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I made a Mutron Phasor on DIY single sided copper etch board and that was a nightmare. Think I ended up with about 7 lifted pads that I had to fix!
...although @megii, stories like these do serve to highlight the importance of doing everything slowly and double-checking every step before you make it! Undoing your balls-ups can be way harder than just not making them.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
A couple of other points. Wet (ie tin the bit) before soldering, as it aids the heat transfer. You'll need to wipe clean and re-wet frequently. Don't soak the cleaning sponge either. It just needs to be damp. Any wires you need to solder into the board should be twisted and tinned before soldering. If you don't have any wire strippers, use the back edge of your wire cutters. With a little practice it'll work every time!
One more thing. Until you are au-fait with colour codes, always check that the resistor is what you think it is. More than once I've been sent the wrong value. Also, you'll be surprised how much that red, brown and violet can look like each other under certain lighting conditions. That, and some manufacturers use browny reds, reddish browns and violets that could be anything! Always best to be sure that you're putting the correct component in first, rather than having to remove it afterwards. Desoldering can be a bit of a black art if you don't have specialist kit.
If you take your time, read and understand the instructions and double check everything before committing to solder, you should hopefully have trouble-free build.
Good luck and have fun!
I said maybe.....
@ewal hope you can get the harmonic percolator build finished and working as it should - just looking at that one on the Fuzzdog website, and it's intriguing.
And cheers very much for that excellent advice re soldering technique @lasermonkey - I will do my best to follow it.
I'll get a pic or two of what's in the kit up shortly anyhow.
I know the feeling!
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
I'm in the same boat as you as I've got the parts all ready for my first proper pedal build (a Timmy clone from Bits Box) but I'm still going through and trying to work out which resistor is which - doesn't help when you're colourblind and have left the multimeter at work!
Wait to get hold of that multimeter if necessary I would say. I still haven't got around to sorting out all the components, maybe that will be tomorrow. Have bought solder, tip cleaner and side cutters now. Just wondering what would be a decent helping hands to buy without going bonkers on the price - if anyone has any ideas there, they'd be welcome.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
Those dayglo orange knobs have to be seen in the flesh to be fully appreciated, the photo doesn't capture their full magnificence.
Today have ordered:
Helping hands thing with magnifier (ebay)
One of those curly-metal soldering iron tip cleaner things (ebay)
Solder Sucker - the one recommended by @Adam_MD ( http://www.pcb-soldering.co.uk/precision-japanese-solder-sucker-with-silicone-nozzle.html )
0.5mm silver content lead free solder 3 metres
Side cutters - as recommended by @Sporky
SIL socketing strip stuff (Bitsbox)
Fibreglass pencil (Bitsbox)
Small size bit of stripboard to practice soldering (Bitsbox)
From what Adam_MD says, I may well find blutack works as well or better than the helping hands, but it's ordered now anyhow FWIW. Already got a suitable multimeter from having worked on guitars in the past, and I got a variable temp. soldering station from Maplins for just under 40 quid on Sunday. There may well be other bits and bobs I pick up after a while, but I'll see how I get on with this little lot for now.
I just ordered the bits to make the Big Omar boost @juansolo sent me a PCB for. Gone for a big knob (in keeping with the theme) and a 10mm yellow LED just for giggles- will be a bit different, and with just one knob on the pedal there will be plenty of room.
...also gone for some solid core wire instead of stranded. Going to see if I have the patience for those super neat wiring jobs:
(pretty sure I haven't).
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
I did those mods myself but great that they're available from stock now. THIS is why I love Fuzzdog