I think I may have killed my GGG 60's Boutique Fuzz Face.

[Jonesie]

I ordered the kit last week, and got it on Monday, and I basically immediately started building it. I figured I'd wired stuff on my guitars before so this shouldn't really be a problem, but after I "assembled" it, I realized that I was in way over my head.

When I first assembled it I just a very small sound out of it, I made sure the Transistors were in correctly, and they were, so I just went back and re-did some shifty looking solder joints, and it did nothing.

Then I basically dissembled the pots and switches and everything from the circuit board, and re-did everything.

Now the LED doesn't even turn on, and I get nothing out of it.

I would do the debugging, but I'm not gonna lie, I don't understand half of what is said in that thing.

I'm aware that no one is probably going to be able to help me with it, I'm just incredibly frustrated, and I'm pretty much convinced that I just spend $60 on what is now essentially a paperweight.

if anyone has any useful advice or a way to salvage this, it'd be great.

thanks a lot.

[frankclarke]

You may have killed the transistors and LED, but you can get new ones from small bear.
You have to check your work, component by component. Wire by wire. There is a mistake, you just have to find it. See the sticky, post voltages if you can.
Simple circuit, fixable.

[frank_p]

The first thing would be to check if you have some voltage that goes to your transistors.  Follow the paths of the negative pole of your battery trace with your voltmeter.  Normally, you should have your positive probe sticking at the + pole of your battery and it should stay there as it is positive ground.  Try with the battery and your power walwart.  you should have the "same" results exept that you put the probe on the + DC jack socket.  Make sure that your plug of the power supply is polarised the right way !  Trace the schematic on a piece of paper and try to figure out where all the negative paths goes.  It's the negative that bias your transistors.

Don't forget to plug a jack in the input as it is your switch for powering your circuit.

Go at "the technology of the fuzz face" at GEO and try to connect the circuit as to keep your LED and your stompswitch out of the circuit.  This way you will know if the problem is on the PCB or on your wiring (around the switch and the jack).

If your PCB os ok you have a wiring problem (can be confusing). Then try to figure out how that 3pdt switch is working and how it flip your input signal in the circuit or directly at the ouput jack on the tip.

Eliminate potential problems block by block.

[petemoore]

I'm aware that no one is probably going to be able to help me with it, I'm just incredibly frustrated, and I'm pretty much convinced that I just spend $60 on what is now essentially a paperweight.
  I can see you're on the other side of the brick-wall-stage of knowledge.
  Best thing you can do for that is read...plenty of links handy here for that.
  also just trudgeing through the debugging learns ya.
  Good thing you said 'probably'.
  set that thing aside until you can get incredibly un-frustrated...[BLme, Iknow what IFrustrated feels like[
  The paperweight can be made into a FF. Armed with the Debugging stuff, it really isn't too bad.
  Figure that box is teaching you all kind-a stuff...including stuff totally unrelated to electronics learning.
  The board can be straightened out to work if the traces are good, replacing some of the polarized components may or may not be necessary.
  A better view of what is neccessary will pop right up when the voltages and such are all filled in.
  If I have anything to do with it, after some time, soon you will have debugged it.
  About the worst time to debug an amp is when you GOTTA have that amp work...just figure it's a learning process and you will not let it 'beat' you...it IS teaching you...you might not like the lesson right now, but it is teachin', and you're learnin'...it may not feel like it but it is...and you can chalk that up there in the '+ column'.
 

[frank_p]

Draw the schematic diagram with you own hand and see how the current flows from negative to positive. 

To have a bit of intuition about how your transistors work go there and clic on the pictures.  Look and read.  It should give you a clue.

http://www.williamson-labs.com/
Clic transitor button on the left pane.

[Joe Kramer]

Hey Jonesie,

Don't despair!  As petemoore said, you're on the uphill side of the learning curve, but if you stick to it and push through, you be glad you did!  Besides, as a wise man once said, you can't give up, because if you do, nobody will care.   

Some philosophy, FWIW.  If you're like me, your frustration comes from wanting to use the thing you're building, but now here you are both not using it and hating life on top of it all.  If this is your situation, you need to stop thinking of your project as a means to an end: the challenge and the hassle of building your own pedal has to be an end in itself, and something you take some enjoyment in.  That enjoyment is what gets you past the solder fumes, stiff neck, sore eyes, stupid mistakes, and general vexation that you're going through now.  That's the process, love it or leave it.  With that in mind, no problem is absolutely insurmountable.  Fried transistors can be replaced, backwards wiring can be redone.   It's gonna be okay.  The key thing is to take your time, maybe even set it aside for a week, and forget about doing it to meet some specific deadline.

Practically speaking, it's possible to overheat Ge transistors.  If you're not an experienced solderer (too much heat on the joint), always attach a small alligator clip to the transistor lead you are soldering, close to the body of the transistor.  This acts as a heat sink and protects the delicate innards from overcooking.

Good luck and hang in there!

Joe

[Jonesie]

well with the transistors, I'm pretty positive I didn't over heat them, because the kit comes with sockets for them. And I was told they were silicon transistors.

And also, I wouldn't know how to follow a REAL wiring diagram if you hit me over the head with it. I just followed the little instruction sheet that told me what slot each resistor/capacitor goes into and where each wire goes.

It was nicely color coded for the wires.

[PerroGrande]

Well, if you soldered only to the empty sockets and not to the transistors, you've probably not killed them.  While it is possible to fry various passive components (resistors, capacitors) with heat, it is far less common than:

- frying an active component (chip, transistor, etc)
- damaging a trace
- creating a solder bridge

Chances are *very* high that one of the last two situations applies here.  You mentioned you re-did the entire board -- more soldering and more heat -- more opportunities for bad things to happen.

Other possibilities include:

Wiring errors
Component orientation errors

Since you used a kit, this is somewhat less likely. 

If you can post in-focus pictures of the board, front and back, we might be able to advise on where to start.  I'd be willing to bet you have a solder-related issue. 

[frank_p]

What do you have PNPs or NPN transistors.
I did not know that Boutique meant Si...   Ahhh I said nothing...
But please verify...

[Jonesie]

What do you have PNPs or NPN transistors.
I did not know that Boutique meant Si...   Ahhh I said nothing...
But please verify...

I have no idea.

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=101&Itemid=26

go to "boutique 60's Fuzz Face" and that's what I (attempted) to make.

[frank_p]

And I was told they were silicon transistors.

That is weird: Silicon Transtistors ?

That is a start, in the GGG site the 60's FF is supposed to be Germaniums:

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_ff5_b69_bom.pdf

Look Q1 and Q2.

If you could read a number on your transistors, you could do a little reaserch on the net to see what you have bought (always good to know) .

Here is a link where you can find some data:

http://www.datasheetarchive.com/

Type the number and get some information on what you have.

PNP or NPN
Hfe: this is a value that varies a lot with Ge transistors
And other max voltages an currents.
Keep your datas and report as it will be helpful.