Slambox for a complete newb!

[68Charger]

Hey Brian! I haven't spoken with you since I bought several PCBs in November, but have had a hell of a time getting these things to work. (It is most likely me, Sorry!)

I wired them up (Version 2.5) and my wet signal bottoms out compared to the dry signal even though I can faintly hear the crackle. I have replaced countless transistors and tried all the different boards to still no avail. 

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Austin from Denton.

[pandadandan]

Hey Brian! I haven't spoken with you since I bought several PCBs in November, but have had a hell of a time getting these things to work. (It is most likely me, Sorry!)

I wired them up (Version 2.5) and my wet signal bottoms out compared to the dry signal even though I can faintly hear the crackle. I have replaced countless transistors and tried all the different boards to still no avail. 

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Austin from Denton.

Are you socketing the transistors?
If not, you may be frying them; they're extremely temperature-sensitive.

If you are, post some trace-side pcb shots (as high def as you can) and we'll see what's up.

[68Charger]

Hey Pandadandan!

I am not using sockets for these, I looked around but couldn't find one that would fit the PCB holes. So, I have been using my heat-sink clamp, but like you said, I still might be frying them.

One thing I did try was to take a transistor and hold it to the traces and test that way, but still found the same results....I will post some pics in a bit.

What sockets do you recommend?

Thanks!

[pandadandan]

Hey man,
I just checked the pcb layout for this pedal.
All you need is an in-line "snap off" socket, which looks like this:


Available at a fairly high cost from Smallbear.  I'm sure there are other places, too.
http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=101

All you do is get your pliers and cut off a block of three.  You then solder it in after you've soldered in the diodes and resistors, but before the capacitors (it's good practise to install things according to their height from the pcb so you don't have to fiddle around with balancing the board on top of stuff as I used to do)

How I'd do it using the V3 layout:
1) install R1,R2,R4,R5,R6,D1 and D2 at the same time (NOT R3).
2) solder.  Wait a little while.  Clip the leads.
3) install the socket for the transistor.
4) solder.
5) install C1 (a box capacitor would fit nicely here)
6) solder. Wait. Clip.
7) Install R3 (keep one leg straight and bend the other leg in a nice smooth curve.  Insert the legs through their respective holes, then bend the legs outwards) as well as C2 and C3.
solder. Wait. Clip.
9) get some nice lengths of wire for your in/out/ground/power/switch connections and solder them in. 
10) install a couple of leads for your LED.
11)If you're using a board-mount pot, feel free to install it now.  If not, install an extra 3 wires and wire up your pot the old-fashioned way.  This board is small enough to sit on top of the pot, but be sure to stick something non-conductive between the pcb and the pot.

That's your board done.  Still keep the transistor stowed away.  You don't need it until you're ready to plug in your new pedal.

From that point, wire up a box with a stomp switch, in/out jack and a power jack., making sure to NOT SOLDER THE INPUT JACK SLEEVE CONNECTION YET - just stick in the ground lead(s) from the 3pdt and the power switch.

Pop in your board, making sure that the bottom is insulated from anything metal below it (the case or the bottom of the potentiometer).  Wire up the board to the 3pdt, then run the ground to the input jack sleeve that you left unsoldered.  Solder away!  Solder your LED connections, paying attention to the orientation of the long and short legs.

When EVERYTHING is done, go ahead and install the BS170.  It's a static-sensitive transistor, so try not to futz around them while sat on a thick carpet in your favourite terylene 70s shirt.   

From that, you should be good to go.

[68Charger]

Oh wow! Thank you so much for your time and patience with me!

Just reading over your post makes me feel completely positive that I am to blame for issues. Those Mosfets are probably blowing up from being soldered in.

I am ordering the parts needed as we speak. I may even order a few PCB's and completely start over. We shall see....I will keep you guys updated!

Austin

[pandadandan]

Oh wow! Thank you so much for your time and patience with me!

Just reading over your post makes me feel completely positive that I am to blame for issues. Those Mosfets are probably blowing up from being soldered in.

I am ordering the parts needed as we speak. I may even order a few PCB's and completely start over. We shall see....I will keep you guys updated!

Austin

No worries man! 

Everyone struggles through the first build.  For example, my first build was a germanium fuzz face; I'd never soldered before that point.

Suffice to say, it didn't work because I'd fried the two rather expensive germanium transistors.  Took me a looooooooong time to figure that out.  A couple of sockets and a couple of new transistors later, I was in business!

If you check out my Mysterioso Jr build, you'll notice that both of the chips are socketed.  I'm still not at the level where I'd be confident in soldering ICs directly to the PCB.  Maybe one day... 

[68Charger]

Haha...You have no idea how frustrated I have been with trying to get these pedals working. I have one that somewhat works that I made for a friend, but it doesn't sound as good as his genuine SHO. I just read that the Reverse Log Pot makes a major difference in the sound, and since I used a 25K with the wires swapped...I may be able to save it! 

At least I am learning...lol. I am getting excited about these pedals again instead of looking at them with disgust! 

If I can dig myself out of this hole, I may have to build a fuzz pedal for some Page/Neil Young sounds...

I will definitely check out your project! Thank you again for everything!

I will report back when I get to sit down with these parts.

Austin

[madbean]

One other helpful tip in addition to pandadandan's suggestions: get yourself a $7 breadboard and hook up an input and output jack to it. Use this to test your populated boards out before you box them up. You really want to make sure that your build works before going through the trouble of putting it all together. I can't tell you how many times I did this the wrong way when I started out: spent a lot of time soldering everything up only to find it doesn't work, have to take it apart and repeat.

A simple prototyping rig that can be used as a breadboard and testing station, will only cost you a few bucks and save you hours of frustration in the long run. You don't have to make it as complicated as this, obviously, but you get the idea.

[68Charger]

Hey guys! I just wanted to report back saying that the pedals work like a charm! No more blown BS170s and with the correct pot installed, these pedals woke up to become some nasty beasts!

Thank you so much for your time and consideration in helping me with this matter!

I am really excited to be able to have such a valuable resource in this forum!

All the best!

Austin

[pandadandan]

Hey guys! I just wanted to report back saying that the pedals work like a charm! No more blown BS170s and with the correct pot installed, these pedals woke up to become some nasty beasts!

Thank you so much for your time and consideration in helping me with this matter!

I am really excited to be able to have such a valuable resource in this forum!

All the best!

Austin

Great to hear, man!

Sockets are really useful, not just for avoiding the old fried transistors, but also when you start building tweakable effects.  When your next project calls for clipping diodes, a socket is a good way to test out different sounds on the fly.  They really open up a lot of options!

Time to choose your next project!

[68Charger]

Thank you so much! haha

Yeah, I am trying to decide which should be my next project. I would like to find a nice overdrive distortion with a nice, old school tube feel to take my '68 Super Reverb over the edge.