Can anyone help me get the Octave to work on 2 War Sythe pedals please.

[johnnyhammerandgrind]

I posted before but have not heard anything back. I've built two War Scythe pedals and both work identically except for the octave. With all switches and the volume cranked- you can hear an anemic fuzz sound, but otherwise the octave switch on it's own does nothing.

 

[johnnyhammerandgrind]

 

[chongmagic]

You need some more solder here. Also this effect will be more pronounced on the 12th fret and up.

 

[johnnyhammerandgrind]

You need some more solder here. Also this effect will be more pronounced on the 12th fret and up.

View attachment 13695

No change. I'm not getting any octave effect out of either pedal. I reflowed all the solder points this weekend and no change as well.

 

[johnnyhammerandgrind]

You need some more solder here. Also this effect will be more pronounced on the 12th fret and up.

View attachment 13695

Thanks for responding BTW

 

[Kroars]

Thanks for responding BTW

I posted before but have not heard anything back. I've built two War Scythe pedals and both work identically except for the octave. With all switches and the volume cranked- you can hear an anemic fuzz sound, but otherwise the octave switch on it's own does nothing.

Did you measure & match the two 1n4148’s?

 

[johnnyhammerandgrind]

Did you measure & match the two 1n4148’s?

I ordered them matched but did not check them.

 

[thesmokingman]

try a pair of 1n5817 instead of the 1n4148 pair in the ring mod section

 

[johnnyhammerandgrind]

try a pair of 1n5817 instead of the 1n4148 pair in the ring mod section

What would the difference be?

 

[johnnyhammerandgrind]

I ordered them matched but did not check them.

I'm going to match a set and try again- wouldn't unmatched still give me a signal?

 

[thesmokingman]

the 1n5817 have a lower and more consistent Vf so you should see a more pronounced ring mod effect. that said, the eqd tentacle does work with the diodes you used. I can't help but notice that you're having quite a bit of trouble with your builds and the work shown is kinda indicative of early efforts if not first efforts and these builds may be outside your current wheelhouse

 

[Kroars]

I'm going to match a set and try again- wouldn't unmatched still give me a signal?

Yeah, you’d still get a signal if they weren’t matched. Just not a good octave. Sorry, I misunderstood.

how does the underside of the board look? Have you reflowed you joints? Got any leads protruding from the solder joints that could be touching? What about cleaning the board? Have you tried a good QD cleaner or iso?

 

[johnnyhammerandgrind]

the 1n5817 have a lower and more consistent Vf so you should see a more pronounced ring mod effect. that said, the eqd tentacle does work with the diodes you used. I can't help but notice that you're having quite a bit of trouble with your builds and the work shown is kinda indicative of early efforts if not first efforts and these builds may be outside your current wheelhouse

If you are referring to the long wires- I did that after I started having problems with the first build. I've built close to 30 other pedals before. Some from kits some from just PCB builds like this. I've never had so much trouble as I'm having now. I've had badly printed boards before- but that's not the case on these builds. Much of my problem seems to be the quality of components I'm getting lately ( as far as I can tell ). But thank you for your help on this forum. You are really a gem.

 

[johnnyhammerandgrind]

Yeah, you’d still get a signal if they weren’t matched. Just not a good octave. Sorry, I misunderstood.

how does the underside of the board look? Have you reflowed you joints? Got any leads protruding from the solder joints that could be touching? What about cleaning the board? Have you tried a good QD cleaner or iso?

The underside looked much better and I did actually re-flow all the joints before I posted these pics- I should have taken new ones but was having issues with posting photos. No protrusions- but no, I've never cleaned a board ever actually. I'll try some ISO- anything to look for or be aware of? Thanks!

 

[Kroars]

The underside looked much better and I did actually re-flow all the joints before I posted these pics- I should have taken new ones but was having issues with posting photos. No protrusions- but no, I've never cleaned a board ever actually. I'll try some ISO- anything to look for or be aware of? Thanks!

I recently switched from CRC QD Cleaner to this:

WD40 300080 Specialist Electrical Contact Cleaner 11oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXIJEYQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_2ZKZ04GJS99WPAP15AEB

As far as iso alcohol, I’d get at least 90%, 99% being the best. You really can’t beat the spray can method of the contact cleaner though. Spray, toothbrush, spray again.

 

[johnnyhammerandgrind]

I recently switched from CRC QD Cleaner to this:

WD40 300080 Specialist Electrical Contact Cleaner 11oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXIJEYQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_2ZKZ04GJS99WPAP15AEB

As far as iso alcohol, I’d get at least 90%, 99% being the best. You really can’t beat the spray can method of the contact cleaner though. Spray, toothbrush, spray again.

I'm going to give this a shot again on a new board and QDF cleaner. Do you think there is any point to cleaning an already assembled board? It's strange that I built two of these and they both work identically except for the octave. I also built two Parenthesis pedals and neither of them work at all. Reflowed the joints on all of them at this point and no improvement.

 

[zgrav]

you need to take the board out of the enclosure and spray the ISO carefully to keep it away from the pots. and while you have the boards out of the enclosures take and post pictures of the solder side. your description of what you hear through the pedal suggests there is a problem somewhere -- either a bad solder joint, shorted connection, or wrong part value. those are all much more likely than a bad part, but that just means it is worth taking the time to eliminate the other possible causes before you conclude it is a bad part. Have you tried using an audio probe on the circuit? Easy thing to build, and it gives you nearly instant feedback on what it happening when you have power and an audio signal in the path.

 

[zgrav]

I recently switched from CRC QD Cleaner to this:

WD40 300080 Specialist Electrical Contact Cleaner 11oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXIJEYQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_2ZKZ04GJS99WPAP15AEB

As far as iso alcohol, I’d get at least 90%, 99% being the best. You really can’t beat the spray can method of the contact cleaner though. Spray, toothbrush, spray again.

Odd to see one can of the WD-40 cleaner selling on Amazon for $14 and a six-pack from another seller for $35 Note the other seller also has single cans for $6.50

 

[Kroars]

I'm going to give this a shot again on a new board and QDF cleaner. Do you think there is any point to cleaning an already assembled board? It's strange that I built two of these and they both work identically except for the octave. I also built two Parenthesis pedals and neither of them work at all. Reflowed the joints on all of them at this point and no improvement.

Zgrav is 100% right. To further the point about removing board from the enclosure, note that most QD Cleaner can and will damage the finish of the powder coat/paint on the enclosure. I learned the hard way….

 

[Kroars]

Odd to see one can of the WD-40 cleaner selling on Amazon for $14 and a six-pack from another seller for $35 Note the other seller also has single cans for $6.50

Thanks for the heads up! Much better price indeed.