Mictester's Really Cheap Compressor, and a new to me labeling method.

[pickdropper]

Yeah, that one looks great, too.

[irmcdermott]

Awesome layout man. I just built it up (been meaning to try this circuit out) and I'm getting nothing. Still doing some digging, but so far haven't found my error. Mainly, the LEDs don't light up at all when the guitar is being played, so all I have is a volume control, the sustain is not currently doing anything. This seems to be the problem with any optical compressor I've ever tried to build.

The kid id in bed so I'm just poking around with the continuity tester right now. Tomorrow i'll break out the audio probe if I can narrow it down this way.

Again, I know that the issue is my build, and not your layout I'm sure. It's a great layout.

[jimmybjj]

Sorry your having troubles Ian. I will try to build the layout tonight, if not at a minimum i get you the voltages. So things to try and think about.

Do the opamp voltages look good? Pin 8 9v, Pin 4 0v, other close to half of V+

The effect will not work at all if there is any ambient lighting. "so all I have is a volume control, the sustain is not currently doing anything." I believe you would have this effect if you had ambient lighting.

How bright the leds light up is dependent on the type of leds your using here is a quote from freestomp "on to the leds. so the leds did light up, but apparently these were the lazy type and were very dim. so i got some new leds. the first set i tried were super bright white leds with clear lenses. they light up alright, but as they flickered, i got these nasty crackling sound along with the guitar signal."

Also, mine don't light up bright at all but the effect works great. In fact i had to go to a dark room and cup the leds in my hand as i LOUDLY played to see them light up. How brightly they light is directly affect by how hard you attack. With my signal generator they were very bright.

Is your LDR 1M dark?

And lastly it could be my fault, if it is i apologize. Hopefully i will let you know for sure tonight or in the next couple of days.

[jimmybjj]

Ok, this thing is now verified I didn't measure the ldr cause it was the only one i had laying around so it had to work its the only one available from tayda



The treble is all the way up so you can better the attack, at least thats the idea. Crappy iphone video. The hum in the video is partly because its not boxed up, and because i have everything maxed out so you can hear the hum. The leds will light up to full brightness depending on how strong the input is.