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Here's two links of the Retrograde in action. One with full on fuzz and octave, and the other with something a bit more subtle.

I have already carved out a spot on the pedal board for this wonder.  The fuzz is perfect and the octave effects adds a nice extra dimension to the tone.  I can't wait to pair this with the Harbinger One I am working on.

Thanks for your help. I accidentally swapped the volume and fuzz pots. Should the octave setting be this subtle?

Hey all,

I'm building a Retrograde. I boxed it up to test it and I get signal with the effect on and off. The signal is super clean when bypassed, but I'm having some problems when it's on.

The fuzz knob makes the effect totally silent from positions 1 to 8. At 8 the effect is audible, but the jump in fuzz effect from 8 to -0 is enormous. Also, when I turn the fuzz knob past 8 the pedal gets incredibly noisy and at times even screechy. All solder joints from the board to the fuzz pot look clean and they aren't touching anything else.

What could cause the pot to silence the effect from 1-8, and why is it getting so exponentially noisy from 8-10?

Thanks guys!

Lacky, I didn't have to replace anything on the board. I got rid of the ground loop and reflowed some solder in places.

As promised, the final build

I wish I could crank it right now but my roommate is gearing down for the night.  Thanks again, forum gurus.

We have lift off.  Thank you so much.  Your wisdom is invaluable and I appreciate it so much.  After it's all boxed up I'll post a video.  I believe the culprit was either a cold joint or the tiniest of solder bridges that I found.  I'm so excited.  Y'all helped me finish my first build!

I'm using leaded flux core solder and a Weller 25watt iron.  I'll try to go through and reflow all of the solder, as well as push those wires in more so no metal is exposed.  It seems like it heats 18 & 22 gauge wires up with no problem, but it takes forever to get the component leads to heat up for the solder.

I was using this offboard wiring:


When I had first put together the pedal using the MadBean standard wiring it didn't make sound in bypass or when engaged and it also had a really loud and nasty hum to it.  I'll remove the connection from DC to footswitch and see if that helps.

I checked for a solder bridge between 9+ and Ground but didn't find one.
Here are some pics as promised.  Much like the build in the PDF instructions, I, too had some things happen.

Component side:


Reverse (I didn't have PCB mount pots so I wired them in):


Full wiring shot:


Thanks again, guys!

I am using a OneSpot wall wart.  I'll double check that area when I get home from work today, as well as try to take some helpful photos of the board.  Thank you.

Hey all,

I'm working on a Green Bean tubescreamer build.  Everything is put together.  When I am playing in bypass the signal is clean and great, but when I engage the pedal the signal dies and is replaced with a constant "popping" sound.  Since I'm no good at describing that sound I've uploaded a video so you can hear it yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeKtfN8iARQ&list=UUcyDx1jstUevNmJUeVzBe9Q

Anybody know how I can fix this?  So far, none of the pedals I've built are working, but all of the continuity checks out, etc.  I'm getting really frustrated and desperate.   Thanks!

Hello pedal gurus,

I was hoping someone with more knowhow and wisdom might be able to help me make a gift for my bandmate.

He plays a Fatboost 3 through a Deville and mentioned wishing the FB3 had more gain and mid/high control instead of bass/high.  Would any of you be able to help me figure out how to mod a FB3 clone to get more high gain and also swap the bass & treb controls for mid & treb controls?

Thank you!

In the future I'll definitely be buying insulated jacks, but with my first build OF COURSE I thought I could just make it look and work exactly how I want it to without any problems.  I didn't want to waste the part so I used a nylon shoulder washer with a 3/8" thread.

I received most of my parts yesterday (I can't believe I forgot to order the trimmer!).  I immediately got to work.  I was worried my soldering would be messy, but according to my roommates it's a pretty great first run. 

Once the trimmer gets here I can start wiring her up and testing her out.

Progress pics:

I'll definitely report back.  I can't wait for everything to get here.

I already have questions, like, is there some sort of insulation I need to do if I bought a metal DC jack to put on an aluminum housing?