Manhattan Preamp (Thermionic Deluxe)

[Crash102]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

There's a certain sigh of relief that comes when a build with this many parts works the first time.

I highly recommend taydas pre-drilled enclosures for this one.

If you're a fan of high gain pedals, I can't recommend this enough. The Be OD deluxe was one of the pedals that made me turn an eye to building my own. I've tested it in my effects loop and in front of my Engl Fireball 24. It sounds great in both places.

I've continued to have issues recent with no film decals. Which is weird because they always been great. I ended up leaving the film on because I didn't want to have to scrape off a failed decal. I'm not sure what is causing is but I put in an order for a heat gun that I'm going to try to use instead of simply baking it.

Im not sure it was necessary, but I used shielded wire for the first time. I boughy it with the intention of using it on a 3 in one Revv build that I have planned but had extra and figured it wouldn't hurt to use here.

One of the things Ive worked on improving in my builds is getting the pots as straight as possible. This means taking it and put in quite a few times and tightening the pots before soldering. Maybe it's common knowledge to do this, but some of my earlier builds have pots at a slight angle. It's worth taking the time to do right. Especially on Behemoths like the Thermionic distortion.

All in all, I love the pedal and enjoyed building it.

 

[Harry Klippton]

Myself and others have stopped using heat guns all together on no film, and opting for two bakes, with the first one being about ten minutes I've found that squeegeeing is the most critical step in ensuring good adhesion too. If the glue is at all thick under the decal, it'll flake after the final bake.

Removing decals is best done by soaking the enclosure face down in at least 91% isopropyl alcohol overnight. Then it wipes off with a paper towel

 

[Crash102]

Myself and others have stopped using heat guns all together on no film, and opting for two bakes, with the first one being about ten minutes I've found that squeegeeing is the most critical step in ensuring good adhesion too. If the glue is at all thick under the decal, it'll flake after the final bake.

Removing decals is best done by soaking the enclosure face down in at least 91% isopropyl alcohol overnight. Then it wipes off with a paper towel

Thank you. I think I'm putting on too much glue. I used to use the little bag, but ended up buying a bottle and am using more than i used to. . Probably need to use a brush and get a thinner application of the glue. What temp are you baking at? I should probably look into getting a better squeegee.

 

[Harry Klippton]

I use a brush for the glue, and I bought the squeegee from sunnyscopa out of convenience. I bake around 250°F and let my toaster oven preheat for quite a while.

I also clean my enclosure with 91% iso and then scrub it with dish soap and hot water before applying the decal. I use distilled water for all of the steps with the decals.

First bake is 10 minutes and the second is 30 minutes for me

 

[steviejr92]

I bake at 200 - 210f. Never had a problem i think @Harry Klippton is right, think about the squeegee part as prep work for the heat treatments...you dont want any excess glue under your decal. Its a critical part of the process!

EDIT: I use a brush as well it helps control the amt of glue you apply.

 

[Crash102]

Removing decals is best done by soaking the enclosure face down in at least 91% isopropyl alcohol overnight. Then it wipes off with a paper towel

Now I learn. I used isopropyl and a tooth brush to remove one the other day, but i was near the end of my bottle. took forever to scrub. Nice to see a 'soak the dishes" approach will work better

 

[Harry Klippton]

I've had to remove a lot of decals lately even after the final bake, soaking in iso works great. No film is a labor of love. I feel like I'm still trying to figure it out

 

[Crash102]

I've had to remove a lot of decals lately even after the final bake, soaking in iso works great. No film is a labor of love. I feel like I'm still trying to figure it out

It is a labor of love. So much of a labor that I've started eyeing a laser engraver. Currently in that internal dialogue stage of rational me telling uninhibited me that i don't need a 1400 laser engraver.

 

[steviejr92]

I've had to remove a lot of decals lately even after the final bake, soaking in iso works great. No film is a labor of love. I feel like I'm still trying to figure it out

I just did the same exact thing yesterday i realized it was ever so slightly crooked and it drove me crazy

 

[Crash102]

I just did the same exact thing yesterday i realized it was ever so slightly crooked and it drove me crazy

I used to do an outline around the enclosure to help me get it right, but I've moved from that to including the pots and footswitch holes in the decal, and then just line it with that instead. has helped me get it straighter. but invariably a squeegee stroke will mess it up.

 

[steviejr92]

I used to do an outline around the enclosure to help me get it right, but I've moved from that to including the pots and footswitch holes in the decal, and then just line it with that instead. has helped me get it straighter. but invariably a squeegee stroke will mess it up.

So make a dashed border on your design then after the 1st heat treatment you can take a Q tip and acetone to gently remove the dashes!

 

[Fingolfen]

Looks great! The Thermionic Deluxe was the first PedalPCB board I built - on request for a friend - and honestly it was so good I've pretty much gotten the overwhelming majority of my pre-made PCB's from PedalPCB since then!

 

[Crash102]

Looks great! The Thermionic Deluxe was the first PedalPCB board I built - on request for a friend - and honestly it was so good I've pretty much gotten the overwhelming majority of my pre-made PCB's from PedalPCB since then!

Thank you. Outside of a couple a builds, nearly everything i built comes from pedal pcb. There's just a certain neatness that my brain understands more than some other pcbs.

 

[HamishR]

I just realised that I haven't bought a PCB from anyone else in over a year. I think that means the Robert and I are going steady.