Audio Probing the Incredible Machine Distortion

djmiyta

Well-known member
So I finished this up checked it before boxing , boxed it up , played it , put it on the shelf. 1 week later put it on the board and lights up no sound but by-pass. I socket all clipping diodes tranny's and IC's and anything I want to change out. i use the milled sockets that are much better than the other type but! they cant be used over and over cause what I found is the clipping LED's are all loose in the sockets I replaced them, no sound, audio probe it and I lose the signal right after it hits the board signal in hits R1 and C1 and I get no signal. Solder joint? but it worked just fine before and no the box never got dropped or jarred. So now I know my signal is dead there what do I do from here? Re flow? Replace? Get rid of the sockets? I also socket the LED's cause of the mix up some boards have had concerning the orientation of LED's on some boards . So anybody have an idea? Guess pictures are gonna be needed .coming up
 
Audio probing as you know leads you to the problem area not what's faulty so as you say try reflowing where you lose signal and check again

I usually reflow and check continuity before I desolder anything

The right side of R1 looks like it lacks solder that's the side that goes to C1

20211118_181140.jpg

Ball like joints may be dry inside so there's always a possibility you'll lose connection even with the slightest vibration

Reflow for around 4 seconds until you get a good flow and the component leg gets a nice connection to the pad
 
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Audio probing as you know leads you to the problem area not what's faulty so as you say try reflowing where you lose signal and check again

I usually reflow and check continuity before I desolder anything

The right side of R1 looks like it lacks solder that's the side that goes to C1

View attachment 18784

Ball like joints may be dry inside so there's always a possibility you'll lose connection even with the slightest vibration

Reflow for around 4 seconds until you get a good flow and the component leg gets a nice connection to the pad
I recently got some new solder ( I usually use Kester) some no name off amazon its too thick and doesnt flow very well I think thats why those solder balls are there I even used a bit of flux. Thank you for taking a look) I'll get back once I take care of what you spotted thanks again
 
So I checked continuity and soldered a jumper in still no dice back to the audio probe. This is the stupid stuff that really gets me irked the pedal was fine for no apparent reason stops working. iI don’t do A++++ work but a solid B is passing Kidding aside I still have pedals I built 20 years ago that work just fine so I think it’s break time for a bit. Come back to my non working builds after a little or long guitar playing hiatus always puts in a good mood When I was growing up learning guitar with some buddies we used to say “Before the girls was the guitar and after the girls there’s the guitar” ahh my solice.
 
UPDATE:
FIXED!! audio probing found no audio at the out pad. Audio at the pot none at the pad soldered a jumper to the pad and to the vol pot lug 2 just bypass the whole trace. What a weird thing for it to just stop working sitting on a shelf any hoo fixed and a really really nice distortion the voice pot adds a nice smooth bite a little more you get a crispy bite yeah I like it thanks for the help everyone . 1 more off my "to repair list".
 
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