FATBEE OVERDRIVE sugar bag low/no gain..

[PAGOON]

Hello I just finished this sugar bag. pedal… I just checked over all the resistors to make sure I didn’t mix up the 10k and 10m or the 560R … the pedal has to have something I screwed up because it has hardly any gain and zero unique tones… need help can someone give me another set of eyes… or has anyone built this it sounds nothing like a distortion pedal not even a mild overdrive…

https://docs.pedalpcb.com/project/Sugarbag-PedalPCB.pdf

 

[DDad]

If this only happens when boxed up, could be a short. If not in box, have you cleaned the flux and solder spatters off the underside of the board? That is a common issue for symptoms like this.

 

[spi]

or has anyone built this it sounds nothing like a distortion pedal not even a mild overdrive

I've built it and can confirm it is an overdive.

What's going on with the 470uf cap, is it mounted on the underside? Could it be oriented incorrectly or shorting something?

 

[PAGOON]

Naw that’s ok I do that so it fits it’s to large to put up top

 

[PAGOON]

If this only happens when boxed up, could be a short. If not in box, have you cleaned the flux and solder spatters off the underside of the board? That is a common issue for symptoms like this.

I’ve never had a issue only thing i’ve noticed with testing the pedals before I box them up is sometimes there’s a little static noise with the pedals but nothing so bad as to zero gain zero distortion either that or this pedals is just one of the worst pedals I’ve ever built… completely zero tone … if I didn’t screw up something then this is one of the worst circuits I built… has any one built this and have a video of how theirs sounds ???

 

[DDad]

I’ve never had a issue only thing i’ve noticed with testing the pedals before I box them up is sometimes there’s a little static noise with the pedals but nothing so bad as to zero gain zero distortion either that or this pedals is just one of the worst pedals I’ve ever built… completely zero tone … if I didn’t screw up something then this is one of the worst circuits I built… has any one built this and have a video of how theirs sounds ???

Once you hear how it is supposed to sound, it still could be a short in the box if boxed, and it could still be a short due to solder spatter/flux on the underside of the board. Just trying to help - if the components are all correct these are the 2 most likely causes of this problem

 

[Laundryroom David]

Here’s my process, which has served me well.

Visual inspection
Are all polarized parts oriented correctly?
Are your jacks and footswitch properly wired up?
Are all Qs and ICs properly oriented and seated in sockets?
Are all component values correct?
Are there any cold joints?
Are there any bridges or flux pools?

If everything checks out, the measure voltages. How do they look?

If all of that checks out and voltages are good, then do you have an audio probe? If so, probe away.

 

[jwin615]

What David said.
I suspect if you probe this thing you may find you're losing signal at that melted wima.
Jfets could also be an opportunity
Might be good to post your voltages here here

 

[PAGOON]

I've built it and can confirm it is an overdive.

What's going on with the 470uf cap, is it mounted on the underside? Could it be oriented incorrectly or shorting something?

But dose it even sound anything close to the fat bee? And as far as overdrives go is it a very very very weak overdrive?

 

[jwin615]

Fixed my previous post
Jfets, not Jay fence. Damn speach to text.
Have you audio probed it? Do so. If you are losing signal at that wima, replace it. If you're losing it at a jfet, you need to select a different jfet.
Jfets aren't always just pick and place. You may need to audition some. IIRC J113 have quite a large idea and vgson spread

 

[PAGOON]

What David said.
I suspect if you probe this thing you may find you're losing signal at that melted wima.
Jay fence could also be an opportunity
Might be good to post your voltages here here

Fixed my previous post
Jfets, not Jay fence. Damn speach to text.
Have you audio probed it? Do so. If you are losing signal at that wima, replace it. If you're losing it at a jfet, you need to select a different jfet.
Jfets aren't always just pick and place. You may need to audition some. IIRC J113 have quite a large idea and vgson spread

I was thinking maybe my J113 were trash… who knows . I surprisingly don’t have an audio probe …

 

[jwin615]

Stinks that you sockets the bjt and not the jfets.
An audio probe isn't anything special. You just need a large film cap and somehow get one leg to an amp. The other leg is used to probe. You just need the cap to block DC from hitting the amp input.
You can use an alligator clip or an old multimeter probe spliced in half. Whatever works

 

[spi]

But dose it even sound anything close to the fat bee? And as far as overdrives go is it a very very very weak overdrive?

I wouldn't call it a heavy overdrive but it puts some hair on your signal with the drive up. I am getting sounds similar to what I see in youtube demos.

 

[PAGOON]

Yeah, these are my J113 I believe I got them on eBay years ago. I have some ECG‘s 469 I think but is there another JEft I could use it’s gotta be that because the resistors and all the other components are corrected.

 

[jwin615]

Maybe 5457 or mpf102?
I'd really recommend an audio probe though.