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I've tried about 3 different 2n3904's, both forwards and backwards. They all work in the Q1 position. But nothing works in the Q2
Position. 

so, if I take the Tranny out of the socket, and jumper the "base" to the "collector", then the signal path reaches the end of the circuit. not distorted, but a complete signal path!  but once I put a tranny in that socket (2n3904) signal stops at Q1 and theres a lot of RF.  Is something wrong with my signal path from Q2's emitter?  I'm confused. and need to figure this out today. HELP!

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right on. I'll put in an order for them diodes post haste. 

so then, effects that have an on/off switch for the octave up are just swapping diodes? 

1n270's for both. tell me these aren't like transistors and there is a possibility of getting a shitty pairing or something like that.

R13 is on Q3 emitter to ground, right?

my assumption is if I lower R13, that gain stage will get boosted. maybe???

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9246062

kinda loud sound sample. the knobs in the pic are what they were set at for the recording. sounds pretty rad through the half stack, but not quite right.  I admit my girlfriends paint job is far superior to my wiring job, and I'm planning to redo the wiring so the PCB sits trace down.  I accidently bought axial caps so some leads are in danger of rubbing up against things and shorting out.  sometimes I'm a moron.  Anyway! any thoughts on how I can get more octave out of this thing?

yes it is definitely more noticeable when I do that. but shouldn't there be a ring mod quality when playing lower notes? and sweet double stop dive bombs?  maybe it's more subtle than I expected?

okeedoke, finally ran to radio shack for some alligator clips and built that audio probe. totally sweet tool to have. sure enough the substitute for Q5 was killing it.  bought a 2n3904 at radio shack (holy shit, the shack actually had the part I needed!) that solves my volume issue. summbitch is loud as hell now. 

but now I have a new problem. i'm getting gnarly fuzztones, but I'm not hearing any octave up.  What can I do?

also thanks a bunch for the help and suggestions. you're the man. 

Hello!

I recently ordered a few boards and the first build was a poindexter.  everything is all wired up correctly, I get bypass and the LED lights up when engaged (though, for a water clear high bright, it isn't very bright).  When the circuit is engaged, the volume drops to almost nothing, if I crank the amp volume way up, I can hear that the effect IS working,  all the pots do as intended, I can even hear the radio signal being picked up.  it's just SOOO quiet.

I've double checked my caps, diodes, resistors, and trannys. they're all in the proper orientation (Ok, C1 and C6 were backwards, but not anymore) and they're all the correct value, with the exception of Q5. I had to sub a 2n5854.

I'm all out of troubleshooting ideas. everything seems optimal, but I've got a really quiet effect. help!