MudBunny Civil War -- Need Help!

[Guitarman514]

Okay, so I'm a newbie that knows enough to be dangerous. Its probably a miracle I haven't blown something up or electrocuted myself already. I've recently started on a Mudbunny Civil War (first build). Things have gone pretty smoothly up until last night when I checked to see if it works. I plugged it into an amp and whether or not the pedal is turned on, there is a very nasty ground hum. I'm really hoping that its because I don't have something grounded in my switch correctly; that seems like an easier fix. I plan on building a circuit tester sometime this evening to rule that out, but in the mean time i figured I'd post some pictures of what I've got and see what you geniuses have to say.

Any help is appreciate! Thanks in advance!

William

[jkokura]

First thing I notice is that one of your jacks is not grounded. Did you have the circuit and wiring mounted in your enclosure or was it all outside the box?

Jacob

[Guitarman514]

Well I started to put it all in the box, but then I noticed a lot of people saying to test it before you box it. So, I took it all out and tested it out of the box. The LEDs actually did work but I snipped them so that I could remove everything.

[Guitarman514]

Also, the jack with the white wire is the input. Which jack isn't grounded?

[jkokura]

Yeah, if you have the circuit board outside of the box, you still need to ground the jacks.

You should test it outside of the box, but generally when you do so, you test it BEFORE wiring it to the switch and jacks. That way, you can confirm whether your circuit or your wiring is the problem.

Jacob

[Guitarman514]

Ha ha, yeah. I was kind of starting to figure that out today when I saw your post on the test box. I'm kind of diving into the deep end with all this, but I've wanted to do start building my pedals for a while and figured its better to get started then to keep thinking about it.

So, I'm assuming its the output that isn't grounded?

[jkokura]

Probably. But that may not be the only problem, so if it still doesn't work, start to do the typical debugging steps. The tools like the Test box and an audio probe, along with a multimeter, will help a lot.

Some of me wants to see one of the kit companies release a test box. Shortly, I'll be launching a PCB company which will provide some tools like test oscillators and headphone amps which will enable people to build test boxes like the one I find so useful.

Jacob

[Guitarman514]

Oh yeah!

Things have been busy!

I forgot to come back and let you know that after grounding the output and hitting a couple of bad solder joints, the pedal works and sounds great! The only thing not right is one of the LEDs is a lot brighter than the other, but I kind of like it.

Thanks for your help!