Quote from: Enzo on August 24, 2013, 02:41:15 AM
Oh, you bought a kit with all the parts?  Then I will assume the part is correct.

The part number is usually printed on the flat face.

I got a transistor with the kit. This however, was the faulty one. The one I replaced it with is just from a big bag of transistors I have in my drawer.

I don't think the part numbers will be the same even if they are the same transistor. The broken one was from the US, the other ones I own are all from Australia

Quote from: Enzo on August 23, 2013, 07:14:13 PM


By the way, did you use an actual 2N3904?  As opposed to "something equivalent"?

I'd be lying if I said I knew.

How do I identify the type of transistor?

Quote from: Roly on August 23, 2013, 07:38:00 AM
Hi @Paul, and welcome.

For a first circuit that ain't 'arf bad.

It doesn't help that in the diagramme you have been provided doesn't indicate the battery polarity. The negative should go to the socket, and the positive to the stripboard.

The socket wiring is also not at all clear.

The pot is the output level control so it should go quiet when turned right down.  The pot is drawn from the rear view, so you may have wired it so it works in reverse, no big deal, just not helpful when debugging.

Quote from: Paul NelthorpeIt sounds ok I guess, I pluck the string and then I get like about a second of fuzz before the note fades away into clean

The diode should have a band around one end.  This end should go to the transistor Base and 4.7uF input cap.  If the diode were in the other way around, band to the transistor Collector and 10k resistor, then I would expect the dropout effect you are getting.

Working correctly this circuit should give you loads of graunch right down to the lowest levels from the guitar.

HTH

Thats super frustrating. I don't know anymore what to try. It's wired up just as in the diagrams

Ok, so based on the advice from another forum, I've done 2 things.

1. switched the direction of the diode
2. Replaced the transistor.

The replacing of the transistor seemed to do the trick, but now it doesn't make a difference which way I put the diode, which makes me think something's wrong :\

It sounds ok I guess, I pluck the string and then I get like about a second of fuzz before the note fades away into clean

Quote from: Enzo on August 23, 2013, 03:43:53 AM
You have a mistake on your schematic.  The picture they provided is what we call a layout - a wiring diagram.

In your schematic, the jack on the right is the input jack.  You have the tip contact wired to the battery negative,and the input coming into the ring.  That is reversed. The tip should carry the input signal and the ring contact should have the battery terminal.  If you drew it wrong, correct it.  If you wired it that way, it is wrong.   The wiring diagram does not make it clear which jack terminal is which.

Your drawing shows the volume controls as 100 ohm, while the layout says 100k.  Which did you do?  100k makes sense, 100 ohms does not.

The layout shows it built on some perf board with strips of copper.   Did you build it that way too?  On the two outside strips of copper, I see a gap in each.  Did it come with those gaps or do you have to cut them?  They need to be there.

The volume controls were 100k, not 100 ohm, my mistake.
Also, I definitely have the ring connected to the battery and the tip connected to the switch. I think I may have labelled it wrongly on the diagram. I always assumed the longer line was the tip and the shorter one was the ring? Is this not the case?

Also yes I did to the project on some veroboard and I drilled the holes out of the copper where the gaps needed to be. Tested it with a multimeter, there was no continuity.

What's the chance that some of the components on the board are busted? I don't know why they would be  but I'm out of ideas.

hey guys, first post here, you guys seem to know your stuff.

I was wanting some help with a fuzz pedal kit I recently bought on ebay. I'm relatively new to electronics and I'm no genius in this area, but I've been really frustrated for the past few days. I built this circuitboard exactly as I was instructed, yet it doesn't work and I can't figure out why.


The guy never send me a circuit diagram, but instead, more of a literal interpretation of what it would look like. Here it is -
http://oi44.tinypic.com/9a4f1l.jpg

If that is a little hard to make out, here is my own circuit diagram that I drew up (I apologize in advance for the poor quality and clarity of the diagram, I've never drawn one before)

http://tinypic.com/r/29cmbmv/5

When the switch is off, and the effect is bypassed, the guitar sounds fine, as if it was plugged in to the amp with no alteration to the sound. When I turn the switch on, I get a really crappy result. If the potentiometer is turned all the way to the left, I get a little bit of the original signal, but it's quiet and a bit lo-fi. When I turn the potentiometer to the right, I lose sound altogether... silence.

Another thing worth mentioning is that it doesn't seem to make a difference whether the battery is plugged in or not. I've tested the battery with a voltmeter and it's definetely working and has a lot of juice. I've also tested the battery socket on a breadboard incase the socket was faulty, but the socket is working fine too.

I know this isn't a lot of information to go on, but I was hoping that some of you veterans out there might be able to narrow it down for me. Based on this information, can anybody narrow down what part (or possible parts) of my circuit is faulty/busted? I have no doubt that the circuit is set up exactly the way I was instructed, and I was very careful with my soldering, there's no globby solder bridging the strips on the board.

Once again, I know this isn't a lot of info to work with, but I have no idea where to look or what to try. It doesn't work, and I don't know what to do about it