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DIY Effects


JackLondon

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anyone here make their own PCBs?
This may have been asked before but search didn't turn up anything.
I want to make something but don't know how hard it will turn out to be, I know maplin sells a starter kit for photo etching.... and a lazer printer will apparently do the same job....
but it's a fair outlay... (oh and something to drill the holes with) for a one off and something so simple - is it worth doing or is perf board a second best option?

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Anyone seen this yet?

Circuit Scribe lets you draw circuits instantly! This is a rollerball pen filled with specially formulated conductive ink that dries instantly. We also have numerous circuitry components available that make this a great prototyping and STEM education tool. We currently have a kickstarter campaign for this product!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/electroninks/circuit-scribe-draw-circuits-instantly

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[quote name='DolganoFF' timestamp='1384020281' post='2272039']
Thanks!

There are others in the works (passive "drive" and passive mid-freq cut)
[/quote]

Passive drive? A feedback looped pair of germanium diodes to ground? 1N34?

I'm very intrigued… :unsure:

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[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1383726527' post='2268099']
Pictures please (I shouldn't need to ask ;) )
[/quote]

[URL=http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/paul_510/media/2013-12-05155255-1_zpseedcae04.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd471/paul_510/2013-12-05155255-1_zpseedcae04.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

It's now switchable between the modded (bass friendly input capacitor, tone control and clean blend control) valve caster, and a Tonepad Small Clone clone that I didn't have a box for.

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I'm thinking about starting building my own pedals in the new year. I've seen a BYOC bass overdrive http://buildyourownclone.com/bassfx/bassoverdrive.html and I'm wondering if anyone here has built one of these? The You Tube demo sounds ok. I love the blend feature, that's a must for me. Or, any suggestions for anything similar? Bearing in mind, this is my first attempt.
Cheers.

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[quote name='ratman' timestamp='1386586010' post='2301677']
I'm thinking about starting building my own pedals in the new year. I've seen a BYOC bass overdrive [url="http://buildyourownclone.com/bassfx/bassoverdrive.html"]http://buildyourownc...soverdrive.html[/url] and I'm wondering if anyone here has built one of these? The You Tube demo sounds ok. I love the blend feature, that's a must for me. Or, any suggestions for anything similar? Bearing in mind, this is my first attempt.
Cheers.
[/quote]

I believe that kit is essentially an Xotic BB Pre with a blend feature (I've never felt the need for a Blend with that circuit).
5 knobs worth of offboard wiring could be enough to put you off for life haha. As such, I'd suggest starting with something like a clean boost or a Fuzz Face, just to get you into the swing of it, only 1 or 2 knobs worth of wiring (sometimes even on-board pots mmmmmmm).
Having said that, if you're literally just talking about a one-off because you want a bass drive......go for it, patience are a must though ;)

Good luck :)

Si

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Yup; offboard wiring (pots and switches and sockets etc...) is a bit of an aquired skill. It can end up like knitting with spaghetti if you're not careful. That said it shouldn't put you off having a go. If something goes wrong then it's not dealung with dangeroys amounts of voltage and yoy'll learn a new skill that can be used to mend a bass or replace bits of it as and when the need arises - can save you a few quid by not having to pay a tech to do that sort of stuff for you.

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I'm not daunted by the wiring on this. I have already rewired a couple of my own basses, and although I'm new to building pedals, I like to think I'm technically minded enough to cope ok. Hopefully it won't be a one off thing either but I'll take it one project at a time. Thanks for the supportive replies - I'll let you know how it goes.

Edited by ratman
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[quote name='ratman' timestamp='1386591514' post='2301779']
I'm not daunted by the wiring on this. I have already rewired a couple of my own basses, and although I'm new to building pedals, I like to think I'm technically minded enough to cope ok. Hopefully it won't be a one off thing either but I'll take it one project at a time. Thanks for the suppiortive replies - I'll let you know how it goes.
[/quote]

Excellent! Always good to get more builders on here, there's been some great pedals in this thread :)

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[quote name='ratman' timestamp='1386591514' post='2301779']
I'm not daunted by the wiring on this. I have already rewired a couple of my own basses, and although I'm new to building pedals, I like to think I'm technically minded enough to cope ok. Hopefully it won't be a one off thing either but I'll take it one project at a time. Thanks for the supportive replies - I'll let you know how it goes.
[/quote]

Get to it! :)

Si

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[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1386601772' post='2302011']
Get to it! :)

Si
[/quote]
Lol, give me a chance! I've got to find my soldering iron, probably chuck it out and get a decent one, and buy a kit. Anyhow, this is going to be a January project. I'll have a lot of free time as the gig front is looking mighty lean at the moment.

A couple of questions - I've been reading about solder. Is it possible to get hold of pure lead solder in the UK, as it melts at lower temps. I've read that it's banned now. Or am I stuck with lead/tin solder? And, is it worth getting sockets for IC's and transistors so I don't fry them with higher soldering temps if I have to use tin/lead solder. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here, but I've done a lot of reading today and they're the two main questions that have cropped up so far.

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I"m actually a bit hazy as to what the deal is with lead solder. I don't think it's illegal to use broadly speaking, however I don't believe it can be used in commercially available produce?! Maybe someone can clarify. Luckily my dad is an electronics engineer of some 40 years............so I have various supplies of decent components/tools to hand ;).
I always socket ICs, usually socket Transistors, and sometimes socket Diodes. If you want to be super careful/experimental, socket everything you can manage :)

Si

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