Issues with Paragon mini

pemattern

New member
Hey All,

yesterday I built my 2 second DIY Pedal ever, the Paragon Mini. It appears to be working, but only when both sides are engaged. When only one of the sides is active there is high pitched hum. Does anybody have an idea why this is happening or have any tips for me?

Thanks so much in advance!
 

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It happens when either single side is engaged by itself. It passes signal when both sides are bypassed (with a slight hum however) . when both side are engaged, there is no hum and it seems to work fine.
 
This may not entirely solve your issue, but it’s common for pedals to be more noisy when not installed in a metal enclosure. The metal enclosure acts like a faraday cage and helps protect the circuit from picking up stray signals (radio towers, electronics in your house, etc). However, that wouldn’t explain why you only hear the noise when only one side is engaged. 🤷‍♂️

As a quick check you might try using a different power supply. I once had a pedal build that was a little finicky with its power source.
 
Is there any guitar sound coming through when only one side is engaged, or just the high pitched hum?

As you probably already know this pedal is two independent circuits in series (they do share a power section and common ground). So it's odd to me that it would behave the way you describe. Perhaps you've got a short somewhere???

Some things I would try to help isolate the issue:
  1. Remove any other pedals in the signal path (Guitar >> Pedal >> Amp)
  2. Remove any other pedals from the power supply (no daisy chain), Or temporarily use a 9v battery to power it.
  3. Clean the board with isopropyl alcohol (99% is best) and then check for shorts or cold solder joints with good lighting and magnification. Reflow any suspect solder joints.
  4. Swap in new IC's if you have some (I doubt this will resolve the issue, but it's relatively easy test if you happen to have the parts).
  5. Make an audio probe (search the forum) and probe around to see what you can learn. This can be time consuming if you’ve never done it, but is a great troubleshooting skill to learn.
 
Hey All,

yesterday I built my 2 second DIY Pedal ever, the Paragon Mini. It appears to be working, but only when both sides are engaged. When only one of the sides is active there is high pitched hum. Does anybody have an idea why this is happening or have any tips for me?

Thanks so much in advance!
Sounds like it has something to do with the bypass signal. Check the soldering on your stomp switches and following that path around to see if you find anything. A loud hum like that sounds like a grounding issue or missing / damaged component
 
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