DIY Pedal build - Rookie Style!!

Ivan has given me soooo much useful information, it deserved to be organized in one place. Behold, the Prince of Tone, by Ivan. The attached document will save the newbie months of research since none of this stuff seems to be in one place. Thanks Ivan!!
 

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RVA said:
Ivan has given me soooo much useful information, it deserved to be organized in one place. Behold, the Prince of Tone, by Ivan. The attached document will save the newbie months of research since none of this stuff seems to be in one place. Thanks Ivan!!
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The DEA is gonna track who downloads THAT file. :LOL:
 
Hi guys, thank you all for the compliments. Sorry I haven't been here before this, or visited TTR much of late, free time has been a little tight of late & the free time I've had has mostly been spent with my recently acquired Norlin (which is calling me now). Stompbox building is an extremely rewarding hobby that I encourage all to get into. Knowing how daunting it can at first be, I applaud RVA for taking the plunge. Just as someone, around 3 decades ago took the time & effort to share his immense knowledge & skill to guide me into tube amp servicing, repair & finally, building & thus starting my electronics journey, I will gladly help anyone make their way into this hobby. As the guy who guided me said when I asked "why",,,, "knowledge that is shared furthers the art". So,,, come on guys, jump in, the waters fine. I really hope to see more follow RVA's example & take the plunge. I know there are others amongst us that build fx etc, lets hear from them please. Thank you RVA for compiling the Prince Of Tone file, hopefully other will benefit from. The King Of Tone would also be a wicked pedal (basically two Prince of Tone circuits in one effect) & I have built many "Vero board" type fx as shown in the KOT diagram, however for "gain" type fx I prefer point to point. Not only does it have the cool, mojo thing going on, point to point reduces the risk of crosstalk between tracks (noise & squealing & hysteresis at high gain levels etc) that "can" be inherent in Vero board (stripboard) type construction.
Looking forward to the rest of the build RVA & don't hesitate to ask questions. Cheers
 
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I have started assembling my parts. I cut my perfboard down to the size I needed, then I cleaned up and further reduced the edges on my bench grinder. The board in its original size is on the bottom and the reduced board is on top. Loks like a nice fit...so far!

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Cool. Planning ahead for placement of board stand offs & the like pays off here. Cheers
 
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The board is quite easy to cut. I use all manner of methods, a 6" stainless steel rule (straight edge) & a Stanley knife or box cutter, a couple of strokes' with to scour the board & then snap it, or side cutters etc for smaller cuts. For intricate cuts a dremel. For cleaning up the rough edges, a file, sandpaper, wet & dry paper or emery cloth, or again, a dremel.
Looking good RVA. Cheers

Edit; once the board gets a little populated, after each solder join I inspect the soldering through a 10X magnifier to makes sure all is good. With "point to point" type construction its not so bad, but with Veroboard/Stripboard type construction its quite easy to unintentionally get a whisker of solder bridging two tracks & stop the finished product from working. Best to make sure its all good as you progress through it, rather than try to find a problem when the effect is all together.
Another good idea is to have a large printout of the layout diagram & cross out each component on it as you install them. Cheers
 
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To all who downloaded the instructions, I had to make a correction in the value of an electrolytic cap value from .1 to 1. The instructions have been updated, so download them again if you wish
 
RVA said:
I used fret end clippers!
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The entire project should be scrubbed ---- this is an inferior tool for the job a proper clipper musty be acquired toot sweet and with much vigor@ perclippers.com r us @ #hashtags are stupid # !
 
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RVA said:
To all who downloaded the instructions, I had to make a correction in the value of an electrolytic cap value from .1 to 1. The instructions have been updated, so download them again if you wish
Click to expand...

This was my fault, not RVA's. I wrote the cap down as a 0.1uf instead of 1uf. Good catch RVA, well done. Cheers
 
Good luck Ray, and thanks again to Ivan for sharing his deep well of knowledge.
I did not do it because I rushed, but if you used enamel paint you can harden it by baking it in an old / spare toaster oven.
Google up the temps and times if you like.

I want to get back into it but it is always the limitations of time.
I've only done a few very basic builds; I still need to make the test board and test / match up the Qs gain on my 2 fuzz face builds.

Somewhere you had mentioned a parts list and good source for them, I dont see it.
I buy most of my stuff from Tayda.
I currently have labels of blue painters tape, but have some waterslide decal paper on order!
 
Next time I think I will solder the components as I place them in rather than place them all in before I solder. I am going blind!!!!! Needless to say, my first run is not pretty, and consequently, there shall be NO pics of the underside. Let's hope it works!

20180710_221748.jpg
 
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