So I recently built the parentheses fuzz circuit, it started out fine and I was pretty happy with tone but it was a little noisy. I started checking other threads and saw that people were using tantalum caps on C13, C14, and C15 to be closer to the EQD circuit so I decided I'd un-soldered those and put sockets in place so that I could compare the two components and see what I liked best. I also un-soldered the clipping led and put sockets there as well so I could experiment with the circuit. After doing all this I have a squealing noise that I can hear when playing and is very prominent when there is no input plugged into pedal. I plan to cleanup my wiring and check solder points but I'm not sure where the noise is coming from. Below is picture of pedal, I'll get a better shot once I clean everything up. Also a link to video of the problem sound. I hope I didn't fry a component or damage the board, I was very careful. I should have just left it alone, the tone was very nice.
Parentheses fuzz squealing noise
- Thread starter Tlsaudio
- Start date
Chuck D. Bones
Circuit Wizard
Long leads on the controls can cause unwanted coupling and oscillation. You might consider getting board-mounted pots next time. If you laid out the front panel in accordance with the drill template, then you can use the existing pots with very short wires, like 1/4". The noise I'm hearing is 120Hz hum. Try closing the box and see if it goes away.
Chuck D. Bones
Circuit Wizard
Tells me that signal is getting fed back from the output to the input. Shortening the wires should help.
One more question before I start. Since I didn't use the pcb mount pots should I use shielded cable to all controls? Would that help along with shortening the cables? Im going to use sheilded cable for inputs and outputs so I have some available
Nostradoomus
Well-known member
Just the in/outs should be fine. Most of the time shielded wire isn’t necessary but i use it on high gain pedals such as this.
Mount all your wiring to pots and toggles and LEDs from the other side of the board to keep them as short as possible and you should be good to go. Snip your tantalum cap/diode legs as well so they fit flush in the sockets.
Mount all your wiring to pots and toggles and LEDs from the other side of the board to keep them as short as possible and you should be good to go. Snip your tantalum cap/diode legs as well so they fit flush in the sockets.
Chuck D. Bones
Circuit Wizard
Yep, what Nostradoomus said. There is a thread on one of the forums here on how to board-mount pots with solder lugs. Maybe someone can point you to it, I got frustrated looking for it and gave up. Basically, use solid wire on the pots to make the equivalent of PC pins and then mount them as shown in the Basic Workflow Tips.
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Nostradoomus
Well-known member
I just end up using old clipped resistor and diode leads. Use the longest ones you can find, mount the pots to the enclosure with the long leads soldered on and line em up, solder em in and snip the excess. If you used the drill template the toggle switch should line up too, try that one first.
Nostradoomus
Well-known member
This is one of the times I use those cheesy helping hands! 
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Dang still got the weird noise even after making lines as shorts possible. The overall tone is not bad but I can tell it's there whenever I get into the highest gain setting and especially when octave is on. I'll get some better pics and video when I get back from holidays. I appreciate all the help
Ok I cleaned everything, shortened all leads and checked all solder joints but still getting noise. I used sheilded cable for in and out but not sure if I was supposed to connect sheild to something. Not sure where to start with troubleshooting. I took some better pics and another video of what weird sounds, any help is appreciated
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Nostradoomus
Well-known member
Most likely you have a cold solder joint somewhere...visual inspection of your joints is crucial. Put your boss tuner in front of it and see if that squelches the noise for now, often times a buffer will cure this.
I hit every solder joint again, defluxed board, changed dpdt switches and tried the buffer in from and no luck still squeels when input is disconnected. I also checked path with audio probe and continuity with multimeter....I'm stumped. Pedal sounds good but I can tell it's not right, you can here the squeal coming through and especially if I get into higher gain settings. I'm thinking its a ground issue with something in the rat circuit or possibly something getting crossed in the boost or octave but I can't find it. On the plus side I did an Acapulco gold clone and really digging it so probably going to try the full Model-t preamp circuit. Is Rat in the life pedal just a normal rat or is modified? Maybe I'll just try to build it alone. It's a shame because I'm getting some insanely heavy tones by itself and also stacking it with the AC gold.
Nostradoomus
Well-known member
Very strange. I generally use single conductor shielded cable with the sleeve as ground, not certain it would help this situation to do that!
