SOLVED Layout Effects EF120 Extremely Quiet

[Fuzz Wizard]

I’ve ran into a lot of trouble with this build. First of all, when I drilled the encloser the jacks were too far down, and I couldn’t fit them in. So I went back and drilled a little bit higher as you can see in the picture, but I’m afraid that it might not connect to ground. Second of all, I wired the footswitch backwards at first and had to re-wire it, so there was a lot of desoldering going on there. Now when I plug the pedal in, I only get bypass when the power is not connected. Once I plug in the power, bypass stops working and there’s no sound, however the LED still turns on. Any help would be greatly appreciated, this is really one of my dream pedals that I wanted to build when I first started.

 

[jimilee]

Pretty sure your 3pdt board is upside down. You could most likely wire it 1-8, 2-7, 3-6..and so on. That would be easier than try to desolder it.

 

[Fuzz Wizard]

Pretty sure your 3pdt board is upside down. You could most likely wire it 1-8, 2-7, 3-6..and so on. That would be easier than try to desolder it.

I wired it that way before I redid it the way the 3pdt says. What happened was when I connected power the led wouldn’t turn off and there was no sound. Now the led works properly but no sound or bypass.

 

[Drayve85]

Yeah that 3pdt board probably isn’t going to work! Depending on how the traces are laid out. I would fix that to at least make sure that’s not the issue.

 

[Drayve85]

If it stops bypassing when power is engaged, then something is shorting out somewhere. Did you try reflowing all solder joints, and making sure there’s no solder bridges anywhere?

 

[Fuzz Wizard]

If it stops bypassing when power is engaged, then something is shorting out somewhere. Did you try reflowing all solder joints, and making sure there’s no solder bridges anywhere?

When I get a little free time I’ll replace the 3pdt and check for bridges. Should I be worried about desoldering the 3pdt again? I don’t want to burn any traces but I’m not sure how easy that is to do.

 

[Drayve85]

When I get a little free time I’ll replace the 3pdt and check for bridges. Should I be worried about desoldering the 3pdt again? I don’t want to burn any traces but I’m not sure how easy that is to do.

I would try a new 3pdt switch, and wire it up without the breakout board first, to see if it’s the problem. 3pdt switches can be kinda ‘fragile’ to work on with heat. If the iron is left on a lug too long, or repeated heating, the lugs can shift from the plastic and epoxy melting.

 

[Kroars]

When I get a little free time I’ll replace the 3pdt and check for bridges. Should I be worried about desoldering the 3pdt again? I don’t want to burn any traces but I’m not sure how easy that is to do.

3PDT is definitely upside down. I’ve made the same mistake and that was after putting about a dozen the right side up. Do you have a solder sucker? Best way I’ve found to remove a 3PDT pcb from the switch is to use a solder sucker and get 98% of the solder out from around each pin. It’s nearly impossible to get it all. After that, I’ll use a hot air station, heat up the pcb and it typically pulls right off at that point. If you’re able to successfully get the pcb off, make sure to do a continuity check between the holes for the wires and the holes for the 3PDT to make sure traces are still good. Id use a new 3PDT as Drayve85 suggested. Best of luck!!

 

[benny_profane]

While you’re fixing the switching, change C3 from 1uF to 1n. This was an error in the initial release. With 1uF, the rotary switch doesn’t have an appreciable effect.

 

[Nostradoomus]

Flip the wiring around on your in/out jacks. Looks like you’ve got Tip and Sleeve backward.

 

[Fuzz Wizard]

Thanks for all the advice. I haven’t had the time to work on it but I will tonight and report back.

 

[music6000]

I’ve ran into a lot of trouble with this build. First of all, when I drilled the encloser the jacks were too far down, and I couldn’t fit them in. So I went back and drilled a little bit higher as you can see in the picture, but I’m afraid that it might not connect to ground. Second of all, I wired the footswitch backwards at first and had to re-wire it, so there was a lot of desoldering going on there. Now when I plug the pedal in, I only get bypass when the power is not connected. Once I plug in the power, bypass stops working and there’s no sound, however the LED still turns on. Any help would be greatly appreciated, this is really one of my dream pedals that I wanted to build when I first started.View attachment 56731View attachment 56732

If you have wired the footswitch PCB to the main PCB 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 4 to 4, 5 to 5, 7 to 7 & 8 to 8 it will still function correctly!
The In & Out jack wiring needs to be swapped, Ground on the bottom PCB pads.

 

[Fuzz Wizard]

Alright, finally made some progress. I swapped the in/out jacks and that solved the no bypass / no sound issue. The led is now working correctly too after some reflowing. Now I have a new problem. There is barely any sound coming out of this thing at all. The little bit of volume coming out of it sounds extremely thin and quiet. I’m assuming this is a transistor issue? Or maybe a problem with an IC?

 

[Fuzz Wizard]

I just didn’t bias it lmao. I swear to god I’m the dumbest man alive sometimes. Thanks so much for the help! This thing is badass.

 

[AdrianSunn0)))]

Does your FAC/Depth rotary do anything? Mine makes very minimal difference in sound. I can hear a very small difference when the smallest cap is activated vs the largest one, but no crazy difference. All my other pots work exactly as they should.

 

[benny_profane]

Does your FAC/Depth rotary do anything? Mine makes very minimal difference in sound. I can hear a very small difference when the smallest cap is activated vs the largest one, but no crazy difference. All my other pots work exactly as they should.

What value do you have for C3?

 

[comradehoser]

Does your FAC/Depth rotary do anything? Mine makes very minimal difference in sound. I can hear a very small difference when the smallest cap is activated vs the largest one, but no crazy difference. All my other pots work exactly as they should.

This is consistent with my experience with the GCI N.E.W. Apostle as well.

 

[AdrianSunn0)))]

This is consistent with my experience with the GCI N.E.W. Apostle as well.

What I did is made the input coupling capacitor a smaller value (I think 1 or 10nF) and it made the FAC (cap selector rotary switch) actually useable.
I think since the smaller cap value choked some of the frequencies, after the 1st mosfet stage the cap rotary had an actually audible effect, where as the 100nf input cap lets in too many frequencies and over powers the rotary switch capacitor, if that makes any sense.

 

[comradehoser]

Interesting. Worth socketing and giving a try at least. Might lose some of that low end that makes the OR and Matamp 120 the darlings of doom metallers worldwide. Since I have to fix my Apostle (broke the dual pot somehow) I can try it there as well.

Also, check out the Ppcb boneyard viceroy if you haven't yet. Sounds very similar to the Apostle minus cap switching.