch.

Let's start with the battery. it's going to be wired to the effect's 9V+ and also to the positive side of the LED (ITS THE LONGER SIDE). Now, you said your LED comes on, so that's obviously not a problem.

Now, the input of the board is going to go to one set of poles (in the diagram, the middle column) on the 3PDT switch, and the output will go to another set, on the SAME SIDE. The reason is that little wire connecting the OPPOSITE side of those two rows. that will bypass the effect.

Now, note that the OUTPUT of the board goes to one outer lug of the VOLUME/LEVEL pot, and then the middle lug of that pot will connect to the switch. I think that's your main beef...it took me a while to figure that one out.

If you follow the connection from the input jack, the bypassing technique is obvious. It's the effect wiring that always gets me, too. Make sure your effect (the board), jacks, switch, and battery are ALL grounded to a common point.

Hope that helps.

[rosssurf]

I will go to sleep now and wake up and try to followow your instruction in the a.m. Thanks for your help

[chunks717]

alright............
   first of all, have you checked that the circuit is working first......................
forget the stomp/led/battery switching and all that until you know it works.

-on the vero layout, wire your jack tip to "volume 3", and your ring to "ground"
this skips the volume pot, but it probably does not have a lot of gain, just start w/ your amp low.
-wire another jack tip to "input" and the ring to "ground"..........................

If it does not work check that your board matches the picture, all caps and diodes and IC are oriented properly,
and make sure the vero strips are cut where they should be....etc.........If i had a nickel blah blah blah.

are you sure your vactrol is correctly made/oriented?

If it works, then continue................

also, If you are using Aron's blue stomp switches, look at the base so that it is wider
than it is tall, and all the terminals look like minus signs....(not the letter 'i' ...right?)

look at the first "stack" of terminals, on the left.(top to bottom)
whatever you hook to the middle one is connected to the top in one switch position,
and to the bottom in the other position.
this is exactly the same for the other 2 "stacks", but none of the 3 stacks are connected to each other.

so middle term. in stack one is input jack tip.
.....top term. stk one is circuit "input." on board
middle term. in stack 2 is output jack tip.
.....top term. stk 2 is circuit output (in this case, vol. pot lug 2...the middle one....the two end lugs go to "volume 3" and "ground"on board)
now connect bottom term. stk one, to bottom term. stack 2.
now connect ALL of your grounds together(the black battery wire, the jack rings, and "ground" on the board. at least)

for LED, middle term. stack three goes to ground
......top term. stack 3 goes to short leg/flat side/cathode of LED.
from positive side of LED, go to a 2.2k or 4.7k (or something between) resister, then to battery red wire.

once you do all of that and it works, move your black battery wire the "sleeve" or middle of stereo jack, and
connect the ring to "ground" on board.

the sustain pot just connects to the circuit board, not the switch.

this is the simplest language I can think of, pardon it.....seems like you are frustrated.

good luck............

[rosssurf]

Thanks Chunks.
It end up after a good nights sleep I found that I had 47 Ohm resistor where I needed a 47,000 Ohm one. Slight differenece . I replaced the r with the correct value and then still got nothing, so I replaced my tl072 with a fresh one and all seemed well. But then I noticed seems I have just made a fancy volume boost control in black box with a prety Violet LED. I am not really noticing any compression or sustain at all. I have tried replacing the 220K resistor with ones from 1K all the way to 2.2M!! it just seems to be more or less of a volume booster, still no audible sign  of compression or sustain. I am using a VTL5C3 for my LED/LDR Is it possible having the wrong value R in there caused the tl072 to fail? or it could have been from me trying different wires all over the place.
Any thoughts?

[R.G.]

Thirty days and it doesn't work because of some simple component problem???

Try thirty years... 

I still get them wrong.