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Working on a Naughty Fish, and was having some trouble with the power. The Voltage as read from the jack keeps bouncing between something like 0.3 to 1.5. The LED1 (showing if the pedal is on or off) just flashes instead of being a steady on. Could this be a problem with the diodes? There doesn't seem to be any ones that are burnt out. The 1N5817 does seem to have continuity to ground on both sides? Thanks!

Got everything working, turned out the be some difficulties with the knob settings and switch settings not playing nice. Thanks to everyone for the help!

Also, as an aside, I actually prefer the behavior of an NE5532 in the IC2 spot with the vactrols. Gives it a smoother decay in my experience!

[the switch full rotates into all 12 positions]

I used the 3P4T rotary from smallbear which has the selectable number of posistions, however, when the selector washer is placed in the hole marked as "2", the switch full rotates into all 12 positions, and I only need two for the Mode selector. So I guess I'm asking the correct setting for the selector washer on the switch in order to create the correct connections for the signal to be passed into the Vactrols.

THIS is a problem. The switch should be selectable to only rotate in the 2 positions required. When you put the tab washer in the #2 slot, the rotary should be limited to only 2 positions.

Did you have this issue with the other 4P3T rotary? Do you only have 3 positions for the Bandwidth selections?

I was able to get the switches to the correct number of positions, the washers weren't getting fully into the slots and the switch was able to pass by them. Verified their functionality with the multimeter, they are making the correct connections now. Still no effect though...

I'd check the wiring of the intensity and decay jacks and the soldering on the pads, sound like something could be grounding out in that section.  Hit us up on FB if you want talking through it

Did some more poking around and found that the tip of the Decay Jack has continuity with the Ground of the Intensity Jack. Could this be causing the problems?

Decay jack tip shunts to GND via the tip sw, all of the GND connections have continuity so yes it's correct

Did more poking around, and I'm also not getting any signal on the other side of the LDR's on the Vactrols. Signal goes in but there's nothing out, I'm assuming because the LED's within the vactrols are also not getting any signal so there's nothing for them to work with.

[4]

Just finished up the Meaty Balls build, however I'm not getting any effect. There is wet signal passing through but not envelope effect. I believe I have the Mode rotary switch set up incorrectly, which is causing the Vactrols to not activate properly.

I used the 3P4T rotary from smallbear which has the selectable number of posistions, however, when the selector washer is placed in the hole marked as "2", the switch full rotates into all 12 positions, and I only need two for the Mode selector. So I guess I'm asking the correct setting for the selector washer on the switch in order to create the correct connections for the signal to be passed into the Vactrols.

Build doc: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mNo8_WW6GXhP5TkP2svk9VGfs3mVzFtU/view

I don't quite understand why a 3P4T should have 12 positions and not only 4. Are you sure you've got the correct switch?

Got both the 3P4T and 4P3T from smallbear, the Alpha plastic enclosed rotary switches. SKUs 0226 and 0227. Do I have the switches set up incorrectly then? Should I adjust the selector washer?

I'd check the wiring of the intensity and decay jacks and the soldering on the pads, sound like something could be grounding out in that section.  Hit us up on FB if you want talking through it

Did some more poking around and found that the tip of the Decay Jack has continuity with the Ground of the Intensity Jack. Could this be causing the problems?

Also, Pins 5 and 6 on the rotary have continuity with no resistance, which seems incorrect. The status LED is lit up, dimmer in one position with full brightness in the other, which also seems incorrect.

*Edit*- Ended up switching the LM1458 for a NE5532, and the LED works as expected now, however, I'm still not getting any effect. This has also gotten rid of that short between pins 5 and 6. Gonna take another shot at the audio probe and see where we get.

Post some build pictures. 

The pcb is verified so there must be an error in how you put it together.

The envelope is sensitive to the IC, i'd recommend finding a legit 1458.  Have you checked the send / return is wired correctly.  if it isnt the envelope wont work.  It is also sensitive to the settings.  Make sure that the attack is set less than the decay and that the bandwidth swith is up or down (the envelope wont trigger if it's in the middle position)

Thanks for the tips!

I believe I got both the 1458s from Mouser, and I've tried two different ones. I've posted some pics. I'm fairly sure the send return is wired correctly. I audio probed again and got to Pin 1 of the Attack pot with good signal, however, on pins 2 and 3 there is little to no signal, and therefore the second half of the 1458 isn't really getting anything to work with, so I have little to no signal there as well.

Also, Pins 5 and 6 on the rotary have continuity with no resistance, which seems incorrect. The status LED is lit up, dimmer in one position with full brightness in the other, which also seems incorrect.

*Edit*- Ended up switching the LM1458 for a NE5532, and the LED works as expected now, however, I'm still not getting any effect. This has also gotten rid of that short between pins 5 and 6. Gonna take another shot at the audio probe and see where we get.

Just finished up the Meaty Balls build, however I'm not getting any effect. There is wet signal passing through but not envelope effect. I believe I have the Mode rotary switch set up incorrectly, which is causing the Vactrols to not activate properly.

I used the 3P4T rotary from smallbear which has the selectable number of posistions, however, when the selector washer is placed in the hole marked as "2", the switch full rotates into all 12 positions, and I only need two for the Mode selector. So I guess I'm asking the correct setting for the selector washer on the switch in order to create the correct connections for the signal to be passed into the Vactrols.

Build doc: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mNo8_WW6GXhP5TkP2svk9VGfs3mVzFtU/view

Some more info regarding the problems with IC5:

Tried it as well with the MN3007 removed, and the CD4047 still produces the static noise. I'm fairly sure the CD4047 is causing the problems, as the signal arrives normally at Pin 3 of the MN3007, as well as pin 2 of the Bias trimmer, however, it leaves the MN3007 as the static.

Pins 1, 2, and 3 of IC5 also produce the static, along with pin 11. For some reason, when the CD4047 is installed, all of the pins have continuity to ground, something which stops when it isn't in there. Reflowed all the joints for the IC and around it, no change. Voltages are what they're supposed to be at.

I believe you would want a DPDT On-On toggle switch, which has 6 lugs in two columns of three, like so:

a1  b1
a2  b2
a3  b3

So you would have the points on the board which the capacitor used to occupy wired to a2 and b2 respectively, and then you would wire the caps which you would like to switch between on a1 and b1, and then a3 and b3.

Take a look at the schematic. What are R2 and R4 both connected to? See why you have continuity there?

BTW - I'm not intending to be flippant. Just saying sometimes you need to cross-reference board and schematic to get the full picture (this is the process I go through when I'm trying to solve problems, myself!)

In this case both resistors are connected to the ground pour on the bottom which is why you see/measure them having continuity. The ground plane isn't shown on the trace diagram since it would just make the whole thing look like a mess.

Now, for you distorted signal, can we see the top of the board right in that area?  Do both R3 and R4 have brown/green/black/orange bands?

Did some reflowing and I've tracked a problem back to the CD4047. When it isn't installed, signal passes through the MN3007, albeit without any effect, however, when it is installed, it turns the signal into a static at the MN3007. Without the CD4047 installed, all the pins on the socket have the correct continuity, but when it is installed, all of the pins have continuity to ground. Voltages are correct however.

Take a look at the schematic. What are R2 and R4 both connected to? See why you have continuity there?

BTW - I'm not intending to be flippant. Just saying sometimes you need to cross-reference board and schematic to get the full picture (this is the process I go through when I'm trying to solve problems, myself!)

In this case both resistors are connected to the ground pour on the bottom which is why you see/measure them having continuity. The ground plane isn't shown on the trace diagram since it would just make the whole thing look like a mess.

Now, for you distorted signal, can we see the top of the board right in that area?  Do both R3 and R4 have brown/green/black/orange bands?

Yep. Looked at the picture right after I posted it and realized what I overlooked. I think I need to get out of my house.

As for R3 and R4, they both are 150K, double checked the color code along with measuring with the multimeter. Attached a photo of the top of the board (took the rest of the ICs out to try and isolate the problem).

Been dealing with a faulty Rustbucket for awhile, and I've come across something which doesn't seem right.

Currently getting a super distorted signal out of Pin 1 of IC1, and I was reflowing some of the joints and checking continuity of the parts around the IC and noticed something weird in the R2/3/4 area. I think there might be an incorrect trace on the PCB between R4 and R2? I've attached picture of the back of the board along with an annotation on the trace diagram which shows where I see the trace. I am also measuring continuity between these two points, which seems incorrect. Would love some guidance here, thanks!

Also, currently, all voltages for IC1 are correct with the ones provided in the build doc.

Pulled out an extra 1590XX that I had lined up for a customer that bailed, so now I've got a nice blank enclosure to put something in with all this new free time. What are some of your favorite 1590XX projects that I could put in here? Open to anything!