SOLVED Uberfuzz heavy clipping, static, phasing in and out

[Muddzy]

Before I say anything, I would like to acknowledge that my wiring is very messy, I'm VERY new to soldering. If you have any tips or tricks feel free to tell me some!

My Uberfuzz "works." Tone knobs, tone switch, LED, and footswitch work but its impossible to use due to the intense static, clipping, and phasing. I've double checked my wiring but I'm not very sure on what to look for. I did make some mistakes that I fixed and possibly damaged the circuit in a worst case scenario. If you have any thoughts what so ever please let me know.

 

[Nostradoomus]

swap the wires on both your jacks

 

[Muddzy]

swap the wires on both your jacks

It removed the phasing but not the static and clipping

 

[comradehoser]

Since fuzz circuit is the name and clipping is the game, are you getting any "fine-grained" clipping which we could expect to be coming out, maybe with the static and clipping bursting overtop? Or does it just sound like it's gargling forks?

Check your board visually, make sure all the components are correct and in the right location, especially that transistors and electrolytic capacitors are oriented in the right direction. Then reflow and all of your solder points making sure they look like shiny mount fujis and there are no bridges between points.

 

[PedalBuilder]

A few questions: Do you have a multimeter? If you, what are the voltage readings on the collector and base of Q4 and Q5? Have you tried adjusting the trim pot to get them roughly equal? And are the germanium diodes facing opposite directions?

 

[Muddzy]

A few questions: Do you have a multimeter? If you, what are the voltage readings on the collector and base of Q4 and Q5? Have you tried adjusting the trim pot to get them roughly equal? And are the germanium diodes facing opposite directions?

my board indicates for the diodes to be pointing in the same direction?

 

[Muddzy]

A few questions: Do you have a multimeter? If you, what are the voltage readings on the collector and base of Q4 and Q5? Have you tried adjusting the trim pot to get them roughly equal? And are the germanium diodes facing opposite directions?

the readings on the collector and base are 53.9 on Q5 and 53.8 on Q4. Still intense static and weak signal

 

[PedalBuilder]

the readings on the collector and base are 53.9 on Q5 and 53.8 on Q4. Still intense static and weak signal

The collector and bass voltages are the same? That should not be the case. and what units are those? You should be getting around 3.2v on the collector and 1.5v on the base of Q4/5.

 

[owlexifry]

My Uberfuzz "works." Tone knobs, tone switch, LED, and footswitch work but its impossible to use due to the intense static, clipping, and phasing. I've double checked my wiring but I'm not very sure on what to look for.

what transistors have you used in this?
requires a specific pinout (2SC828, not very common)
2SC1815 is the only common alternative i can think of that fits.

 

[Muddzy]

Thanks for the comments everyone, I appreciate it. Despite me following your directions I cant seem to get the board working. I think the cause is just from damage I caused to the board from my sloppy soldering. I bought a new board and I'm going to start from scratch. I've spent more money trying to fix the board instead of just buying a new one. Again, thanks for the support!

 

[owlexifry]

Thanks for the comments everyone, I appreciate it. Despite me following your directions I cant seem to get the board working. I think the cause is just from damage I caused to the board from my sloppy soldering. I bought a new board and I'm going to start from scratch. I've spent more money trying to fix the board instead of just buying a new one. Again, thanks for the support!

yeah but what transistors were you using? i'm curious

EDIT - hold the phone:

looks like these pots are mounted 180 degrees the wrong way.
View attachment 84974

 

[Nostradoomus]

lol how did we miss that, good catch

 

[owlexifry]

lol how did we miss that, good catch

lol yep we sure did.
looks like old mate's gonna have x2 superfuzzes now

 

[comradehoser]

yeah but what transistors were you using? i'm curious

EDIT - hold the phone:

looks like these pots are mounted 180 degrees the wrong way.
View attachment 84974

Wouldn't that just cause the controls to be reversed? Not static/clipping however you want to define that?

 

[owlexifry]

Wouldn't that just cause the controls to be reversed? Not static/clipping however you want to define that?

ahh. good point...
well, im gonna place a crisp $2 coin on the table that the back of those pots are touching things that they shouldn't be.

 

[Nostradoomus]

I mean the jacks were wired backwards and it was still making noise so who knows lol

 

[comradehoser]

ahh. good point...
well, im gonna place a crisp $2 coin on the table that the back of those pots are touching things that they shouldn't be.

Ooooh, yeah, good conjecture.

 

[Muddzy]

We flipped the wiring on the input and output jack, put covers on the pots, and cleaned up some of the soldering. Now its working great