My first build. Low tide. Made a mistake. Is this redeemable?

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boysenpai

Member
So this is my first build. I heard it was not recommended for beginners, but I've soldered my guitar electronics in the past and also, I just really wish to have Shallow Water for 5+ years and making my own was the only way I could afford it.

It went well until I started to solder chips. It came as a kit but there were no instructions as to how to solder particular components so I googled a lot with each new tier of components. Found a little bag with two chips, found their placing on the pcb, soldered them in. Cut off the residual pin tips. Then I opened next back and I noticed there were these slots and I couldn't pair them with anything. Then I realised these were slots for the chips that I already soldered straight onto the pcb and trimmed their pins.

Will the chips work when soldered straight into the pcb? Or, will the chips slide into the slot and work even with the tips of their pins trimmed? Or should I look for replacement?
 

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JamieJ said:
You have the SMD and through hole component in place for the J201. You don’t need both of those. Have you tried removing the through hole JFET to see if that changes anything?
Click to expand...
mdc said:
Wait, do you have 2 J201s attached? It looks like you have an SMD-type soldered on and then also a through-hole J201 in the sockets? If so, take the one out of the socket - those pads are an either/or not a both.
Click to expand...
We already went through this with other advisors. I had two J201s and no 2SK208 which was why I was getting no sound. I took the J201 out of the socket and put in the place of 2SK208, which (I was told) is equivalent. After that I got the pedal running.

Here's a photo of where I am at now.
 

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PJS said:
To use the audio probe, you feed sound into the input of the pedal. The ground clip of the audio probe clips to any ground connection on the pedal. I usually clip it to the solder lug for ground on the output jack - just to make sure it has a good firm connection that is also out of my way. The socket of your audio probe plugs into an amp/headphone amp etc using a standard guitar lead. When you touch the probe to a point on the circuit you will be able to hear if there is audio there or not, and the quality of the audio. If you are getting audio on the black circles of the footswitch that you have circled, and nowhere on the board that is totally normal - for the pedal in bypass. Just click the footswitch and you should get the audio going into the board instead.

This is not every place you could check, but a few easily identifiable places to get you going that should give a good indication

Remember that IC pin numbering goes like this:

View attachment 56495

Q1 - I think I would expect to hear audio on 2 of the pins and not the third
Q2 - same - audio on 2 pins and not the third
IC4 pin 6 and 7
IC7 pin 3, 7, 8
IC3 pin 3, 5
MIX pot - all 3 pins - the signal on the middle will vary depending on the pot position
LEVEL POT - only 2 pins will have sound - middle pin volume will vary with pot position
Q4, Q5 - again 2 pins will have sound - the third not.
Click to expand...
After I finished soldering, I did not clean the flux on my board whatsoever. Is it possible the tips of solder are covered in flux, hence why I don't get any sound sometimes?

Anyway, I went through all the parts you listed and here's what I got. Green for sound, red for no sound, obviously.
 

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https://docs.pedalpcb.com/project/LowTide-Schematic-PedalPCB.pdf
Do An Audio Probe by the Numbers starting with 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 & so on.

Audio By Numbers.jpg
This has got to the stage where you need to put this aside & Build more simplified pedals.
This is for Advanced Builders who have at least a Dozen working pedals under there Belt & know their way around Schematics
 
Last edited:
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music6000 said:
https://docs.pedalpcb.com/project/LowTide-Schematic-PedalPCB.pdf
Do An Audio Probe by the Numbers starting with 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 & so on.

View attachment 56767
This has got to the stage where you need to put this aside & Build more simplified pedals.
This is for Advanced Builders who have at least a Dozen working pedals under there Belt & know their way around Schematics
Click to expand...
Yeah I could definitely feel this was too much many posts ago. A valuable lesson indeed. My next build will be a boost or volume pedal, some OD too possibly.
 
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music6000 said:
https://docs.pedalpcb.com/project/LowTide-Schematic-PedalPCB.pdf
Do An Audio Probe by the Numbers starting with 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 & so on.

View attachment 56767
This has got to the stage where you need to put this aside & Build more simplified pedals.
This is for Advanced Builders who have at least a Dozen working pedals under there Belt & know their way around Schematics
Click to expand...
The audio probe test went beautifully this time. I added a paperclip to provide some stability to the tip and preventing the wire from bending. Made a ton of difference. Here's my result:
  1. OK
  2. OK
  3. OK
  4. OK
  5. OK
  6. OK
  7. OK
  8. OK
  9. OK
  10. NADA
  11. NADA
  12. NADA
  13. NADA
  14. NADA
  15. NADA
  16. NADA
  17. NADA
It seems quite clear to me where the trouble is. I replaced the socket of the J201 with relative ease thanks to the desoldering tip someone posted earlier. Even with the socket replaced, the sound goes dead from 10 and beyond.
 
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boysenpai said:
The audio probe test went beautifully this time. I added a paperclip to provide some stability to the tip and preventing the wire from bending. Made a ton of difference. Here's my result:
  1. OK
  2. OK
  3. OK
  4. OK
  5. OK
  6. OK
  7. OK
  8. OK
  9. OK
  10. NADA
  11. NADA
  12. NADA
  13. NADA
  14. NADA
  15. NADA
  16. NADA
  17. NADA
It seems quite clear to me where the trouble is. I replaced the socket of the J201 with relative ease thanks to the desoldering tip someone posted earlier. Even with the socket replaced, the sound goes dead from 10 and beyond.
Click to expand...
That's progress at least!

Based on your symptoms being similar to mine when I first built my Low Tide, I'm not surprised it's one of the FETs. Are you able to get another J201 or 2SK208 to try there?
 
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boysenpai said:
The audio probe test went beautifully this time. I added a paperclip to provide some stability to the tip and preventing the wire from bending. Made a ton of difference. Here's my result:
  1. OK
  2. OK
  3. OK
  4. OK
  5. OK
  6. OK
  7. OK
  8. OK
  9. OK
  10. NADA
  11. NADA
  12. NADA
  13. NADA
  14. NADA
  15. NADA
  16. NADA
  17. NADA
It seems quite clear to me where the trouble is. I replaced the socket of the J201 with relative ease thanks to the desoldering tip someone posted earlier. Even with the socket replaced, the sound goes dead from 10 and beyond.
Click to expand...
The continuity was good to the matching circles in this whole area so it's pointing to a bad Q1 Transistor.
If you have a spare from somewhere else OR in the circuit, borrow that to see if you can get further along the numbers.
 
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p_wats said:
That's progress at least!

Based on your symptoms being similar to mine when I first built my Low Tide, I'm not surprised it's one of the FETs. Are you able to get another J201 or 2SK208 to try there?
Click to expand...
What are the odds, huh? You knew it all along.
music6000 said:
The continuity was good to the matching circles in this whole area so it's pointing to a bad Q1 Transistor.
If you have a spare from somewhere else OR in the circuit, borrow that to see if you can get further along the numbers.
Click to expand...
I'll have to get a new one. On it.
 
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music6000 said:
The continuity was good to the matching circles in this whole area so it's pointing to a bad Q1 Transistor.
If you have a spare from somewhere else OR in the circuit, borrow that to see if you can get further along the numbers.
Click to expand...
So I managed to get two new J201s. It arrived today. Even with the J201 replaced the sound goes dead on 10. Tried them both, no change. :unsure:
 
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