I am an idiot

[Haberdasher]

i did that once when i built a madbean faultline.  i had to troubleshoot for about 30 minutes before i realized i didn't have any of the jfets in their sockets.

my favorite was a few months ago when i was testing something, and i thought it didn't work because i wasn't getting a signal, just a lot of hum.  evidently, it helps to plug the cable into your guitar.

[Ettore_M]

I do that this way! First I forget to plug the DC power. When I remember to plug it in and it won't play again, I then remember that I haven't put the ICs in the damn thing! (Several curses have already been told in the process)! 

Hector

[DutchMF]

Well, I do have something to add: I once spent at least 45 minutes de- and resoldering wires, trying to find the reason why the input of my build was connected to ground. 'T was the 3PDT, faithfully connected per Madbeans standard wiring, which was in the bypass position.........

Paul

[gtr2]

Yeah, I've done about all of those at some point 

Josh

[selfdestroyer]

I think threads like this really help us new guys feel confident about our mistakes and shows us that EVERYONE does it at some point. I love hearing fail stories since we all can relate no matter how long you have been building.

Cody

[billstein]

Got to tell another one on myself. I think this was my worse.

I built a Porkbarrel Chorus and was so excited. Plugged it in and it was really distorted. Spent quite a while going through it with a fine tooth comb. Checking all the resistor values etc. Came back to plug it in and noticed the signal chain. Guitar > distortion pedal (which was on) > test rig with the Porkbarrel > amp.

So here is a great tip. (Probably should be a sticky mods). When you have a distortion pedal in the signal chain and its turned on your chorus will distort. How do you miss something like that? I think it would really help my pedal building if I was actually smarter than the pedals I build.

[smallpoxchampion]

i just did this yesterday on my most recent build. forgot to put in the IC's for my boss fa-1 clone.

[chromesphere]

I love it when I plug everything in correctly, but forget to turn on the amp.

Jacob

Oh yeah!  That's another one!  The amps in standby 'dam...doesn't work...back to the workbench'.

[Matt]

Done that too many times! 

[Leevibe]

For me it's guitar>output, input>amp.  Or my favorite, volume pot on guitar is down because someone who is actually sophisticated enough to use that knob was playing my guitar.