Guitar Pedal Fault Diagnosing Example - No Output

[@MitchSwitchify]

Showing the schematic and explaining how the volume pot worked was really helpful, would love to see more videos like that.

[@decsnspace]

Paul, the release of this video couldn't have came out with better timing! I just completed a rullywow plexicruise build last week and as soon as I watched this video I realized that there was a good chance I was likely experiencing the same kind of issue you described. However, with my build it ends up that the tone pot lugs were grounding out to on a DPDT switch that was just above it causing all kinds of terrible noise on the output when the pedal was engaged. Sure enough, I took it out of the enclosure like you described, pulled the pot lugs back and fired it up and it worked perfectly. This video just potentially saved me hours or even days of utter headaches in trying to fault diagnose it! Thanks a million for posting this!

[@vivekrc1896]

Thanks so much for this and all your videos! I just built an opamp big muff and upon completion there was no output and wasn’t looking forward to troubleshooting! Did some googling and watched this video, giving me some ideas and troubleshooted over the last two days and found a short to ground and as of 5 mins ago pedal is working! Played a cherub rock intro to test 😀. There videos are great !

[@DiyguitarpedalsAu]

Thanks mate, glad to hear the video helped and you got it working :D Cheers!

[@BrianR.426]

thank you for making all these fault diagnosing videos. I am experiencing a no output situation very similar to this video. I will be trying to diagnose the footswitch and pots again. learned quite a bit from this one. thanks again and dont stop sharing :D

[@NexusLives]

You are a life saver! My Tight metal Pro started giving me this very issue. Thanks a lot!

[@nojusticeanywhere]

This is really informative. I've been stressing with a build for three days and getting the same problem. I'll check for this today, thank you!

[@jrdoughty13]

So I watched this a month ago, and realized my problem today reminded me of it. I lost signal when I put the jack into the case. I was flabbergasted, until I recalled this. Ironically my issue was also the volume pot touching the case! This saved me alot of second guessing myself!

[@SleepingLionsProductions]

honestly, if you rock before you box and the output doesnt have no signal AND nothing has blown up, its very much always a short to ground in the signal path. What i do is i use a multimeter to test the signal path with in resistance mode. I hook the common end to the ground, then probe with the red. If a path is shorted to ground where it isnt supposed to be, it will have a reading of 0 ohms.

[@bobmalone1763]

Thanks. Bought a used pedal with the same issue. Power fine. Engage pedal and it's like the volume is as low as it can go and it can only be faintly heard. Looked at the volume pot and it looks like the solder connections between terminals flowed into each other. I will look for a schematic to confirm.

[@dylanburton3740]

Very helpful and easy to understand. Thanks!

[@alexk8472]

Hey man I have a problem with my pedal and i don't know what could be wrong. The thing is when I switch on the pedal, the led glows but there is no sound coming out of the pedal. When I switch it off sound goes through perfectly. Now I did everything I could to check if maybe it was something with the grounding (took it out of the box to see if it changed anything but no still no output sound). Do you think something fried maybe?

[@MiguelPereira-ju9jy]

Have the same problem! Did you find out ? Cheers!

[@RizkiRaharjo]

I have the same problem...did you find out what happen.?

[@JoseCruz-dk3fi]

Same problem here

[@omnitemplarvii2160]

Hey, so I had the same problem with a fuzz i made 2 weeks ago. No sound when stomped on, only led, but true-bypass when off. I ended up sticking a piece of duct-tape on the 'bottom' of the enclosure underneath my vero effect board. Sure enough it started working. turned out my wiring was fine after all.

[@chrisdaviesguitar]

I think it may be the power supply, see my post.

[@jamesm601]

Great video. Thank you. I have a late 90s TS9 that’s doing exactly this. Can’t wait to get home and check for this issue.

[@chrisdaviesguitar]

OK, so I went to a rehearsal room last night, plugged in all my gear, amp, pedal boards, guitar etc. So When I tried to use a pedal, no sound at all, tun off the pedal and I got a perfect signal. I even just tried tried by Cry Baby on tis own, switched it on and it didn't cry it fecking squealed like a stuck pig. Thing is I have two boards, a bespoke board and a Boss BCB60 board full of Boss pedals, the latter which comes with it own built in power supply. So I know I didn't plug anything it wrongly. Plugged them in separately, neither of them would work. Even tried single pedals as opposed to a daisy chain. Nothing, nada, feck all. Took my gear home plugged it in and bingo, all working. It could only have been a bad power supply at the socket in the rehearsal room. What do you think?

[@theanarchistcook]

I've been having this same issue with every pedal I've tried to make. I've definitely looked over the circuit to try and find my short, but I'm at a loss. I'll keep looking.

[@unfortunate2565]

Hey, recently i made a Rat clone but I' ve bought too small enclosure so it doesn't fit. I wired the jacks and pots anyway just to be sure that the pedal is working, but the only thing i hear is the hum (I didn't connect the 3PDT too because i don't have one yet). I've checked every connection on the PCB and it's all right. I connected the input directly to the input on the PCB, output the same. It should work right?

[@johnmcminn8288]

Great Video! I have a Digitech Sampler that is giving a faint signal at high volume , is that a broken Pot? It also has the pots that are Soldered right to the board with 6 pins.

[@volcomstoned876]

I lent my pedal to a friend and he used the wrong polarity adapter. How can I tell by looking if anything is wrong. Newbie question

[@jei9012]

Can you please help me identify the problem of my pedal? The LED is not turning on and no ouput sounds are coming out from the pedal

[@musicianjujan]

omg that helped me so much =) thx... my catalinbread sft had the same issue and works fine again... Thanks

[@trevorjames5493]

I didn't make a custom pedal I just bought one but being brand new and having no volume was kind of weird. turns out I had the wrong polarity adapter originally so I changed that and then the lights came on but still had no sound. if I turn it up to like six on the amp it should be super loud, instead it sounds like it's on maybe 1 or less. in other words super quiet. however it is working kind of, which is a relief so now I'm going to open it and check the legs to see if anything is touching like you explained. hopefully your video answered my question thank you very much

[@skycarl]

Good explanation on this. Thanks......Carl

[@DonLeeelbow667]

So could you get a smaller pot that fits below to have some clearance or is the tape the fix? thanks for showing us this stuff; its good to see how this happens.

[@paulp6554]

+Don Lee You could definitely get a new pot, you may have noticed the pot I was using was a solder lug retrofitted for pcb mount (the underlying cause of the problem as the lugs were dimensionally larger then they should have been). Isolating with tape fixed the problem though. Your welcome Don thanks for watching!

[@jedhatcher252]

Where would I get the schematic for a pigtronix 1st generation philosopher's tone? I'm fixing it myself and first time.

[@jedhatcher252]

I plug it in, and not even the led light comes on. So it's the power regulator?

[@funkystrings2954]

Thanks for your time. It really helped me understand basics of diagnosis. Please my Effect Pedal, Mooer Get 100 isn't giving a clear output. ever since I bought, I couldn't use it and it's warranty has expired. how can you guide me on this because I already gave up hope on it not until I came across your video.

[@SleepingLionsProductions]

It really depends as your comment is very vague on the situation. Is the output quiet?

[@alexanderumoh4456]

@@SleepingLionsProductions No it isn't but it's giving an unstable sound which doesn't seem to be like that of a strummed guitar.

[@SleepingLionsProductions]

@@alexanderumoh4456 oh the ge100 is an multi FX unit which is a lot harder to work with. I didn't know that. For the price, even if it's past warranty, it's not worth diagnosing and fixing unfortunately.

[@alexanderumoh4456]

@@SleepingLionsProductions Thanks for the update

[@alexanderumoh4456]

@@SleepingLionsProductions I got to know that there are a lot of Spider ICs on the PCB. If the lines of signals can be traced to the output Port from the legs of the IC responsible in the program. I wish I knew the technical approach to this, I would have tried it but to avoid worsening the whole issue.

[@johnhewetson4406]

Excellent video. Thanks

[@earljoshuapendang7232]

how do you troubleshoot pedal that has very low volume output?

[@SleepingLionsProductions]

this can be a few things IMO. 1) signal shorted to a disconnected ground. When the ground isnt connected, very faint signal will pass through. Make sure the ground is connected properly and if the signal just straight up disappears, the signal is being shunted to ground somewhere. 2) One of the components might not be working properly. Check to see if there are any other shorts to ground by using a multimeter in resistance mode. Hook up the black probe to ground and probe along the signal path AND the voltage path with the multimeter. Anything shorted to ground will show a 0ohm resistance.

[@bylead1]

hi, need your expertise, i have a boss fz5, it was working perfectly before but now, it has light and sound but the volume and gain are very low even if i put th knobs in max. as if it is set on 7-9 o’clock. do you know whats wrong with it, or can it be fix diy? or any guess, thanks

[@killainmaccallan4700]

Hi nice video, but I have one question. I have a DIY pedal of a TS 808, sounds great . but it had issues that at the extremes of the knob it would cut out the sound. at then return when turning the other way... But now It just gives no sound..the LED is on and the effects after that one still work. THEN I hit the pedal (had the issue before) and it works again...Could you please give a hint of what the problem could be . everything looks ok and apparently sometimes it needs a bang to work. thanks in advance

[@phranquepeasant7526]

I bought two Behringer VP1 phasing pedals tu use with a synthesizer. What can be the reason that I do get a very low volume hiss (I can hear the phasing itself), but not the sound it should 'carry' on both the Behinger VP-1 pedals? When I turn the effect off, I hear the actual sound of the synth, so that is definitely not the problem.

[@ElJoellito]

Hey, I have a Delta Labs Stereo Chorus Pedal that gives sound on the mono out when bypassed. When the fx is turned on, the mono output is still on, but it is not affected by the chorus at all and neither of the knobs changes the signal drastically. You can just hear that there is a sort of HPF engaged. The Second output, for stereo, has very loud floor noise and a high pitched noise, that pulsates rhythmically with the LFO rate in the chorus (I can see by the LED's blinking rate). Do you have any idea what I can check/do? The pedal arrives here like this. Kind regards, Joel

[@4602experience]

So what might be the problem if with a boss chorus ch1, the led turns on when I stomp it, but not wet signal, only my original dry signal remains untouched. So essentially the led goes on and off and dry signal passes through. Any help please

[@SleepingLionsProductions]

Problem with the board itself. The way choruses work is that there is supposed to be a duplication of the dry signal that is slightly delayed IIRC. So your CH1 might be Fd.

[@skatterpro]

Are there any other common issues that lead to signal in bypass and no signal when the effect is engaged? It doesn't seem like my signal is flushed to ground anywhere, the only thing I can think of now is an issue on the circuit board, but the last one of the same effect and batch I assembled works just fine.

[@skatterpro]

My switch had short circuited internally, great...

[@mohammadgalih8925]

great video you've made dude, so help full. and sorry i wanna ask this. i have some problem with my pedals. my pedals were work properly before, but when i change the power supply, and i turned them on they wont work even the led indicator was on, but they have bypass output. would you tell me where the problem is?

[@SleepingLionsProductions]

Make sure your guitar pedal power supply is center negative

[@tomdg13]

Question ... those look like board-mounted pots with insulating plastic things around them. Are they a particular brand or are the plastic / rubber socket things available separately? I "solved" the back-of-pot-shorting-with-pcb problem by inserting a sheet of 30 thou plastic sheet but I think your way is a little tidier (understatement).

[@DiyguitarpedalsAu]

+Tom di Giovanni Hey Tom, the pots are from tayda electronics, they include the pot dust caps with their pots. Thank you for the compliment, happy building!

[@TheSwapu99]

please can you tell me why my zoom guitar pedal doesn't works when I switch it on occasionally. every time it works normal but suddenly it doest turns on

[@MrSk8erkbw]

I have an arion delay/echo pedal... i plugged a nine volt in and the pedal has send prior to and after pressing the effect switch and the red led even engages on. however, there is no effect going through. It is an old pedal, and has not been used in a many years. Could offer up any thoughts?

[@dongfefut8796]

Hi.. Is your pedal fixed already? I have the same problem with my flanger. The pedal turns on and has a sound but no effect coming out. How did you fix it? Thanks.

[@Adventureswithlukeduke]

I have a hm2 clone. When I activate switch light comes on I have distortion . When deactivate the pedal pushing switch light goes off no guitar signal at all . I checked jacks make sure not over tight took cover off back make sure not grounding out . Any ideas

[@SleepingLionsProductions]

check your footswitch wiring

[@khawajajodat9327]

I have got a Ibanez CS9 but its not giving any effect output when I press the pedal although its led starts to glow but with no effect. Very kindly give me some clue to make it work again. I have checked all soldering points on pcb and these are ok.

[@kimw.andersson]

Big thanks!

[@andrewmcfadden8760]

I have a joyo jf-08 digital delay pedal that works ,but there is a gritty scratchy sound that goes loud then quiet and keeps repeating but is constant and wont go away, I was given this pedal from a friend and it looks like something has been spilt over it with some residue dry inside.would this cause a part to make this sound. regards Andy

[@profile1251]

Have a pedal that was left on for about a week by accident now doesnt work, any suggestions?

[@dp271]

Did you find out after a year? I could imagine your voltage was a little higher than it should be and it slowly cooked some part

[@terrencematabadal5437]

Hi i would like to mod my mxr zakk wylde phaser. I would like to add a volume pot to it. Originally it has one knob for the effect. It's a bit uncontrolable. Thk u.

[@magnum-yl8uu]

Thanks, great vid!

[@ShlomirBareket]

I have a similar problem with a FuzzDog pedal, there is signal, but really muted, something is affecting the volume pot

[@indiancubr6577]

I'm using me 80... I'm not getting the mixed sound while using the pedal as wah... Pls help

[@alexanderumoh4456]

Please can you fix output problems on effect pedal. If yes, how can you arrange for pick up(Cost on me), if no, please can you recommend any technician who can fix it for me. Thanks

[@jonathanfrieze8497]

I just a recommendation to send my line 6 fm4 that went out on me a couple weeks after buying it in left the power aupply.on for acouple days maybe without knowing that power was being sent I dont know if that's what caused the issue but I lose all dry signal when engaged but perfect sound when I turn off lights still work just no sound and now you got fools asking 3-400$ for a freaking line 6 fm4 come on people but anyways I was told and then researched and emailed a person in Washington and he said he thinks he could fix it for a fair price 20$ first hr 15 after + parts but he said he always tried to avoid just sayin f it it's cheaper to buy a new 1 so j was glad to hear him say that i have to double check but i believe its griffineffects.com if I'm wrong I'll come back and edit it but he's worth telling your problems to and see if you need to buy a new pedal or if it's just a minor repair

[@sv0205]

Hi plz Help My zoom g2.1u Works 5 mnt Aft tht ....Resistor 3.3ohm 2W & Zoom FX-3 main Ic Heating How To fix it ???? Plz reply

[@addictionguitar5813]

How to play volume leve effect

[@arjnoro1]

I have the same problem with my sd-9 ibanez sonic distortion. It was working fine, its an original and sounded great. I tooknit apart but can't get it to work!

[@100roberthenry]

hi paul, yeah man , i use deep sockets for toggles, and pots, i got fed up with slipping n scratching...much better, well worth investi g in. man, cool stuff . rob.

[@paulp6554]

Hey Rob the day recorded this video i did go to the hardware store and got the deep socket at long last! :)

[@100roberthenry]

+Paul P (DIY Guitar Pedals) cool....no more scratches eh... :)

[@DiyguitarpedalsAu]

+100roberthenry Yeah its problem solved, there really is no other better way is there...?

[@freddycookjr.2164]

love your stuff maybe tape on top of pots so no grounding

[@roeletti]

I have the exactly same problem! Hopefully this wil be the day my booster will work. Bear with me!

[@brentshirey9086]

Video at 9:30 is what you're looking for, everyone.

[@paulkielt9301]

That kind of PCB on the Footswitch is a nightmare to fix.

[@DiyguitarpedalsAu]

New builders confuse these 3pdt pcbs as a way of making things simpler. It doesnt make it simpler, just "neater".

[@screamsofinsanity]

sometimes back when I was first starting I would switch the input/output and ground easy mistake easy fix. just a note.

[@agussudrajat5049]

My pedal, boss me 25 no output

[@blessingsara11]

Hi my boss dd5 doesnt change when pressing the footswitch, I already replaced it for a new original one but still fails

[@theleftfoot]

Hi, thanks for this good video...i'm troubleshooting a pedal and i have a strange problem! When no output jack is connected, i can trace the signal on my osciloscope! everything works! the pots, etc...but when i plug in the output jack the signal gets grounded! can you help me out? any hints? thanks in advance and cheers from switzerland! Raffa btw: take a look to my problem here --> www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=24333.0 would be nice if i get in contact with you!

[@mclovinpo]

2 brand new MXR pedals and the fucking BLOW. I can't believe i paid 250$ for two pieces of shit

[@mihaeliljic720]

Nice video but it’s very difficult to follow you because you repeat yourself like 100 times - it’s quite confusing

[@khawajajodat9327]

I have got an old Ibanez CS9 but its not giving any effect output when I press the pedal although its led starts to glow but with no effect. Very kindly give me some clue to make it work again. I have checked all soldering points on pcb and these are ok.