Significant volume drop on Zapper

[allsmoke]

Hi all,
Not sure if this is a troubleshooting or mod question, but I think it's troubleshooting. Anytime I build a pedal, I set all the knobs to noon and see how close I am to volume without the pedal active. To get to unity volume I almost have to crank the volume the whole way up. That seems like it should not be the case.

Any advice on how to correct this?
Thanks all

 

[allsmoke]

Here's a gutshot

Hi all,
Not sure if this is a troubleshooting or mod question, but I think it's troubleshooting. Anytime I build a pedal, I set all the knobs to noon and see how close I am to volume without the pedal active. To get to unity volume I almost have to crank the volume the whole way up. That seems like it should not be the case.

Any advice on how to correct this?
Thanks all

 

[BuddytheReow]

Can we see the other side of the board? You probably have a cold solder joint somewhere.

 

[allsmoke]

I definitely don't. I reflowed all the joints

 

[andare]

Have you checked the board for accidental solder bridges or even solder spatters? have you cleaned the flux off the board so you can actually see the solder joints?

 

[allsmoke]

I

Have you checked the board for accidental solder bridges or even solder spatters? have you cleaned the flux off the board so you can actually see the solder joints?

Yeah, I've done all the usual troubleshooting. I may need to go back to see if I have mixed up some resistor values but not sure where to start there

 

[y-u-no-f800b]

I had the same problem, but I'm pretty sure that's just the way this circuit is; it's not exactly high-gain, and putting it right in front of a clean amp is unimpressive and seems really quiet. Putting it before a dirty amp or overdive, on the other hand, gives the advertised results. For my setup, I found a usable range with the Zapper's gain knob all the way up, volume just right of middle. I think I'll open it back up and swap that A50k gain pot for an A250k though

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

The harmonic energizer is one of my favorite circuits, but isn’t a particularly loud one. It’s one that’s worth tacking an LPB to the output of.

Once they’re available, this would be a good addition.

3PDT Breakout Board with Output Boost - PedalPCB.com

Breakout Board

www.pedalpcb.com

 

[comradehoser]

I had the same problem, but I'm pretty sure that's just the way this circuit is; it's not exactly high-gain, and putting it right in front of a clean amp is unimpressive and seems really quiet. Putting it before a dirty amp or overdive, on the other hand, gives the advertised results. For my setup, I found a usable range with the Zapper's gain knob all the way up, volume just right of middle. I think I'll open it back up and swap that A50k gain pot for an A250k though

Built this and was highly unimpressed with the circuit on its own other than the "cocked wah" potential. Will try stacking and report back on level.

 

[comradehoser]

My circuit has unity gain around 10:00 with Gain all the way up. It's not a very gain-forward pedal and the clipping is anemic. No breakup, really, unless gain is full CW, freq is about 10:00 and bandwidth is full CW.

Stacking into other pedals seems to add a bit of flavor and the fixed wah sounds, but not much else to my ears.

Why not just a wah? Rare circuit or not, it's still pretty meh to me.

 

[comradehoser]

The harmonic energizer is one of my favorite circuits, but isn’t a particularly loud one. It’s one that’s worth tacking an LPB to the output of.

Once they’re available, this would be a good addition.

3PDT Breakout Board with Output Boost - PedalPCB.com

Breakout Board

www.pedalpcb.com

Hey, how do you use yours/ what do you like about it? Maybe I'm missing something or maybe my build isn't right.

 

[y-u-no-f800b]

I ended up doing the mod I mentioned: I replaced the A50k Gain pot with an A250k and it really brought the gain/volume into a more standard territory. I can play with all knobs at noon without volume drop! Of course, I could just as easily lowered the value of R7, but I had a whole bunch of A250k pots and no more A50k pots so it was nice to reclaim one. It also seems like a much cleaner and more straightforward solution than adding an entire additional boost circuit, but to each their own.

Yes, increasing the gain can lead to distortion, but importantly the gain stage is after the filter stage, and you're likely going to use the circuit before a dirtier amp anyway. Or even use it to boost a cleaner amp into dirt, so what's a little extra dirt? Not that there's any dirt anyway until around 3 o'clock depending on freq/bw settings. 10/10 would recommend this mod if you're dissatisfied with your Zapper

 

[comradehoser]

Will do!