Seeking Help
Don't fret. You WILL fix it. We will help.
Fixing Common Mistakes
Unsure of the Problem?
Let's look at the clues to figure out what's going on with your pedal. Before we continue, though, if your LED won't light then UNPLUG your pedal for now. If you have a power issue it's better to limit the time the circuit is exposed to the wrong power supply.
Follow this flowchart to find the most likely cause of common problems. Or skip past it to learn about our support forum.
Step 1
Probable cause:
You probably have one or more bad solder joints.
If that doesn't help, visit our forum and provide some pictures and details and we'll help you figure out what's going on.
The problem is constant
Continue to step 2
Step 2
A clean bypassed signal can be heard
Continue to step 3
Probable cause:
If you can never hear sound pass through your pedal, it's likely one or more bad solder joints on the foot switch or the phone jacks.
If you overheated your foot switch, it may also be damaged. If your joints look good, visit our support forum for tips on diagnosing the foot switch.
Step 3
Probable cause:
If you get sound from your pedal, but find the volume is too quiet, not distorted enough, or too filtered...
The problem is likely a misplaced component.
It could possibly be a bad solder joint as well.
If that doesn't help, visit our forum and provide some pictures and details and we'll help you figure out what's going on.
The pedal has a clean signal when bypassed, but no output when engaged.
Continue to step 4
Step 4
Probable cause:
Your cables may be reversed.
If that doesn't help, visit our forum and provide some pictures and details and we'll help you figure out what's going on.
Probable cause:
You probably have some sort of a power-related problem.
If that doesn't help, visit our forum and provide some pictures and details and we'll help you figure out what's going on.
Get Personal Help
If you have any questions or problems and those links above don't help, head over to reddit.com/r/maseffects and create a new post. Usually you'll want to include pictures of your build in addition to a brief description of the trouble you're having. This is the preferred and quickest way to get your problem resolved.
It's not just for help, though. Feel free to also post in-progress reports, show off your new pedal when it's completed, or start a discussion on anything you think other pedal builders would enjoy.
Other DIY pedal communities such as r/diypedals, diystompboxes.com, or freestompboxes.org are great too, but you'll need to provide them with additional context like a schematic and links to the build docs. It'll be quicker to use our forum, but bookmark these others since they're great communities.
Finally, if none of that works for you, send an email.
Support Forum: Why Reddit?
Our support forum can be found at reddit.com/r/maseffects/.
Why Reddit?
Reddit offers a more visual experience compared to traditional forums. This is perfect for sharing completed pedals, or pics of PCBs when you're having a problem. It also has built-in support for getting notified when people reply, has native mobile apps, and is free.
It's a great platform for niche communities. For example you may also enjoy: r/diypedals, r/guitarpedals, r/diyelectronics, or r/diytubes.
Caveat:
I DO NOT, however, recommend using its popular subreddits (i.e. anything you find on its main page, r/all, or r/popular) which are often toxic.