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Viewing 17 posts - 171 through 187 (of 293 total)
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  • in reply to: Combo Build – Zenith / Stage 3 #20316
    Big O
    Participant

    Looks great!  And the spaghetti wire thing I know well because it is really unavoidable when you place multiple options into and out of a board and have multiple switches.

    in reply to: Footswitch PCB Help #20260
    Big O
    Participant

    I know what all the pads are for on the GuitarPCB 3PDT board as I have used many of these.  I really just wanted to make sure the LED connection I showed above was correct for this particular application, as the LED for this project is on the effect’s main circuit board and is situated on the board in a particular spot to be able to fit into a pre-drilled enclosure hole.

    The board for this particular project is labeled as to which switch lug is to be attached to, as shown in the first drawing above, not a typical 3DPT switch wiring layout.  I just wanted to make sure my translation of the switch wiring from the first drawing to the GuitarPCB board wiring was appropriate.

    Since the boards I ordered haven’t arrived yet, I used the blue 3PDT board as depicted above that I had on hand and it works perfectly as wired above.  The effect is alive and working well.  Pictures will be forthcoming.

    Big O
    Participant

    Just noticed your comment about picture size.  I just load the picture I am going to use into Microsoft Office Picture Manager on my PC and then click on “EDIT’ > “RESIZE” > “Predefined width x height” > then “Web Large” or “Web Small” and then import it into a web picture hosting site.  From there I can post the picture on the GuitarPCB website.

    If you have an Apple product, I can’t help you.  But my daughter, an artist and art teacher, probably knows how.

    in reply to: Animal/SuperSonic Combo w/ B&B and Order Switch #20128
    Big O
    Participant

    Nice graphics/artwork and pedal!  And I know the feeling of finally finishing a combo build.  It is quite an accomplishment.

    in reply to: Questions on the Barry method for enclosure graphics #20060
    Big O
    Participant

    As a Follow-up, I used the laquered laser printed artwork with a couple of coats of ArmourAll.  It came out very nice and it is now glued to the top of the enclosure a la EHX style.  Still very easy to do – way easier than painting the enclosure and playing around with waterslide decals trying not to tear or stretch the artwork.  And as you said, if you make a mistake, just remove the artwork with a razor blade and reapply new artwork.  Maybe I used the wrong type of ArmourAll – I used the regular stuff.

    Here is what happened when I wiped the ArmourAll after the inkjet photo artwork had dried for nearly 72 hours.

     

    in reply to: MKC Finished (Almost) #20055
    Big O
    Participant

    Revisiting this build.  One of the wires broke off the power jack, so the pedal was in need of repair.  I took the opportunity to take the trimpot off the board, drill a hole in the enclosure and then mount and install a B100K pot for an External Gain 2 control.  For me, the easily adjustable Gain 2 control is helpful to mix in the clean and is slightly more than subtle to my ears.

    New Gain 2 Control is on the right side of the enclosure.

    Internal guts picture showing B100K Pot mounted on the left side of the enclosure between the LED and Gain 1 Pot.

    Things I learned.  First, don’t use crappy wire like I did wiring up the power jack – I had some leftover stuff of very thin gauge, maybe 26 or 28 gauge.  The wire just didn’t hold up.  After desoldering the solder joints on the jack, I reused the wire but placed heat shrink tubing over the connections to prevent the wire from snapping off at the attachment (solder joint).

    Second, its probably best to do the suggested mods anyway because you may get builder’s remorse if you don’t.

    in reply to: Questions on the Barry method for enclosure graphics #20022
    Big O
    Participant

    Did both versions.  Printed picture with Inkjet on inkjet photo paper and clear coated it with acrylic laquer.  No runs or smears.  Should be ready for the Armour All treatment.

    Printed pictures with the color laser printer on laser printer photo paper.  Sprayed one with Armour All and it came out fine – probably what I did a couple of years ago.  The second one I clear coated it with acrylic laquer and will later spray on the Armour All, although I don’t think I really need to do that as it already has a protective clear coat.

    in reply to: New Distortion Pedal – Sort Of #19985
    Big O
    Participant

    Power Supply Resistors:  Select Standard Trotsky (3.3K + 50K Pot) or Turbo mode (47K + 50K Pot) which increases overall voltage to collector side of circuit and therefore greater gain/distortion.

    Input Caps:  Select Trotsky (0.047u) or Electra (0.1u)

    Rototone:  Select 1 type of 4 paired clipping diodes

    On/Off Switch:  Deselect or Select extra clipping diode for asymmetric clipping.  I was going to Rototone this as well for 16 types of clipping, but there was no room to get the extra Rototone into the enclosure.

     

     

     

    in reply to: New Distortion Pedal – Sort Of #19981
    Big O
    Participant

    Diode clipping pairs.  Another switch located in the path after the Rototone adds a third diode in parallel with any of the 4 selected diode pairs for asymmetric clipping.

     

    in reply to: New Distortion Pedal – Sort Of #19979
    Big O
    Participant

    The Rototone is the “switch” with 4 slections after the 1u (100n) output cap and prior to the the symmetric clipping diode “pairs” in the schematic.  The biggest difficulty in this build was soldering all of the switches and pots to the small GBOF board that provides very little room for error between solder pads for all the input and output wires.  Very tight fit, but it works.  The GBOF is about half the size of the veroboard piece that I initially attempted to build the circuit on.  Now I just have to finish connecting another board to a couple of pots and switch, and then wire up the power and input/output jacks.

    in reply to: New Distortion Pedal – Sort Of #19973
    Big O
    Participant

    Forgot to add the picture of the bare, drilled enclosure.

    in reply to: Where are all the Rangemaster builds? #19749
    Big O
    Participant

    Here is an example of a Hornby Skewes TB built with a GBOF board.

    More modified HS TB (now in the repair garage waiting to have some fixes made).  Note that the HS boosters have an input capacitor selector to change the tone of the pedal similar to the GuitarPCB PURP.  IMO this is an invaluable mod to the treble booster / Rangemaster type circuits.

    Finally a Rangemaster that is similar, but not quite the same as the GuitarPCB PURP from another pedal kit / PCB site.  It also has a variable input capacitor circuit that I further modified as well as an external bias (another mod).  It is less versatile in some ways  compared to the PURP, and is without a charge pump, which I feel is superior for playing well with other pedals.  It is laid out similar to a Joe Gore Fiendmaster.

    I feel that the PURP is the best of the RM circuits that are modified copies of the original RM because the different features offered on this PCB really does not change the basic overall Rangemaster itself, but adds improvements to it.

     

    in reply to: Where are all the Rangemaster builds? #19726
    Big O
    Participant

    I have a couple Rangemaster type pedals I built, but I think it was not posted on this site because it is not a PURP.  I do have a PURP to eventually build but it’s down my list.

    It’s a simple circuit and most treble booster circuits are basically a variation on a theme.  The Hornby Skewes TB can be built on a GBOF board using a lower gain NPN silicon transistor so there is no need to bias it.  Just a slightly modified LPB circuit.  Sounds not too different from a Rangemaster.

     

    in reply to: A Pair of Fuzzes – Don’t Do What I Did #19725
    Big O
    Participant

    I’m sure you are not the only one on this forum that has done this and I have been guilty of it.  I’m currently working on a complex build with 4 switches and 2 pots on just one of the boards.  I made a complex diagram of wiring and switch orientation, and then labeled switch orientation and purpose inside the enclosure with a sharpie.  Slowly building the pedal to try and avoid mistakes.  Have the first board, on vero, built and just got all 4 switches wired to it.  Did make one mistake soldering wires to the side of a PCB that was opposite of the side I wanted to.  Just going to leave it alone because it is not a functional mistake, just a cosmetic one.

    in reply to: Rototone Orientation #19686
    Big O
    Participant

    I understand what you are saying.  I plan to solder the switch on the Silk Screen Side and the components on the Solder Side.  I just wanted to reiterate why the instructions are confusing to me.

    in reply to: Rototone Orientation #19682
    Big O
    Participant

    Revisiting this one more time.

    Here is where my confusion arose.  The drawing in the instructions implies to me that the PCB can be mounted to the switch on either the Solder Side or the Silk Screen Side with the same CW 1-4 operation as below.

    A photo in the instructions shows the switch mounted on top of the Silk Screen side.

    However another photo in the instructions shows the switch mounted on the Solder Side of the PCB with a CW 1-4 operation (the Silk Screen Side is facing the camera).  Not the greatest photo resolution, but the “circle” is clearly visible.  This actually happens to be a Wilkie project.

    I did find someone else’s project with the switch mounted onto the Silk Screen Side with the Solder Side facing the camera (although its the deluxe version).

    This is where my confusion arose.  So I was actually asking if the it matters if the switch is soldered onto the Silk Screen Side:

    Or onto the Solder Side (as Wilkie’s pedal appears to show):

    In order to maintain a CW 1-4 operation as viewed on the front of the pedal enclosure.  Maybe the title and wording of my initial post may have been a little confusing or misleading.

     

    in reply to: Rototone Orientation #19658
    Big O
    Participant

    Double checking before soldering.

    FRONT of the board is resting on the Bottom of the base of the rotary switch, with A eyelet on the Right of B eyelet.  I assume this is the correct orientation so that CW rotation of the switch as seen on the top of the enclosure will proceed from 1-4.  A is Input to the board and B is Output from the board.

    BACK of the board is resting on the bottom of the base of the rotary switch, with A eyelet on the Left of B eyelet.  I assume this is the wrong orientation so that CW rotation of the switch as seen on the top of the enclosure will proceed from 4-1.  A is Input to the board and B is Output from the board.

    Please let me know if this is correct.

Viewing 17 posts - 171 through 187 (of 293 total)