Retrograde tone sounds thin

[oldsoul]

Just finished building a retrograde and noticing the bottom end really disappears until I switch the octave down. Regardless of settings the tone gets very thinned out unless I switch the octave down.

[jimilee]

What troubleshooting have you done so far?


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[oldsoul]

checked voltages at Q1-Q2-Q3 all seem really close to instructions. Checked for bad solder joints, all seem solid.

[jimilee]

Can you post some clear close up photos of the back and front?


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[oldsoul]

The octave switch it temp as its a On-Off-On, so its just pigtailed in. I'm waiting for the On/On to come in the mail.

[Zerro]

C7 - output capacitor is good? And what about C5 in emitter of Q3?

[oldsoul]

Well they were new caps.


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[Zerro]

Try to bridge them for a moment with the same ones.

[oldsoul]

Thanks, but how do I do that?

[Zerro]

At the copper tracks side solder it paralelly with them.

[jimilee]

Thanks, but how do I do that?

I don't think all of that is necessary just yet. Your soldering looks good, just needs a little extra. The solder should flow through the eyelets to the top side of the PCB. Your one switch pin needs a little attention too. It sounds monotonous, but it fixes a lot of issues. If you've already checked your component values, did you measure the diodes before you used them?


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[oldsoul]

Thanks jimmilee I planned to hit those joints again. You know I actually do not think I checked the diodes with my meter. Probably got lazy after checking the resistors. Can I check them in circuit or do I need to pull them out?


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[jimilee]

Thanks jimmilee I planned to hit those joints again. You know I actually do not think I checked the diodes with my meter. Probably got lazy after checking the resistors. Can I check them in circuit or do I need to pull them out?


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You would have to pull just one end. Do the other first, you don't want to remove things you don't have to. If you didn't use the 1n34as, that won't be a factor. The GEs can be temperamental.


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[oldsoul]

So I touched up solder joints and re-checked voltages which all seem good. Still noticing a thinner tone unless the octave switch is engaged. Not sure if this is helpful but just recorded an iPhone video of what I'm hearing. https://www.dropbox.com/s/02jli7zowxfzb3a/IMG_0353.MOV?dl=0

[Zerro]

Technically, it seems that effect doesn't do anything at all. Now I must agree with Jimi Lee that diodes are the most suspicious.