How to Build Your First Guitar Pedal Part Two
- Thread starter jjjimi84
- Start date
peccary
Well-known member
I was just able to watch both videos and I've gotta say that it was really great watching someone else build from start to finish.
Seeing all of the similarities and differences in how things are done is really interesting and it helps to think about different approaches to building a pedal. Now I want detailed videos of how everyone does a build!
I also just wanted to say that the videos in general are just a success in terms of how simple and accessable you make the process seem. It'll be a big help for beginners for sure. We might need an official "tutorials" section with all of the great work that people have put in to create these kinds of things.
Seeing all of the similarities and differences in how things are done is really interesting and it helps to think about different approaches to building a pedal. Now I want detailed videos of how everyone does a build!
I also just wanted to say that the videos in general are just a success in terms of how simple and accessable you make the process seem. It'll be a big help for beginners for sure. We might need an official "tutorials" section with all of the great work that people have put in to create these kinds of things.
jjjimi84
Well-known member
Thanks for saying that, I am trying to approach it like a beginner and hope it is helpful.
andare
Well-known member
Thanks for the video! Always interesting to see how other people work.
Offboard wiring is the biggest headache for me and it's funny how you just stick the wires in the boards laying on the top and solder away while I use 50 helping hands and tape to keep the wires from sliding out haha.
Offboard wiring is the biggest headache for me and it's funny how you just stick the wires in the boards laying on the top and solder away while I use 50 helping hands and tape to keep the wires from sliding out haha.
jjjimi84
Well-known member
More hands the merrier, that is why there are bath houses…..
I love hearing about everyones techniques hopefully more of you come out of the wood work to talk about the build process
peccary
Well-known member
One big difference between how I do things and what I saw in your video is that I have 95% of wiring done before mounting. I really dislike soldering in such a tight space with plastic bits all over the place, so I rig it all up first except for the switch which is always last and always done after everything else is installed.
Sometimes I'll save the I/O grounds and power till after it's installed (usually if it's a larger board), just because that can get a little cramped in that space and it can keep it neat looking. But then I'll solder the wiring to the board so I only have the jacks to solder.
jjjimi84
Well-known member
I am going to try this out, thanks for the tip!
peccary
Well-known member
It's just how I started doing it. In Jovi Bon Kinobes post he gave measurements for the general wire lengths and I just did it one day with his measurements, blind, and it worked out.
andare
Well-known member
I start by populating the resistors. I'm not OCD but I measure them with my DMM, check the docs, bend the legs with needle nose pliers, check the doc again and often check with the DMM again after placing the resistor in the PCB. Measure 10 times, solder once.
I start soldering the resistors and diodes and bend the legs 45 degrees. Ideally I'd do all in one go but the legs get in the way so I have to stop a few times to clip them. At this stage I use blu tack.
Pretty standard from then on, going from short to tall, using painter's tape to keep components nice and flush. Electros are last, again checking values and polarity 50 times.
I've tried cleaning the PCB with isopropyl alcohol and only got good results with a PCB that I'd completed that day. If they are a few days old already the flux just spreads. I also noticed that a couple of solder joints were empty. Pretty sure I didn't miss them so I wonder if cleaning actually weakens the solder joints.
Then I fit the pots and solder all lugs rotating between them. Then the +9V, ground and jack ground wires, feeding them from the pot side.
I like to solder the breakout board to the footswitch and then solder all 6 wires at once. I tape them to the footswitch to keep them flush. Then I solder them to the PCB. If the two boards are going to be close or overlapping I do the opposite. I really hate this part, I suppose thick solid wire is the way to go.
Finally I solder the jacks. At this point I power the board with a 9V battery with alligator clips and plug in to test. If it works (100% success rate so far!) I box it up, add the LED and finally solder the DC jack.
Honestly as much as I love PedalPCB (the catalog, quality, logo, colors, website) I'm not a fan of top mounted jacks, especially because it gets really cramped in a 125B.
I'll take this chance to thank everybody here. This forum is fantastic. Learning so much!
carlinb17
Well-known member
What type of flux are you using? I had issues one time with that lead free crap, I found that Kretser was the best. The alcohol content of your isopropyl will also make difference, the regular stuff has "minerals" and other stuff in it they do sell the high test stuff and that seems to work really well and have no residue etc...
jjjimi84
Well-known member
I really wish I would have mentioned how I clean my boards.
MG Chemicals - 413B-425G 413B Heavy Duty Flux Remover, 425g (15 oz) Aerosol Can https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B005DNQWV0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_BB8ZY5V9Z0WNAYWZXTSB
I bought this on July 9th 2016 and still use it to clean my boards. Roughly 300 plus builds at least.
I spray it on let it soak a bit, then scrub off with an old toothbrush. Repeat a time or two and we are good to go.
MG Chemicals - 413B-425G 413B Heavy Duty Flux Remover, 425g (15 oz) Aerosol Can https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B005DNQWV0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_BB8ZY5V9Z0WNAYWZXTSB
I bought this on July 9th 2016 and still use it to clean my boards. Roughly 300 plus builds at least.
I spray it on let it soak a bit, then scrub off with an old toothbrush. Repeat a time or two and we are good to go.
andare
Well-known member
Mine is 99% isopropyl. As for the flux it's whatever they put inside this 60/40 solder available here. Don't know the brand.
