Uglyface envelope not working. no laser love.

[micro]

So I built this dirty mother and it sounds mad crazy angry and pissed off but I'm not getting the laser love, if you know what I mean. Used the perfboard layout from  http://www.home-wrecker.com/uglyface.html .

I suspect this may be the problem, illustrated below. Forgive me folks, I'm new here.



Here's what I did. I ran out of space for that 470R so I moved it up higher above the IC.
Is this my problem? I mean, I get a small amount of the wah sound when I turn the sensitivity up but not much, and definitely not enough to get the laser sounds.
Please help?!

[smnm]

Hi (and welcome!) - I don't know what difference the move would make as I'm not intimate with what's inbetween pins 2 and 7 on the 555, but I'd say it's likely to be the reason for the change in performance of the pot.
If you've run out of space you could always add a jumper (e.g, from the lead of the 0.1 cap under the 555) and put the resistor and pot elsewhere, or attach the resistor directlty to the pot, requiring one less perf hole.

[micro]

I guess I just don't understand the "signal flow" of a circuit, whether it has to flow "through" a component in a certain order.

[micro]

Is this just a stupid question?

[GREEN FUZ]

I doubt whether the resistor is at fault here. I built the Uglyface also and I have the same problem. Fuzz sounds cool, sensitivity is quite subtle but evident nonetheless.

Where are the infamous laser-sounds?

Dunno.

I vaguely remember a thread where someone described how to get them by setting the controls in a certain way, damping the strings then tapping them with your hand. Made no difference whatever I tried.

Good luck.

[micro]

Anyone else had problems like this? I've heard soundclips where it sounded like a nice "wah" envelope effect. Mine only slightly has that sound. I know all the component values are right and I tried the vactrol wired both ways in case the polarity was marked wrong.
?

[smnm]

I guess I just don't understand the "signal flow" of a circuit, whether it has to flow "through" a component in a certain order.

sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't - but I was just wrong in prev answer - I was looking at the 555 wrong - sorry I gave you a wrong steer.

on a more practical note - you have to have the right combination of knobs to get the raygun sounds out of the uglyface - maybe just try more twiddling - on mine gate, freguency and sensitivity all in the 4 o'clock position do the trick. Did you use a VTL53C?

[micro]

Yeah I used the the vtl5c3. Its not just the laser gun sounds, im barely getting an effect from the vactrol, as its supposed to control the frequency.
It only slightly opens it up when i strum or hit a note hard. maybe if i put a booster in front?

[oldrocker]

I don't use vactrols.  I haven't had much luck using them.  I shrink wrap my own LED/LDR and haven't any problems since.  I used yellow Radio Shack LED's and 500k LDR's in my Uglyface.

[foxfire]

i had to try a few 555's before i got one that worked and didn't overheat. where did you get yours and have you tried more than one?

[micro]

i had to try a few 555's before i got one that worked and didn't overheat. where did you get yours and have you tried more than one?

I got one from RadioShack (TLC555) and one from my local electronics parts store(TS555CN).
The TS555CN seems to sound a bit nastier and allows for better "tracking". But both pretty much act the same other than that,
and neither of them get hot.

I moved the 470R to the right place using a jumper and got the same results, no envelope follow.

I can't get it to sound like this !!! http://users.adelphia.net/~tpe123/uglyfacemod.mp3


These are shots in the dark...
Should there be continuity between the +of the VTL5c3 and ground?
Would it matter if my sensitivity pot is audio rather than linear?

[smnm]

It works best with a CMOS 555... [EDIT: oops again, I see the TS555 is CMOS]

[foxfire]

i had to try a few 555's before i got one that worked and didn't overheat. where did you get yours and have you tried more than one?

I got one from RadioShack (TLC555) and one from my local electronics parts store(TS555CN).
The TS555CN seems to sound a bit nastier and allows for better "tracking". But both pretty much act the same other than that,
and neither of them get hot.

I moved the 470R to the right place using a jumper and got the same results, no envelope follow.

I can't get it to sound like this !!! http://users.adelphia.net/~tpe123/uglyfacemod.mp3


These are shots in the dark...
Should there be continuity between the +of the VTL5c3 and ground?
Would it matter if my sensitivity pot is audio rather than linear?

if you're pretty sure that your work is good than i would get some more of the tlc555's and try them till you get one that works. i to used the radio shack ones and one of them never worked 2 of them worked for a minute or 2 them overheated and never worked right again the 4th one overheated but worked once it cooled down. so it may just be that you have a funky ic.

[micro]

Well thanks for the replies guys. I dont think it's the chip since I've tried two different ones. Maybe Ill just build another one and use a homebrew
optoisolator, see if that helps.

[GREEN FUZ]

My first attempt was using a homemade optoisolator. When I got round to replacing it with vtl5c3 it made little or no difference.

I found that thread I was talking about. Maybe it will be of use to you.
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=46253.0

Here`s another with some relevance.
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=42730.0


BTW, what sort of pick-ups are you using? One thing I haven`t tried yet is high output pick-ups. Might make all the difference.

[micro]

My first attempt was using a homemade optoisolator. When I got round to replacing it with vtl5c3 it made little or no difference.

So you've never been able to get the wah type sound like in Tim's clip?

I'm using a tele with two single coils. I dont know exactly what they are, they are stock.

[slacker]

You should be able to get wah sounds with single coils. Sounds like there's a problem somewhere, do the rest of the controls work properly?
To see if there's a problem around the VTL5c3, disconnect it completely and connect an LED + to P3 lug 2 and - to ground, turn P3 all the way up and play your guitar. The LED should flash as you play, turning P3 should adjust the brightness, if the LED doesn't flash you've got a problem somewhere between the 386 and the LED. If the LED works fine then it probably means you've connected the VTL5c3 up wrong or it's damaged.

[chemosis]

my sensitivity knob used to work and it was great but now it dosent and alls I did was put it in a new enclousure. I soldered a new sens pot and looked at everything. im wondering if maybe the optocoupler went bad or one of the chips stopped functioning properly?? it worked for about 1 day before I stopped getting envelope sounds and lazer sounds. I used music pcb.com pcb. every other knob and everything elese seems to function fine. I bought a uglyface a few months ago and sold it because of the same issue and it seems like a whole shit load of people have this problem where they don't get much envelope at all and there sens knob stops

[chemosis]

man im just wondering if the lm386n chip I used was to hard on the optocoupler or the 555 chip and killed some of its functionality because my sensitivity knob stopped after one day of working great.

[slacker]

If everything else still works then the most likely thing is the optocoupler is damaged or there's bad connection to it. Try what I suggested above with an LED, that will show that signal is getting to the sensitivity pot.

Welcome aboard