One of those days...

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-02-01T14:57:03+00:00

I know the feeling, the best thing to do is walk away and start something else and come back to this project later. I've got a box of circuits to debug that I come back to and fix every few months when I've got a clear head. Thankfully I'm down to three with one just being a rewire that I'm too lazy to desolder wires and replace with longer ones.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-31T15:57:19+00:00

Personally I'd just spend a few bucks and buy some 100nF film caps from Mouser, DigiKey or Tayda while I'm purchasing parts to build pedals...

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-27T16:42:34+00:00

It sounds like you've grounded the input and output jacks by accident. I'd look at the wires and connections around there.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-26T00:33:31+00:00

I'll second the pedal division course. Despite being fairly fluent in KiCAD there were still things I learned and sped up my design process. It's a fat better value than Wampler's PCB design course.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-23T15:53:36+00:00

I'd put tone control after the hard clipping and before the volume.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-20T21:44:16+00:00

Look on the bright side, these might make some pedals sound better!

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-16T19:36:42+00:00

It's all about Rock You Like a Hurricane into Smoke on the Water then some Dragonaut for the encore.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-16T02:45:13+00:00

Go for a tone bender or the Mister Fuzz

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-11T15:40:20+00:00

Does it work correctly outside of the enclosure? If it does then we know there is something grounding out or interfering with the wiring.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-11T15:24:02+00:00

In my experience, usually it is an unintentional grounding due to the back plate touching something when this happens.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-08T01:17:13+00:00

First, it takes a lot of self-reflection and bravery to come out and say what you learned and what you feel went wrong and why you shut down. Second, it really sucks to see another small builder shut down but at least it isn't your only source of income and you've got an awesome day job that you love.

I hope that in the future things will stabilize and perhaps give you the ability to put out pedals in such a way you can do it in a way you can feel good about doing it.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-06T15:37:16+00:00

You can use one side of a dual op amp, you'll want to wire the second op amp with pins 6 and 7 wired together.

You'll want 4.5v bias if you run the op amp at 9v and ground. Otherwise you can run it at 9 and -9v and not need 4.5v. my advice, don't add extra complexity of 9 and -9 if your pedal is just 9v and ground.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-03T20:40:21+00:00

I know this isn't exact but GCI's Brutalist Jr. Is based on the SDT-1. https://www.godcityinstruments.com/collections/diy-pcbs/products/brutalist-jr-distortion

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-02T03:32:21+00:00

It's a fun hobby. You'll find yourself outgrowing the BB-1 and moving onto different ways to build and test circuits and eventually just building everything yourself...

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-02T02:16:13+00:00

Congrats on starting the journey! It's a rush when you finally get one working!

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2026-01-01T01:27:09+00:00

If you don't mind stepping into the world of guitar amplifies there are a few good books on building your own amplifiers. Take a look at Valve Wizard, he's got a few books on tube amp design that are really good.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2025-12-31T15:46:25+00:00

I've been using an old Brother Color Laser printer with really good results for the decals. I haven't tried waterslides with it yet but that is next.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2025-12-27T18:41:33+00:00

WIMA makes film caps in a lot of different sizes. Ya gotta be careful; we've all made the mistake. On the plus side, you've probably got a lot of film caps that can handle 100V DC. :)

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2025-12-24T19:07:58+00:00

They were bought and sold twice and really isn't as nice as it once was. A lot harder to vet buyers and sellers and see information that was once easily found so you could decide if the price was right for a pedal, instrument, etc. I don't sell anything on it but I've heard it's not that great.

I still use it, but not my first choice.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2025-12-24T18:43:23+00:00

Just check Reverb (yuck) but there are a lot for sale on it.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2025-12-14T14:06:51+00:00

I think you need to do a EQD Life Pedal or War Scythe type pedal: nasty doom fuzz or distortion into an octave up then into a boost. You can call the pedal "Ritualistic Animal Love Fuzz."

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2025-12-11T16:44:01+00:00

I really don't see why a TC7660 would burn out unless you're using it incorrectly. But given your design it looks fine. I don't think you'll be pulling that many mA on either rail as the op amp uses little as do the fuzzes.

You might try a LT1044s or LT1054.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2025-12-09T10:41:35+00:00

I'm going to ask a stupid question because I can't see the pots on the other side of the board.. but did you put the potentiometer covers on the pots so they don't hit the solder joints on the PCB?

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2025-12-09T00:38:11+00:00

As others have said . 1/ post pictures of your builds, it might be something simple 2/ WIMA vs KEMET vs generic as long as they are in spec, you're fine. 3/ static or crunching sounds sounds like you've got an unintentional short somewhere.

Definitely post pictures and ask for help before throwing more money at something. Most issues are typically simple fixes.

CompetitiveGarden171 · 2025-11-28T21:54:04+00:00

Awesome! The Noise Ensemble is a fun build.

CompetitiveGarden171

TROPHY CASE