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Noob question here, what would the orientation of the switch be for the madbean wiring of the 3pdt? Are the poles aligned with the sides with the holes facing vertically or horizontally? i.e.
  ABC
1 l l l
2 l l l
3 l l l

vs
A B C
1- - -
2- - -
3- - -
?
thanks in advance.

Sorry about that, just found the answer to that question...for some reason my computer was having a hard time with page 2 of this thread. Thanks for the help (almost done my first build! Hopefully it works!)

Noob question here, what would the orientation of the switch be for the madbean wiring of the 3pdt? Are the poles aligned with the sides with the holes facing vertically or horizontally? i.e.
  ABC
1 l l l
2 l l l
3 l l l

vs
A B C
1- - -
2- - -
3- - -
?
thanks in advance.

I'm thinking of free-handing/stencilling the lettering. I know it's not the easiest or fastest way to do it, but at least it's something that I have a little experience from building models and having to paint those. I'm just wondering, I know that the paint has a tendency to chip off of the enclosure unless treated in some way. Should I just use a clearcoat of enamel or laquer overtop of it? Would that solve the durability problem? If I should use a clearcoat, would it be fine for me to, since I'm getting an already painted enclosure from pedalpartsplus, and then I'll be painting the labels on myself? Will the clearcoat work just overtop of what's already there?

...that rant was confusing, but any help's appreciated.
Corey

Awesome ideas, plenty of options too. I have a few things around the house that might work, so I'll try those out (I think I might have some decal type stuff, but I'll have to check). I guess I could always try something out on a scrap piece that I have laying around before working with my pedal. I'll let you guys know if I think of anything new.
Corey

No, you don't need to clean them. You should have no problems at all. It's just something that's annoying to your fingers, but causes them no problems.

There are some things you MAY want to clean - you don't have to. If you have a bit of steel wool around, use it on your PCB, especially if it's a bare copper etch. It just removes some oxidization. The lugs of your jacks, your switch, and your Pots (ironically) can also benefit from this. The steel wool creates very small grooves that will allow your solder to grip the part better.

Another way to clean is to use rosin. We recommend using 60/40 Rosin core solder for this very reason actually. Rosin is a de-oxidant solution that when heated removes any oxidization from a part. That means that when you apply your rosin core solder, the rosin is 'cleaning' the part and the pad as the solder is being melted, then the solder instantly cools onto a (hopefully) clean pad and part. Imagine trying to stick duct tape to a dirty surface. Works for a while right? But put some stress on that duct tape and it won't hold for long. Clean that surface and make sure the duct tape is perfect and you'll have a much better hold right?

Sometimes I find that I need a little extra help for certain parts. 1/4" jack lugs are a good example - sometimes I apply a little liquid solder to the lug FIRST, so that as soon as my iron goes on it's getting cleaned. This is because sometimes the little amount of rosin in the solder isn't enough to properly clean enough of the surface of the lug. Usually the parts from Smallbear are fine in this regard, it's only been recently (since I got jacks from Mammoth) that I've experienced this problem.

Hope that helps. Can't wait to see your first build! If you need any help feel free to make another post, or even send me a message! I'm on here all the time.

Jacob

Awesome, thanks for the advice! Very helpful for me, since I, at times, have no clue what I'm doing. I have some 60/40 rosin core, so I'll make sure to use that. And I'll give some of the parts an extra scrub-down, just to be sure. About the scrubbing with steel wool to give it the small grooves, I guess it's the same sort of idea behind taking a little bit of sandpaper to model kits (which I used to build) to help the glue stick, more surface area=a better bond.

Once I'm done my pedal I'll be sure to post some pictures so that everyone can see and comment/give advice for improvement. I'm sure there's a fair amount of learning involved in this whole thing.
Thanks again!
Corey

Hey, not to derail the thread too much, but if you weren't aware - the KOT is a bluesbreaker clone. There are madbean projects for both a double bluesbreaker (KOT clone) called the Aristocrat, and a single pedal version of the same circuit. It has a switch system that allows you to change the levels of clipping/the types of clipping that works essentially the same as the 'overdrive/distortion' switch in the new Bluesbreaker II pedals Marshall puts out.

Ah, didn't even see that. I'll have to give it a look-over then once I'm deciding on a second pedal to build (I'm a newb, only starting my first build this week...well, once the parts get here).

Hey guys, just wondering,
I'm new to this whole DIY pedal thing, so I have very little experience with building anything, and I've never had to order in parts. So I just got in an order of parts today from smallbear (fast shipping, which is always good!), and I was just wondering about the pots. Now you say that they have a lubricant on them and that's why they're sticky? Should I clean them then, before soldering? If so, how should I do that? And are there any other parts I should clean beforehand? Sorry about the noobeyness.

Hey,
I was wondering if by any chance you would consider adding a Marshall Bluesbreaker or Guv'nor Clone to your line-up. I especially like the newer Bluesbreaker II that Marshall has out now, with both Overdrive and Boost settings.
Just an idea, do with it what you want.

Hey everyone,
I'm just curious as to how everyone puts labels onto their pedals (i.e. "Volume", "Tone") I'm thinking of just using some stencils and painting using those. Would that work, or is there a better/easier way? I don't want to have to send it off to get labelled, and I don't want to spend much $ doing it, so things using common household materials would be great.

So I'll try to attach some photos, but I'm new to this whole forum thing, so I don't know exactly how it works, so we'll see.


Hopefully that works. The one picture I have's at http://img225.imageshack.us/i/p1050298j.jpg/
I'll try to get some better photos once I get home. Hopefully this'll work. Sorry about my newbieness by the way, when it comes to computers I'm horrible.

There's only one diode. It should be just next to the DC jack on the board.

It would be easy to find...if I had a DC jack. I think mine's from before the DC jack was standard on the "Original Crybaby". With that being the case, would it mean that I don't even have a diode?

Not all caps are directional, just some. Chances are low you blew a cap. A diode or transistor is much more likely. Perhaps both.

Which crybaby version is it? It should have a letter.

Jacob

All I know is that it's an Original Crybaby, Model GCB-95, and that the serial number is CB071295. I can find two transistors, but for some reason I can't really find any diodes, does that make any sense?

So here's the thing, I was tired of going through so many batteries with my Original Crybaby wah (GCB-95), so, since it doesn't have a DC jack, I tried using the one adapter I have. It's a sort of universal adapter thing, with switchable voltage (I used 9V of course), and switchable polarity, and I used the battery clip adapter to put that in place of the battery.
The thing is though, I think that I may have accidentally used the wrong polarity and killed my pedal, because now it won't work. The bypass works fine, but when switched on the effect doesn't really do anything. So I'm wondering, how exactly would I go about figuring out what's gone wrong with it? I know that resistors have no directionality, but capacitors, transistors and diodes do, if I'm not mistaken? Would it just be best for me to replace all of the capacitors, transistors and diodes, just to be on the safe side? That would let me avoid having to test it, I think. I'm just wondering though, I've tried to find the schematics for this, but everyone else's Original Crybabys seem to be set up differently. And there's one capacitor in my wah that has no values on it (the large radial one), so I don't know what I would replace it with.
Any help with this whole situation would be appreciated.

What would the polarity of the Double Flush's power jack be? Should the adaptor have a negative or positive centre? i.e., would it be (-) --(^.--(+), or would it be (+) --(^.--(-) ? I made the mistake of using the wrong polarity on my wah pedal and killed some of the components and I don't want to go and do that after spending so much on parts.

Okay, makes sense. I'm not all that experienced with this whole thing, so I wasn't too sure. Figured I'd ask before ordering.