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Sooooo, I'm trying a new wiring technique in hopes that I can memorize it, so that I don't have to have a diagram up as reference each time I'm finish a pedal. It's kind of a mix of mostly the Beavis Audio diagram (because the 3dpt section is so linear and easy to remember) with a little bit of Barry from guitarpcb.com. I'm using one of Barry's boards for this build, and it has grounds for both 1/4" jacks which I am taking advantage of.

My problem is that I'm not getting any signal, neither bypassed or engaged. This makes me think that I wired something incorrectly. This wouldn't surprise me since I'm experimenting with something new. I've gone through it 2-3 times already, and I can't find anything wrong. I then bust out my audio probe, and first place I test is the tip of the input jack. BAM! Everything works just fine. 3pdt switch engages the effect, all the knobs work as they should, and I'm getting a bypassed signal. Unhook the probe and plug back in and nothing.

Also, not sure if this is related, but the led is not functioning either. I'm sure it might come to me if I just step back for a bit, but this has got me feeling:wha?:. What do you think I did wrong? Could it be a crappy jack? Is my mish-mash of wiring techniques not working the way I had hoped?

Edit: I should also say that when I have the pedal engaged it does sound like it's on. When I turn the knobs, I can hear the effect working, I'm just not able to get the guitar signal into it. Really thinking it's the jack, but wanted to see if perhaps I overlooked something simple.

Photo for reference:

check the wiring. if you dont even get clean signal then theres something wrong with the switch.

Teej212 wrote:check the wiring. if you dont even get clean signal then theres something wrong with the switch.

Yeah, I've definitely been through the wiring, and will check it in a bit when I regain brain function. Would that be a solution when I can get signal and everything to work proper when I use my probe on the input jack? That's definitely causing signal to pass through all the wiring and the switch when I do that.

edit: What an eeediot. I figured it out! I had the tip and ring switched around on the input jack. I don't know if this will fix my led problem too. It might just be a dud. I'll test it out, and fix the wiring on the jack tonight or tomorrow, and report back. It's amazing how you can make the simplest mistakes when you try something different.

I swapped the two wires, and the effect now works. I still can't figure out what's up with the led. Stuck some jumper cables that I attached to the power section of my beavis board, and it lights up, so I know it's not a dud. I'm doing something wrong with the wiring.

I used this layout for the 3pdt switch...


But for the power jack I used...


So basically the I'm running the 2 positive wires from the power jack in the bottom diagram (one to the 9v on the board and one to the led resistor which is attached to the positive of the led), and the negative of the led to the same lug as the top diagram. Should this work in theory? I feel like it is, but this is the only thing I can think of as to why it doesn't. Help!

The - leg of the led is probably not being grounded at the switch. Check to make sure the ground is switched to the led lug when the switch is engaged.

Hope this helps.

Love the over-under braided leads

Also, get a multimeter with a continuity tester (or just use the resistance measuring on your multimeter) and make sure all the grounds, well, ground together, and that you have continuity across all the wires (could be snapped off inside the sheath) and especially check for continuity across the switch contacts that are supposed to be switched on when it is switched on. This will cover a lot of various problems.

Funny thing happened. I hooked it up earlier today, so I could play with it a bit before I tried figuring out the led, and....... the led now works! I don't know what happened. Perhaps the circuit fairy came to my house last night and fixed it while I was sleeping. Either way, case closed! Thanks for all the help with this one guys.

modernage wrote:Funny thing happened. I hooked it up earlier today, so I could play with it a bit before I tried figuring out the led, and....... the led now works! I don't know what happened. Perhaps the circuit fairy came to my house last night and fixed it while I was sleeping. Either way, case closed! Thanks for all the help with this one guys.

One of the LED leads was probably making contact with something else inside the pedal. Glad to hear it's up and running