Saturday 12 January 2013

Nurse Quacky

And lastly, Nurse Quacky - the fixed and/or modified version of Dr. Quack by Orman and Hammer. This is how you take things further :)

Info from Home-Wrecker:
history/disclaimer
The Dr. Q project by JD Sleep was the first non-fuzz effect I built. It was also, at the time, the most complex circuit I had undertaken. Despite reading the many improvements to the design offered by the Dr. Quack (designed by Jack Orman) I still chose the Dr. Q, deeming the Dr. Quack even more complicated. The Dr. Quack circuit actually isn't that much more complicated than the Dr. Q, but it looked like it would be on my preferred medium of perfboard.

The Nurse Quacky is the result of suggested mods by Mark Hammer, the aforementioned improvements by Jack Orman as found in the Dr. Quack, and my own dissatisfaction with the Dr. Q's shortcomings. The Nurse Quacky is not intended as a competitor or successor to the Dr. Quack (hence the demoted title). The Nurse Quacky is simply my personal version of the Dr. Q circuit. Additionally, the mods I implemented can be transferred to the Dr. Quack with ease.

the mods/credits
-The .01uF cap (preceeding the 3.3M resistor) lessens the bass sensitivity of the envelope follower, and was suggested by Mark Hammer. It can be raised to .022uF (original Dr. Q value is .047uF)
-The 3.3M gain resistor, raised from 2.2M in the original, results in a stronger envelope signal. (Mark Hammer)
-The Attack control (the 51 ohm resistor and 1k pot) replaces a fixed 100 ohm resistor in the original. Also, the 10uF cap has been increased to 22uF for ripple-free decay. (Mark Hammer)
-The circuit is hard-wired in the Bass setting of the Dr. Q switch. The Normal position never sounded good to me.
-The .047uF output cap has been increased to .1uF.
-The two .0047uF caps can be socketed. Larger values (.0056 or .0068) will move the sweep range lower in frequency. Additionally, the transistor and op-amp should be socketed as well.

Finally fixed. Made my day a bit longer than i bargained for. But. Now. Verified. Recorded a little clip too:




93 comments:

  1. should there be a cut under the horizontal 10n? also the vertical 10n connects an empty row?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for heads up. Now fixed.
      +m

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    2. awesome, ill try this build out in the morning.

      Delete
  2. I know this may seem like an obvious question, but would I be matching the LEDs for forward voltage? And if so, how? Is it just a case of hooking them up with a resistor in a circuit and measuring the voltage with a multimeter? Sorry for the electronics 101 question, I'm still getting to grips with the theory side of this hobby.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Most multimeters can read forward voltage drop.
      http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_3/chpt_3/2.html
      When you have 2 diodes/LEDs with exactly the same drop, that should be enough.
      +m

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    2. Thanks man, much appreciated.

      Delete
  3. OK, I'm running into a few problems with this, when I fire it up all I get is a sort of synth/square wave sound. I've checked my vero a few times and it matches the layout so I headed over to Home Wrecker to check out the original circuit. I think this layout may be off a little, there's three 470k resistors in the original but only two on the vero, the resistor from emitter to ground is marked as 220r at home wrecker but here it's 22k, also I think the position of the 100uf cap and a couple of the 47k resistors may be off too. I hate to be the bearer of bad news and I could be (probably am) wrong, but I think this may need a revision.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll check it right away..
      +m

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    2. -220R was a copypaste error... now fixed.
      -100µF is where it should be - as a power filter cap. You can omit the polarity protection diode if if you want, just take the +9V wire two rows up.
      -There is 470K missing from between 100n and output. I had to modify the board and add one more column.. You should be able to fix that by taking one hole for output and 470K - other end of that resistor to ground - maybe even solder that to the 3PDT stomp switch..
      -Which 47Ks? Top left - Input to ground. Bottom left - Sensitivity 2 to 10n. Column 4 and 11 - these two form the voltage divider per power source part of the schematic. Right bottom - Collector to ground.

      It could be just that 22K that needs to be replaced. I'm sorry for the inconvenience...
      +m

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    3. Thanks a bunch, on the original the 100uf was connected via the 10k resistor but following it back leads to the 9V so sorry about that. The 47K I was referring to was the one connected to pin 5 of the IC, I thought it should be connected to 9V before the 100r resistor rather than after it but as I've probably said before I'm pretty new to reading circuits so it's probably me getting the wrong end of the stick. Thanks again for taking a look at the layout, I always leave a spare row and column in case I mess up so I'll be able to use that for the 470k.

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    4. Good thing!

      Let us know if that 220R fixes it.
      +m

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    5. You'll know in a few seconds, I'm just waiting for the tubes to warm up!

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    6. OK, I think I'm getting somewhere. I've got it quacking but it's not clean, like there's a mild fuzz going on. I've had to snip the 470K under the 100uf cap and resolder it between the two rows above the output (if that makes sense?), I'm going to take another look at it after I've had some food.

      Delete
  4. If i remember correctly from when i did a layout of this attack 1 should be attack 3 and attack 2,3 should be attack 1,2

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    Replies
    1. the 47k resistor going to pin 8 should be going from the 9v rail to pin 5

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    2. It's joined to pin 8 via the link I think, thanks for taking a look, I'm not letting this one beat me!

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    3. Mmm. The pin 8 is at the 9V rail. Granted, there is a difference - i'm taking the divider after the 100R and not before. That should not make it a fuzz though.
      +m

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    4. I'm rejiggin' the whole thing. That - taking the Vref from the wrong place is completely my mistake. I'll post the new one in a while.
      +m

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    5. Hope it's correct now....
      +m

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    6. Madferret: On the original board, try swapping the 100R for a link. It *should* work with that...
      +m

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    7. I decided to sleep on this and check it out in the morning. So now it's staring me right in the face, I only went and snipped out the wrong 22K resistor *facepalm* I swapped the one going from Base rather than Emitter, time to fire up the soldering iron and correct my schoolboy error. Sorry if it turns out you've redone the layout because of my screw up dude.

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    8. Nurse Quacky I need 10 CC's of Funk STAT!

      Delete
    9. That did the trick, in the end I swapped the correct 22k resistor out (my bad) and snipped the leg of the 47K connected to pin 5 of the IC and soldered it direct to the end of the 100r, not pretty I know but it worked, when I get a chance I'll redo this with the updated layout. My board now matches your layout in terms of what links to what but a couple of the components are in different positions on the board. I'd say it's good to class it as verified but you may want to wait for someone to use the updated layout.

      Thank you so much for all the help with this guys, especially Mirosol, this was one of the first pedals I had my eye on when I started building but I'd left it until I thought I could pull it off.

      Delete
    10. No. There were errors, even though i thought i've been through it properly. Only verified from now on.
      +m

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    11. Oh and Mirosol, don't go doing anything rash like only publishing verified layouts, the people have spoken! The debugging is part of the fun :D

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    12. Haha.. You have still 32 more to go, so i might take on a few days an post only safe bets :)
      +m

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  5. Haha I put the first version of this together this morning before work but didn't have time to test it out. Guess ill scrap it. No worries tho Miro.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You could try to fix that board by replacing 100R with a link, replacing 22K from transistor's emitter with 220R and taking 470K from output to ground.
      +m

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    2. There's no need to scrap it Tom. The changes needed to the layout we used are:

      *Add a 470k resistor between output and ground

      *Snip the 22k resistor directly under the IC and replace with a 220r

      *Snip the leg of the 47k resistor connected to pin 5 of the IC and connect it to the top leg of the 100r. Or as Mirosol suggested replace the 100r with a link (I didn't try this)

      With those changes you should be quacking away in no time!

      Delete
    3. Haha, sorry I posted this before I'd seen what Mirosol had written.

      Delete
    4. Haha it's okay guys. I did make those changes and it works but its not very funky, more clacky fast quack with no low end deep wah. Also it's not very responsive to higher notes. I'm using a 22n for the sensitivity cap and two 6n8's for the sweep caps. Another thing is one led stays lit constantly and the other clips while playing. Is this normal?
      I'm using it with bass.
      Ps. Miro In the new layout shouldn't the cut in the attack 1&2 row be 4 spaces to the right?

      Delete
    5. Hey Tom, I used to standard cap values and the tone is excellent, it leans more toward the high end but I am playing a tele through it. With the treble rolled off and the neck pickup selected it's got plenty of low end. Try playing with the sensitivity knob especially if you're finger picking as I found you really need to pick hard to get that funky sound.

      Delete
    6. So you guys got it working? By adding the fixes to original board or building the rev2 layout?
      +m

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    7. I used the fixes you suggested and the 470k move I'd done earlier, if I hadn't had been such a doofus and swapped out the correct 22k first time then I'd have probably had it working last night. Ah well, you win some, you lose some :D

      Anyway thanks again for this layout, it's frikin awesome! I've been pretending I'm in Parliament and funking out all morning. Perfect for guitar or those bassists who want to be Bootsy Collins/Flea.

      Delete
    8. So now we'll have to wait until someone builds the fixed layout :) Maybe i'll take a nap and try it after that...
      +m

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    9. hey madferret, in my sleepy haze of trying to get the first board to work i had solder flying everywhere and a few bridges which is why it didnt sound right.
      this morning i threw together this new layout and you can tag it. funky and sweet!

      Delete
  6. Hey man, and if you're asking me to tag it I'm afraid you've got the wrong dude, it's Mark and Mirosol who've in charge here. Glad you got it working, it's really sweet isn't it? It sounds excellent with some overdrive/distortion too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry the tag comment was meant for Miro. Just wanted to confirm with you that i got it sounding good. I went with the 6n8s for the lower sweep.

      Delete
    2. I did build it yesterday and the current layout is correct. Finally :)
      +m

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  7. Thanks a lot guys,
    That was fast! And what a timing :)

    This was (and still is) going to be my next build. I allready have a schematic and a perf layout but i personally prefer vero over perf to work with!

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  8. Can i use a 1N4003 for the diode?

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  9. Built this today, sounds good. Found I had to hit the strings mighty hard for the full quack on my strat though may run a lbp before it to increase drive. Thanks for all the time spent Mirosol, much appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi guys, new to this site but I've already built 4 pedals successfully, so firstly thanks!

    Just a quick bit of advice needed, if anyone can help? I'm going to build this effect, with a view to using it on both my bass and guitar. I was just wondering, would it be possible to build the effect into a box then add a wire straight from the input to output jack, so when the effect is engaged it's just added on top of the already passed through clean signal.

    The only problem I can think is that the overall signal will possibly be louder? I've used the split and blend before and maybe eventually that's a better route to take, but what do you think to this simple solution in the meantime?

    Thanks,

    Dan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That won't work because the bypassed signal will have significantly lower impedance compared to circuit's input - none of your signal won't get into the circuit as it has easier burden to go through the bypass wiring. You will need a blend circuit to mix the bypassed signal with the circuit.
      +m

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    2. Thanks for the answer, I had already started to come to a similar conclusion so I've ordered the parts for the mini JFET blender.

      Thanks again,

      D

      Delete
  11. I built this and it works fine. I added the original Dr Quack buffer back in to improve the sensitivity. On breadboard it was fine but now its on the vero it goes pop pop pop as the note decays. Any ideas what might cause this? Thanks!

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  12. I built this and it works fine. I added the original Dr Quack buffer back in to improve the sensitivity. On breadboard it was fine but now its on the vero it goes pop pop pop as the note decays. Any ideas what might cause this? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cold solder, i bet. Take a closer look to all the strip side.

      BR

      Delete
  13. http://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/boxes/NurseQ.jpg
    +m

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  14. Just a question,

    Do you think in this effect an attack knob is really useful?.

    I don't know if install it or keep with the original 100R resistor.


    BR

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  15. Getting there...! :)
    Looking forward to hearing this one.
    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/65506935/nquacky.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  16. And here's my vero. Didn't know where I had my brain yesterday but I did all possible errors :P: Cold solder on the diode, pin 7 of the IC socket that I forgot to solder, 100uf cap reversed, 1nf cap soldered one row up and finally a solder bridge between +9v row and the lower one Did I forget anythin? :P

    Once working, yeah, it works fine and sound is great :P Attack knob I think is not very usable as supposed, and think that will stay on the same position most of the time.

    I love the classic expresion pedal wah, is a must on my sound chains, but an autowah is something great to have too. Will get it boxed for sure.

    BR

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey dude, sorry to jump in on this but I found that the attack was mainly useful if you switched guitars. I agreee I tend to just 'set and forget' but when I switch from my tele to something with humbuckers I tend to move it to the new sweet spot. Just in case you've not had a chance to play with it much, have fun, I loved this build.

      Delete
    2. Yeah, you're right!

      I've tried now with the strato instead of the Les Paul, and did find other sweet spot for the singles.

      Well, it has an use finally!

      BR

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    3. I love this with a delay in front of it by the way, and just a touch of amp dirt, it sounds awesome!

      Delete
    4. Have been just tryin' it together with the Soul Bender, and OMFG what a sound!. Should try with delay too.

      With soft phaser or chorus must be absolutely fun-k!

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    5. And another one finished. I really LOVE this effect sound, and will try to build a Mu-tron III next. It's a real challengue, but hope to be able to deal with it.

      http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/2271/quackybursefinished.jpg

      BR

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  17. Just had to build a second one :)

    Today, #5:
    http://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/boxes/SuperPhunk.jpg
    +m

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  18. A couple pics of my finished build

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/65506935/earthquack1.JPG

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/65506935/earthquck2.jpeg

    And one of the board... http://dl.dropbox.com/u/65506935/nquacky.jpg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the pics Alex

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    2. No problem. Do you collect photos of the boxed builds or board photos too? I don't necessarily box everything I build so I have a few boards hanging around...!

      Delete
  19. Just built this, having trouble debugging. One diode is constantly lit, the other doesn't light up at all. It does quack, but the output signal is very low. Re-checking soldering at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've built two of these, so the layout must be ok. :)

      Tiny shorts are most common causes for low out output. So yes. Reflow all suspicios joints and knife the gaps.
      +m

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  20. Replies
    1. That'll be fine, it's just there to protect the circuit in case the power gets connected up incorrectly. If you've got a 1n5187 I think that's even better as you'll loose even less voltage.

      Delete
  21. Would it be possible to add LFO to this, like on the BOSS AW-2? If yes, then how? I'm a complete novice, so a vero picture would be awesome :-) Thanks for all your great work.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thanks for a great sounding pedal. It takes some getting used to... or have I made a mistake in my construction? Here's the thing - I have to pluck the strings real hard before I get a quack. No pluck no quack. Alternatively I have to turn up the guitar vol knob to the max.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Thanks for the layout. I just finished it, but have an issue (or maybe it is not even an issue...?): the LED on the left stays lit all the time and I have to pluck quite hard to get the quack. Maybe my clumsiness, but I can't really control this thing. It does some quack, but not always in the way I would expect. Or maybe autowah is just not for me... I'll give the Snow White AW a try too, though that is a bit too big, I'd love if I could put it somehow in a 125B box.

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  24. Which it is the meaning of posting veros that doesn´t sound
    good or even not working, could you post a verified layout
    with the correct components? if not it is just a lost of time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you are being harsh, Mark and Miro make these layouts from schematics that are reported to be correct. Occasionally small errors are made as we are all only human, but it relies on people helping eachother out. For what its worth, if you look at the comments it seems that several people have successfully built this layout so please don't assume that just because you can't get it to work that it is wrong. These layouts are a privilege and are due to the hard work of Mark and Miro, they certainly don't owe us correct layouts.
      Dave

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  25. Jysus. Trace the schematics from original units and draw the f*n layouts yourself.

    You're getting our work completely for free with selection of over 600 verified layouts and your complaining? Do all the commercial pedals sound good? Do we force you to build anything? So what is the meaning of you being a dick?

    Besides. This particular circuit works well. Ive built three of them and it is in fact a very good envelope filter.
    +m

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    Replies
    1. Right on, brother!

      THANKS for all the hard work!

      Geezer

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    2. ooohhhhhhhhhhhhh sorry I didn´t know that the Sr. does not accept any critic... Im rrreeeeaaaaaaaallllyy sorry. What I mean is that as you put the layout in the web you could actualice the information once you discover new errors till the proyect is verified , if not with the unfinished proyect it gets a lot of confusion , could you say me the actual changes I could made to make it works? Thanks!!!!

      Delete
    3. The layout has been verified by several people. So if yours doesn't work you want to save some of your criticism for yourself because you haven't built it properly or you've built it with a faulty component, both of which are your responsibility not ours.

      If you are looking for assistance then you've got a very strange way of encouraging anyone to help you.

      Delete
    4. Really hate this position "I'm right and all the rest are wrong" It drives me mad. I'm one of the guys that has built this effect, and works as it should. For me is not one of the best autowahs that you can get, but works fine. So maybe you should try to learn how to solder 28 fucking components before you send such a stupid message. Don't know if you wrote this message just to annoy or to get attention, but anyway for both, you can get the fuck out as answer. Kisses :*

      Delete
    5. ok, so the pedal should work as in the original layout? good.

      Delete
    6. Well. I've built it myself and i have recorded the clip on on post with the circuit i used to verify the layout.

      You really think
      "Which it is the meaning of posting veros that doesn´t sound
      good or even not working, could you post a verified layout
      with the correct components? if not it is just a lost of time."
      is a good criticism? What is the critic in that sentence? What do you want me to do better?

      The problem is within your build, so it's my fault 'cause i've posted a layout?
      +m

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    7. For Jysus: To get your circuit working, take the wire from the negative terminal of a 2A power supply and wrap it around the index finger of your right hand. Next, take the index finger from your left hand and... ... ...

      Delete
  26. The clip sounds great to me..

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  27. So far, no luck with that one,

    Everything ok except I don't have any Quack...

    I don't know if it mean something but only the led nearest to the ic fire up.

    Here are the voltages

    ic = ne5532 (witch was reported working here :http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=35760.0)

    6,6 - 7,4
    0 - 4,7
    0,7 - 4,5
    1 - 4,5


    And q1 = 2n3904

    e : 0,04
    b : 0,7
    c : 0,04

    If someone had any idea?

    thx :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It' maybe too late for the answer :) , but ne5532 don't work for me either with the same symptoms, I've used 1458.
      The chip itself is alive - it works perfectly with this http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.lt/2012/07/seamoon-funk-machine-v2-with-blender.html build.

      Delete
  28. Hi, all!
    Few notes for those, who will use this layout for bass guitar:
    1) 10 nF caps should be changed to 0.047 uF, then it reacts on low strings better.
    2) I've changed 22 uF polar cap to 33 uF (longer and cleaner decay), but added an option: resistor in parallel with this 33 uF with switch. Then you'll have a possibility to chose between to variants of decay. After few tries I've stopped with 6.8K resistor for this purpose.
    3)I've read few opinions what should be filter capacitors for bass (many people writes it should be 6.8nF-18nF), but, in my case best results showed 10nF. So, I've changed both 4.7n to 10nF
    P.S. All these changes were tested on Fender Jazz bass with quoter pound pickups.
    Hope this will help someone :)
    Btw. don't you think leg 1&2 and leg 3 are mixed up on this vero, at least it's shown here: http://home-wrecker.com/nurse-quacky.html

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  29. A question!
    Hello for all. I'm gonna to build this pedal. And I have only one question. Will it works if I do all like on the layout? Thank You (:
    Sorry one more question. What diode the best for this layout?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I Have this diodes. what will be better?
      1N4007
      1N4148
      1N5819
      1N5399
      FR107
      FR207
      1N5408
      1N5822

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  30. Finally I made with diode 1N4007. All is working like must be. But one LED always stays lit? You can see it on my video. On the video I'm speaking russian but there you will see that led is always shining. Is it normal?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvgZs3PRNBU

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  31. Finally got this going on my second attempt at it works fine on my gat & bass except for one tiny little problem when Im playing it with clean signal works fine no volume loss but as soon as I click on my little big muff it only has 75% of volume any help would be much appreciated. I also have a 100uf cap on the +&- of the 9v power supply don't know if that would be the problem or not.
    Other than that I'd say it's verified

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  32. Build this last week and I got it to work. But the problem is that it has annoying sound everytime I pick a string. Much annoying if i turned the attack at max. Its like a loud thump on the speaker in conjunction with the blink of the led on pin 1 of the IC. I changed the IC to TL072. LM358 doesnt work. Transistor is 2n3904 and 25k pot changed to 10k due to availability. Any suggestion will be appreciated.
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Chris, this is a bit of a necro reply, but you really need to use a 1458 for the ic. Many of these autowah type things use it, and just don't work without it (the bassballs being another one that won't work).

      Delete
  33. I made the one from effects layouts (PCB). Assuming that it's the same circuit, I used lm358, 2n4401, 1n4007 everything else the same. My IC is the same samsung showed in the home-wrecker page (rescued from an old vcr). Just to add some info.

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  34. Just finished one and it works great with OPA2604 and BC549C. Enough to satisfy my filter needs for now. Tanks alot!

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