Problem with my Devi Ever Aenima (Updated with video)

[kbit]

Video added; weird shit going on.

[mysteriousj]

fuck that's odd dude.

So you said when you opened it you could smell burning? The yellow marks on the pcb switch etc is just flux and nothing to worry about. If anything would burn out it'd be caused by those transistors. But I don't exactly see how that could happen looking at the schem. If you have a multimeter I could tell you a few places to check.

Also it doesn't sound like the oscillation switch is always on?

[kbit]

I only smelled the odd smell when I first opened the pedal, doesn't smell that way anymore.
The oscillation isn't always on, there's a flip switch for it. Could it be causing problems? I don't know...
Maybe I could try shielding the circuit board? It could be reacting to static electricity for some reason.

Also, I will try to get access to a multimeter as soon as I can.

[multi_s]

Sometimes when I kick the pedal on, the volume pot is bypassed completely and the circuit it ridiculously loud. Clicking in off and back on again works sometimes, but not every time.

There has been an oscillation switch installed with two wires connected to the PCB, but this happens when the oscillation is disengaged.

this and the video show two pretty different issues no? Does it oscillate like that when you actually have something plugged in? The input is just floating otherwise... like sticking an antenna into a fuzz pedal... who knows what will come out. Try to short the tip of the input to ground and see if the oscillation when nothing is plugged in goes away.

[kbit]

Sometimes when I kick the pedal on, the volume pot is bypassed completely and the circuit it ridiculously loud. Clicking in off and back on again works sometimes, but not every time.

There has been an oscillation switch installed with two wires connected to the PCB, but this happens when the oscillation is disengaged.

this and the video show two pretty different issues no? Does it oscillate like that when you actually have something plugged in? The input is just floating otherwise... like sticking an antenna into a fuzz pedal... who knows what will come out. Try to short the tip of the input to ground and see if the oscillation when nothing is plugged in goes away.

When I have an input plugged in to say my bass, the pedal is infinitely louder and screeches and shit. It makes me scared to turn the pedal on because it's so loud. I think it's the same issue I believe, but the pedal just doesn't have the pickups to feed off of.

I also don't know if it is my volume pot or not, I just know the volume pot does nothing to change the volume when this happens.

& how would I go about doing that last part?

[multi_s]

also check to see if that other lug on the output jack is clearing the chasis. In the third picture it looks like it is pretty close. THis is the output so if its touching the ground things wont work that well.

[kbit]

It is close, but it's not touching.

[McSpunckle]

Without a multimeter, you can't -really- be sure anything is connected.

A couple of days ago, I built a pedal, and it didn't work. So I stared at it for -hours-, tugged on all the wires, checked grounds, power, etc. Nothing. I finally used my multimeter to probe out every single connection, and I found a wire that was soldered to a pot, but not connected. I couldn't pull it out. It didn't wiggle. But it was still not connected. So I heated it up and flowed some fresh solder on it, BAM. Works. I have absolutely no idea how that works.

So, basically, unless you have a meter to really test things, sometimes these problems are basically impossible to find.

It still sounds like a ground issue at the volume pot. If a circuit isn't grounded, it'll often be really noisy, microphonic, and all sorts of other weirdness. The thing where your finger changes the oscillation isn't that weird. Touchpads detect your fingers even though you're just touching a bit of plastic on top of them. And sometimes pedals will do that sorta thing anyhow. That's what interference is, and why shielded cables can make the circuit quieter. On top of that, if the pot isn't grounded it will only affect the volume slightly.

If you have an alligator clip, try connecting the ground lug (far right) of the volume pot to the enclosure and see what that does. I know you already replaced the wire, but it still sounds like it's not grounded. And looking at the pictures, if it's not ground, the circuit's not grounded.

Another thing to try is to take the pot loose and re-tighten it. Maybe twist it into the enclosure a bit just for good measure.

BTW, I'd be glad to fix your pedal for you on the cheapz, if you didn't wanna mess with it.

[kbit]

Yeah if I can't figure it out soon I was going to ask haha. I will try and get a multimeter and test it out as soon as I can; & I'll definitely try the alligator clip as well.

Thank you again, everyone, for all your help and advice. This has really been the only helpful outlet I've tried.