YellowShark clean/overdrive Signal

[Alrod]

I recently purchased an original fabbed YellowShark PCB (populated).  I noticed while playing through my clean channel (Bogner Shiva), that some of the clean signal is coming through with the overdrive signal.  It's about a 60/40 mix.  This is regardless of where the Vol/drive/Nature settings are.  Is this normal for the Yellowsharkl? 

I also noticed that when turning the volume past 75%, that the volume actually goes down slightly.  I checked all the components, solder joints, etc. and even swapped out the 3130 IC with a couple I have laying around.  I also switched the pot  (like for like).  This particular board had the green LEDs.  I swapped them out for red ones and I am still having the same issues. 

Before I start trouble shooting further, I was wondering if anyone has experienced this and if so, what was the fix?

Thanks.

[Alrod]

Maybe I am not explaining this correctly?

Rather than an overdrive signal that you would get from say a Tube Screamer or OCD pedal, this pedal seems to mix or blend the clean and distorted sound.  The clean sound can be heard very distinctly.  I really don't like this blended sound.  When I listen to sound clips of the Honeybee pedal, I don't hear the blend, just pure overdrive  This leads me to believe that there is an issue with the build that I currently have.

I hope this makes more sense.  Any ideas as to what the problem might be?

[midwayfair]

I also noticed that when turning the volume past 75%, that the volume actually goes down slightly.

If a pot is behaving wrong, it's usually a clear indication that something is wrong in your pot wiring, or you have a solder bridge. Check carefully visually and with your multimeter that nothing is connected where it shouldn't be. What you've described is sometimes a biasing issue. Some voltages might also help, and you should double check all your resistor values.

[mgwhit]

I agree with Jon -- something is wrong and it's probably a short.  Voltages would be a huge help, and if you can post some well-lit, in-focus photos of the board and the off-board wiring several of us would be happy to take a look at this.  Good luck!

[Alrod]

Thanks!

I will double check solder joints, wiring, and resister values.  If I still can't figure it out I will post some photos

[Alrod]

Ok, I am feeling pretty stupid at the moment.  I figured out the problem...

The C6 and C11 positions on the board called for 1uf capacitors.  The original builder had some tantalum caps with 15/16 markings on them, and not the '105'.  They may have been right, but I was not comfortable with them since the board was not marked for polarity in those positions.  So either they were the wrong caps or they were backwards.  Anyway, I removed the tants and swapped them out with 1uf poly box capacitors.  All the issues disappeared!

The YellowShark sounds amazing through my Bogner Shiva and is exactly what I was looking for.  In fact I will be putting a couple on my pedal board.  Hopefully MadBean will decide to sell the boards again.  I really suck at soldering on the single layer boards.  I also like having the silk-screen to tell me where the components go.  I am not ashamed to admit it   

Thanks guys for encouraging me to keep looking where I had looked before.  It is so easy to take the basics for granted.