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Glitterrattii Help

Started by lbrooks, October 25, 2011, 04:39:21 PM

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lbrooks

This Gilttlerrattii is my second pedal, the first the Zygote worked without issue, but this thing doesn't cooperate.  The soldering work is ugly, but I don't see any joints that could be causing the problems. 

When the pedal is off signal seems fine, and the bypass works as normal. When clicked on the LED comes on, but there is no sound at all.  So that makes me think that the jacks and switch might be correct, and the issue lies the board itself, but being so new to this I don't know how to test with my meter which parts could be bad/wrong.

All of that is when it's on battery power, when I plug an adapter in, no signal comes through whether on or off. 

I don't really know where to start with trouble-shooting, all suggestions are welcome

Thanks.

mjcyates

Looks like your opamp on the right might be oriented incorrectly. I would also suggest trimming all of the leads from you soldered components.

mjcyates

Nevermind I was looking at the wrong version of the board.

keysandguitars

First thing I'd do is build one of these: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=1140.0. Very easy to do and makes debugging a lot easier.

I can see a few solder joints that look suspect. On the far right of the board, opposite the pots, there's a joint where it looks like the solder is on the wire, but not even touching the board. I'm still very much a noob, but so far my debugging issues have been due to poor joints, solder traces and bridges etc. Reflow a few of those joints and then build a testing rig.
I should still be a "diode destroyer"!

keysandguitars

I'm looking at the wiring diagram on the PDF for the Glitterratti. Make sure you have properly identified the Tip Ring and Sleeve on the input jack. The ground wire from the bottom left switch and the ground wire from the DC jack should be soldered to the sleeve. The ground from the battery snap goes to the ring. Your picture looks suspect to me. Also, the black wire that you have soldered from the output jack to the switch shouldn't be necessary, at least according to the diagram. I'm not far along enough in my knowledge to give the they 'why's", but I'd definitely take a close look at the diagram and rewire the switches.

The wiring into the board could also be improved. Twist the strands nice and tight and neat and reconnect those joints.

I hope that is helpful, sorry I'm not more advanced.
I should still be a "diode destroyer"!

mgwhit

#5
Quote from: lbrooks on October 25, 2011, 04:39:21 PM
When the pedal is off signal seems fine, and the bypass works as normal. When clicked on the LED comes on, but there is no sound at all.  So that makes me think that the jacks and switch might be correct, and the issue lies the board itself, but being so new to this I don't know how to test with my meter which parts could be bad/wrong.

All of that is when it's on battery power, when I plug an adapter in, no signal comes through whether on or off. 

Are you 100% sure about that last bit?  Power shouldn't affect your bypass signal at all.  If the power jack is really affecting your bypass signal, you're seriously miswired.  Is that even a switching jack you're using for your input?  It's also possible that you've just got an intermittent short somewhere. 

keysandguitars gave some good advice.  Trim all of your component leads down to the solder.  You need to twist and tin your stranded wires so you don't have all those strands sticking everywhere.  And I see at least four suspect joints on the board, where the solder appears to be more on the lead/wire than the board.  If we can see them from the photos, you should be able to spot them up close and in good light.  Good luck!