Conqueror Fuzz - No FX

[Meelow]

Hello Everyone,
I’ve populated and soldered (most of) my first circuit - the Conqueror Fuzz.

I’m able to get clean audio through my guitar to the amp, and the LED lights up, however, I’m getting no effects from this pedal.

Please help!

In the photo, you’ll see some things missing, this is because I took off everything I had not soldered. This includes the 3PDT and the potentiometers.

I also did not soldered in the pots.

Some things to know
• Using a 9V battery for power input, I’m hoping less power less chance of blowing the circuit out.
• L1. I chose to use the EI-14 transformer.
• Resistors. I ran a few resistors in series to get the necessary values.
• Capacitors. Also ran a couple of non polarized capacitors in series.
• Pots. The board calls for one each of A10k, A25K, B1K, C5k. I only have B (linear) pots, so used these exclusively.
• I used a B5K instead of B1K.
• Used a B5K instead of C5K.
• Used a B20K instead of A25K.
• 3PDT switch. I wired directly as per the diagram provided in the build guide. Instead of soldering I wrapped the bare wire around the nut to make sure I got it correctly before soldering.

I’m really new to circuits, the only DIY build I’ve done so far was to breadboard a Bazz Fuss, which worked well. I taught myself to solder so I can make this, with this said, I have no idea if I did well or burned the board by accident.

Please let me know if you have any ideas or things to try out. Thank you.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

There’s a lot to be a bit suspicious of in terms of the soldering and board population, but I think troubleshooting anything else is sorta moot until you’ve soldered the pots in (and hopefully it won’t even need further troubleshooting at that point). Putting the pots in place with just a friction fit won’t provide a reliable enough connection to ensure that all three pins are making contact, and there are multiple pots in this circuit that would result in no sound if they were out of the circuit.

Honestly though, I’d wait until you can get the right pot values

 

[Meelow]

There’s a lot to be a bit suspicious of in terms of the soldering and board population, but I think troubleshooting anything else is sorta moot until you’ve soldered the pots in (and hopefully it won’t even need further troubleshooting at that point). Putting the pots in place with just a friction fit won’t provide a reliable enough connection to ensure that all three pins are making contact, and there are multiple pots in this circuit that would result in no sound if they were out of the circuit.

Honestly though, I’d wait until you can get the right pot values

Thank you for this info! When you say suspicious of with the soldering - can you please tell me more? Are you seeing damage from the solder?

Pots - That makes sense about needing that solid connection. Do you mind if I pick your brain about a couple things? Not trying to debate so sorry if it comes off that way, really wanting to learn. I read that pots values are often off by something like 20%, so that there’s some room for flex, not taking into account the type of pot in this question, using a 20k rather than 25k is usually okay. Is that false?

Now taking into account A, B, C types, I read that these are pretty much interchangeable but that they will affect the intended rate of change when turning the pot dial, and thus affect the behavior of the circuit. What are your thoughts on this? Is this incorrect?

If I do want to go ahead and use B types without committing to them (aka see how they affect tone before I can get A and C types, and a 1k B type), could I prototype it off board by soldering one end of a cables onto the board and twisting the other end around the holes in the pot? Or by using a breadboard?

Thanks very much for your help!