Could you make a pedal without solder?

EricTheWeary

Just a hypothetical question but, I think, one of the off putting things about DIY pedals is having to solder if you have no experience of it. There are hobby type electronic kits you can buy where you are basically stripping wires and screwing things together using solderless connectors so why not something like a basic solderless fuzz pedal kit? A great Christmas gift for the cack handed guitarist in your life. 
Or is it just not possible or would it have to be the size of a bus? 

Sporky

Wire wrap is probably more plausible. Or breadboard if you're not going to shake it around a lot.

But soldering is a useful skill, and not a terribly difficult one to pick up.

Gagaryn

Soldering isn't all that hard after a bit of practice and it is well worth learning. Get a decent temperature controlled iron and things will be a lot easier than using a cheap £5 iron - believe me. Ironically i had to solder my soldering iron yesterday. 

EricTheWeary

Sporky said:

Wire wrap is probably more plausible. Or breadboard if you're not going to shake it around a lot.

But soldering is a useful skill, and not a terribly difficult one to pick up.

I realise if someone had an interest in DIY pedals then learning to solder would be the way to go. Just that you can buy little kits to make things like simple amplifiers that require no soldering (although I suppose it's really more assembly than making in the end) and I wondered if that kind of thing was even possible with pedals. Might be my idea for Dragon's Den...

thermionic

You need to work out a boutique angle to this. No pesky solder in the signal chain allows the pure tone of your guitar to come out. Or something

TheMarlin

Solderless usually means unreliable.   Remember the fad for solderless guitar cables in the late 80's?  Didn't work out well, fad didn't last long. 

ICBM

You could probably make something really simple like a single-transistor booster or an Electra Distortion copy using 'chocolate block' screw terminal strip. Once you get up above about a dozen components that's going to get prohibitively complex to make work though.

Even at that you're probably going to have to solder to the jacks and/or the pots though, unless you can find PCB-mount types which have exactly the right pin spacing to fit into the strips.

Gassage

 Vertex tried this for a number of years before they were found out.

Headphones

I used to use wire wrapping for ths prototype equipment in tracked vehicles very reliable and resistant to vibration if done correctly.  No heat treatment of the copper by soldering was a significant part of the benefit.  It does, of course have a skill to learn in its own right.

Ravenous

EricTheWeary said:

Just a hypothetical question but, I think, one of the off putting things about DIY pedals is having to solder if you have no experience of it. There are hobby type electronic kits you can buy where you are basically stripping wires and screwing things together using solderless connectors so why not something like a basic solderless fuzz pedal kit? A great Christmas gift for the cack handed guitarist in your life. 
Or is it just not possible or would it have to be the size of a bus? 

I would say go for the breadboard, as Sporky said.  A plastic board, you push component wires into sprung contacts.  One will cost you a fiver or a tenner I guess.  These things aren't as reliable as real boards though - components can work loose or get dirty connections so your circuit wont be road-ready.  But they are excellent for learning electronics at home.

ICBM

Gassage said:

 Vertex tried this for a number of years before they were found out.

Devi Ever used to do it by just twisting the wires together and wrapping the whole lot in tape...