SteveF's Pedal Building Journey

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  • thermionicthermionic Frets: 9499
    I’ve always sanded down aluminium boxes before painting with primer. Then a quick wipe with IPA (isopropyl alcohol, not the beer) to get rid of any greasy fingerprints.
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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    Philtre said:
    Primer than a few light coats of paint. Then use clear coat or ET as you prefer. I started with aluminium boxes and spraying them but it's just not worth it. I know @Adam_MD will agree.
    I agree already! :lol:  The FuzzDog kits I bought came with a bare enclosure before I spotted finished ones on other websites.  I have already got a couple of powder coated ones for my first two Vero builds.  I think I'll stock up from Tayda or somewhere when I put an order in. 
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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    So, I finished this off this morning, or so I thought... 

    Here's a pic of the guts and some, er, temporary graphics... 







    Hooked it all up with my amp to test and it's great, works fantastically as a boost with the expected crackle on turning the knob (transistor rebiasing?) but the LED is always on. :confounded: 

    I'm sure I've just done something stupidly simple. 
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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    edited April 2018
    I assume the board attached to the stomp has connections that break from +V to the CLR? Is the stomp on the right way round?

    Edit - maybe the wire coming from the main board to the LED pad should be the other pad? LED right way around as well?
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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    Philtre said:
    I assume the board attached to the stomp has connections that break from +V to the CLR? Is the stomp on the right way round?
    As far as I can tell.  The instructions said pins to be horizontal and everything else working as it should.  Although my fault finding was momentarily complicated until I realised that the LED failed as well. 

    Philtre said:

    Edit - maybe the wire coming from the main board to the LED pad should be the other pad? LED right way around as well?
    Nope definitely that one.  That's coming from the CLR to the +ve of the LED.  The -ve side of the LED should be switched out as far as I can tell. 

    The switch does this: 



    So in the upper position, the first column connects the input to the boost circuit, the second column connects the boost circuit to the output and the third column connects the LED -ve to ground. 

    In the lower position, the first and third columns connect the boost circuit straight to ground and the middle column connects the input straight to output.  The LED should have no -ve at this point but it does.  I have somehow shorted the top right and middle right pins of the switch, which remain connected regardless of the switch position. I suspect a solder connection underneath the switch daughterboard. The way the switch tags come through the board leave a fair amount of space, so I think I probably filled the void with too much solder. 

    A pic of the daughterboard atop the switch from my other kit so you can see what I mean.  



    I guess I'll desolder the switch so I can get under it to clean it up and replace the LED. 

    As an aside, the pedal sounds great.  :lol:

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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    Like you say though - mistakes help you learn.  I now know exactly what the FD 3PDT switching daughterboard is doing :lol: 
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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    If the LED has blown did it get wired not connected to the CLR? The CLR is on the main board, right?
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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    Philtre said:
    If the LED has blown did it get wired not connected to the CLR? The CLR is on the main board, right?
    Yes it is and it was connected to the CLR, the +ve wire is coming direct from the CLR to the LED.

    The LED was fine to begin with for 20 mins of playing, I'm not sure how it failed.  Would wiring it up backwards break it?  I used a new battery clip when I started doing the faultfinding which is wired to a power adaptor type plug but I didn't realise it was +ve centred instead of negative until nothing was working! :lol: While testing I've been using another one croc clipped to the legs and it has been working fine.  If wiring it backwards wouldn't do it then no idea! 
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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    edited April 2018


    Sure enough... 

    So I managed to wreck the little board taking it off (oops), but the boost circuit itself is fine so I'll just take the opportunity to practice wiring it up normally.  
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  • Adam_MDAdam_MD Frets: 3420
    I have some of those fuzzdog 3pdt boards I’m never going to use if you want another one @SteveF?  If you let me know I can pop it in the post for you today I’m going to post some pedals around 5 so I’ll be there anyway.  
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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    That's very kind of you Adam, yes please :) I'll ping you a PM with my address.
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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    So after the frustration earlier, I had a much better afternoon.  I put together the whole of a FuzzDog Fuzzy Muff circuit, apart from wiring it into the box, and it all works.  Not sure how great it is as an effect; the crunch sound is nice but other than in the last 25% or so of the pot travel, there is a noticeable volume drop when engaged.  I have to have it at about 7-8 to get a unity volume - is that normal?  I imagine if I tried a different pot value I might be able to change that? 

    I just need to do something with the enclosure before I wire it in. 







    I also got started on my first Vero build.  I've cut the board to size, done the links (carefully) and got the resistors on.  It's a Lovepedal Eternity Burst clone: 



    I bought this as a kit from bits box so that I didn't have to faff hunting the correct components at the outset.  It says the diodes should be 1N914, but the ones that were supplied were 1N4148.  From what I've read, these should be interchangeable and have no issues? 
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  • Adam_MDAdam_MD Frets: 3420
    1n914 and 1n4148 are essentially the same thing Steve.  I actually prefer the regular eternity the ‘burst’ version has a little too much gain for me.  It’s worth building both of them imo to see which you prefer.  
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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    Circuit built and tested.  I managed to link the pots backwards in my test rig, but other than that all working! :smiley: 






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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    edited April 2018
    Excellent progress!

    Those greenies are big buggers, aren't they? But will do when you're short of a poly box. ;-)

    Edit - I just realised the greenie cap must have come with the Bitsbox kit of parts. Maybe because it has longer leads for the stretch?
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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    Before carrying on, look up Schottky Diodes (1N5817) for reverse polarity protection. I always add one in line with the 9V+ if the circuit doesn't already have one. It will protect against getting the power the wrong way round. I solder one to the + terminal of the DC socket and then solder the red +9v wire to the other end of the diode. I'll cover it in my diary.
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  • Adam_MDAdam_MD Frets: 3420
    Philtre said:
    Excellent progress!

    Those greenies are big buggers, aren't they? But will do when you're short of a poly box. ;-)

    Edit - I just realised the greenie cap must have come with the Bitsbox kit of parts. Maybe because it has longer leads for the stretch?
    I think the guys at bitsbox tend to supply what they have which will fit.  I’d bet if a bunch us all ordered the same kits at different times we might get slightly different parts which were all the same value.  
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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    Philtre said:
    Excellent progress!

    Those greenies are big buggers, aren't they? But will do when you're short of a poly box. ;-)
    Yeah, this was a kit bought from bits box, so I just got what I was given. I think it must be to do with the stretch as it straddles 6 rows.  Even the pots seem to be slightly off spec, as 470k instead of 500k but they seem to sound ok.   
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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536

    Philtre said:
    Before carrying on, look up Schottky Diodes (1N5817) for reverse polarity protection. I always add one in line with the 9V+ if the circuit doesn't already have one. It will protect against getting the power the wrong way round. I solder one to the + terminal of the DC socket and then solder the red +9v wire to the other end of the diode. I'll cover it in my diary.
    Awesome, got some on the way. :)
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  • SteveFSteveF Frets: 536
    Managed to get a reasonably even coat with some primer and spray paint on the enclosures for the FuzzDog pedals.  Unfortunately seem to have a couple of little bits of dust in there - the garage wasn't as dust free as I would like. 





    Started having a play around trying to come up with graphics and have this so far for the SHO boost clone.  The drill marks aren't quite right so I need to play around some more, but this is my general idea.  Not sure yet how I am going to actually apply the graphics - I have a few options. 




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