Fingers Overdrive (The Good, The Bad, The Ugly)

MichaelW

Well-known member
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First off, title reference is to my build, not the project, which is a great sounding pedal and done in typical AWESOME @PedalPCB fashion.

Full disclosure, this is my second attempt at building this pedal. My first attempt was a failure.....didn't work.
I did my usual cursory troubleshooting and couldn't figure it out, gave up and threw it in the "box o shame". (Actually more like a "cupboard o shame")

I was determined to get a working build so I re-ordered the board, quadruple checked everything, and the second board also didn't work.

It was discouraging, frustrating and after a cursory troubleshooting attempt it too "almost" went into the "box o shame".

In fact I was already getting ready to repurpose the enclosure for a different build.

But I was whining and crying to my ever patient friend @szukalski over DM and he gently encouraged me to break out my audio probe and take a closer look.

Reluctantly I did, (I have so little confidence in my troubleshooting skills), but armed with the schematic, I started at "input".
And 3 points in found I the problem.........it was the way I mounted the SMD JFETS on the adapter boards (pics below).

So I snipped off the JFETS, soldered in some sockets, stuck in some of my out-of-spec TO-92 JFETS and BAM! It works!

So this is a FIRST for me, in having a SUCCESSFUL troubleshooting outcome with my audio probe.
And also a FIRST for me not destroying the board with my "fixing" it. (Although a couple of the caps did suffer some battle scars.

So I 'think" the problem with my first two attempts is that the SMD adapter boards were grounding out with each other. I didn't think it would be a problem, but the more I think about it, the more I think that it's probably the ground plane of the boards possibly grounding out? I dunno.

Here's a pic of how I originally built it.

IMG_3356.JPG


I thought I was being clever and snazzy mounting the 2N5457's on 90 degree pin headers but I think that because the boards were touching they were grounding out.

This next pic is after my troubleshooting. I replaced the footswitch to rule that out (it was a long shot), but after replacing the JFETS it solved the problem!
I'm not too proud of how it looks......but it WORKS WOOHOOO!

IMG_3358.JPG

So back to the pedal, I built this because I'm always interested in a @PedalPCB original. And because @jeffwhitfield built it, and because @szukalski built it:)

I was also curious as to what a "discrete overdrive" was, heh. I also was interested in what a "boooteeeek modified TS/SuperStevie" would sound like.

I don't think it sounds too much like a TS and I've never played the SuperStevie but I think it's a great sounding low-ish gain pedal. Much more open sounding to me than a typical TS. Playing with my Strat and and the treble cranked I can definitely see the SRV connection. Played through my PRS Vela with a fatter single coil it's got a nice bluesy thickness.

But I can't tell you how gratifying it is to finally have a WIN with troubleshooting a non-working pedal with an audio probe following a schematic. I now also know why the first build didn't work and may need to retrieve it from banishment in the "box of shame" and box it up and maybe give it to my brother.

Big shout out and thanks to @szukalski for the encouragement to persist with the troubleshooting!
 
Great to see a good outcome. I feel like a fixed pedal is more rewarding than a fresh build! Takes longer than a build though..
 
View attachment 30811


First off, title reference is to my build, not the project, which is a great sounding pedal and done in typical AWESOME @PedalPCB fashion.

Full disclosure, this is my second attempt at building this pedal. My first attempt was a failure.....didn't work.
I did my usual cursory troubleshooting and couldn't figure it out, gave up and threw it in the "box o shame". (Actually more like a "cupboard o shame")

I was determined to get a working build so I re-ordered the board, quadruple checked everything, and the second board also didn't work.

It was discouraging, frustrating and after a cursory troubleshooting attempt it too "almost" went into the "box o shame".

In fact I was already getting ready to repurpose the enclosure for a different build.

But I was whining and crying to my ever patient friend @szukalski over DM and he gently encouraged me to break out my audio probe and take a closer look.

Reluctantly I did, (I have so little confidence in my troubleshooting skills), but armed with the schematic, I started at "input".
And 3 points in found I the problem.........it was the way I mounted the SMD JFETS on the adapter boards (pics below).

So I snipped off the JFETS, soldered in some sockets, stuck in some of my out-of-spec TO-92 JFETS and BAM! It works!

So this is a FIRST for me, in having a SUCCESSFUL troubleshooting outcome with my audio probe.
And also a FIRST for me not destroying the board with my "fixing" it. (Although a couple of the caps did suffer some battle scars.

So I 'think" the problem with my first two attempts is that the SMD adapter boards were grounding out with each other. I didn't think it would be a problem, but the more I think about it, the more I think that it's probably the ground plane of the boards possibly grounding out? I dunno.

Here's a pic of how I originally built it.

View attachment 30812


I thought I was being clever and snazzy mounting the 2N5457's on 90 degree pin headers but I think that because the boards were touching they were grounding out.

This next pic is after my troubleshooting. I replaced the footswitch to rule that out (it was a long shot), but after replacing the JFETS it solved the problem!
I'm not too proud of how it looks......but it WORKS WOOHOOO!

View attachment 30814

So back to the pedal, I built this because I'm always interested in a @PedalPCB original. And because @jeffwhitfield built it, and because @szukalski built it:)

I was also curious as to what a "discrete overdrive" was, heh. I also was interested in what a "boooteeeek modified TS/SuperStevie" would sound like.

I don't think it sounds too much like a TS and I've never played the SuperStevie but I think it's a great sounding low-ish gain pedal. Much more open sounding to me than a typical TS. Playing with my Strat and and the treble cranked I can definitely see the SRV connection. Played through my PRS Vela with a fatter single coil it's got a nice bluesy thickness.

But I can't tell you how gratifying it is to finally have a WIN with troubleshooting a non-working pedal with an audio probe following a schematic. I now also know why the first build didn't work and may need to retrieve it from banishment in the "box of shame" and box it up and maybe give it to my brother.

Big shout out and thanks to @szukalski for the encouragement to persist with the troubleshooting!
Thanks for the nod! Happy to be a source of inspiration. I get inspired all the time with folks on here so, yeah, very flattering. :)

Definitely have shared in your experience too. Have had a few builds that started out as a source of major frustration but turned into sheer joy after figuring out the problem. To me, these are the most rewarding ones. Not every build will go as planned. When they go wrong, it's a major learning opportunity.

Nice build too! I'm starting to really like the hammered copper enclosures. They're hard to design around but, when done right, can be absolutely stunning. :)
 
Nice build too! I'm starting to really like the hammered copper enclosures. They're hard to design around but, when done right, can be absolutely stunning. :)
yeah, hard to find knobs that matched. I think I used boss style black ones, but the cream ones here look a bit nicer.
 
yeah, hard to find knobs that matched. I think I used boss style black ones, but the cream ones here look a bit nicer.
That's my thinking too. Black and cream ones look the best. What also looks nice are the classic flying saucer ones with the silver trim.
 
That's my thinking too. Black and cream ones look the best. What also looks nice are the classic flying saucer ones with the silver trim.
I've built them in all 3 sizes now, 125B, 1590B and 1590BB.
Somehow, it always winds up being cream for me:)

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Although you are right about the flying saucer ones working too......this is my Dumbloid/Special Overdrive.
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Having said that, the Fingers was my last Hammered Copper enclosure and I think I'm done with them.....for now.

I'd love to see Tayda do a hammered pewter or something.
 
I've built them in all 3 sizes now, 125B, 1590B and 1590BB.
Somehow, it always winds up being cream for me:)

View attachment 30827


View attachment 30828

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Although you are right about the flying saucer ones working too......this is my Dumbloid/Special Overdrive.
View attachment 30830

Having said that, the Fingers was my last Hammered Copper enclosure and I think I'm done with them.....for now.

I'd love to see Tayda do a hammered pewter or something.
Hammered pewter would be neat. That and maybe a gold.
 
Nice work!
You should try a super stevie. It's basically a Timmy overdrive. I added a boost at the end of the circuit to get that Stevie "over the top" solo sound.

Hit me up in a message if your interested
 
More zombie thread bumping. Chuck’s GeFet boost (on higher gain mode) into a Fingers around 50% is awesome.

The Fingers can really handle boost well, makes it comes alive!
 
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