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Before I decided to go the kit building route, I did find that Fox pedals do a boutique "Wrath" pedal which is basically the same thing, but now I can build this one and have all the fun of that, and then be able to start on more projects.
Just to echo comments above - I don't find much use for a helping hands stand during the build because I am forever turning the PCB over. I have found it useful though in hole clearing/ solder sucking situations. and the magnifying glass is useful when checking for solder bridges etc...
One other tip - if you have gone for board mounted pots, very carefully check the PCB for bridges/shorts before soldering the pots, because it's harder to do this once they are in place.
One thing that occurs is that I really do hope to understand how the circuit works, and what it's doing to the guitar signal, so I wonder if there's a book I could read that would clue me up about the electronics in guitar pedals - any suggestions?
Be interested to see how you get on with the Rat clone. I have a keeley modded rat 2 but it's always sounded a bit too thin and "pedal like" for me, not sure if the mods in this kit would help.
Good luck, it's fun once you get going!
The raw fuzz sounds awesome btw, huge!
Re what you say about the modded Rat 2 seeming a bit thin, I'd say try the Turbo Rat, or a clone with Turbo switching - to me it's like a bigger, beefier sounding version of the Rat, even at lower gain settings.
I said maybe.....
I'll make a new thread with clips etc of the Raw Fuzz when I have some time. It's basically thick stoner rock muff inspired heaven though
Tried soldering a resistor to the stripboard using the Maplins solder anyhow, and was struggling - couldn't seem to get enough heat in there - applied iron to one side of the joint, touching the metal strip and protruding lead, tried to feed in solder from the other side, but didn't want to do it. Hopefully all this is teething troubles, but I'm very glad I didn't just leap in on the PCB.
Practice with some resistor legs- heat joint - apply solder to joint not solder tip. There's where most people go wrong, they try and use solder like blobs of glue
Thinking about things, I reckon I probably haven't quite got the right kit together yet. I may give in on the idea of using silver solder, and get some 0.5mm leaded type. Also, maybe the tip on the iron is a bit fine for what I want to do, so I'll try one that's a bit wider. But enough for today, I've lost the energy for now. Hopefully will get things working better eventually.
That said, I haven't used lead-free solder yet! My last job was making medical lasers, and we were exempt from using lead-free (as are aerospace and the military, and for good reason!).
I believe you need around 430° for lead-free. 60/40 tin/lead is lower, at around. 350° IIRC. In my experience, it's much easier to use, much easier to re-flow and much less likely to fail.
I said maybe.....
I do think a bit narrower diameter solder will help, and also just a little narrower iron tip, as the 2.4mm one feels just a bit too clunky for the job. I think I'll order a couple of 1.6mm tips - hopefully a good compromise between being able to get enough heat into the joint quickly, and not being too imprecise.
Still not sure whether to go for some 60 40 leaded solder - the tips that are on sale for my iron type (900M) all seem to come plated with lead-free silver solder, so I wonder if 60 40 would work OK - thoughts anyone?
So - all seems a bit of a faff getting off the ground, and heavy going, but I think it is teething troubles, and I don't mind waiting a little longer to have kit that works for me, and will allow me to do a good job.
May I ask what temperature you have your iron set to? A 60W iron with a 1.6mm tip should easily be able to flow the solder more or less instantly.
I said maybe.....