What’s on *YOUR* workbench?

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Decided to start working on the next pedal from the lot I bought (remember, not my build, someone sold a big bunch of pedals for cheap). First off the send/return was not jumpered, I just added a jumper but need to solder it too. The bias resistor was also 56k when it should apparently be 1k? But the worst of all, 9V and ground go to the middle when I think they should actually go to to the top, and the middle ones are meant to be jumpered from the 1 and 5 pads right next to them.

I'll probably have to take it out to do fixes to the pads, which is a little scary with the 9mm pots wired offboard and whatever is going on with the other wires.

Edit: But tbh I feel like the Abductor delay is already worth the cost for the lot and I haven't even gone through the rest of the pedals yet - would be nice to get this up and running.

Btw, I also noticed that the official build documents link to Steggo Studios blog.

Edit2: Fixed the wires, it's flanging now but not modulating. The rate LED is blinking though. I'll try resoldering the switch next, not sure what after that.
 
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I decided the workbench wasn't active enough with bigger projects so I've taken on a basket case Mesa Boogie Studio .22 from FB Marketplace ($600, probably got taken a little). I've been after this earlier plain version for that hotrod Princeton vibe that Mesa was known for before the gain got silly and this one seems to be a good candidate.

From the initial test drive and eye test I can see that we'll need new grill cloth, they took the good speaker out to sell it (got a questionable Celestion from a modeling amp), and we need tubes at a minimum (someone threw a 12AT7 in to Fender-ize the gain).

I'm hopeful because it does have a good clean sound even with tired tubes and the wrong speaker. The reverb isn't Fender lush but I bet if it is possible to convert to a pan in the bottom of the cab it would get a lot closer.
 
I'm sitting here trying to decide what goes on the workbench next. I have several pedals built and ready to box up, but I'm waiting to the weather to cooperate long enough for me to refinish a few enclosures.

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chris.knudson said:
I freed the diodes, resistors, MLCCs, and transistors a while ago. I still keep the ICs locked in their tiny little cages.

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My blood pressure just shot up. Have high humidity year round where you're at and only wear cotton?
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jessenator said:
yeah, second look time… are those ESD-protective capsules? That's a lot of investment to leave to chance.
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Yeah, that's a consideration. They are not ESD protective capsules, but I keep everything grounded, and I keep the humidity at a level where ESD isn't a problem. And I don't touch anything without discharging first. I am aware of the risk, and I take lots of precautions to protect my investments.
 
Aaaand the Electric Lover is also fixed. It was a lot harder to figure out what was still wrong compared to the Abductor, but eventually after checking a lot of voltages and resistor values I realized there was a cut connection and soldered in the worlds ugliest jumper. And now it works just like it should!

Sounds quite nice with a clean sound, not so sure about it with distortion - I prefer a mix control with flangers and distortion so I can dial it in even lower than minimum depth, but I also only tested it first in line so I'll see how it works in the FX loop too.
 
chris.knudson said:
Yeah, that's a consideration. They are not ESD protective capsules, but I keep everything grounded, and I keep the humidity at a level where ESD isn't a problem. And I don't touch anything without discharging first. I am aware of the risk, and I take lots of precautions to protect my investments.
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I've been building PC's since DOS 1.0, and have always used one of these wrist straps. We have EXTREMELY dry and windy conditions here in SoCal called the Santa Annas. Less than 10% humidity with winds gusts to 50mph that blow semi trucks over. So strong is the static that it separates the O2 molecules and makes ozone. I could barely effing breath yesterday the ozone was so strong.

I've never gotten a shock while wearing one of these! Never fried a single CPU! Cheap insurance for a few buck$

www.staticsolutions.com

Wrist Strap with Coil Cord (WS-1020) | Static Solutions

Experience unparalleled comfort and functionality with the WS-1020 wrist strap. Our patented design ensures a direct connection to the buckle, avoiding interference from fabric for optimal performance. With top-grade protection and 20/20 conformance, this wrist strap from Static Solutions is the...
www.staticsolutions.com www.staticsolutions.com

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RetiredUnit1 said:
I've been building PC's since DOS 1.0, and have always used one of these wrist straps. We have EXTREMELY dry and windy conditions here in SoCal called the Santa Annas. Less than 10% humidity with winds gusts to 50mph that blow semi trucks over. So strong is the static that it separates the O2 molecules and makes ozone. I could barely effing breath yesterday the ozone was so strong.

I've never gotten a shock while wearing one of these! Never fried a single CPU! Cheap insurance for a few buck$

www.staticsolutions.com

Wrist Strap with Coil Cord (WS-1020) | Static Solutions

Experience unparalleled comfort and functionality with the WS-1020 wrist strap. Our patented design ensures a direct connection to the buckle, avoiding interference from fabric for optimal performance. With top-grade protection and 20/20 conformance, this wrist strap from Static Solutions is the...
www.staticsolutions.com www.staticsolutions.com

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jessenator said:
yeah, second look time… are those ESD-protective capsules? That's a lot of investment to leave to chance.
Click to expand...

chris.knudson said:
Not to worry. I have considered the risk, and I take a lot of precautions.
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is ESD really something to be worried about?
I've honestly never really given a shit or thought about it much, except for obvious sensitive parts like MOSFETs.

is my stash of LF353s or 3904s gonna be ok? they're just sitting in bags.
generally with parts that come in those fancy shiny/tinted (ESD-protection) bags from mouser/digikey i'll just leave them in there til i need them.
Are tayda pink bags considered ESD-protective? (i wouldn't think so)

for context:
annual average daily relative humidity @ 3pm is roughly 50-60% in my area (slightly more @ 9am)
how fucked am I?
 
owlexifry said:
is ESD really something to be worried about?
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I don't worry: insurance is cheap; ESD bags are pennies. Replacing a single cheap-as op-amp is 50c or more; replacing OPAs are several dollars; replacing BBDs are tens of dollars; etc.

Same goes for other semiconductors: BJTs, diodes, etc.
 
owlexifry said:
is ESD really something to be worried about?
I've honestly never really given a shit or thought about it much, except for obvious sensitive parts like MOSFETs.

is my stash of LF353s or 3904s gonna be ok? they're just sitting in bags.
generally with parts that come in those fancy shiny/tinted (ESD-protection) bags from mouser/digikey i'll just leave them in there til i need them.
Are tayda pink bags considered ESD-protective? (i wouldn't think so)

for context:
annual average daily relative humidity @ 3pm is roughly 50-60% in my area (slightly more @ 9am)
how fucked am I?
Click to expand...
The Tayda bags are electrostatic, they even sell them. Like any of us would need some, lmao.

One night I sat up in my bed and there were sparks jumping off the polyester comforter. I thought it was so crazy looking that I picked up the sheets a few times to generate more. A small bolt of lightning came from the bottom of the bed and smacked me right between the eyes.

Scared me more than anything else, but that sucker was a good 8' long. God knows how many volts it took to form that thing.... If you've ever seen an old western movie where the wind is blowing and howling all night and beating the crap out of everything, that is perfectly normal here. Blows over trees, blows shingles off roofs, trashes wood fences, and blows over semi-trucks. They aren't allowed on the roads when it is really bad.

So, yeah, here in SoCal it is a very real danger to low voltage components.
 
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Not to be that guy, but as I've had it explained to me, the pink or blue bags aren't shielded, they're resistant only. That is they don't build up static charges on themselves as other plastic bags do, as I understand it. The metalized shielding bag is meant for shielding against electrostatic discharge. EEVblog for reference:

 
owlexifry said:
is ESD really something to be worried about?
I've honestly never really given a shit or thought about it much, except for obvious sensitive parts like MOSFETs.

is my stash of LF353s or 3904s gonna be ok? they're just sitting in bags.
generally with parts that come in those fancy shiny/tinted (ESD-protection) bags from mouser/digikey i'll just leave them in there til i need them.
Are tayda pink bags considered ESD-protective? (i wouldn't think so)

for context:
annual average daily relative humidity @ 3pm is roughly 50-60% in my area (slightly more @ 9am)
how fucked am I?
Click to expand...
If you're average humidity is between 50-60%, you have nothing to worry about, and yes those little bags from Tayda and Mouser will keep your parts safe -- at least until you handle them. If you walk around your house and get a zap when you turn on the lights, then you you need to exercise extra caution, but the reality is that most of the time you have very little to worry about. I've been handling computer chips and ICs for more than 40 years, and I've never fried one (at least not from a static discharge). I have worn those wrist straps, but usually only when I'm working inside of a rack that costs as much as my house, and even then, it probably wasn't necessary.

The bottom line for me is that static isn't a problem in my house. I keep my house between 40-50% relative humidity -- mostly to protect my investments in woodwork and guitars. Both my bench and my desk are grounded, and generally before I handle ICs and processors, I just reach down and discharge myself as a precaution. Unless you're throwing sparks, you don't really have anything to worry about.
 
Finally making some progress on this zonk machine now. Man this was kicking my ass for a few nights. A combo of not being able to get close to the RG Keen suggested voltages for Q1 and my charge pump being noisy as hell was really holding me back. I thought the transistors I was trying were really hissy but then realised that with every set I tried the hiss was the same so I swopped the charge pump it's nice and quiet now.

I also found a few threads on freestompboxes and the dam forum where no one else was hitting the rg keen suggested voltages either. Plus none of the vintage units I've now seen voltages for fall in those ranges. I'm starting to wonder if he meant 0.3-0.5 volts on the emitter of Q1 rather than 3-5 volts on Q1's emitter.

I've got an OC71 in Q1, a NKT278 in Q2 and a OC44 in Q3 at the minute and it's sounding really great. I'm going to pop it in a temporary enclosure tomorrow and take it to band rehearsal so I can try it out at volume.

This is definitely going to make me build some tone benders now. I've been loving my fuzz face with the strat but really not enjoying it with my dual humbucker prs whereas the zonk machine is pretty magic with humbuckers into my Marshall.

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