First attempts at self built pedal kits

[vroomery]

Hey guys. It's been forever since i've posted on here, but my tax return has been burning a hold in my bank account. Thus, I've decided to release a little of my gear GAS and up my set up a little bit. Which brings me to the two pedal kits i've ordered from GGG. I ordered the tremelo and tube screamer kit after having some success with soldering musically based electronics in the past. (Fixed a few cables and re-soldered the power tube socket to the circuit board on my Fender Deluxe) Based on that brief criteria, are there any tips you veteran pedal builders (Ahh-hemm- Vood?) can give me so that I don't end up wasting my money? Any advice would be much appreciated!

[Suhnton]

Gday Vroomery,

I'm sure DVM will chime in with much more useful advice than me, but anyway, I'll throw my 2c worth in.

*First thing, check the board for broken etches etc.
*Then for each component you install, double-check you have the correct value/part/orientation. Unsoldering stuff becomes a messy affair.
*I usually start with resistors, then caps, and transistors/opamps last.
*Don't know what soldering iron you're using, but I have a 40w which is OK, but I think it gets a little too hot sometimes.
*The tip needs to be fine if you want a clean job. And keep the tip clean, I usually clean it after a couple of runs.
*For Opamps, use IC sockets (which should be provided in the kit, but not 100% sure). That way you won't cook the chip and it'll save you a lot of hassle if you accidently insert it upside down/backwards.
*Some people usually do the same for the transistors, which is probably a good idea.
*After everything is installed and you've checked the work again for bad joints, incorrect placement of components etc, it's probably a good idea to give the solder-side of the board a clean. I use a toothbrush (an old one, not my wife's) and nail polish remover (my wife's).
*For wiring to jacks/pots etc, I like to make the wires a little long, then cut them to size after routing. I usually like to run the wires so they run around the inside edge of the box. It looks a lot tidier (IMHO).
*Also, just remember, when you're installing the board into the box you're going in from the bottom, so the jacks will be reversed (i.e the i/p jack is now on the left, and the o/p on the right).
*The jack with 3 connectors is the i/p jack and the one with 2 connectors is for the o/p.

I've probably told you stuff you already know, but anyway, good luck and happy building. It gets quite addictive (and if you're like me, probably end up building boxes you don't really need).

P.S: Here's a resistor colour code (http://www.csgnetwork.com/resistcolcalc.html) chart so you can verify the values before insertion.

[vroomery]

Thanks for the tips. I did my best to do what you said and I've definitely learned some things already. First off, desoldering is really annoying and messy (as is attempting to get through a hole that has accidentally had solder melted into it). I have also learned that you will be most successful by using just enough solder and getting a good seal on the first melt. It seems like the more times i try on some parts it just doesn't want to hold and the more solder I use the messier it gets with no correlation to the piece staying put. One of the major roadblocks I have run into is that the iron I am using is just not small enough and I have reached the point at which i need to run the small group of wires where all of the holes are basically touching b/c they are so close. I don't have the slightest clue how to make this work. With the iron I have been using there is no way I will be able to get these wires connected without making one massive connection with a 4 wires. Any ideas or tricks for this problem? Is it really just about me getting a better iron? Thanks again for the help.

[Suhnton]

Before you go any further, how big is your iron? The size you should be using is like this:

25W
http://www.takkyparts.com/jpeg/tool/hakko_dash.jpg

If you're trying to use something much larger than this, you'll get yourself into trouble. Yeah, each solder point should be a "1-shot" i.e you shouldn't try to solder multiple times in the same place. The joints become "dry" (if you look closely, instead of a nice shiny joint (good), it looks cloudy and "bubbly" (bad)). If you show me what you've done so far by way of photograph, maybe I can offer some advice on how to fix it. My job in a previous life was repairing PC and monitor boards, so I have some experience in this area. You can PM me if you like.

[duhvoodooman]

Excellent tips from Suhnton, quite comprehensive. Just a couple of things to add:


A 40W iron for this kind of work is w-a-a-a-y-y too big. I'd recommend an iron in the 20 - 25W range. I'm on my 3rd one of THESE (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3086618&CAWELAID=163567338), and they work very well for this service. BTW, I'd recommend the 0.032" diam. 60/40 tin-lead rosin-core solder from Radio Shack (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062715). Stay away from the non-leaded type, unless you you have a masochistic streak. Believe me, the planet isn't going to implode because we DIY pedal-makers use the leaded stuff....
For DIY beginners: Read the kit instructions thoroughly before you start. Then read them through a second time before picking up your soldering iron. Now put the iron down and read 'em a third time. No kidding. The more familiar you are with this, the less likely you are to make beginner mistakes. As you mentioned, desoldering tends to be a rather large PITA. This will help avoid it.
Which brings me to key supplies to perform desoldering effectively, when you have to. Desoldering braid (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062744) is an absolute essential--get some. A desoldering bulb (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062742) is helpful for cleaning out plugged eyelets. And if you think you'll be doing more of this, a proper desoldering tool (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062745) is better yet.
Hope that helps. Take your time and ask questions if you get stuck....

[vroomery]

Well I made a trip to radio shack today. I have learned first hand the importance of having the right tools. Now that I understand this I really laugh at how gross this project looks at this point. Here's a few pics for laughs.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/vroomery/IMG_1525.jpg?t=1240957219

This side looks ok.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/vroomery/IMG_1527.jpg?t=1240957243

This side looks like solder was barfed all over the circuit board.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/vroomery/IMG_1532.jpg?t=1240957268

Got this fun stuff from radioshack. Right now the plan is to just take it all apart, clean the board as best I can and then start over. I haven't even cut a good few of the wires because my wire cutters were a joke. Now I have some good ones so that shouldn't be a problem.

Quick question about order of application. Do you guys thing it's easier to start with the smallest items (Resistors) and then go to the larger items, or do you prefer to move in one direction across the board so that you always have a clean angle to the point that you are soldering? It seems like the second method might be a little easier, but I don't know. Also, are there any special tricks to restoring the solder points so they are not dry and will take the new solder well? Thanks again. I cannot stress enough how much better I feel about doing this stuff while knowing that I can ask you guys for answers.

[sumitomo]

Well you are getting practice in.I wouldn't desolder it,try and clean it up and see if it works.Take it apart and it will become a real mess.Sumi:D

[Suhnton]

If you cut the legs off the components and clean the underside off with alcohol, it might not look as bad as you suspect. I've seen repair jobs worse than that.

You could try desoldering some of the messier joints.
You don't have to get every last bit of solder out, just aim for removing the excess.
Then give the joint a quick solder shot. It should be a "touch-and-go" type action. It might take a little practice, but you'll get the hang of it quickly.
Don't hold the soldering iron on the component and "feed" the solder in.
Don't try to remove the components or you'll break an etch.

Also to answer your question, when soldering components in, the board should be sitting on the table/bench (don't try to solder with one hand while holding the board in the other). Therefore put components that sit relatively flat to the board in first i.e resistors, then gradually build up so that the components that sit proudest (stick up the most) go in last. It's a lot easier that way. That's how I do it anyway. Wiring always goes in last for me.

Good luck.

[vroomery]

Ok...I've cleaned it up quite a bit. Everything looks really good but i just can't get this one last leg to stick. I have cleaned it the best i know how. Cleaned the iron and then done the cleanest solder job I can. It just wont stick to the eyelet. Is there anything else I can try that I haven't tried yet? I really really don't want to have to scrap the job because of this one stupid solder joint. It's driving me crazy haha. Pleaseeee tell me theres something simple I can do!

[Suhnton]

If it's not sticking to the eyelet it probably means the etch has come away/off. Can you take a photo? If that's the case, there are a couple of options:

1)
At the end of the track that the eyelet connects to, scrape away the coating to reveal the bare copper track.
Be very careful if/when you do this, and always scrape in the direction of the eyelet. This will prevent the track from lifting off the PCB.
You should scrape only enough away to allow soldering to the track (3 or 4mm). Then, either:

A) Fold the leg over, cut it to size and solder directly to the track or
B) Using fine wire, do a couple of wraps around the leg, solder and then cut and solder the wire to the track.

2)
The other option is to run a wire connection from the component leg to the other end (where it should connect to). For beginners, this might be easier/safer than scraping away the coating.

If you can post up a photo, it will be easier to assess what needs to be done.

Cheers.

[vroomery]

I think it may be the case that the etch has come off over the eyelet. I had thought about bending the lead over and soldering it down, but I have no clue about those sort of things. I'll take a picture and get it up tomorrow before I do anything else to that particular part.

[Suhnton]

Yeah I was thinking about it after I posted my response earlier.
I would definitely recommend option 2 (running a new wire connection from the "broken etch component" to the other end). I think overall the job will look tidier.

[duhvoodooman]

Is your problem that the top part of the eyelet etch has come off, but you still have continuity between the rest of the eyelet (hopefully the eyelet on the component-side of the board is still there) and the trace it attaches to? If so, a simple trick may be just soldering the lead on the component side of the eyelet, as long as it's accessible. I've done this a couple of times with good results. Just check for continuity between the eyelet (either side of the board) and the terminus of the trace it connects to.

If, on the other hand, the eyelet has detached from its trace, that method won't work. A good trick for that situation is similar to Suhnton's second suggestion, but using the component lead itself as a "quasi-trace". Locate where the connecting trace for the eyelet goes to, then bend the component lead over and spot solder it to that point. In practice, this usually works only for short traces, and you have to be sure that the bare metal lead isn't going to short against anything else in between. If that's a problem, use a length of insulated hook-up wire instead, per Suhnton's option 2. I agree with him that you're better off avoiding trying to scrape on the trace. That's pretty easy to screw up.

And don't sweat it--problems of this sort are virtually always fixable. Might not look too great, but once you button up a pedal, as long as it works reliably, nobody cares what it looks like inside....

[Suhnton]

nobody cares what it looks like inside....

That's right, look at them Jetters - hot melt glue everywhere :confused:

[vroomery]

Ok cool. I'll try DVM's suggestion of soldering on the other side of the board I think. Yet again, something I never would have thought of haha. Hopefully this will be the last of my troubles with this build.

[vroomery]

well...i got that one spot fixed i believe. It's all wired together and whatnot. I get a signal when the pedal is engaged but it doesn't trem. It also sounds a little bit distorted. The signal light and the pots also aren't functional haha. Sounds like I have some step by step trouble shooting to do.

[Suhnton]

The first place you want to check is that trouble eyelet spot. Are you sure there's continuity between the components?

[duhvoodooman]

I'd be double checking all your wiring connections. The fact that the LED doesn't light suggests that something isn't connected properly somewhere. Confirm that you didn't install the LED backwards--they only light up in one direction.

Am I right to assume that in bypass mode, everything is working correctly?

Clearly focused, close-up photos are really needed to effectively troubleshoot....

[vroomery]

The bypass mode worked well. It was when I clicked the pedal on that it got kind of distorted sounding. I will try switching the led light and see if that helps. I'll also try and get some pictures tonight to see if you guys can find anything blatantly obvious.

[vroomery]

Well guys. I have officially caught the bug. I went to radio shack today and bought one of those little alligator clip stands, some flux, and some practice materials so that I could figure out this soldering thing before I mess anything else up. I first must say that flux is quite possibly one of the most amazing things ever invented haha. It has made soldering so much easier and really even made it enjoyable. Once I figured it out I went back and started to re-solder every joint. I must say it looks wayyyy better than it did before. All of the joints are nice and shiny and have that desired volcano shape. Using a little flux even mended that cold eyelet that I thought was useless earlier. I haven't finished putting all the wiring yet, but I am much more confident that it will work this time. At least if it doesn't it should be easier to diagnose the problem without all those horrible looking solder joints all over the board. I'll do my best to find a good camera to take some pictures so you guys can tell me what you think! All in all. I'm pretty excited to do some more of this stuff.

A few quick questions that I didn't find in the manual on ggg's site or elsewhere.
1) How do I know how to orientate the switch? Is there some sort of sign or notch that I'm missing or does it just not matter as long as the sockets are running horizontal?
2) What do you guys use to clean the soldering tip? I looked at a good few tutorials online, but they all said just to tin the tip, wipe it off on a wet sponge, and then tin the tip again before use or storage. For whatever reason I can seem to get the tip to tin very well and the sponge does little to clean off the charred residue.

[Suhnton]

I'm assuming you have a 3-way DPDT switch (9 pins in total), which means there are 3 individual circuits/switches inside. With the pins facing horizontally, each vertical set of pins makes one circuit/switch. For arguments sake let's call them 1,2,3 from top to bottom.
Pin 2 is the common connector, and pressing the switch button will make a connection between 1&2, or 2&3. As you said, as long as the pins are facing horizontal, then you should be ok.

As far as cleaning the soldering tip, I just use a damp cloth.

[Kazz]

The soldering stations i used to to use always had a compartment with a little sponge in it that you keep wet...and when you need to clean your tip you dip it into the wet sponge.....as Suhn says...a wet cloth will work too.

[duhvoodooman]

If you use the cheap soldering irons without temp. control (which are the only find I've ever used for pedal work), resign yourself to replacing the tips often. They run hot, and the high temps just chew up the tips in a hurry. I keep a healthy supply of tips on hand, because I rarely get more than a couple of builds out of a tip. I prefer the chisel-style tips, and they invariably develop a groove right in the middle of the chisel edge that gets deeper and deeper, until they're Y-shaped. The conical tips seem to last longer, but I don't find them as easy to use. Just personal preference--YMMV.

BTW, you should tin them immediately upon first use, because once they develop an oxide coating, getting them to tin up is very difficult. THIS STUFF (http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=tip%20tinner&origkw=tip%20tinner&sr=1) helps in that regard. I usually treat the tip with this cleaner at the beginning and end of each session of use.

Waitin' patiently for those pix....

[vroomery]

IT IS ALIVEEEEE!!!

So i finished it up last night and low and behold, it actually works! Here are some pics. Some are a little blurry b/c they are so close up, but you can still see the solder job alright. I can't describe how happy I was when I first heard this thing do the wobble with my guitar haha.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/vroomery/050309_4.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/vroomery/050309_3.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s67/vroomery/050309_2.jpg

[Suhnton]

Congrats on your first build. Let's have a listen then...
Your next project should come together a lot easier. Is the Tube Screamer kit you purchased the standard kit or did you order "options" as well?

[duhvoodooman]

That soldering looks a LOT better than your first attempt. Congrats on your first working build! :AOK:

[oldguy]

Glad to hear you got it going. The solder job looks much better.

(I seem to remember "It's alive!" being posted by Vood somewhere in the past also.......):)

Nice job.:AOK:

[vroomery]

I'll put some clips up sometime in the next few days. I got finals comin so we'll see what that means for free time haha.

Also, I ordered the options kit with it. I figured it was only like 8 bucks or something so why not. Do you have any listening experience with this pedal and/or some of the extra mods you can do with this kit? I was probably just going to do all the mods but I would love to know if there is a particular one I should stay away from.

[vroomery]

Here's a little taste of the goods. Playing an american tele through fulldrive 2 and the tremelo into a hot rod deluxe. There's a few funky chords but you get the idea.

http://myspace.com/justinstonezone

[Suhnton]

Very tasty, nice playing there man.
You also look like you've been hitting the weights in your photo.

[vroomery]

Thanks man. The apparent weight lifting is residual from working in construction over the summer. I don't have much time to lift weights between guitar, church, and school haha. And for the record, I don't actually wear shirts like that on a regular basis. That pic is from a concert at my school where we covered don't stop believing and were all dressed up like journey haha.

[duhvoodooman]

IAlso, I ordered the options kit with it. I figured it was only like 8 bucks or something so why not. Do you have any listening experience with this pedal and/or some of the extra mods you can do with this kit? I was probably just going to do all the mods but I would love to know if there is a particular one I should stay away from.
The MOSFET conversion kit allows you to install MOSFET components in 5 places in the circuit: the input and output buffers, the clipping stage, the opamp, and the boost stage. I initially installed them everywhere but the output buffer, based upon some advice (http://www.muzique.com/lab/buffers.htm) I read on Jack Orman's website (next to last paragraph). Jack has forgotten more about effects than I will ever learn in my lifetime. Plus MOSFETs in the buffers are the main contributor to noise in the circuit, and who wants that? The MOSFET input buffer does tend to preserve highs coming into the circuit, so that seemed worth doing. I'm pleased with the results. I'd definitely recommend the MOSFET's in the clipping section. Leave out the LED's, because the diode-lift middle toggle position sounds very nearly the same as the LED's anyway.

I ended up taking the MOSFET-based opamp out because it didn't sound like anything special to me, and the Burr Brown chip gave somewhat better clarity and note definition. AAMOF, I liked the MOSFET opamp least of the three, preferring the JRC4558D to it also.

If you want to get fancy with the switch wiring, you can rig up a 3PDT toggle switch (http://www.buildyourownclone.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=17245) that will allow you to put the boost in front of the OD portion of the cirrcuit, as well as behind it, which is the default configuration.

[Suhnton]

Are you referring to the Screamer clone with regard to mods?
I know DVM will probably groan (:) ), but I would do the Landgraff mod. It's known as the "Expensive Boutique Mod" in the GGG instruction PDF.
Or the Bob Keeley Mod, which is what I did. Either way, these mods sound much better than a stock TS-808. I wouldn't bother with the Jack Orman FAT mod, I think it adds too much bass end into the pedal and the OD becomes quite muddy.

[vroomery]

So I finished the screamer clone pedal up a week or so ago. I might get some pictures up here in a little bit. I basically did the langraff mod but without the diode lift mod. When I first plugged it in it seemed really gritty. My OD up to this point has been a fulldrive 2 in vintage position which is much more smooth sounding. I've been looking for an OD that could get a little dirtier than my fulldrive to use for those screaming solos so this was a good result for me. Then a few days ago I got back to playing with it and was playing a little blues so I pulled back on the drive knob a little bit. Man am I glad I did. There's a certain subtlty about it that has a bit more flavor than just running clean, but when I want to dig into it I can switch to the bridge pup and get a little more breakup. I was planning on doing the giving the keeley mod a run too, but I'm pretty happy with what I've got now.