General Guitar Gadgets ITS8 build ...it works but ...

[voxx]

 This is my second GGG build and I am not sure about the leds on the PCB board. The pedal works but for the life of me I can't detect any difference in sound when switching from the diode to the LED clipping. IS the difference so subtle that it takes a trained ear to hear the difference or have I muffed something in my build.
Here's how I put it together : I put the 3 diodes as shown (one additional connected parallel)  and 2 leds on the PCB and wired the switch as shown. I suspect the LED installation because one of the smaller LEDS that are mounted on the PCB was missing so I bought one locally. It doesn't have a flat side like the included kit led and I noticed that when I put a multimeter to them they were completely opposite inside. One had the triangular post (inside) as negative and the other led it was positve. I also notice they dont light up when the pedal is turned on. I was under the impression that leds in an audio circuit don't light up but I may be wrong.
So my questions are :
1: would the pedal still work if the LEDS were installed reverse ?
2: Should I hear an audible difference when switching ?
3: Should they be lit when the pedal is turned on.

Please be gentle ...I'm just a hack with a soldering iron   .. assume I know nothing about electronics.
Thanks

[Zedmin_fx]

Hey man I made this pedal with the Keeley mod and its sick. There is a real difference between the LEDs and such. I bought an Octavia at that same time and it was missing a capacitor and had two extra parts so I contacted them and they got  the capacitor out to me for free. So you might want to ask them for a new led. However you should hear a difference in sound I think I like the LEDs better. And I checked mine and my LEDs light up when its on. So if I were you I would contact ggg and tell them that you need LEDs for your pedal. They will send it to you if you give them the order # and stuff like that. My capacitor came quite quickly to which was nice. I hope I was a help !!!

[GibsonGM]

Contact GGG for another LED....in the meantime you might try reversing the LED you bought, if it is in backwards it should certainly effect the pedal (negatively from what it was designed to sound like).   Sometimes LEDs light up a little when playing, sometimes not, but i"m inclined to go with Zedmin - go to the light, lol.    The one you bought might have different specs than the one that comes with it, though, so you might not get the great results you are expecting...

[Zedmin_fx]

Also if your using a small amp you probably wont hear much of a difference. I have a fender mini tonemaster which is really cool but i switch to LEDs or stock or diodes there is just a very small difference, as compared to my brothers hellhound. Also I found that if I use my Octavia with the tonemaster I really dint get a lot of octave just mostly great fuzz the octave is there just hard to find. But if I use the hellhound it has great hendrixy octave tone and I still get the great sounding fuzz.

[voxx]

 Well I am using a Vox AD50 with an 12" Emminence Wizard so Iquess we can rule out the amp thing. I am sure that the LED that came with the kit is installed correctly but as I said when I tested it with a MM the neg/pos were opposite from the kit LED in physical appearence going by what the inside posts look like.The foreign LED could very well be unsuitable. I have already contacted GGG and I imagine they'll mail out another LED quickly. 
  The pedal does sound really good though  ....I mean really really good. I thought my Proco Turbo RAT sounded good but this sounds better.  It has a more VOXY sound it's just disappointing to not be able to hear the other flavour inside. I want to play it stock for a while before trying some of the mods.. I have a feeling that I'll be installing sockets in it though ....another pedal top obsess over as soon as I finish with the Wah.

Zed  ...my first build was the GGG Green Ringer and it was just what I was looking for...an octave-up with hardly any fuzz. Vey Hendrixy sound when using the neck PU and   playing up past the 12th fret.

[Zedmin_fx]

Zed  ...my first build was the GGG Green Ringer and it was just what I was looking for...an octave-up with hardly any fuzz. Vey Hendrixy sound when using the neck PU and   playing up past the 12th fret.
[/quote]




  Yea my brother bought that kit as well its so sick. I like more of a medium fuzz with octave up. So thats why I bought it but since I have a very small amp I need more octave ( its got so much friggin fuzz in it). So I am going to build an octave up sick box to go with it for more of an octave up. I would build the green ringer but I cannot control the amount of octave that I mix in and thats why the ousb is my choice plus you can get really crazy with it.  when I use the Octavia and green ringer I allmost get a zvex octane 3 type of sound its so sweet but like I said it gives me way to much octave for the hendrixy sound which I crave. I love the its-808 with the Keeley mod stock or the diodes its just an all around sick a$$ pedal. It kicks butt out of my brothers heavily modded SD-1 its even the japan one.

[jayp5150]

Voxx, I've got a vid up at youtube of my ITS8 build. I just ordered the board, but it'll give you a reference.

I built it stock, and for the LEDs I just did 2 in parallel (symmetrical). There is a noticeable difference in the sound. The LEDs allow more volume through, and the clipping is "tighter" I guess (why is it so hard to describe distortion sounds? lol).

The vid is labeled for when the settings are changed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zauV4Ll-Co8

That should give you an idea, anyhow.

[voxx]

Nice demo JayP  ....

Mine sounds pretty crisp the way it is and I'm not even sure that I'll do any mods to it for now. btw ...do your LEDS light up when you switch to the LED clipping ?. I think that they must be installed correctly in mine but  the led I bought locally doesn't do what it's supposed to do. I have no idea wether it would work if the LEDS were installed incorrectly. Logicaly I would think that if the leds were installed incorrectly the circuit would not work when the switch was flipped to the LED side ...I could be wrong though. One thing I am sure of is that I hear no difference whatsoever in sound when flipping the switch. I am not even sure that the whole part of the circuit is correct.  I installed the D1 and D2 diodes with another diode on the tail end of D2 plus the LEDS at D3 and D4 ? I'm pretty sure of my wiring so unless I don't  understand as much as I think I do it should work as supposed to or not at all .

[jayp5150]

Nice demo JayP  ....

Mine sounds pretty crisp the way it is and I'm not even sure that I'll do any mods to it for now. btw ...do your LEDS light up when you switch to the LED clipping ?. I think that they must be installed correctly in mine but  the led I bought locally doesn't do what it's supposed to do. I have no idea wether it would work if the LEDS were installed incorrectly. Logicaly I would think that if the leds were installed incorrectly the circuit would not work when the switch was flipped to the LED side ...I could be wrong though. One thing I am sure of is that I hear no difference whatsoever in sound when flipping the switch. I am not even sure that the whole part of the circuit is correct.  I installed the D1 and D2 diodes with another diode on the tail end of D2 plus the LEDS at D3 and D4 ? I'm pretty sure of my wiring so unless I don't  understand as much as I think I do it should work as supposed to or not at all .

Sorry, I just saw this reply.

Thanks, for the compliment.

The LED's only dimly light when playing pretty heavy-handed. They won't stay lit. Also, it's barely noticeable. I used regular 5mm red LEDs from Parts Express (not the cheapest, but they're local...).

Also, if you put another diode in the loop, that will increase the volume, so that might be why you aren't hearing a big difference there... Other than that, I don't know.

[voxx]

Update  :
I got the LED from GGG and installed it  ...still couldn't hear any difference when flipping the switch so I just let it go. Today I got the "bug" and dedcided to do the Keeley Mod. While sloshing solder around I noticed one of my Diodes was pushed up against a resistor and was touching the leg. I bent it over and completed the parts change and when I tried the pedal, I found not only did it improve the sound but there was a marked difference when flipping the switch.Could it have been that diode shorting itself against the resistor?
  I don't know what does what when I flip the switch but I like the sound better to the left. This pedal sounds fine  ...
How does the Expensive Boutique Pedal mod sound ?
I take it that they mean it's the   F*llt*n*  0CD Mod
Funny thing  ...these pedals all get modded and "improved yet the greats of the past played them just the way they were stock and sounded great. We mod the hell out of them and still sound like poseurs >   

[phintze]

I'm pretty sure that the "Expensive Boutique Mods" are referring to the Landgraff  pedals.

[jayp5150]

Could it have been that diode shorting itself against the resistor?

Absolutely. Any change in the circuit will alter the sound in some respect.

Glad you got this thing up and running.