The Next Step...

Coda

Coda

Well-known member
I'm ready for the next step. I have built many, many pedals, all from Pedal PCB boards (and a few non-PPCB thrown in). At first, I was pretty conscious of trying to follow the BOM as close as possible...looking for the exact transistor listed, etc. Gradually, I began to become interested in modding circuits. This led me to breadboarding (its not a habit...I can quit anytime). Breadboard mods led to more mods, and so on. And now, I'm ready for the next step. I have toyed to heavy mods, as well as designing something new. Meanwhile, I have also started looking into expanding the "y" in DIY. With this being the Test Kitchen, which is kinda about testing stuff/ideas, as well as having a bit of help (I came up with the name, after all, so I get to pretend like I have a say in what this sub-forum is about...anyway...). My end goal in this little project is to design from the ground up. I want to be Jamie Stillman...I want to take a time-tested circuit (lets say, a Buzzaround), build it on a breadboard, start changing components, change some controls, and then build that circuit on stripboard/perfboard, whatever, and box it up...

BuddytheReow has done an excellent job with the breadboard tutorials. Since we all know what we are doing now, maybe we can collectively take it to the next step. Let's start PERFIN' (lets make that a term). Where should we start? I could write something up about the difference between/benefits of and against the various board mediums...that's an easy one. But what about how to translate a schematic to perf/vero? What else do we need to know?...How do you mount the board in an enclosure? How do you cut the board? Where do babies come from? How do I make an original schematic?...

So, if you are interested in taking it to the next step, learning more about building pedals as a group, and perhaps even designing you very own pedal (probably a fuzz, be honest...) say so in the comments below. If no one is interested I will go about this journey alone...like that trip I took to Mordor that one time...
 
Good thoughts. There are a lot of great resources out there with vero/strip board that you could reference to build upon and fill gaps. I’d suggest starting here and see where things may need to be added:

tagboardeffects.blogspot.com

Vero Layout Guide

Collection of vero (stripboard) & tagboard layouts for 100s of popular guitar effects, with over 1000 verified designs. DIY your own boutique effects!
tagboardeffects.blogspot.com tagboardeffects.blogspot.com
 
Every time I think about using vero, I think about someone else's vero build I repaired for someone that didn't seem to hold up over time. Perhaps conformal coating is the answer but then that seems like one more reason to not bother. Anybody got insight on this?
 
Big Monk said:
It would likely be much better to communally design a simple PCB.

In this day and age of giving JLCPCB $20 total for 20 PCBs, vero/perf/strip seem very antiquated.
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What am I gonna do with 19 extra PCB's? There are too many contests/giveaways around here as it is. Besides, you always end up having to order more than 20...what with all the redesigns...
 
Harry Klippton said:
Every time I think about using vero, I think about someone else's vero build I repaired for someone that didn't seem to hold up over time. Perhaps conformal coating is the answer but then that seems like one more reason to not bother. Anybody got insight on this?
Click to expand...
I don't necessarily think that that is required. I do think that planning a vero build to mitigate mechanical stress is an essential part of laying out a build. Having a ton of wires flying around and not providing adequate mechanical support could certainly lead to issues down the road.

Big Monk said:
It would likely be much better to communally design a simple PCB.

In this day and age of giving JLCPCB $20 total for 20 PCBs, vero/perf/strip seem very antiquated.
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I mean, sure, but that's talking about a different process altogether. Prototyping boards allow for a builder to take something in an individual direction (e.g., mods, panel layout, integration with other circuits, etc.). Designing a pcb with all of the community additions is a rather inelegant substitution to that since, for example, if you want to have a different layout than what is dictated by the pcb, you're back to the issue of off-board components. How does a community board accommodate personal preferences? Why does one build a 250/Dist+ on vero when there are dozens of options ready-to-buy?

To illustrate, I'd personally never want to have a toggle in close proximity to the footswitch since that could be a point of mechanical failure. That is a design choice that you're okay with given your BMP circuits. Personal preference is fine and in the spirit of DIY.

Perf is also a super fast and simple solution once you build the skill. Need to add a pre-gain block to a circuit that doesn't have one? Add any number of boost circuits right up front without leaving your bench or firing up eagle/kicad/diptrace/whatever and waiting three weeks for it to arrive at your door.
 
Harry Klippton said:
Every time I think about using vero, I think about someone else's vero build I repaired for someone that didn't seem to hold up over time. Perhaps conformal coating is the answer but then that seems like one more reason to not bother. Anybody got insight on this?
Click to expand...

It seems like not all "VERO" is created equally- I've certainly had a circuit built on super-cheap strip-board fail on me after 2-3 years, but I got ahold of some higher-quality stuff that I haven't gotten around to trying yet.

*All that to say, I hope the new stuff lasts longer.
It sure cost enough to last awhile..
 
I think Chuck said it best on one of my threads when I was balls to the wall with designing my own circuit:

-What do you want the circuit to do? (fuzz was mentioned earlier)
-How do you want the circuit to work? Si, Ge transistors, opamps, jfets, etc.
-Are there building blocks out there that we can work from? In my limited time breadboarding and trying "new" things out, there really aren't 100% original circuits out there anymore, but rather tweaked building blocks stacked together.

I definitely want to learn with the group turning a breadboard build into a veroboard build that isn't flipping huge.

I think PCB design for now is a 'cart before the horse' scenario for us.
 
Just throwing this out there. Do we want to take a fuzz circuit and tweak it to our liking or put a few circuit blocks together and tweak em individually (booster stage into clipping stage into eq stage and maybe a buffer)?
 
BuddytheReow said:
Just throwing this out there. Do we want to take a fuzz circuit and tweak it to our liking or put a few circuit blocks together and tweak em individually (booster stage into clipping stage into eq stage and maybe a buffer)?
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This is a good idea. It’s a better deal-type of idea…as some would get more knowledge than just how to diy.
fig said:
Are we doing bare (no copper), strip copper, pad-per-hole, etc? Or is it builder’s choice?
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Good point. I think thar bridge is well off in the distance, though. Let’s add point-to-point to that list, just to intimidate the fence-sitters…
 
Coda said:
This is a good idea. It’s a better deal-type of idea…as some would get more knowledge than just how to diy.


Good point. I think thar bridge is well off in the distance, though. Let’s add point-to-point to that list, just to intimidate the fence-sitters…
Click to expand...
Sorry, had my long-range scanner active. 🤷‍♂️
 
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