FX Loop w/ clickless switching PCB- my first 1590a!! (also troubleshooting pop)

[Om_Audio]

This was fun!

Clickless kit from AMZFX - http://www.muzique.com/schem/bypass.htm

I would like to do a graphic or treatment to the enclosure eventually. I used my new step bit- wow- so nice!! Didn't power up, then I tested continuity on the 9v jack and realized I hooked up to the wrong + tab- I always forget they are not the same. (I have a spare male/male power lead it comes in handy for testing)
Works great! There can be some mild popping depending on what you have turned on in the fx loop.  
I also used some parts from other things- a tiny green LED from a broken tuner and the SPDT I borrowed from an FS-300- so glad I thought of that as I didn't want to order just that one switch.
Need to spend more time carefully measuring for drilling holes but I get all excited and cut corners sometimes- had to use the dremel to make one of the jacks fit-

[icecycle66]

Wow man, that's really nice.

[njkke]

I don't know why but I love too much all these little Pcbs!

[wolfingsworth]

I like the way you fit everything in there. That's a lot of hardware in a small package, plus the switch looks good being offset like that.

[Om_Audio]

Thanks guys. Ya I like the switch offset too, and I also really like the tiny green LED offset to the opposite corner as the switch. Also laying the tranny and cap down on the PCB actually was a big help in making it all fit. I broke all the sleeve tabs off 2 of the jacks as I only had 2 stereo and 2 mono.
C

[midwayfair]

Nice job, that's not an easy fit, especially with no template to work from.

[bigrigg]

Sardines man sardines.  Nice job fitting it all in.  What application are you using it for in your board?

[Om_Audio]

Thanks Jon, I appreciate that coming from such a 1590a aficionado!

bigrig-
Why I built it:

There is a particular song my band has where I use 2 effects at once (an octave Micro POG and audio swell delay DL4) and then it changes abruptly to a section without those 2 effects and repeats. It is very hard to switch in and out of both simultaneously- I have even tried placing them near each other in a way so I could get my foot on both switches but was awkward. I also have a few solos where I have delay/drive happening and I need to get out and cue the band to a new section quickly and have found it very difficult to keep soloing while switching effects and visually cueing the band. Too much tap dancing!

It dawned on me that if I could control multiple effects with one click would be ideal, and also wanted to avoid the loud "click" of an 3PDT switch which has been an issue before with softer songs. We also have a gig on Tuesday where this would come in very handy- nothing like a little extra motivation to get it done!

So the fx loop works great to allow me to set up the song before (turn on whatever effects I will need) and then control them with one tap.

One issue I have run into is that I have another delay I usually leave on as subtle effect and it is in middle of my chain so I am going to look at possible shuffling. The fact that the DL4 and my POG are the 1st and last effects in the chain is what makes it hard as I have essentially my whole board in the fx loop. Not ideal- will be looking at ways to adjust.

In any event being able to switch in and out of mutiple effects is handy, efficient, and musically dramatic- I love it! I asked a lot of questions here before and used diagrams from Beavis, GGG, and other posts for guidance and ideas. Also the build sheet from AMZFX was helpful and has some really good mods/alternate uses.

Oh, my amp does have an effects loop but using this little box allows me to use 2 short patch cables and not 2 full length cables going all the way to the amp.

C

[nzCdog]

Stealth!  Thats a cool little pedal, nice job

[Om_Audio]

I am getting some popping which is odd. I don't recall it being as pronounced when I first boxed it up but it was 4am so who knows. The popping seems also occurs when there is nothing in the loop. Jack Orman said there is no DC on the relay so the pedal should not need any pull downs but could be added to test. He said the pedals in the loop would be the likely culprits.
I made sure to insulate the PCB from grounding.
I do also notice the pop changes depending on what pedals are turned on in the loop. Dirt pedals make it worse, esp a buffered Boss one I threw in to experiment.
The tone of the pop is higher and lower when turning on and off.

Anyone have exp or suggestions with clickless setups or tips/suggestions appreciated!

C

[Om_Audio]

So I did a lot of experimenting last night and made some -major- progress! Short story is the bulk of the pop seems to have been caused by having all jacks grounded to each other. I removed all grounding wires and only left LED, PCB, and DC jack grounded to the input jack. MAJOR improvement!

Steps I took:

-removed PCB out and moved all wires away from switch- no change
-stood cap and tranny upright- nc
-tested/verified values of the resistors- nc
-tested on 9v battery and a different adapter on different house circuit- nc
-tested on different amp- nc
(oddly I did discover wile powering on a second amp there was a pop in the first amp- I used different power strips and tried plugging straight into the wall, tried lifting ground on amp- in the end it was reduced but interesting to note that power fluctuations on a power strip can cause different pop in the system. Might look into better/isolated power strip if there is such a thing.)
-populated and tested the 2nd kit I ordered from Jack Orman at AMXFX. On the bench the 2nd kit had zero pop. I had input connected to tone generator, output to amp, nothing connected to send/receive. Ideal conditions but still shows difference.
-I also tried adding a 4k7 resistor to the neg side of the LED with no effect other than to dim the LED!

see last 5 pics here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/105266388149148864163/albums/5795416885060452961?authkey=CPSv5tL7z4-_Nw

In any event, I still get some pop but it is very small now and also I know when I use a dirt pedal into a delay after the loop that is not ideal.

I will probably try some more things Jack suggested like the sheilded wire at some point. I did notice some microphonics when tapping the guts.

C