Post-Lockdown pedal building

Keefy

roberty said:

Looks smart @markblack how did you do those thingee bobs with the writing on them?

I finally boxed this EQ up that's been sitting in my drawer for months (years?)

It's the EQ section from the Diezel VH4 pedal so I gave it some hair metal stylings. Pleased with how it came out



I decided to swap the TL072 for an OPA2134 which IMO is more suitable for an end-of-chain effect. Also put a charge pump in for more headroom and output

The inside is a bit of a dogs dinner. My glue gun was backed up then it suddenly let loose and smothered the LED. Then at the last minute I discovered I'd soldered the charge pump IC socket on the wrong side so I had to deal with that. I don't know why the silk screen is on the wrong way. Anyway the LED wires don't quite reach with the IC mounted properly and I couldn't be bothered to do it again so the daughterboard is wonky lol. All the wires got mangled up during this process



Sounds really good. Haven't used it in a high gain scenario yet but the presence control is really nice for cleans





I've ordered some custom UV printed enclosures from Tayda, hopefully they come out okay

Looks like it says ‘Metal FO’.

roberty

Keefy said:

roberty said:

Looks smart @markblack how did you do those thingee bobs with the writing on them?

I finally boxed this EQ up that's been sitting in my drawer for months (years?)

It's the EQ section from the Diezel VH4 pedal so I gave it some hair metal stylings. Pleased with how it came out

I've ordered some custom UV printed enclosures from Tayda, hopefully they come out okay

Looks like it says ‘Metal FO’.

Lol that works too

It's this font: https://www.dafont.com/ventilate.font

It would be better in colour, you could do a transition from yellow to pink like this:

thermionic

It's a "pre-sense" control, obviously.

roberty

thermionic said:

It's a "pre-sense" control, obviously.

Oh well at least I didn't call a vibrato a tremolo

markblack

@roberty I got them made on ebay for a couple quid.

here >>> https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155536026044?var=455775732756

roberty

Great idea. Also, blige pump is a good name for a pedal 

thermionic

My niece is an aspiring singer-songwriter, also plays bass and likes the occasional distorted moment - so I built a pedal for her birthday. It’s a Fuzzdog Big Muff (Civil War variant) with a couple of bass-friendly options - a blend control, a mid-shift control, and a switch to disconnect the first pair of diodes.

https://i.imgur.com/mtmEjrJ.jpeg

I ran into some problems because if you make a mistake, it can be difficult to rectify because it’s touch and go that you can desolder a joint without lifting a pad. I ballsed up my first attempt, put it down to experience, and bought a replacement pcb. Even on the second attempt, I accidentally touched a hole with with the tip of my iron and blocked it with solder - the holes are so fine that it’s quite difficult to suck or wick the solder out without damaging the board. I managed to get round this by soldering the leg of the resistor to a convenient ground point (a leg of a nearby pot) instead of the blocked hole.

I recently bought a laser printer so I can now create waterslide decals without the ink running when it contacts water. I sprayed the enclosure with etch primer, gloss white, and finally a good few coats of acrylic lacquer. I sanded it flat and finished with 3 grades of Scotchbrite and Meguiar’s equivalent of T-Cut. Turned out quite well I think.

https://i.imgur.com/d04jrZT.jpeg

Keefy

thermionic said:

My niece is an aspiring singer-songwriter, also plays bass and likes the occasional distorted moment - so I built a pedal for her birthday. It’s a Fuzzdog Big Muff (Civil War variant) with a couple of bass-friendly options - a blend control, a mid-shift control, and a switch to disconnect the first pair of diodes.

https://i.imgur.com/mtmEjrJ.jpeg

I ran into some problems because if you make a mistake, it can be difficult to rectify because it’s touch and go that you can desolder a joint without lifting a pad. I ballsed up my first attempt, put it down to experience, and bought a replacement pcb. Even on the second attempt, I accidentally touched a hole with with the tip of my iron and blocked it with solder - the holes are so fine that it’s quite difficult to suck or wick the solder out without damaging the board. I managed to get round this by soldering the leg of the resistor to a convenient ground point (a leg of a nearby pot) instead of the blocked hole.

I recently bought a laser printer so I can now create waterslide decals without the ink running when it contacts water. I sprayed the enclosure with etch primer, gloss white, and finally a good few coats of acrylic lacquer. I sanded it flat and finished with 3 grades of Scotchbrite and Meguiar’s equivalent of T-Cut. Turned out quite well I think.

https://i.imgur.com/d04jrZT.jpeg

That deserves to be seen;

roberty

She'll love that @thermionic DIY pedals are the best gifts

Not sure how you're desoldering but a decent solder sucker makes life a lot easier. You should be able to desolder routinely without causing damage. I do it a lot more than I care to admit

I got my solder sucker 6 years ago, it's no longer available (https://amzn.eu/d/35IjFVm) but it looks like there's a bunch of knock-offs now: https://amzn.eu/d/ccLuJiY

A couple of tips I learnt the hard way and apologies if teaching to suck eggs:

When you have stubborn solder stuck actually inside the hole it's best to get some fresh stuff on there with the iron and suck through from the other side while the iron is making contact. The fresh solder will flow through and get the old stuff moving again. The whole thing shouldn't take more than a second or two

Also if possible it's often best to destroy a component before desoldering it so you can focus on one leg or pin at a time. This is especially true of switches

For valuable components I tend keep some length on the legs so they can be trimmed off and used again

Alex2678

I have a little set of desoldering needles, different sized needles with handles that the solder doesn’t take to, heat the solder, push it through, leave it to cool, pull it out. Only use it for very stubborn cases 

thermionic

Yes I have a solder sucker (maybe it’s time to get a better one) a couple of reels of wick, a flux pen, I know the trick of applying fresh soldef first etc… I must be too heavy-handed to be lifting the pads or something. Somewhat embarrassing for me really, as my job title for ten years or more was electronics engineer! Mostly designing and simulating microchips on computer, but I did my time in the lab, Weller in hand. I’m getting better with practice, learning from my mistakes. I’m already planning the next one…

Rkphilpot

I recently bought a laser printer so I can now create waterslide decals without the ink running when it contacts water. I sprayed the enclosure with etch primer, gloss white, and finally a good few coats of acrylic lacquer. I sanded it flat and finished with 3 grades of Scotchbrite and Meguiar’s equivalent of T-Cut. Turned out quite well I think.

https://i.imgur.com/d04jrZT.jpeg

Ive been looking at this myself, does it have to be a fancy printer or would an older second hand one do?

roberty

Laserjet is better than inkjet @Rkphilpot cos there's no ink to upset. I use a fairly basic B&W jobby it's not great. I think pretty much any printer will work. I have to choose a thicker paper type in the print settings otherwise it gets stuck

Rkphilpot

Thanks @roberty ;

thermionic

I tried with an inkjet several years ago, but because the inks are water soluble you have to seal the decals with clear lacquer before putting them in water. They smudged and ran every time, despite trying several thin coats, one thick coat… etc.

The prices of colour laser printers have come down drastically in recent years and I have just bought a decent-looking Xerox for £216. The “ink” in laser printers is basically melted plastic so no problems with running - although I have heard that sometimes solvents in the clearcoat can dissolve them, but you can prevent this by applying some very light mist coats first.

Buy some decent decal paper and use a “card” setting as said above.

markblack

Finished up a few pretty basic fuzz pedals and two more - an IF 6 WAS 9 and DBA Interstella Overdrive clones.

I've come to the conclusion I enjoy making the enclosures more than the strip board... which can be very frustrating if you're a bit clueless... which I am.

First up a DBA Insterstella Overdrive clone...



Then an if 6 WAS 9 clone.... this nearly got launched out of the window... then a very helpful forum member pointed out that I was using a 390R instead of a 390k resistor. Knob (me, not him). I'm waiting on the plate for the front.

I also messed up and couldn't get the switch to fit... so it has an oversized power indicator. which actually looks cool when lit up. maybe a 12mm crystal cover... but I haven't found one yet.



next up a couple of basic Fuzz... I added a batter sag to both of them and kill switches...


This one I made a complete balls-up drilling it so I made a cover out of scratch plate material and re-drilled it. Just about got away with the pots having enough thread. Might need a name plate to finish it off.

roberty

Those are cool I like the industrial look @markblack ;

Tayda have some massive LEDs, eg:


https://www.taydaelectronics.com/optoelectronics-leds-lcd-displays/leds/16mm-red-diamond-head-led-indicator-lamp-panel-mount-12v.html


https://www.taydaelectronics.com/optoelectronics-leds-lcd-displays/leds/12v-plastic-waterproof-led-indicator.html



https://www.taydaelectronics.com/optoelectronics-leds-lcd-displays/leds/led-holders-bezels/10mm-led-bezel-holder-plastic.html

I'm guessing the 12v ones would work with a 9v supply. Probably a maximum, not entirely sure. Some of them are like 220v

They've got these flat top LEDs too which I reckon would look cool flush with the surface, you'd need them PCB mounted though


https://www.taydaelectronics.com/27837-dup-flat-top-red-led-5mm-diffuse-lens.html

markblack

@roberty cheers for those

roberty

What does the arcade button do there @markblack?

I've populated and tested one of these PCBs https://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/product/verbengine and I want to do the self oscillation mod with a momentary switch. Was thinking of using an arcade button for this, but I want a SPDT on-on so I can solder the cap across the NC terminals. I can't find any that look robust enough, just two pin ones

roberty

This sort of thing but SPDT



Got quite a few of these but they seem too delicate for footwork



I guess the obvious answer is footswitch, or just leave the cap suspended