How to get started

[PhiloB]

Mmmmm, solder fumes {Homer Simpson Voice}

[Mr.Hyde982]

Jubal81's BOM's http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=5703.0 were also very helpful to me.

Wow this is brilliant! Thanks!

[rullywowr]

Mmmmm, solder fumes {Homer Simpson Voice}

No clean flux smells like maple syrup to me when it hits the iron...mmm waffles.   

[Mr.Hyde982]

That is also what you need to buy. Also, for any "IC" that you buy, buy a matching socket for it.
(A socket let's you take the IC in and out without having to solder and unsolder over and over again.)

You can also get single rows of sockets to use for transistors.

Is this a common practice? I had never heard of them, i thought the pieces were just soldered on the PCB.

[selfdestroyer]

Mmmmm, solder fumes {Homer Simpson Voice}

No clean flux smells like maple syrup to me when it hits the iron...mmm waffles.   

I bought some LEDs from Tayda that smell like cinnamon (think Big Red gum) when I solder them.
lol

Cody

[rullywowr]

That is also what you need to buy. Also, for any "IC" that you buy, buy a matching socket for it.
(A socket let's you take the IC in and out without having to solder and unsolder over and over again.)

You can also get single rows of sockets to use for transistors.

Is this a common practice? I had never heard of them, i thought the pieces were just soldered on the PCB.

Yes. Socketing ICs and Transistors is common practice for a several reasons.
- No heat is applied to the device, preventing burning it up when soldering
- Easy to replace a defective device, or change to another one for tone experimentation
- Zero wear and tear on the PCB when changing components

[peAk]

Yes. Socketing ICs and Transistors is common practice for a several reasons.

When you socket your transitors, which I always do now, do you guys cut the leads short or are you bending the transistor over 90°?

[selfdestroyer]

Yes. Socketing ICs and Transistors is common practice for a several reasons.

When you socket your transitors, which I always do now, do you guys cut the leads short or are you bending the transistor over 90°?

This is just what I do

Newer readily available transistors - I cut the leads
Older transistors mostly germanium - I bend them over

Cody

[peAk]

Yes. Socketing ICs and Transistors is common practice for a several reasons.

When you socket your transitors, which I always do now, do you guys cut the leads short or are you bending the transistor over 90°?

This is just what I do

Newer readily available transistors - I cut the leads
Older transistors mostly germanium - I bend them over

Cody

makes sense!

[Mr.Hyde982]

When you socket your transitors, which I always do now, do you guys cut the leads short or are you bending the transistor over 90°?

sounds like arabic to me 

sorry for being asking stupid questions... do you use sockets for transistors only or for all the components? In the post i quoted before they talked about "matching socket", meaning that for each kind of component there is a specific socket to consider (order) and maybe different for resistors, caps, transistors etc.?

Maybe if I could see a picture I'd understand more easily!

[icecycle66]

Check out the PPP sockets page:
http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=PPP&Category_Code=SOC

They only show four types of sockets, but there are more.

The first one is the in line socket.
That's what we use to socket transistors.  You break off three of the pegs from the strip and solder that in the transistor holes of the PCB.  That way if you use the wrong transistor, put it in the wrong way, or are using special/rare transistors you don't have to unsolder it to change it.

Then come the IC sockets. You see the 8 pin, 14 pin, and 16 pin sockets.  Each socket has half the holes on each side.
Now go to this page:
http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PPP&Product_Code=4026&Category_Code=

That's a TLO72 Op amp IC.  IT has four legs on each side.  That makes it a an 8 pin IC.
So, if your B.O.M says you need a TLO72, buy a TLO72, and an 8 pin socket.
If your B.O.M says you need a PT2399 chip, get the PT2399 chip and a 16 pin socket to match it.

In other stores there are more types of sockets. For each IC package, there is a matching socket somewhere.
(A package is sort of how a component is made. For instance, here is a crap load of transistor packages:
http://www.siliconfareast.com/to-types.htm)

-----

You can socket other stuff, but you'll mostly be socketing IC and transistors.
The next most common thing to socket is diodes.  The only reason you should socket diodes is if you have some special or rare diodes or you want to test how different diodes sound in the circuit without bread boarding. (That's what I do)

Then you can socket resistor and capacitors.  However, there is rarely a need to do this. These parts are cheap and pretty easy to change if you really mess up. (Just cut it off and throw it away.)
You' hardly ever be socketing resistors or capacitors.

[Mr.Hyde982]

Thanks a lot for the very clear explanation.

[peAk]

One word about sockets that I just ran into....

The leads on the socket don't stick out of the PCB very much. This is great because you do not have to cut them but make sure you solder each one. It's pretty easy to miss one because there isn't this long lead sticking out and depending on your lighting, eye sight, etc., it may look like it's already been soldered.

I just ran into this situation on a three socket transitor. My pedal wasn't working properly and it's because I missed one. It's even easier to miss one when you are doing a 14 or 16 pin.