Beginners Question (Devi Ever Ruby)

[primus720]

Hi Guitar FX Layout crew.

I am about to make my first pedal. It is the Devi Ever Ruby fuzz. I've got a questions about the layout.
The 1st image is how the components are mounted on the "plain" side. The 2nd image is where the cuts and link are suppose to be on the copper side. Is this correct?

[primus720]

Also ran into this in the comments for the Devi Ever.

IvIark20 June 2012 at 11:58

That's great, thanks for verifying. If you want to tame the oscillation a bit then try using a filter cap between 9V and ground. It may be worth experimenting with this though because if you use to high a value it may tame things a bit too much. Maybe try 47u and see if it helps.

I've attached 2 pics for this one as well. Is the 47u CAP suppose to go on the PCB or the DC power?

[PMowdes]

Cuts go on the copper side of the board, jumpers on the component side.  So yes when you make your cuts reverse the image.

As for the extra filter cap I would put it on the board, you could add an extra row to the left of the 10n cap and put the filter cap between 9v and gnd.

[primus720]

Awesome, thanks for clarifying that PMowdes. I built it and it sounds pretty good. It would benifit from that cap on the filter. Just to make sure, I didn't have that specific valve of cap so I need to make an online order. It is 0.47uF (aka 470000pF/470nF)?

[primus720]

Beware!! My 1st build ever.
One odd problem. When I connect the power to the pedal, the LED is always on. Both when the effect is engaged and disengaged. What could be the problem?

[Alex]

It's a 47uF electrolytic cap.

[BetterOffShred]

You have power always to the LED and it's always connected to ground.  So when you plug the pedal in, boom the light goes on.   I use various wiring options for 3pdt stomps, but the one from the main site here is the one I use most.  

Also the ruby is lots of fun.  I built a fairly modified one for a friend with starve and the cap between stages on a toggle for beefier sound.  I used a "huminator" power supply for it which is similar to adding a power filter cap.  Good work man.  It's addictive.

[primus720]

Here is a quick video. It now has the 47uF Electro Cap which did clean up the sweep on both pots.

I do believe the LED is soldered wrong, which causes it to stay on most of the time (when the effect is on and off).

My concern now is about the Volume (left pot/knob).
Here is a quick video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMtIm6iQQek

[Travis]

Yes you have to wire the LED to the switch to make it turn on and off. The offboard wiring tab at the top of the page should answer any questions on that

If the problem with the volume is that it gets too loud too fast, use a logarithmic pot for volume. If it’s that noise/oscillation, I would just build a different fuzz

[primus720]

Totally dug the idea on chaining the pot to a Log, thanks Travis! Just ordered one.
I will be the footswitch part of the pedal, going to use a FTswitch PCB on this one.
Hopefully that will resolve the LED issue.

I've got the X-Fuzz by deadastronaut mostly finished. Waiting on a part to finish that board.

[Travis]

You don’t need to buy or replace any parts to make the LED switch on and off.

Right now you have the cathode (-) LED leg wired to ground. Move that wire from ground to lug 1 of the footswitch and the LED will switch on and off

[BetterOffShred]

It's worth noting the ruby sounds good with lower gain trannies too.. I think I've built most of Devi circuits twice .. a second time testing lower gain trannies to taste. Maybe try some bc548s or something around 500 hfe ..  

[primus720]

Here are the most recent images. I added some heat shrink to the LED so it would not short. The most upper left LUG goes to the ground of the LED.

If I am wrong, please correct me.


I placed an order for the 100K Log pot. Too bad I didn't read the comment about using a different transformer. It's going in my cart next order.

Thanks for taking the time to go over this sketchy work guys lol.

[primus720]

Sorry if the pics are too big. Let me know and I'll resize them.

*Question for a different veroboard* Can a veroboard not work properly if I desolder a component. After desoldering the component, the copper track is now silver.  Is the board now junk? Built and 8bitar (8bit ocatve) from Parasit Studio. After building it, that pedal gives me extremely low volume.

[BetterOffShred]

Nah man you can reuse it, you just have to make sure you didn't bridge the gap between rows of copper when you pulled the old component.  It takes a little practice but your soldering looks pretty good for a beginner.  I use an X-acto knife to scrape through the fiberglass channel between the rows to be sure.  

If you order some new transistors I'd suggest getting 10-20 of the usual suspects to start:
2N3904
2N4401
2N4403
2N3906
BC548B/C
BC550C
2N5088
2N5089
BC338
2N7000 (MOSFET)
MPSA18
Etc...  there's many more but that list will get you 90% of fuzzes

I've found replacing one stage in Devi circuits with a 3904 usually makes them way more usable, sometimes more than one.   The Torns Peaked sounds good with a 2N3904 and Bc548B in it .. but I forget which 2 I swapped. Hehe.
-Brett