Glue Factory = JATS

[Chuck D. Bones]

The Glue Factory is a clone of the ProTone Dead Horse, which itself is a Tube Screamer clone. PedalPCB already makes a TS clone: the LGSM. Replace one diode with a jumper, change the IC (lot of people try different ICs) and a couple of resistor values, voila! The LGSM becomes a Glue Factory.
Here's the question: why go to the trouble of laying out a new PCB?

 

[Robert]

Here's the question: why go to the trouble of laying out a new PCB?

Two reasons... (bold typeface added for those who don't care about my rambling, not to seem like I'm shouting)

The main reason...
I've mentioned before, I don't like using build docs when I build pedals. I'm spoiled and lazy, I'd rather everything be spelled out right there on the PCB.

There are a large number of boards here that could be eliminated if I added a long list of modifications to other boards. (Substitute these parts, add a jumper here, cut this trace, omit this part, etc etc etc) Think how many of the 'Muff inspired circuits could be built from the same Muffin PCB if you didn't mind wiring up an offboard pot with some caps and a switch and (the list goes on).

The cost is no different, so to me it's just as easy to start with a PCB with the correct parts printed right there on the PCB. There is another upcoming release that is identical to one of the existing boards, but the component list is completely different... You absolutely could build it with the existing board (and that's exactly how I prototyped it), but since the cost is the same, why deal with the inconvenience of translating part values?

The other reason falls into a "marketing" situation... If someone comes along who wants to build that circuit, but doesn't realize what it's based on, they'd have no way to know it was right there in front of their face. I suppose I could list every variant possible on the product page, but that'd just get messy as well.

The extra boards take up about 4" of bin space, it's no burden. Modifying the PCB layout took about as long as it would take to work out which values need to be substituted and that only has to be done once, now no one else has to worry about doing it.

With that said, I'm all for listing the Glue Factory modification in the LGSM build docs. It's not about "selling more boards" or anything like that... If you're going to order one or the other anyway, why not get the one that makes the job just a little bit easier?

 

[zgrav]

I understand the explanation. I think for a number of reasons, including the ease of identifying projects that inspired specific boards, this site gets a lot of folks that are relatively new coming to the hobby. And those folks will likely also get used to relying on the boards instead of build docs. It is really only the troubleshooting that creates much incentive for folks to start learning how the PCB tracks what the schematic shows. For that matter, it may be the need to find and replace the wrong part values with the right ones that encourages folks to figure out what parts can be changed for different sounds.

 

[Robert]

Yep, I've said before, this isn't a justification to not have build docs. I plan for all the PCBs to have complete build docs.

I just like the idea of not needing them for basic assembly if you're familiar with the boards... There is no substitute for a schematic when it comes time to troubleshoot.

There are times when multiple boards wouldn't make as much sense...

Take the Muffin for example. There's no need to create separate boards for the Russian, Civil War, Triangle, NYC, etc etc since everyone knows what each one of those circuits are based on. It's fairly easy to adapt the Muffin board to each of those builds (and is also why that board was printed with locations instead of values).

But when you have some obscure board that a lot of folks don't immediately know what circuit it's based on, I have no problem creating multiples. It's just a convenience more than anything else.

With the OD/Dist/Fuzz section being the unorganized mess it is right now, anything that makes it easier to find what you're looking for is a good thing, in my opinion.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Makes perfect sense. I'm so used to building to drawings, I don't really pay much attention to the silk screening. I get it that most people don't do it that way. As for schematics, I won't buy a kit until I've "looked under the hood."

 

[Robert]

Totally get that. I've told myself that once I get caught up on the build docs I'm not going to let it get so far behind again.

 

[the_grumpy_gnome]

I understand the explanation. I think for a number of reasons, including the ease of identifying projects that inspired specific boards, this site gets a lot of folks that are relatively new coming to the hobby. And those folks will likely also get used to relying on the boards instead of build docs. It is really only the troubleshooting that creates much incentive for folks to start learning how the PCB tracks what the schematic shows. For that matter, it may be the need to find and replace the wrong part values with the right ones that encourages folks to figure out what parts can be changed for different sounds.

Absolutely.

 

[blueimpala]

Two reasons... (bold typeface added for those who don't care about my rambling, not to seem like I'm shouting)

The main reason...
I've mentioned before, I don't like using build docs when I build pedals. I'm spoiled and lazy, I'd rather everything be spelled out right there on the PCB.

There are a large number of boards here that could be eliminated if I added a long list of modifications to other boards. (Substitute these parts, add a jumper here, cut this trace, omit this part, etc etc etc) Think how many of the 'Muff inspired circuits could be built from the same Muffin PCB if you didn't mind wiring up an offboard pot with some caps and a switch and (the list goes on).

The cost is no different, so to me it's just as easy to start with a PCB with the correct parts printed right there on the PCB. There is another upcoming release that is identical to one of the existing boards, but the component list is completely different... You absolutely could build it with the existing board (and that's exactly how I prototyped it), but since the cost is the same, why deal with the inconvenience of translating part values?

The other reason falls into a "marketing" situation... If someone comes along who wants to build that circuit, but doesn't realize what it's based on, they'd have no way to know it was right there in front of their face. I suppose I could list every variant possible on the product page, but that'd just get messy as well.

The extra boards take up about 4" of bin space, it's no burden. Modifying the PCB layout took about as long as it would take to work out which values need to be substituted and that only has to be done once, now no one else has to worry about doing it.

With that said, I'm all for listing the Glue Factory modification in the LGSM build docs. It's not about "selling more boards" or anything like that... If you're going to order one or the other anyway, why not get the one that makes the job just a little bit easier?

I super appreciate this about your PCBs - and it's one of the reasons I've found that I prefer PedalPCB pcbs over others. Having the component values printed on the board just makes it sooooo much easier. So thank you for that!