# Just finished Constrictor, funny noise.



## ac30irons (Jul 19, 2022)

Just finished the pedal and I am well impressed. Added the gain pot too. Only issue is that it makes a hum/buzz when no notes are being played ! Any ideas what this could be.


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## MichaelW (Aug 8, 2022)

Bumping this post. 

Chatting offline with @ac30irons and it sounds like he’s having some issues with his build that are over my head. 

His Compression knob works in reverse, full CCW = full compression.

That’s not how my Constrictor works.


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## HamishR (Aug 8, 2022)

So there's no noise when notes are being played? Does turning the gain down affect how loud the noise is? I haven't built one but it's possible that the compressor is trying to amplify what isn't there when you stop playing. Maybe reduce the sensitivity or gain.


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## ac30irons (Aug 9, 2022)

Clean it’s quite, it’s when I add OD or DIST, it’s bloody noisy. Thing that is really confusing me is the compression pot working back to front.


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## music6000 (Aug 9, 2022)

ac30irons said:


> Clean it’s quite, it’s when I add OD or DIST, it’s bloody noisy. Thing that is really confusing me is the compression pot working back to front.











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You may have a bad Comp pot????


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## fig (Aug 9, 2022)

Is R12 1k5Ω..it appears to be a 15kΩ


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## music6000 (Aug 9, 2022)

fig said:


> Is R12 1k5Ω..it appears to be a 15kΩ


I spotted that too but the lighting makes it difficult on a few of them for sure????


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## music6000 (Aug 9, 2022)

ac30irons said:


> Just finished the pedal and I am well impressed. Added the gain pot too. Only issue is that it makes a hum/buzz when no notes are being played ! Any ideas what this could be.
> View attachment 29393



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## ac30irons (Aug 9, 2022)

Just in work, I will check it when I get hone and post a better pic


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## ac30irons (Aug 9, 2022)

It’s defiantly 1k5. Brown, Green, Black, Brown, Brown. I have attached a better picture of the board. I have also cross ref’d all the other resistors and they are correct. When building I wasn’t sure which way the Opto went but I matched the + on the casing to the anode on the board.


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## music6000 (Aug 9, 2022)

ac30irons said:


> It’s defiantly 1k5. Brown, Green, Black, Brown, Brown. I have attached a better picture of the board. I have also cross ref’d all the other resistors and they are correct. When building I wasn’t sure which way the Opto went but I matched the + on the casing to the anode on the board. View attachment 30476


1. Did you clean the back of the PCB & look for any bridges?
2. Is the Gain pot wired correctly & insulated from touching the PCB?


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## ac30irons (Aug 10, 2022)

Defenetly no bridges.

The gain pot works well and introduces a bit of grit at its higher setting. I did square pad to 1 on a 10k pot. It has a cover on and is not touching anything. Iv also tried it with a battery to rule out power noise but there is no difference. Maybe I am expecting to much ‘quite’ with gain pedals ?


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## ac30irons (Aug 10, 2022)

So after a lot of messing around here is what I have found (or not found as the case may be.)

I have de-soldered the optocompressor to make sure is in the correct orientation. It was. I have soldered socket in so I could swap and change.

The compression control - turning it clock wise reduces gain which I can bring back with the level control. If it’s fully counter clockwise the gain control i have added has a large range (it will go full on overdrive) if the compression control is fully clockwise the gain control has little grunt fully clock wise which would make sense from a gain reduction point of view.

Now here is the thing, I just don’t here any ‘compression’ at all. I have recorded some tracks in a DAW and cannot see and peaks being smoothed out.

With this in mind my assumption is something isn’t working 🤦🏼‍♂️ My guess is the optocompressor or the ic chips. Anyone any thoughts.


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## MichaelW (Aug 10, 2022)

It sounds like your compression control is working properly if it is "limiting" as you turn it clockwise. 

This is how Demeter suggests setting it up. Dial in the amount of compression then compensate for the DB reduction by bringing up the level knob.

This is a pretty subtle compressor and not super obvious. Which is part of the reason I like it. 

Do you have any more VTL5C10's? 

If you don't, I have some spares. DM your address I can send you one to see if that's the problem.


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## ac30irons (Aug 10, 2022)

Thanks for the offer dude, I have just ordered one. I’m in the UK. Subtle would be an understatement, it’s  providing no compression that I can tell. Hopefully the new VTL5C1 will do the job. If not it’s going in the bin 😂


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## MichaelW (Aug 10, 2022)

ac30irons said:


> Thanks for the offer dude, I have just ordered one. I’m in the UK. Subtle would be an understatement, it’s  providing no compression that I can tell. Hopefully the new VTL5C1 will do the job. If not it’s going in the bin 😂


Ahhh, yah might be cheaper for you to order one hahaha. Well, hopefully the new opto will solve it. But, if I compare my Constrictor with my other optical compressors it's really very super light compression. It's like made for people who don't like compression Which is also what makes it nice as an "always on" type of box. The General Tso's has a lot more compression and is also fairly transparent. It has replaced my Constrictor as my preferred compressor (at the moment).


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## Feral Feline (Aug 12, 2022)

Funny noise as in Funny Hahaha or Funny strange...
So what is this thread...


You mean, let me understand this cause, ya know maybe it's me, I'm a little f***ed up maybe, but funny noise how, I mean funny like a clown, it amuses you? It makes you laugh, it's a noise in the Constrictor that f***in' amuses you? What do you mean "funny noise", funny noise how? How is the Constrictor funny-noisy? 







No, no, I don't know, you said it. How do I know? The thread title said your Constrictor has a funny noise. How the f*** is it funny-noisy, what the f*** is so funny about it? Tell me, tell me what's the funny noise!


I couldn't resist posting this.


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## szukalski (Aug 12, 2022)

You're a funny guy @Feral Feline !


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## MichaelW (Aug 12, 2022)

Feral Feline said:


> Funny noise as in Funny Hahaha or Funny strange...
> So what is this thread...
> 
> 
> ...


FF obviously watches too many movies........now THAT's f*** Funny!  😄


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