Faultline seems too low-gain

[Haberdasher]

I finished this last night and i've kinda been messing with it on and off today.  I'm a little puzzled and maybe even a bit let down with this build.  I've watched some of the youtube vids and this pedal seems to scream and get pretty nasty.  I'm playing with humbuckers through a 50W 6L6 tube combo (bedroom volume) and it only gets semi-hairy when I crank the gain all the way, and it just doesn't sound very inspiring, honestly.  With all the great things I've heard about this effect, I'm thinking something must be off.

Does this sound right, Faultline owners?

BTW, I subbed 1MC for gain and 100KB for vol., but all other parts are spec'd to the sheet.  I'm using fairchild trannies from Mouser.

[G.G.]

On my Faultline , the gain seems to be very interactive with the Treble control.  If I turn the Treb down to the 12:00 range I don't get much gain out of it, but at 4 or 5:00 it gets pretty hairy.  I did the 100kB mod for the Vol pot but not the Gain mod.

[Haberdasher]

Thanks G.G.  I noticed the treb being tied to the gain as well.

This pedal is very quiet, very dynamic and it sounds nice & thick for rhythm playing.  I guess I was just expecting something different.  Maybe I just need to play some more with it & it might grow on me.

[G.G.]

Yeah they do seem a lot more over the top in the Catalinbread vids http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU6CANrz2_I&feature=channel_page Of course tuning the guitar down helps get that sound.  I'm a little mystified about the sound they get based on how they set the controls though.  When I set my controls like theirs I don't get anything like the sound in the vids, especially on the cleaner settings. Would types of pots make that much difference, analog vs. linear?

Well, bottom line is the Faultline is still a great-sounding pedal that I'll definitely be hanging on to.

[Haberdasher]

Actually I get pretty close to that sound with those settings using the 1MC pot for gain.  That might be the ticket for you.

IMO the pedal just never quite gets where I want it to go as far as higher gain.  Now, I did place a slambox (SHO) in front of it today, and it sounded real good. 

[G.G.]

yeah the 1MC might be worth a try, the tone is definitely there otherwise

[outtahear]

Yeah, just bought a built Faultline, seems to be having the same problems (haven't had time to dig into it..)
Bought it to give to a friend since he loved my Caitlinbread SFT.
Which doesn't have these problems

[outtahear]

http://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7368&start=160
Post #6 anyone??

[madbean]

That was an error from the very first version I put on FSB way back. It was corrected in subsequent revision before it was even put on the MBP site.

I'll pull mine out today and have another look at it and see if there is some other discrepancy.

[outtahear]

Thanks, Brian!

[JakeFuzz]

I've noticed the exact same thing. Dynamics and tone are all there but the gain is always dimed to get a decent crunch. I definitely don't feel like it is a high gain pedal as stated on the Catalinbread site. Are you guys running @ 18 volts? I am thinking this might help. 

[madbean]

Okay, it definitely boils down to running it a 9v and 18v. At 18v you get more gain, more volume and more squishy dynamics. I've gone ahead and added a note to the doc stating this. I've also added a note that either a 1MC or 500kC is a better choice for the gain pot. I didn't have a 1MC on hand but I tested with a 500kC and thought it sounded great, AND had a very usable range. Luckily mine was still unboxed so it was easy enough to do

Thanks for bringing this up. Problem solved

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/Faultline/docs/Faulltline_ver1.pdf

[madbean]

BTW: if you want to juice this thing up even more, socket R5 and try some lower values. Say 15k or 10k. More gain means more noise, but shit, who cares?

[Haberdasher]

Well that answers that.  I put mine in a 1290 so I doubt I could cram a roadrage in there.  I'll have to hunt around for an 18v supply.

BTW: if you want to juice this thing up even more, socket R5 and try some lower values. Say 15k or 10k. More gain means more noise, but shit, who cares?

Thanks!  My pedal is dead quiet, so I doubt it would get very noisy.  I may experiment with this one day.

[outtahear]

Doesn't explain the interaction between the treble + gain knobs.