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I can't buy an etched PCB anywhere. This circuit has existed for a while in the vero/perf world for some time but I cannot find an etched PCB and am not ready to either etch my own, or use vero or perf board. I'd prefer to buy a PCB for a few $$ and have the peace of mind.

I posted this to essentially say that hard work is done, it just needs taken to the level of commercial development and not bedroom tinkering which it is currently at, as no PCB supplier sells this board (yet).

If I'm wrong, and you can send me a link to where I can buy the PCB, then I'll withdraw this post... it just seems like a cool pedal, a cool opportunity to increase the range of saleable product, and a tested/verified build already... just needs power to bring it to market.

Or... delete this post.

very cool pedal, does everything.



Looks a little like that.

Similar to the Dr Boogie with a lower parts count yet capable of a similar sound.

Cool stuff.

Went to change a Q, the trace came off when I was desoldering the middle leg of the transistor, effectively cutting the circuit.

Any ideas how I can get around it?

I'm wondering about getting a bare wire from the trace before the Q to after the Q and then soldering the tranny legs to the wire, but not sure if this would work.

No I don't, all I have is a soldering iron and some good intentions.

reflow?

Do you mean desolder, and then resolder?

Apologies for asking, but I'm not familiar with the vernacular

I have, it's all good. Q2 has the twisted legs.

I'm gonna make an order for some other trannies, and socket them up to see if it really is Q1/Q2.... if that doesn't solve it, I'm out of ideas.

Anybody?

Hey guys,

I need your help with my snack shack. It works, just nowhere near like it should. It's shrill, icepicky, and does nothing more than increase the volume, give a little bit of breakup and give me insane amounts of treble regardless of the setting. It's mildly overdriven but it's such a horrible sound... so crazily bright and in no way shape or form anything like the Meathead it's designed to imitate.

I didn't build this pedal, someone very generously built it for me, but it's like a very very harsh treble boost and zero fuzz... imagine hearing your guitar played through a tiny 1950s radio where everything sounds like it's coming through a tin can. it's like that.

OH, forgot to mention the fact that I'm picking up radio stations with the knob past 3 o'clock.

Here is the pcb:



Everything is stock with the schematic except Q2 (which says SK3020) which I was told is around hfe 400-500 as I was looking for something with ridiculous amounts of gain/fuzz for use in a collaboration with a techno DJ, which is due to be coming up soon!

The wiring is very well done, it's all soldered neatly and perfectly so there's not a problem with cold solder or anything, as you can see here:



So, what's up here? What can I change to make it sound like an actual DAM Meathead? I checked the schematic/diagram on the madbean pdf and it looks good, except that C1 and C5 (the red ones at the right of the PCB) look like they should be going into the holes at the top of the board and not the ones beneath them, which look like they should be left empty according to this:

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/SnackShack/docs/SnackShack_ver1.pdf

so any ideas guys? I'm really looking to turn this into a meaty beast, as right now it's unusable.

In case you're wondering, I'm using a Les Paul into a custom designed amp (Soldano lead 50 crossed with a Mesa Mk II) so it isn't the guitar, amp, or leads.

EDIT: just checked the datasheet for the RCA Sk3020 (the tranny in Q2), apparently the hfe is 125... could that be responsible for the lack of gain and tinny/buzzy sound?

Edit 2:

I didn't include any shots of the business side of the PCB before since I didn't have any, but now I do. Upon closer inspection (and better lighting) I can see they're are a few solder bridges and also one or two cold solder joints, but I'm not sure if this is an issue.



this might be a better angle of everything:

so I pulled it out of the trash and looked at everything under a magnifying glass.

The switch looks ok to me. Not perfect. It's ugly but I can deal with that on my first build.

The board is kinda ugly, blotchy, some solder is running wild so I'm going to remove the solder from the back, order some new caps and trannys and try it again with a focus on neatening it up. If it still doesn't work then at least I gave it a shot, but if that fails then I might need to order a new board. I'm hoping that isn't the outcome but we shall see.

thanks for the reply

the LED is wired right, theres an orange wire going from SW to lug 1.

my soldering is shitty due to an old iron with a huge tip and lack of experience on my part but there's nothing obvious that stands out as being a bridge, and if there was I'm not sure I'd be able to remove it.

Would a cold solder joint be make or break or make a board inoperable?

I took it out of the enclosure to test the grounding and had the pot, switch, jacks and board all laid out. I plugged it on and it just buzzed and the LED didn't even turn on which confuses me even more. IT worked in the box, but not outside of it.

I wired the switch like on the datasheet, albeit rather unattractively. I can't see any bridges or anything... I see a lot of crappy soldering but not a bridge between lugs or anything.

Can I email you some pics to spare my shame?

ah. so its wired up. I've gone from not getting it to work to not getting it to work correctly... so this is some kind of progress.

The LED is now always on, so at least the DC is wired ok.

I push the button and the signal completely dies. I push again to turn the effect off and my signal then gets through and the box is totally bypassed.

Oops: one more thing. I touched the lugs of the pot. The middle one makes a buzz when contacted, left one does not, right one does but it's quieter than the centre lug. Not sure if that helps but I don't have a multi-meter to test the circuit, so I just poke it.

I would like to thank you for your patience and apologize for being rather dense an matters electrical.

long leg = square socket?

OK... I'm sooo close to finishing this pedal and finding out it doesn't work and I'd really like ot add the LED since there's a hole in the enclosure for it.

I read in another thread about attaching a 4k7 resistor to the long lead, then running a wire to the DC jack and running another wire to the empty lug of the switch (this was for a Kronk build).

I have no empty lugs, but I do have the LED, bezel, wire and a 4k7 resistor and the holes on the PCB (long leg in the square?) and would really like to have the added fun of a pink light. So.. what goes where?

I DID do a search but couldn't find anything related to this specific build.

All help gratefully appreciated.

Thanks guys,

tez

did you change any of the components from the ones on the build sheet?

It sounds very raw

well after a big delay I got the photos. I stuck them all together in one big photo, numbered them, and typed out the hard to read lettering on some of them. The 6th one was sent by Brian, so must be correct!




I think I'm almost there. And guys, thanks so much for your hand-holding, I really appreciate it.