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Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
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  • September 12, 2020 at 1:36 am #14752
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi guys,

    Complete novice here.

    I have just completed the Tube Screaming Ultra and it sounds pretty cool. Except that It is quite noisy. Any ideas?

    Also, the level and tone pots don’t really do much until the very end of the dial turn.

    Cheers,

    Leif.

    September 12, 2020 at 8:03 am #14754
    Barry
    Keymaster

    We will need several clear well lit photos of the front of the board, back of the board and off-board wiring to help.

    Also was this a kit?

    September 12, 2020 at 10:04 am #14757
    Cybercow
    Participant

    Beside the pictures, as Barry pointed out, did you make ANY parts substitutions?

    September 14, 2020 at 7:31 am #14777
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    September 14, 2020 at 7:31 am #14778
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    September 14, 2020 at 7:32 am #14779
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    September 14, 2020 at 7:35 am #14780
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thanks for getting back to me.

    Are these photos of any use? What is it you are trying to see here?

    I got the Tube Screaming Ultra kit from Pedal Parts Australia. I did not use any parts outside the instructions.

    Cheers,

    Leif.

    September 14, 2020 at 9:11 am #14781
    Barry
    Keymaster

    Hi, It is just a lot better to have photos than to try imagining any number of scenarios.

    Since something is not right we have to find out what it is.

    Today is extraordinarily busy for me so I don’t have time now to look this over thoroughly.

    As part of normal troubleshooting here is what I would do:

    • Test the pedal by itself with battery power (solder battery strap to 2.1mm jack) batteries cannot introduce noise.
    • Re-flow solder joints on and off-board. Make sure you have firm connections (especially regarding ground)
    • Be careful re-flowing at transistors and IC chips since sockets were not used. (heat sensitive)
    • Make sure wire strands or solder lugs at potentiometers are not shorting to enclosure.

    Maybe someone else can look this over to see anything important as I have a ton of sale orders to pack.

     

    September 15, 2020 at 3:00 am #14787
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi Leif, I’m new at this stuff too, but these guys can see things us mere mortals can’t!

    I did what Barry said with driving it with battery as I had a noisey Sriracha fuzz and the noise (sounded like a mains hum) disappeared. Check everything a million times then soldered a LM7809 voltage reg on the incoming power and all good!

    I’m up to my 5th pedal now and these guys have been only reason my pedals work!

    Stu

    September 16, 2020 at 7:04 am #14793
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi all,

    Thanks for your ideas. Could an excess of wire in the unit (as you can see I’ve used in the picture) be an issue regarding noise?

    So is the voltage regulator the black component on the footswitch in your picture?

    How about the not very responsive level and tone pots? The level only works at the very beginning and tone only seems to function at the last 10 percent of the range. Could this be a wiring problem? Maybe just cheap pots? Or is that just how it is?

    Cheers,

    Leif.

    September 16, 2020 at 9:46 am #14795
    Barry
    Keymaster

    They all sound like issues. No GuitarPCB products are released “just how it is”.

    I play and record demos with every product without needing any kind of noise reduction. I also use an isolated power supply to power all of my pedals so noise cannot make it downstream and get amplified.

    Power wires should never be parallel with audio wires. Make sure at worst they are like this (+) but never this (II).

    Wire dressing is always important in Audio applications.

    Did you try the battery test yet?

    Did you make sure there were no errant strands of wire shorting against the enclosure?

    Did you try re-flowing all on-board and off-board joints as part of a standard troubleshoot?

    September 16, 2020 at 1:19 pm #14802
    Billy
    Moderator

    Alright Leif

    I’ve checked all your values that I can see which are correct, can’t see colour bandings for

    R4, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15

    R10 and 12 are attached to the tone and level pots respectively

    Make sure you have the correct pot values in the correct places incorrect pot value and taper would cause bunching up.

    Noise could be several things lead dress as Barry points out and  non filtered non regulated power supplies as well as external causes cables, lighting etc

    Again as Barry says best way to rule out power supply noise is try a battery which is pure DC and not AC coming from your wall socket and being converted to DC through your power supply circuit which if not filtered will introduce AC ripple noise

    What make of power supply are you using

    September 25, 2020 at 3:22 am #14918
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thanks all for contributing,

    I haven’t got to the troubleshooting just yet. Been quite busy.

    I will test it out this weekend.

    I didn’t sound similar to noisy pedal clips I have viewed online. I guess the battery will tell me.

    I am using just an I Spot 9v supply.

    Thanks,

    Leif.

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