Eight Ball Overdrive

[Robert]

What an emotional rollercoaster

Look, I'm just glad he didn't immediately jump to blaming the PCB.....

 

[OD is Glorious]

If it works out of the enclosure but doesn't work when you put it back in the enclosure something is making contact with something it shouldn't.

The most likely cause is a component lead touching the back of one of the pots.

When it's out of the enclosure the pots aren't grounded and are floating, so it doesn't cause any issues... once you mount it back in the enclosure (which is grounded by the 1/4" jacks) the metal pot housing also becomes ground and shorts whatever is making contact to ground.

I messed with it for a few more hours and replaced more items. It is like guessing and hoping and that is just a recipe for a burned out board. Put it back on the auditorium and got nothing - messed with it some more. Now it is on the scrap heap. I always order at least two boards in case of mistakes. It is frustrating not having the knowledge I need to trace. Anyway, carry on, I will build another because I have another board. Thanks all.

 

[OD is Glorious]

I repopulated another 8 ball board. I checked every value and made sure all of my soldering was done well. I turned my soldering heat down to about 390C. I was running much hotter. I also used flux on the Mc33178s and capacitor legs. As you suggested Robert, I bent the legs for the 2sk209g - just not to 90 degrees, just cocked the legs so it fits easier. I left out one of the N4148s as I consider whether to install an LED in the N4148 spot.

And Robert, no way I can blame the board ... yet. lol

 

[swelchy]

Look, I'm just glad he didn't immediately jump to blaming the PCB.....

We could be if we were doing PCBmania pcb clones over here..lol

 

[OD is Glorious]

Well, I put the new one up on the auditorium and it works. One question I have is how come the A1 M only registers about 350k. Out of the board it registers 1M. I noticed this with the last board as well. I’m wondering if there’s another resistor that is throttling the A1M down to the 300s.

All the other variable resistors reached their peak of 25K 10K and 100K. I’m sure it must be something in the design because it works. Now we gotta cross our fingers while I box it up. I also changed the artwork for the pedal top from that two lines and a rolled up $100 to what is a classic eight ball design now.

 

[swelchy]

Well, I put the new one up on the auditorium and it works. One question I have is how come the A1 M only registers about 350k. Out of the board it registers 1M. I noticed this with the last board as well. I’m wondering if there’s another resistor that is throttling the A1M down to the 300s.

All the other variable resistors reached their peak of 25K 10 K and 100 K. I’m sure it must be something in the design because it works. Now we gotta cross our fingers while I box it up. I also changed the design from that two lines and a rolled up 100. Classic eight ball design now.

measuring components while in circuit doesn't work out exact...... other things it's connected to affect it

 

[OD is Glorious]

measuring components while in circuit doesn't work out exact...... other things it's connected to affect it

Thanks! I wondered.

Build report
If you followed this thread, I failed on the first board so I started over. What PedalPB says about this pedal is "Compare to Marshall JCM800 Overdrive Pedal" and that I why I wanted to build this. Also I love overdrives. Many of the Marshall type pedals just sound like harmonic distortion, land can sound like someone is rattling nails in a can. when I plugged this in it had a great tight harmonic distortion. It can also clean up for transparency. This build was flawless on the PedalPCB Auditorium Platform and so I boxed it and had a grounding issue. I am not sure how I resolved it, but I opened it and moved the Lumberg input jack and bent over one the ear for the input tip. I also have the dust covers on all pots and I placed a thin black plastic substrate over the soldering under the two pots that sit on the board. Seems perfect now. I am also loving the top jack plates that PedalPCB offers and I used one on this pedal. I think I will use these as much as possible.

The pedal compares to the PedalPCB Article 59 and the Wampler Plexi. I love the fact that I can control the bass because when you get a Marshall pedal it can sound like bees in a jar. I went with all gold but the gold output jacks I ordered on amazon were complete Chinese trash so I went with Lumberg, The gold 20mm knobs and the gold LED bezel are from Love my Switches. Note, I had to hack saw off part of the gold LED bezel's long sleeve so that it would fit. I also went with a yellow diffused bulb to fit the gold theme. Originally I was going to put a cocaine related mural on the pedal, but I opted for a traditional Eight Ball logo.

I love the pedal. I made two short videos - the first video is an American Standard Strat through a 1964 Vibroverb. The second video is me playing a 2025 Telecaster CS through a 1965 Super reverb.

I DID MAKE A MISTAKE WITH THE REVERSED RED AND BLACK WIRES TO THE DC JACK BUT I LET IT GO.