Cleaning the Back of the Bench

[Jakes Dad]

Finally figured out having large piles of stuff on the bench is not conducive to getting stuff done so I've started going through various stalled/failed projects to try to clean up the work space a bit.  Some of the junk is, well, just junk.  Some of it is really good stuff.  Here are two new-ish successes that have become favorites.

First up the MadBean Cosmopolitan, etched by Haberdasher.  Started out great guns on this one and managed to get the pots reversed.  Once that was fixed it still just didn't do much.  Messed with it a bit swapping random NPN Germaniums in with no success I pushed this beautifully etched board toward the back of the bench.  Box, knobs and jacks were recycled in other builds.  Got a bug to give it another shot a couple weeks ago and ordered a low HFE Germanium from Small Bear to give it another try.  Initial shot was an improvement but there was no volume.  Then I tried an AC130 with an HFE of 60 I got in a measured batch from an ebay seller.  Wham! that's what it had been asking for all along.  I love this fuzz!

Here's the face (the colored knobs (from multiple orders from Small Bear) came from the Back of the Bench):


And the guts (pretend you don't notice the extra jack holes):

The Cosmo has been on my board since I first tried the AC130 in it - pulled it off briefly to put the screws in the bottom and again today to take the photos.

Next up is jpguitarworks Subtlety Drive Version 1.  No sob story of misfortunes with this Osh Park board, I just got distracted and let it sit populated for several months.  Found it this morning in a baggy with the pots and realized I had an undrilled box, jacks and switches to finish this up.  This is a great little board! 

Here's the face:


And the guts:



Well, back to the piles.

Chuck