Built my own fuzzface (general guitar gadgets kit) and it doesnt work correctly?

[bboy_jon]

[dxm1]

It doesn't look as though you tinned your wires before soldering.  it also doesn't look like you went back and trimmed your leads after soldering.  This can lead (no pun) to 'whiskers' and stray wire strands touching things they shouldn't.  You may want to clean up some of these issues, and verify that no shorts are present in the off board wiring (especially the pots...)

[bboy_jon]

I did not tin my wires. I did trim them, its not the greatest job, but nothing is touching anything it shouldnt be touching

[hellwood]

its not clear in the pics, but are the pots properly grounded?

[bboy_jon]

the fuzz pot is connected to the volume pot which is connected with all the other grounds

[Dragonfly]

Honestly...and PLEASE take this as "constructive criticism".... the soldering needs a LOT of help. LOTS of potential for cold / intermittent solder joints, and that can DEFINITELY mess up the performance of the pedal. If I were you, I would practice my soldering for a bit, then go back with solder wick and re-solder all those joints.

[bboy_jon]

how exactly do I test for cold joints using an audio probe? What do I listen for? change in sound? no sound at all?

[petemoore]

how exactly do I test for cold joints using an audio probe?
  If 'it' has signal on one side of it, and is supposed to have signal on the other side too [say input cap/ Base connection] hear signal present after the input cap and not in the base, that's a non-connection.
  What do I listen for?
  Different things, depending...
change in sound?
  that's good if it's a volume increase before/after a gain stage say base makes sound and collector makes louder sound...that's a gain increase, if opposite is true it's not yet a gain stage.
  If testing a buffer like emitter or source follower, 1/1 is what to listen for, the base's signal input should sound like the emitters signal output.
   no sound at all?    
  If two points are supposed to be connected, no sound is indicating they're not.
  If a cap is series in the signal path, the sound on one side should be the same or a lot treblier on the other side...depends on how much low frequency content is in the signal input to the cap [and the value of the cap...only very small caps may seem to pass almost or no signal [cutting out all the bass]...iow..yer basic 'rotm' signal caps like .1uf or even .01uf should be passing all or most of the signal, if you notice all signal or slightly less bass...observe the value of the cap and figure it's almost never a bad cap anyways.

[bboy_jon]

how do I know what parts do what? (what should make a gain increase and all that)

I used my multimeter to check if everything connects to what it should, and everything seems to connect just fine.

[petemoore]

how do I know what parts do what? (what should make a gain increase and all that)
  You know what many of them do from experience with batteries and switches.
  Resistors...resist, can be used to reduce current and produce various voltages within the supply rails.
  capacitors block DC...allowing it to power the circuit, keeping DC within the circuit...they don't pass DC.
  Capacitors have increasing resistance as frequency drops, depending on the value and frequency, can pass HF's with very little resistance, and have very high resistance to low frequencies.
  capacitors put in series with the signal path can have HP function, or restrict bass.
  Capacitors between signal path and ground can have a LP filter effect, by allowing the higher frequency to pass through to be shunted to ground.
  transistors amplify..if everything is right.
  FF is a hard debug for a gain stage. Not simple like the 1 transistor amps, the 'added' transistor is 'jumbled in' with it's extra parts and shares in the biasing, both actives influence the of the circuit.
  Somewhere in the schematic always hides what is different from a working fuzz face, it has some great hiding places, and moves the problem around for each new one-off build.
  I used my multimeter to check if everything connects to what it should, and everything seems to connect just fine.
  It always does that before the problem is actually found.
  Measure every resistor. compare to schematic.
  Count the connections at 1 node on schematic, use DMM to verify that number exists on board, do that for each node.
  Pay particular attention to..the whole circuit, but around the gain pot seems to be a tricky area...

[bboy_jon]

is the gain pot the fuzz one?

[bboy_jon]

does anyone have or know of any actual sound clips of the GG fuzz face?