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Thanks for sending this over. Yes, I think this is roughly the same schematic, although I'm using BC549 transistors.

I made a pretty dumb mistake and hooked the 9V+ lede to the LED and the LED lede to the + tab on the DC jack. Basically, flipped where the 9V+ and LED ledes were supposed to go here (http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2015/12/lovetone-big-cheese.html). I guess that could have fried the transistors and IC?

Thanks for highlighting the places to measure, super helpful. What measurement should I be getting at those points? Am I looking for a 9V reading on the multimeter?

Also, how do I control the switch?

Thanks again,
George

Got it. Thanks. I realized I wired up the DC jack incorrectly, which was why I wasn't getting any power to the circuit. So, one step down.

Now I have a fresh bug to figure out. I'm getting a signal, but it's very faint. Basically, I have to crank up my amp all the way to eleven to get any sound, and even then it's not that loud.

What could be the issue here? I tested the circuit before wiring up the enclosure and it sounded fine. So, it's got to be an issue with how I wired up the switch/jacks/LED.

I don't have the schematic, but here's the layout:

http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2015/12/lovetone-big-cheese.html

And here are some photos of the enclosure (not pretty, I know).

Thanks for tolerating all the newb questions, everyone.

Thanks,
George

I'm in the home stretch troubleshooting this pedal. The circuit works, and now I'm running into a few problems loading into the box. Some thoughts on what's going wrong:

1. Pots: Should the bottoms of the pots be connected to ground when I continuity check? I'm worried the way I installed them is shorting the circuit. Any tips on best practices for

2. Circuit: Could the board itself be shorting? I've put a pad of foam underneath the board to make sure it's not coming into contact with the DC jack, LED, enclosure etc. but maybe that's not doing the trick?

Thanks,
George

Anyone got any tips on dealing with a signal that's crackly/decays too fast?

Here's the sample audio again: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yNvYY2IX5-uaZAH7gWclpZFkBY4uqjOR/view?usp=sharing

Ah, got it. Makes sense. Thanks for clarifying!

Nice. Thanks for the video -- super helpful.

And thanks for the tip on going to ground on the power supply -- I was able to finally get a reading when I figured that out.

@Zerro what do you mean about "controlling the consistency"? I've was able to find a few solder bridges using the conductivity function, but not sure how to check for consistency.

Also: I finally have a signal! But there's no sustain on the signal, especially if I crank up the fuzz pot. Here's a recording. Any one experience with this? What causes this kind of dead tone?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yNvYY2IX5-uaZAH7gWclpZFkBY4uqjOR/view?usp=sharing

Oh, nice. Thanks.

I don't see the link to that video -- could you share?

Cool, cool. Thanks.

I'm not getting any voltage reading on the input, so I guess that's a good place to start!

What's the cause of getting an incorrect reading. Bad soldering job?

Nice. Thanks for the tip! A few follow-up questions:

1. So, you lacquer the whole board before populating with components?

2. What ratio of water to rosin do you usually use to make the lacquer?

3. Do you apply any of the lacquer directly to the components or just to the board itself?

I checked out a few videos on how to get voltage readings, so think I get the rough gist of it. I've got a very cheap DMM. What setting should I be on to read the 9V battery?

Got it, thanks. What am I looking for when I'm checking for voltage? Is there a primer somewhere on how to check for voltage?

Hey all:

Looking for some tips on how you typically go about troubleshooting pedals. I'm testing out a board I built out on a test box and something is way off. Originally, I wasn't getting any signal at all, so I triple checked I'm following the layout and found some spots with some sloppy solder work that was connecting rows incorrectly. Now I'm getting a signal, but it's crackly as all hell and the dynamics are all over the place. One second it's quiet and the next it's piercingly loud. Any advice on how to get this resolved apart from me throwing my tools in the ocean?

Thanks,
George

Ah, I think I figured it out. I didn't have the switch turned all the way to 1 position before snapping in the pin. Once I did that and dropped the pin into the 4 slot, I got 4 clicks on the switch. Thanks for the tip. Super helpful!

Ah, got it. Thanks. I found the pin, but when I move it from one slot to the other, it doesn't seem to affect the number of times I can switch. For example, I dropped the pin in the 4 slot and I can still turn the switch seven times. Is that right?

Hey, sure thing. Thanks for the response. I wasn't aware you could modify the switch to control the number of poles you can switch to. Very cool.

I've already wired this sucker, but here is a photo of the top and bottom. Please excuse the terrible soldering.