First Pedal - DIYGP Berserker Fuzz

[bamslam69]

Hi guys. First pedal build here.
Right, so after a bunch of misordered gear, I finally have my berserker fuzz pedal wired up.
I got it into the box last night and had it working. Woohoo! Soundwise, it's pretty cool, but I think I probably should've gone for something like a big Muff (being a bit of a grunge fiend).
This morning I'm playing with the dial settings, getting lots of squeals and sirens... aaaaaand then it stops working. Dammit!
No time to check it as I have to take my son to soccer. Vaguely watching the match thinking about pedals the whole time. Then off to a kids party up the coast... thinking about pedals there too, just itching to leave.

Finally home now. Give it another try. Pedal not working. Bypass kinda working.... sometimes.
Okay. I didn't really want to get into fault finding so soon into this hobby, but here goes.

[JackSkellington]

Check tha connections of all wires, and be careful, the solder side of the board doesn't have to touch the metal enclosure.

[Jules]

If you had it working and it stopped a solder connection has likely failed somewhere.
Possibly on the switch, What do you mean by 'bypass kinda working'?
Trouble shooting is the trickiest part of this hobby and if you can try and post voltages and pictures. Have you soldered before?
Good luck

[bamslam69]

"Bypass kinda working", sorry, pretty vague there. I gave it a try tonight and the volume into the amp was very low with the effect turned off. (obviously Effect on, there was nothing). Amp working fine.
Haven't soldered in years, so I'm remembering as I go along.

I'll give it another go tomorrow - As I've got a belgian dark strong ale on the go, no progress will be made this evening.
I'll pull it apart tomorrow sometime and see what I can find.

[jimilee]

Get bypass working first and then go from there. Also, what kind of power adapter did you use?


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[bamslam69]

Bypass is working - cause was a faulty guitar lead. That's that sorted!
Now onto the pedal.

[chromesphere]

Hey mate, as we spoke about via email, I would strongly suspect those transistors. Swap them with silicon pnps and see what happens.

You could also double check there aren't any connections on the pots or wires touching things they shouldn't be.  Sometimes those 9mm pots can twist a bit when you insert them into the drill holes, make sure they haven't bent and are not touching each other.

Also check wires aren't coming loose or tiny fray strands of wire touching adjacent wire (this is why its very important to make sure the wire goes through the pcb hole properly when you insert it for soldering and there are no stray strands of wire).

And as others have said check for cold solder joints or joints that don't look clean / solid / shiny / complete etc and fix.  Sometimes a cold solder joint can cause an intermittent problem.  They look like a normal joint but have a hazy appearance.  This is usually caused by not applying enough heat to the solder when it is applied (hence the name )

Let us know how you go!

[bamslam69]

Problem solved.
The Stab pot, the first pot after the input, seemed to be the culprit. I removed and tested it, and yes it was stuffed. Replaced it, and all working well. Woohoo!
Now on to blinging up the case!
edit: The name suits it. The varations of fuzz out of this pedal are insane!

[bamslam69]

Finished pedal!

[bamslam69]

Ahh, the joys of returning to your first pedal 3 years later.
I've been off work recovering from Tonsillectomy, so soldering has been a nice distraction from the pain.

Anyway, one of the pots in this pedal was a plastic 9mm job. I'd ordered a proper steel replacement months ago, and now I had the time to replace it. I pull it apart, look at my shoddy work, find problems everywhere. I put it back together over and over again for other little problems to pop up. Last time I pull it apart, a leg of another of the 9mm pots break. Try resoldering, and all the legs break. BUGGER!
Due to the amount of times I've had to bend the legs, it's only a matter of time before the others fail,so I'm thinking the next order from Tayda will have a full replacement pot set for this bloody pedal. It's not my favourite effect, but it's what got me started down this rabbit hole so it deserves to be fixed properly!
Rant over.