1st Build! Some Questions...

[Mantaray14]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Rick and I just recently started to work on my first build. I have plenty of experience with soldering from performing pedal mods and working guitar electronics. I decided to go whole hog and attempt to build a Total Recall as I always wanted one so badly...

So far so good, the Madbean PCB has been a pleasure to work, possibly my most pleasurable soldering experience to date. Using a 25W iron I got from Radio Shack for like 8 dollars...works just perfect. I've populated most of the board and just waiting for my Xvive BBD's and a NE570 (The NE570 was the hardest part to find, had to order this from China via Ebay) and pots, jacks etc.. Since I have some downtime on the build I wanted to ask a few questions.

1) I ordered the parts via Mouser using Madbeans cart. This was honestly the most convenient thing in the world! I was so bummed thinking about having to source parts until I saw this option (Thank you Madbean!). My question is  about the 1uf Film caps, I see most other builds have different style caps for these. I was curious about what effect does this have on the sound?

2) I am about to order the enclosure. I will probably go with a pre-painted/drilled one from PPP, Mammoth etc..Regarding artwork, is there any very basic artwork around for the Totall Recall build? Also, If I get the enclosure pre-painted do I apply the artwork after? I'd like to learn more about this aspect of pedal building building eventually but right now I'm concentrating on getting the builds done right, so any info would be appreciated!

3) Any other tips and suggestions would be appreciated. I'm sure there will be a quite a few questions from me once the build is completed and it's time to test with a audio probe and calibrate. That part will challenge my skills for sure...

Attached are a few pics of what I've completed so far. Best regards,
Rick   

[daleykd]

Forgive me for the rudeness of me (I did a TL;DR), but I have to say:

Way to have some balls, man.  First build and you're doing a Total Recall!?  Mad props to you!

[matmosphere]

Looks great so far. One thing you might consider is using ic sockets for the remaining chips. Those xvive chips ain't cheap.

Mammoth does a good job with enclosures but if you are planning on doing board mounted pots (which is a good idea for a circuit like this) I would not get a pre drilled enclosure. Their spacing will not match the spacing on the board. Drilling enclosures isn't incredibly difficult, especially if you use a stepping bit on your drill. You just need to be careful and make sure everything is measured correctly.

As far as artwork goes just have fun with it. Look at build reports on here and you can get an idea of what others do and how it looks. A lot of people etch enclosures, others hand paint every one, others use decals or transparencies. A chap on here who goes by juansolo has an excellent tutorial on using whaterslide decals an coating the artwork with Envirotex (a clear apoxy).

And remember to rock it BEFORE you box it.

[Timko]

Forgive me for the rudeness of me (I did a TL;DR), but I have to say:

Way to have some balls, man.  First build and you're doing a Total Recall!?  Mad props to you!

This.  And to solder those ICs right to the board?  Balls of steel I tell you.

I think it was mentioned before, but you probably want to do your own drilling to fit board mounted pots.  You can use a simple waterslide for graphics, or venture into the rabbit hole of acid etched enclosures.  You'll even find people on the MB forums that may be willing to sell you an enclosure they drilled and etched if you would rather go that route.

[BrianS]

Yeah you have some real big ones. That's one build I would like to do one day but it just scares me (the cost of it not working).  And thats a +1 on socketing the IC's.  Since you have experience soldering you may not run into problems but it makes it so much easier if you have troubleshooting issues. As far as the 1uf film caps i don't think there is any mojo out there as long as you're using good quality ones (and I am sure their are some guys that have built them using Tayda caps and it worked just fine). I really hope it fires up for you the first time.  That would be absolutely awesome. Happy building.

[Mantaray14]

Thanks for all the comments everyone...It's not so much balls as much as not knowing what the hell I'm doing  . Anyway, FWIW I was pretty quick with regard to soldering the IC's but now that you got me thinking about it I'm a little worried about the CD4047, since I remember spending a little more time on that one with iron.  How delicate are they? Is there anyway to check them before the build is completed? The rest of my parts arrived except for that damn NE570, I'll probably end up waiting a month since its coming from China. Good thing my Os Mutantes Fuzz Kit arrived in the mail today as well!

WRT the enclosure, thanks for all the tips. I will be using board mounted pots so I'll order the pre-painted enclosure and drill myself since I have access to a drill press, thanks to a kind neighbor who is also a guitar player. But if anyone has some pre-drilled/etched ones for sale I would happy to check them out!

In the meantime, I'll put together the rest of the board and start reading up on how to test and bias these things (And put together my fuzz kit).

Thanks again for your help,
Rick

[BrianS]

My first build was done without sockets and very little soldering experience (I did my own guitar stuff, quite different than soldering pcb's) and it worked. If it doesn't fire up the IC's you soldered in would be one of the first places I would look at in case you over heated one.  All the voltages should be in the build doc. My biggest concern is if the chip is damaged, its getting the damn thing out.  I have burnt up several boards with my awful desoldering technique. LOL. You are probably a much better solder man than me.  Also if you don't have any earthquake tape (clay like stuff you use for stabilizing hanging pictures) get some. Its very handy when you forget to put a smaller part (socket/diode/etc) after you have your caps in. It will hold them in place.

[Mantaray14]

My first build was done without sockets and very little soldering experience (I did my own guitar stuff, quite different than soldering pcb's) and it worked. If it doesn't fire up the IC's you soldered in would be one of the first places I would look at in case you over heated one.  All the voltages should be in the build doc. My biggest concern is if the chip is damaged, its getting the damn thing out.  I have burnt up several boards with my awful desoldering technique. LOL. You are probably a much better solder man than me.  Also if you don't have any earthquake tape (clay like stuff you use for stabilizing hanging pictures) get some. Its very handy when you forget to put a smaller part (socket/diode/etc) after you have your caps in. It will hold them in place.

Yes, getting the damn things out is a female dog (in heat) for sure! I literally just had to cut out a failed switch in joyo pedal with a dremel  . I think my soldering skills have finally improved but I have screwed so many little projects in the past to finally figure out how to do it right. But having a great pcb like madbean provided with an iron that heats at the right temp sure helps a lot. That being said I also have knack for dealing with small parts and pieces. I think I just have nimble fingers....

So far I am very happy with the build and how clean the soldering is coming. Will order some sockets in the meantime, since there not much for me to do until the NE570 arrives and that could be weeks.

Best regards,
Rick

[matmosphere]

This can help with the desoldering.

https://www.amazon.com/Engineer-SS-02-Solder-Sucker/dp/B002MJMXD4

One of my favorite tools on my bench. It works flawlessly.

[somnif]

Just be careful you dont fry the pads when using a solder sucker. That happened to me a few times the first time I had to de-solder something. Copper braid is slower but it cleans up better if you take the time with it.

edit: note this opinion is based on a Radioshack brand solder sucker, better equipment may change matters.

[m-Kresol]

one more thing to add here: afaik the NE571 is a replacement for the NE570. the 570 was like 7€ at banzai and after I thought that one was dead, I went with the 571 from uk-electronik.de (2.9€). Found out the 570 was good after all, so I stuck with that, but the 571 did pretty much the same before I found the culprit and switched back.
good luck with the rest of the build.

[Addy Bart]

If you're drilling a powder coated enclosure, make sure to cover it with masking tape, otherwise you'll get scratches.

[czapa tranzystor 2]

 Not recommended MN3008 with ebay. So every time I  I was receiving chips not work .

[Mantaray14]

Thanks for all the suggestions! You guys are super-helpful. I have both a solder-sucker (from Stew Mac) and a braid. So far I found the sucker works better for larger projects, like guitar wiring, but the one you posted a link to above is about 2x the price what I paid. Maybe that is the key? So far I haven't mastered de-soldering PCB traces but I think maybe utilizing flux with the braid may hold the key (or possibly a good sucker like posted above?). If all else fails I break out the razor blades and dremel  .   

One question I have...Can I use those long sockets they sell at radio shack and just break them apart as needed to socket the IC's or do I have to order those special from smallbear?

Best regards,
Rick

[matmosphere]

The solder sucker I posted has better suction than the cheap ones everyone sells. It is also much smaller. You can get in and out very quickly with this little guy. The only problem with it is that you need to clean out the tip after every few pads, it's easy to pull the solder out of the tip it just slows down the process a bit. It has a little bendable silicon tube on the tip so it is easy to get into tight spaces. I had a cheap sucker before but I've never tried the wick stuff out so I guess it could be better. I was going to try some wick but this thing works well enough that I have never felt the need to.


I generally tape off any enclosure that I'm drilling. It protects from scratches and gives you a surface to draw measurements onto. If you have access to a drill press that will help a lot, just remember to measure carefully.