bobbass4k

12 hours ago, Sibob said:

Recently built up this JMK Bass Overdrive pedal as a lockdown project. Unfortunately there’s a fault and while the bypass is fine, engaging the pedal results in no effect, a very quiet clean signal and a constant high pitched tone. Volume control has a small effect, but gain and tone controls have no discernible effect.

I was a bit of a numpty and didn’t test the board before I wired it up....so I don’t know what’s at fault. Have replaced IC and transistors (as they’re socketed) to no avail. Only one LED is lighting, but it’s my understanding that’s bot really an issue with this clipping.

I’ll try reflowing the switch next, if no improvement, I’m not sure I have the inclination to unbox the whole thing to test the board lol....we’ll see.

Anyone want to troubleshoot it for me? 😂

 

Si
 

Ahh, got it, the board is laid out for a CA3130/TL071, you';ve used a 386 which is NOT a drop in replacement, different pinouts and different functions. You'll need to get a single op-amp. TL071, CA3130 etc.

- Slightly more awake now and realized it's a BBOD clone - you might struggle to get a CA3130 (long obsolete and a lot of fakes about due to the demand), a TL071 will do the job.

5 hours ago, Sibob said:

No, it’s wired to the middle lug on the right ☺️

Cheers

Si

It might be hiding but looks like you're one connection short, is the circuit output connected at the top right? 

I figured It'd be an interesting change of pace, something a little dark and sinister. 

A little context - I took this while walking home in a state of mild inebriation at about 2am, and had absolutely no recollection of taking it until I was going through my pictures a couple of months later, whereupon it scared the bejesus out of me and I moved it to the "album covers?" folder. 

It's with Señor Skol now

2 minutes ago, lurksalot said:

Consider yourself lucky , I used to see pictures and think that they would make great photos for the challenge , I had a fair few saved, but it took 2 years before I could use one 

You don't have to tell me twice, I did the first one of these whenever it was, 7 years ago now? This is the achievement of a long sublimated dream...

Trawling through the "album covers?" folder on my phone, can't decide between three. I know there's only 10 or 12 of us but there's SO MUCH PRESSURE. Ahem. 

5 minutes ago, lurksalot said:

...but til then get raiding your picture folders  

I know BC is adults only but I really don't think that's the most appropria... Oh, those picture folders. No problem. 

I'm not going to count my chickens just yet. My brain isn't really geared up to process the prospect of victory. 

Haven't had chance to listen to all the rest properly yet - on the list for today

Yeah it's a DPDT, the middle lugs may look connected but they aren't. You can just transpose the wiring to the 3PDT and just use 2 of the poles.

Ideally you need to check what kind of switch it is first, I assume its controlling a buffered bypass, so it might be momentary rather than latching. Unlikely for a DPDT but not impossible. Best way to check is with a multimeter if you have one. 

11 hours ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

I  wish I'd put a few hundred more guitars in mine now, Bob!

Good stuff! 

I live my life by a simple rule - if less is more then think how much more more will be

I've leaned hard into the "approaching strom/dark foreboding clouds" thing and gone in a cliche-y, melodramatic, 100s of guitars instrumental post-rock that was a lot of fun to lean into. It still does wonky time stuff because honestly I don't know how not to...

Mix is not good, I still haven't figured out exactly what soundcloud does to tracks but they always sound worse. 

51 minutes ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

I'm looking forward to this one in particular (I think!). Better get your finger out, closes tomorrow, and you don't want a repeat of the MoonBassAlpha fiasco last month!

I should probably temper expectations and say its actually 7/8 guitars over 8/8 drums, and only in a couple of sections. Also one of the chord sequences is shamelessly plagiarised from a loving homage to cardiacs.

The short answer is no. It could very well be fine, but without checking the components inside, there's no way to know. It could be that the voltage gets regulated down to 12V, in which case it would be fine, but it could also just run on 15V, and if they've used any 16V capacitors, then you're in boom territory... Unfortunately there's no way to know without checking. 

I can take a looksee if you want to drop it in the post - the original vactrols are pretty rare these days and sell for stupid money (£10+ for what is a 50p part) but you can get new versions that are exactly the same for a few quid - there's very little mojo in a vactrol and that looks like a new one anyway. Drop me a PM if you fancy it - I may do it for free just so I can clean that LED bezel - the urge to take a cotton wool bud to it is overpowering...

My ridiculous post-rock monstrosity is taking shape. Can't remember how long it's been for me on one of these but it's always a fun way to force me into finishing something.and confusing you all with 7/8 guitars over 5/4 drums...

Have you taken any readings on the opto? Check the LED side with the diode tester mode if you know how. You'll struggle to test the LDR side as those have massive dark resistance, but you could test the voltage while it's on if you're comfortable with live testing. 

Order has been restored - an oc-2 has returned to its hallowed place. Selling it is on my top 10 list of life mistakes. Overall, not just pedal related. I love the whammy but octave down sounds are not it's forte.

Annotations for the DIY Frankensteins in signal order, they're basically all clones though many with heavy tweaks - 

1 - DOD 250 dual channel clone with diode options - basically  an Earthquaker Grey Channel with an extra switch to stack channel 1 into channel 2

2 - BJFE Blueberry Clone - I'm a late convert admittedly, but a simple tweak to the tonestack makes it super useful for me

3 - Tweaked IC Big Muff - altered tone stack - very much a one sound box, but that sound is just pure bone-crushing doom.

4 - EQD Data Corrupter Clone - couple of mods on the sides for extra woo-woo craziness.

5 - Ulti-Muff - Regular (non-IC) big muff with every mod I've ever found useful, mids, pre-boost, diode choices etc.

6 - Ridiculous Noise Box - started as a 4ms Noise Swash but It's become something else. Goes between splatty velcro fuzz and self-oscillating lunacy

7 - Phase inverter - All the drive pedals are in the ls-2 loop for clean blend and depending on what combos are on there can be phase issues. 

8 - Auto-Wah - Honestly couldn't tell you which one as I built it so long ago. Maybe a modded FX-25B?

9 - Pumpernckel Compressor - Schalltechnik Kit - does everything I've ever wanted a compressor to do

10 - Boss Slow Gear - mod added for release time

11 - Chorus - EQD Sea Machine Clone

12 - Mid-Fi Pitch Pirate, mods added for internal delay and CV input

13 - CV Output Sequencer - Puts out a controllable sequenced voltage for the LFO based effects  - I've got 4 but the Phaser and tremolo are currently out on loan.

14 - Death By Audio Echo Dream - Heavily modified to make it actually work properly.

15 - Mid-Fi Clari-Not - modded to put the fuzz on a switch for a cleaner version, also modde for CV input.

16 - Death By Audio Reverberation Machine - again heavily modded to actually work - second gain control to make it cleaner and feedback control to extend the decay (and self-oscillate if you're into that sort of thing).

Not pictured are the Preamp and cab-sim that live on the desk. Quality of decoration is a big indicator of when they were built. The drive section changes fairly regulary - there's another 10 or so in the pedal box.

It lives! Finally abandoned the £15 diago rip off PSU I've had for 10 years. With the bulk of it being DIY the PSU is now the most expensive thing on the board by a long way. 

Half ambient nonsense, half bone crushing distortion. 

Traditionally square pads on diodes are for the cathode (-) leg, including leds; a lot of old PCBs don't have any silkscreen markings for diodes, just square pads.

Bear in mind that square pads on electrolytics are for the anode (+) leg. Don't ask me why the potentially explosive inconsistency, I've learned there are no satisfying answers to these questions. But yeah, in this case it doesn't matter as long as they're opposite. 

22 hours ago, SH73 said:

Photo reminds me bag pipes. No heavy guitars ☹️

I hear heavy guitars for everything - makes life a lot funner.

Offers entertained, btw

Impulsive eBay purchase as I'd been curious about them for ages. Very interesting distortion, it was built specifically to replicate the bass sound on Failure's "Heliotropic" (an absolutely fantastic song BTW) and while I was rather sceptical, I have to admit... it does as good a job as you're ever going to get in a pedal. It's absolutely searing without losing grunt and bass. The tone control is pretty dramatic and makes it more versatile than just the "Heliotropic" sound.

I'd be tempted to keep it but I can get in that territory with combos of other pedals, and space isn't a priority for me. This would be one for the space conscious as it does a sound I've never heard in a single pedal before.

Looking for £125 Posted UK (EU OK but would cost more), collection from York or Manchester also possible.Re-purposed eBay picture cos I forgot to take one:

For what they cost 2nd hand an LS2 is a really handy thing to have around if you're gonna be using more than a few pedals. It's not just parallel blending, it's a clean blend, a bypass looper, a boost, a guitar switcher, an amp switcher, a mixer. Once you get your head round it it's indispensable. 

I know one guy who had a HOG (gigantic EHX pedal) but the rest of his pedals were all small Boss sized. He got a board big enough for his small pedals and added a tiny bypass looper where he wanted the hog, then carried the HOG in the pocket of the board bag and set it up on the floor and connected it to the looper. Far from an ideal solution but it'd give you room to expand without changing boards.