Biohazard Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Hi, sorry if this has been repeated before, I apologise. I wired my custom guitar up ages ago in August and everything worked fine except my built in Fuzz Factory kept cutting out. I was worried it might be the board but checked all my wiring, I thought it might be the switch but was told this was unlikely. The only problem a tech could see when I sent him my wiring diagram was I had got the wires connecting to the hot and earth leg of my stereo jack the wrong way round (the middle lug was fine, the FF battery clip went to that as it should). I had connected the guitar output wire to the largest leg (ground) and the ground connection to the shortest leg (hot). However, when looking at my jack socket, it looks something like the right hand picture on this site: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_p...es.html#details What I would like to know is, which leg is the shortest (hot), the largest (ground) and the middle (for battery clip)? Thanks for any help guys, I can't wait to get this wired up properly so my fuzz won't cut out again. It probably also explained why my Fuzz Factory was eating batteries like a bitch, when they should last for bloody ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted January 4, 2005 Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 I can't be sure from the description but the jack should be wired something like this... |---^ ( negative battery lead ) |--------^ ( hot , or output ) | (collar is ground) It sounded like you have the hot and battery lead reversed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biohazard Posted January 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2005 Oh right, the smallest is definately ground and not hot? If I have mixed these two up would that explain why the Fuzz Factory cuts out when its on and the rest of the guitar signal doesnt cut out at all when the FF is off? Would this also explain why batteries are being ate away like a bitch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biohazard Posted January 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Actually im still a little confused as to what is the "tip", "sleeve", and "ring". Using the link to the picture in my first post, could anyone clear this up for me please. I also take it that the "sleeve" is hot, "tip" is ground and the "ring" is for the negative end of the FF battery clip? I just dont understand what legs on that stero jack are actually the tip, sleeve and ring. Thanks a great deal to anyone who can clear this up for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Actually im still a little confused as to what is the "tip", "sleeve", and "ring". Using the link to the picture in my first post, could anyone clear this up for me please. I also take it that the "sleeve" is hot, "tip" is ground and the "ring" is for the negative end of the FF battery clip? I just dont understand what legs on that stero jack are actually the tip, sleeve and ring. Thanks a great deal to anyone who can clear this up for me. Actually, tip sleeve and ring have more to do with the male plug rather than the jack. Marvell at my graphics below for a stereo type plug. ======|=|<> Stereo Plug sleeve.... ring... tip In your case you will be using a standard mono type plug. The fact that the jack (shown in that picture you linked to) has the extra tang that would contact the ring of a stereo plug is where the magic happens... =========<> Mono Plug sleeve... tip |________^ |___________^ Stereo Jack | What will happen when you plug that into the stereo jack is the SLEEVE of the mono plug will connect to both the COLLAR and the SHORT TIP of the stereo jack. By putting the negative lead from the battery on the SHORT TIP, the circuit is open (the battery is not connected to ground) until you plug your guitar cable in. Lots of guitar effects do this. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 This may help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biohazard Posted January 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Yeah that all helps thanks. It also turns out that i didn't wire the jack up wrong. It seems to be the Fuzz Factory circuit itself that is having problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasteven Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 If you leave your guitar plugged in, it can drain the battery. As for the jack, I have no idea, maybe it's cutting out because the battery is always dead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 The Fuzz Factory uses various NOS PNP germanium transistors. They won't function properly if the stab control is turned down too far with a weak battery. Also, the settings on the comp and gate will determine a lot of how it "cuts out". It does seem odd that your batterys get drained quickly like that. If you have a digital multimeter, measure the voltage between the positive terminal of the battery and the part on the jack that does the switching to ground. If it measures 9V with no cord plugged in, then something is wrong with your jack. You can confirm that by doing a continuity check between ground and the negative lead of the battery with no cord plugged into the input jack. If you have continuity, then your Fuzz Factory is always on, due to a faulty jack. Once in a while, you get a bad jack. If that's the case, just replace the input jack and you should be good to go. BTW, have you contacted Z. Vex about this? I'm sure that Zachary would fix it for you free of charge, or for a minimal cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biohazard Posted January 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 I've tested with new batteries, still nothing. Zach has given me return instructions, god damn it . I'm in the UK so i'll be without it for op to 4 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 Well, that's a bummer, but Zach will get it working for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biohazard Posted January 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Yeah . Just the inconvenience (i so cant spell). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Yeah, I hear you. I would feel the same way. BTW, you spelled "inconvenience" correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biohazard Posted January 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 YAY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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