Tearjerker

[Big Monk]

Finally got to wire up my Tearjerker today. I’ve been sitting on the Chase Tone pot, Sabbaddius Halo and Trop Fish for a while. Had a few issues when I fired it up. I reflowed the joints and saw a solder bridge on the pot pads. Haven’t had a chance for full volume testing but it works:



The only issue I’m having is with the LED again. Continuity checks worked out. When I pop out the molex connector and do an “in-harness” check with my component tester, the LED lights so I know it’s oriented correctly.

I had the same issue with my Muffin build as well.

 

[Big Monk]

Turns out I just needed a smaller RLED. I subbed in a 1k and it lit right up! This is certainly what happened with my Muffin and Aion Ares as well.

 

[matt3310]

By far my favorite wah pedal I have! I used a EVH inductor in mine, and a chase tone pot. Killer combo!

 

[Big Monk]

I did a little tweaking just now. Needed to adjust Vol for unity gain. I dropped the Low a bit as well. Mids and Q I left per @PedalPCB and the Standard Crybaby settings. I’m on Position 6 of the DIP switch.

I’m loving it. Very vocal and dynamic. I’m glad I went for the lower gain transistors.

 

[caiofilipini]

Yeah, lower gain transistors make a big difference if you're looking for a more vintage way sound. Great build!

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

I did a little tweaking just now. Needed to adjust Vol for unity gain. I dropped the Low a bit as well. Mids and Q I left per @PedalPCB and the Standard Crybaby settings. I’m on Position 6 of the DIP switch.

I’m loving it. Very vocal and dynamic. I’m glad I went for the lower gain transistors.

Which transistors did you use?

 

[Big Monk]

Which transistors did you use?

I used 2 NOS units from my stash:

Q1 - SGS House-Number RYN121101/2 - 162 hFE
Q2 - Amperex A104 - 312 hFE

Both were from Small Bear and came in lots of 30 or so I bought.

 

[Big Monk]

Anyone have any issues with low or high frequency "oscillation" (for lack of a better term) with their Tearjerkers?

I'm getting a very pronounced, low-frequency humming in the heel down position. Kind of like if you've ever stood next to an operational, large mains transformer. Tow down there is some hiss as well but nothing crazy.

Not expecting a vintage style wah to be noise-free, obviously, so don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining,. just looking to see if this is common.

 

[Big Monk]

I'm wondering about my LED placement and if that could be contributing. It's sitting right next to the molex connector for the Wah pot.

 

[fig]

Very nice build and report. Try looping the power wire pair towards the output jack rather than the input side. A shot in the dark, I know.

 

[Big Monk]

My Tearjerker went into surgery today.

Not doing anything crazy. I wanted to redo the off board wiring and remove the molex connectors. Ended lifting a pad on the PCB that goes to the switch but I’ll get it squared away. Luckily it is a switch connection so I’ll scrape a little of the mask away and solder directly to the trace. Not a big deal at all and won’t even be unsightly. I’ll redo all the wiring while I’m at it.

I’m making Q and Mids external because they are the most effective of the 4 internal controls at sculpting the tone. Lows and Volume are set and forget.

I also am changing the On/Off for the “Echoes” mod to a short handle toggle and putting the “Echoes” volume control internal, attached directly to the On/Off.

I’m going to make a temporary front badge to cover my old holes until I get a proper badge made.

Lastly, I’m going to put a simple JFET buffer on the output. I’ll just PtP it and shrink wrap the assembly and zip tie it down.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Cool! Nice work!

except for the lifted pad

 

[Harry Klippton]

That's a pretty tasteful selection of external controls. Like you said, nothing too crazy

Also, you know you're doing fine work when you can go back and change components as many times as you manage to @Big Monk

 

[Big Monk]

That's a pretty tasteful selection of external controls. Like you said, nothing too crazy

Also, you know you're doing fine work when you can go back and change components as many times as you manage to @Big Monk
View attachment 19603

“Ahahaha, ahahaha, ahahaha…”

I just wanted a small set of controls that was clustered around one another and out of the way.

I did lift a pad getting the molex connectors out but it’s not life threatening.

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

That's a pretty tasteful selection of external controls. Like you said, nothing too crazy

Also, you know you're doing fine work when you can go back and change components as many times as you manage to @Big Monk
View attachment 19603

Have you seen that film? It sure seemed to end that story. Nothing but crickets from Falcor for 35 years.

 

[Big Monk]

I got a chance to do some more work on this last night. All flying leads to boards are in. I had to remove the molex connectors and decided to mount the wires underneath so it would be a bit cleaner. I ziptied the flying leads for the Q and Mid controls so they would sit tight under that side of the board.

Part of the reason I chose the placement for the external controls, besides the fact that my Wah is first in line and that helps me to maximizer board space, was that i could use them to hide the switch wires underneath as well.

Overall, I'm happy so far with the rewire. I've tried to have take seriously the stuff we talk about and joke about in "it's All in Good Fun" and the Ares and this are my attempts to really get the cleanest offboard wiring of my building career so far.



My only true disappointment thus far, and I've mentioned this before, is that I lifted a pad on the output connections to the switch so I had to scrape a small spot away to make sure i got continuity to the output jack. A bit of a bummer but I worked through it and it does not look as bad as I feared it would.:

 

[Big Monk]

much better, but I was never joking about off board wiring and soldering being clean. I meant every word, it's everything to me.

I read that loud and clear Boss!

I’m putting together a simple JFET output buffer today and will be making terminations on the new stomp switch, Q, Mids, and Wah pot and wiring up the “Echoes” switch.

 

[Big Monk]

Got after it a bit on my lunch break. Q, Mids and Wah pot wiring complete:

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Make sure the way you hook up the buffer is compatible with the Echoes switch.

 

[Big Monk]

Make sure the way you hook up the buffer is compatible with the Echoes switch.

I imagine the buffer needs to be immediately downstream of the “Echoes” switch so the circuit “looks back” at the Wah circuit instead of the buffer, but wired in such a way that the buffer is switched out in bypass.

Does that sound about right?

Wah - “Echoes” - Buffer - Switch