First attempts at self built pedal kits

[vroomery]

well...i got that one spot fixed i believe. It's all wired together and whatnot. I get a signal when the pedal is engaged but it doesn't trem. It also sounds a little bit distorted. The signal light and the pots also aren't functional haha. Sounds like I have some step by step trouble shooting to do.

[Suhnton]

The first place you want to check is that trouble eyelet spot. Are you sure there's continuity between the components?

[duhvoodooman***]

I'd be double checking all your wiring connections. The fact that the LED doesn't light suggests that something isn't connected properly somewhere. Confirm that you didn't install the LED backwards--they only light up in one direction.

Am I right to assume that in bypass mode, everything is working correctly?

Clearly focused, close-up photos are really needed to effectively troubleshoot....

[vroomery]

The bypass mode worked well. It was when I clicked the pedal on that it got kind of distorted sounding. I will try switching the led light and see if that helps. I'll also try and get some pictures tonight to see if you guys can find anything blatantly obvious.

[vroomery]

Well guys. I have officially caught the bug. I went to radio shack today and bought one of those little alligator clip stands, some flux, and some practice materials so that I could figure out this soldering thing before I mess anything else up. I first must say that flux is quite possibly one of the most amazing things ever invented haha. It has made soldering so much easier and really even made it enjoyable. Once I figured it out I went back and started to re-solder every joint. I must say it looks wayyyy better than it did before. All of the joints are nice and shiny and have that desired volcano shape. Using a little flux even mended that cold eyelet that I thought was useless earlier. I haven't finished putting all the wiring yet, but I am much more confident that it will work this time. At least if it doesn't it should be easier to diagnose the problem without all those horrible looking solder joints all over the board. I'll do my best to find a good camera to take some pictures so you guys can tell me what you think! All in all. I'm pretty excited to do some more of this stuff.

A few quick questions that I didn't find in the manual on ggg's site or elsewhere.
1) How do I know how to orientate the switch? Is there some sort of sign or notch that I'm missing or does it just not matter as long as the sockets are running horizontal?
2) What do you guys use to clean the soldering tip? I looked at a good few tutorials online, but they all said just to tin the tip, wipe it off on a wet sponge, and then tin the tip again before use or storage. For whatever reason I can seem to get the tip to tin very well and the sponge does little to clean off the charred residue.

[Suhnton]

I'm assuming you have a 3-way DPDT switch (9 pins in total), which means there are 3 individual circuits/switches inside. With the pins facing horizontally, each vertical set of pins makes one circuit/switch. For arguments sake let's call them 1,2,3 from top to bottom.
Pin 2 is the common connector, and pressing the switch button will make a connection between 1&2, or 2&3. As you said, as long as the pins are facing horizontal, then you should be ok.

As far as cleaning the soldering tip, I just use a damp cloth.