# Low Tide trouble...



## smsnkaty (May 17, 2022)

Hello, I'm having some trouble with a Pedal PCB Low Tide build

https://docs.pedalpcb.com/project/LowTide-PedalPCB.pdf

Everything is on the board, but it's not yet in a box. I've heard that this pedal is notoriously difficult to fine tune with the trim pots, and I've spent many hours trying. But, I think there's something else going on. I've tried to follow the original FC Shallow Water's tuning instructions, as well as some great suggestions from the PedalPCB community board.

This isn't my first build, and every other pedal has gone smoothly. I triple check each component and placement as they go in, but I still may have missed something. I believe my soldering is decent, but I could absolutely have missed something. After failing to get a good sound, I also went through and replaced every transistor and IC to see if one was bad, and still got the same poor sounds. I also made sure to have a gap under the A1M Dual "Slew" Pot.

Specific changes to this build, I have:
- For Q1 (2SK208-Y), I've used an AION 2SK208-GR SMD on an adapter board
- For Q4 (J201), I've used a J201 SMD on an adapter board
- For IC7 (V3207D), I've replaced with an NOS MN3207

Specific things I've noticed:
- I realize that this pedal modulates sounds, but I can't get anything even close to what I've heard from a FC Shallow Water
- one of the most suspicious items is a consistent thumping sound
- turning the internal "Gate" trim pot effects the rate of the thumping sound... weird
- turning the "Rate" pot doesn't seem to have an effect on the pedal's sound
- I do feel like the "Gate" pot is effecting things properly
- I have no idea what the "Slew" pot is doing, if anything

Photos are attached
This video shows the pedal turned on, with no incoming signal:








						Pedal PCB Low Tide
					

This is "Pedal PCB Low Tide" by The Pencil Bureau on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.




					vimeo.com
				




I'm limited on time these days, but I'd love to have a working pedal. I am a reasonably knowledgable builder, but a novice tester. If anyone has suggestion on what I might try, I'm willing to give it a go. I'm also willing mail this thing off to someone with more experience, and happy to pay for your work in correcting my mistakes. Houston area would be great, as I could just drop it off.

Thanks to this community for being supportive and inspiring!


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## benny_profane (May 17, 2022)

Well, your 3PDT breakout board is installed upside down.


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## smsnkaty (May 17, 2022)

benny_profane said:


> Well, your 3PDT breakout board is installed upside down.


lol. Let me fix that up, and get right back to you. Thank you for gracefully pointing out a ridiculous oversight.


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## smsnkaty (May 17, 2022)

smsnkaty said:


> lol. Let me fix that up, and get right back to you. Thank you for gracefully pointing out a ridiculous oversight.


Okay, I've flipped the breakout board (added a photo), without any improvement in sound...  I've also added a solder-side photo to the original post


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## Bio77 (May 17, 2022)

If you turn the mix knob all the way down, does it pass clean signal?  Have you tried different configurations of the DIP switch settings?  I noticed that the gate setting needed to be dialed in for the different DIP settings.  Maybe try with them both in the off position first.


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## benny_profane (May 17, 2022)

Another area to watch out for is the dual pot. Is it insulated against shorting the board?


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## smsnkaty (May 18, 2022)

Bio77 said:


> If you turn the mix knob all the way down, does it pass clean signal?  Have you tried different configurations of the DIP switch settings?  I noticed that the gate setting needed to be dialed in for the different DIP settings.  Maybe try with them both in the off position first.


Thanks for the suggestions. Now that I’ve fixed the breakout board, it does pass clean when the mix is down to 0. I can also report that the thumping is gone. So I think that was the breakout board. I previously tried to fine tune in all 4 of the possible DIP positions. I need to redo that, now that the breakout is fixed. It’s feeling more like a tuning issue as of glossy night, so I’ll report back


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## smsnkaty (May 18, 2022)

benny_profane said:


> Another area to watch out for is the dual pot. Is it insulated against shorting the board?


For previous testing, I made sure that there was a large gap, as I’d seen people with the same issue. As of last night, I went ahead and placed some folded electrical tape between the pot and the board. I’ll report back. Thanks!


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## smsnkaty (May 19, 2022)

I wanted to follow up, and thank everyone for their help. After taking @benny_profane 's advice, I flipped the breakout board and added some insulation. I then fine-tuned the trimpots according to u/bow_and_error 's instructions, and it's 90% there. I feel like it still sounds less smooth than what I'm hearing on demo videos, but it's so much closer that I think tuning is the ultimate issue. Thanks again for everyone's time.


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