A newbie at pedal building

Xandoor

Hi all
I've decided to have a crack at building a simple distortion pedal (following this because i thought I had better start easy https://www.instructables.com/id/Make-an-easy-guitar-distortion-pedal-STEP-BY-STEP/ ), and I wondered if anyone had any advice on what to do and what not to do. 

cheers

Gabe

Winny_Pooh

I'd start with a fuzzdog kit before you branch out into drilling cases and vero board (the yellow circuit board in that link) That way you can also get a "classic" design and the components sourced for you. 

Xandoor

well I feel quite confident doing those kind of things. I'm new to pedals but not to wiring and some bits of robotics. my practical skills are fine, it's just I have some doubts that it's all transferable and that I might fall into some dumb habits that don't work well for audio products.

Philtre

There are some useful threads here with some building tips.

For example:

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/128889/pedal-build-diary-blow-by-blow-account/p1

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/121368/c18q1-learn-electronics-and-build-a-pedal/p1

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/129131/stevefs-pedal-building-journey/p1

thermionic

That’s an interesting approach, but you’d end up with a much more usable pedal with a fuzzdog kit.

Dinosaur_Sr

Always double check your component orientation, can’t tell you how many times i’ve been sure I got everything right, then discovered I had a polarised electrolytic in backwards.

Same goes for power, it’s easier than you think to wire positive and negative back to front sometimes. Sounds stupid but I’ve done it a shameful amount of times. Also make sure you’re not using an AC power supply, that’ll fry your pedal most of the time.

For transistors and chips use sockets, those can get fried by using too much heat, or heating them for too long. It’s much easier to swap them around if you have them in the wrong way (again, that happens all too often, especially if you’re me) and you can also easily try out different types and combinations without having to desolder everything.

Get yourself a cheap digital component checker, I got one on ebay for about £15 and it’s been a life saver. You’ll be able to easily check your resistors/capacitors etc are the correct value if there’s any doubt.

roberty

I'd say at the very least get a PCB from Fuzz Dog.  There's around 74 fuzz types on there I think.  The Opto bypass + ribbon connector option adds another layer of simplicity and convenience

Xandoor

The component checker sounds a good plan. I've bought lots of components so if I fry some it's not the end of the world, so I'll try handwiring first just for the s*hts and giggles, and if that goes tits up (which it probably will lets be honest) I'll go for a PCB from fuzz dog. I'm also aware of the fact I might get a lot of hiss. any tips for minimising that?

Xandoor

Also, I know that handwiring will take absolutely forever, but I have time on my side, and I feel like it would be more satisfying to trial and error for ages than put a kit together. maybe I'm just a masochist who knows

Adam_MD

Xandoor said:

Also, I know that handwiring will take absolutely forever, but I have time on my side, and I feel like it would be more satisfying to trial and error for ages than put a kit together. maybe I'm just a masochist who knows

Check out the layouts on tagboard effects they’re pretty simple and well laid out.  

lasermonkey

+1 for Tagboard FX.  The layouts are generally very well done and there's often some discussion regarding the various builds under the layout diagrams. I'm not sure I've seen a better collection of stripboard layouts in one place.