Ampeg Scrambler - Not working as should.....

[killerkev]

Built the scrambler based on GGG. Tranny Q1 is Central 5306, Q2 is Fairchild 3906, Q3 & Q4 is Fairchild 5306. I've checked other posts on the Scrambler and my voltages are pretty similair with only one suspect... Q1 C:
Q1 E-4.36      B-3.47      C- 4.36
Q2 E- 0.24     B-0.9        C- 3.81
Q3 E-3.48      B-4.51      C-9.14
Q4 E-3.48      B 4.51       C-8.76


Other have reported Q1 C-much higher 8.45 to 9 V. The pedal works and you can hear the octave but it is not loud at ALL. Compare to my muff and Foxx tone machine, this is quiet.... Not right. Also, sounds like there is some noise gating going on. Kinda fizzes out if the note isn't played hard enough and then goes silent. I've struggled with this one mainly due to the f**king pinouts of these Darlingtons. They are now correctly set. Any suggestions?

[oldrocker]

I believe Q2 3906 you used is an PNP not an NPN.  NPN trannies are used throughout.  You might want to check that first.
I used MPSA18's (not Darlingtons) for Q1-Q3 and Q4 and a 3904 for Q2.  IMHO mine sounds darn good.

[killerkev]

I screwed up, Q2 is a 2n3904 fairchild. Any suggestions on why I'm getting this low voltage from Q1 C?

[oldrocker]

It figures it was a typo.  And here I thought I might've helped.    But here's something.  Check the orientation of C3.  The tonepad and GGG schems don't match.  I haven't checked mine yet to see which way mine is but that might be it since there is a disagreement with C3 polarity.  It's a shot in the dark but you never know.

[oldrocker]

How did you do on the debug?