fuzz coming through passively -- but shorts when powered? cant crack this one..

[aeiou]

I'm trying to build a fuzz-face semi 'easyface' style, with a 'bias pot' taken from the 70s fuzz face, and the addition of a voltage pot. basically i need a little help.. i'm trying to translate the schematic into a point-to-point version and i think i've made some kind of error or omitted something.

When trying to play the effect passively without power, it works ok and creates a decent sounding fuzz effect, although very quiet and slightly muted. However, as soon as i insert power all I get is hum and no other sound. The LED does light up, and turning the 'volts' pot does dim the light as it should, although the polarity seems to be backward (clockwise turns the power down, counter clockwise turns it up).

I've created a literal drawing of how the parts look inside my pedal right now. Since I'm getting fuzz as long as I don't have power, I feel i've just made a minor error. Maybe you could take a quick look and try to point it out? This is my first ever build so admittedly, i am slightly green.

thanks everyone.

[aeiou]

if it all checks out let me know -- if thats true then maybe im accidentally bridging something or its something screwy with a solder joint --

[slacker]

You've got some components missing, if you look at this schematic Easy Face you need to add R6,  R5, R5T and C6. You don't need the trimmer you can just use R5 and experiment with its value.
Your bias pot makes no sense, if it is supposed to be the blend on the Easy Face you need C1. If not you still need C1 between the wiper of the pregain pot and the base of Q1.

I don't think your volts knob will work properly, It would be better if you connected the ground on the DC jack (yellow wire) to the sleeves of the input and output jacks. Then disconnect the dark blue ground wire from the sleeves and connect it to where the yellow wire went on the volts pot. The volts pot will probably make the fuzz oscillate like a fuzz factory in some settings.

[pinkjimiphoton]

a hum indicates either no ground, or a bad cap, too.

[Mike Burgundy]

Maybe you could include a schematic of what you're trying to do. It takes some effort to read this diagram without knowing what you're shooting for - to me it looks like this thing will never be able to bias, you've got DC on the output, I don't get the pregain construction - it doesn't make sense to me at all, but it might be me reading the diagram wrong.

[aeiou]

i'll heed the advice regarding the voltage sag control. thank you.

heres where i sourced the primary part of the circuit, omitting 'blend' and 'volume'

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_ff5_lo_easy.pdf?phpMyAdmin=78482479fd7e7fc3768044a841b3e85a

and from this circuit i want to integrate 'bias'.

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_ff5_lo_b69.pdf?phpMyAdmin=78482479fd7e7fc3768044a841b3e85a

i see my error regarding the grounds.. remember, 'green' is the operative word here. what can i do to make sure pre-gain and bias are set according to these circuits? i tried to copy what i saw -- ie, c1 to leg 3 of the 50k bias pot, 2 back to the pregain and back to the switch, but please advise -- and thank you all so much, seriously --

[aeiou]

connected 'volts' and 'bias' up to ground and no fix yet -- fuzz sound is still coming through in 'passive' mode loud and clear however. any ideas? i must just have the polarity switched somewhere, or a weird short..

[aeiou]

not sure what it means that i've got dc on the output -- that sounds like where my trouble is however --

[reverberation66]

 this is intriguing to me, I want a passive fuzz...

[rousejeremy]

Do you have any pictures of both sides of your board?