1st Build! Some Questions...

[BrianS]

If you're talking about the straight strips that break apart yes you can use them. Just to keep them straight you can use the earthquake tape or cut some off and put them at the ends to keep it standing upright. 

[Mantaray14]

Hi Everyone,
I'ts been about a month since I've worked on my build. I've been busy and also had to wait for the enclosure to be painted from PPP. Anyway I made a classic newbie mistake and ordered a regular 1590BB enclosure as opposed to the correct "Tall" one, so I may attempt to make it fit (balls of steel I guess  ).  Anyway, I have the board populated, and the pots installed. Anyway here is my latest round of questions:

1) Do I just have to wire the power supply and switch to start testing with an audio probe (rock it before you box it)?

2) Are there specific instructions for testing this pedal or is it a generic procedure (I know there are plenty of videos and tutorials floating around).

3) Do I need to insulate the back of the PCB from the  board mounted pots. Mine are rather close already and If I attempt to squeeze this in regular 1590BB, I can tell these mini pots will hit the solder joints on the back of the PCB.

So thats it for know, hopefully I haven't asked anything too dumb or obvious in the build notes. As for the enclosure, I have a handy neighbor with a drill press, a dremel and a lot of ingenuity who may be able to help me. I've read I will have to consider toggle placement and use a low profile power jack. But these are considerations that can wait until after I have the circuit tested. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Best regards,
Rick

[m-Kresol]

Hi Everyone,
I'ts been about a month since I've worked on my build. I've been busy and also had to wait for the enclosure to be painted from PPP. Anyway I made a classic newbie mistake and ordered a regular 1590BB enclosure as opposed to the correct "Tall" one, so I may attempt to make it fit (balls of steel I guess  ).  Anyway, I have the board populated, and the pots installed. Anyway here is my latest round of questions:

1) Do I just have to wire the power supply and switch to start testing with an audio probe (rock it before you box it)?

2) Are there specific instructions for testing this pedal or is it a generic procedure (I know there are plenty of videos and tutorials floating around).

3) Do I need to insulate the back of the PCB from the  board mounted pots. Mine are rather close already and If I attempt to squeeze this in regular 1590BB, I can tell these mini pots will hit the solder joints on the back of the PCB.

So thats it for know, hopefully I haven't asked anything too dumb or obvious in the build notes. As for the enclosure, I have a handy neighbor with a drill press, a dremel and a lot of ingenuity who may be able to help me with the enclosure. I've read I will have to consider switch placement and use a low profile power jack. But these are considerations that can wait until after I have the circuit tested. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Best regards,
Rick

1) You'll need to connect the power. When audio probing you don't necessarily need the switch as it's the last part before the output jack. You obviously need to connect something to the input (preferrably a looper for setting this one up)

2) when testing, you'll need to add the bypass switch and connect the output to a jack and amp or probe pin 2 of the blend pot directly. other than that, you've already got your necessary connections. I would recommend building a testing rig at some point, it will make things so much easier and you'll need it over and over again if you continue with this hobby.

3) YES. you need to insulate the jacks!! Otherwise you'll short things out causing all kinds of problems. Smallbear carries those purple pot-condoms and many 16mm alpha jacks come with a dust cap. Other possibilites include electrical tape on the pot, piece of cardboard, and so on.

you can fit it in a regular 1590BB, but it will be more challenging especially depending on the type of jacks you use.

[Mantaray14]

I started playing around with the enclosure to see if I could get it to fit. It's very challenging to say the least. My question is this...Would I be able to get away with mounting the LM7915 Voltage Controller ion the other side of the board?  If I could do that I just might figure out a way to pull it off. 

Best regards,
Rick

[neandrewthal]

I started playing around with the enclosure to see if I could get it to fit. It's very challenging to say the least. My question is this...Would I be able to get away with mounting the LM7915 Voltage Controller ion the other side of the board?  If I could do that I just might figure out a way to pull it off. 

Best regards,
Rick

Absolutely. As long as you've got all the pins going the right way, or wrong way since it's upside-down.

I always mount whatever I can on the other side if it's in a spot where I need space for jacks. The only thing it doesn't work for is ICs in a dual package because no matter how you orient them on the other side of the board the pinout will be wrong.

[blearyeyes]

I bought a bunch of cheap alligator clip patch cords for hooking up the IN, OUT, POWER, and GROUND wires to whatever. Handy:
https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-TL-6-Alligator-10-Piece-inches/dp/B0002JJU28/ref=sr_1_4?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1472856903&sr=1-4&keywords=alligator+clips

You'll need a little amp of some sort, and of course 9v for power. One tip is to make sure your battery isn't heating up when you first fire it up. Obviously don't want it bursting into flames because of a short in the power section unless you're into that kind of thing. I went a bit crazy and bought a linear power supply with short circuit protection and amperage setting. You can see how much juice your board is pulling etc.. $50 US:
https://www.circuitspecialists.com/bench-power-supply-csi1802x.html

I tried solder suckers, the Radio Shack Bulb de-soldering Iron, braid, and then just bought this through hole solder/de-soldering station and never looked back.  Braid will always be useful for cleaning up solder in a lot of instances. But nothing beats having a de-soldering GUN!
https://www.circuitspecialists.com/ESD_Thru-hole_Desoldering_Soldering_System.html

Oh and if you're still using a sponge to clean the tip of your iron get one of these gold thingys with the gold stuff inside:
https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-599B-02-Solder-Cleaning-Holder/dp/B00FZPGDLA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472856791&sr=8-1&keywords=Hakko+599B-02+Solder+Tip+Cleaning+Wire+and+Holder

Cheap sockets for chips:
http://www.taydaelectronics.com/connectors-sockets/sockets/dip-sockets.html
I like the cheapy ones better than the machined ones they seem to hold on to the chip better.
A lot of guys won't use Tayda but some things are a good deal.

Don't know if any of this is helpful just throwing it out there.

[Mantaray14]

Just wanted to give you guys an update... My Total Recall is up and running! 

It took me a few extra weeks to work on the enclosure but it's in the regular 1590B  and everything. 

I tried a quick run through today to bias,  another challenging aspect of this pedal.  I think I got it sounding okay,  but I'm gonna try again tomorrow.  Kinda hard since I've never even heard one of these pedals in real life before.

Anyway this post is worthless without pics so I hope to post a few and maybe a even a video clip if I get it sounding great in the next few days. 

Best regards
Rick

[Mantaray14]

Okay, was able to spend some time biasing the pedal tonight. The instructions get you in the ballpark but that last part with the Gain 2 trimmer is tricky. I know the instructions are wrong but was still having difficulty until I just used my ear and ended up bringing that trimmer down quite a bit. Then I fine-tuned and found a sweet spot. I'm sure as I get acquainted with it I'll tweak some more.  Anyway here's a few pics a snapped. The knobs I picked these up at Radio Shack in a pinch and will prob change. Also I drilled the hole for the LCD too big so I'll be ordering as socket for that LED. My only regret with the enclosure is that I didn't bring that LED up just a bit higher...otherwise totally happy with my first project!  Anyhow here's a few snapshots I took tonight. 

[jimilee]

Can I just say, for your first project, you did an amazing job.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Boba7]

This is your first project??!
Man, you rule, that's just amazing!!

[Stomptown]

Seriously man, this is an impressive feat! Great job Rick.

[Mantaray14]

Thanks for the Compliments!  I got it sounding pretty great too by following the bias directions (except for that last bit with gain2) and then fine tuning by ear.   Will see if I can post a quick video clip of it sometime soon. It's a dirty sound but in such good way!

[matmosphere]

Dang, looks fantastic! especially for a first go at building. My pedals generally aren't close to that tidy.

I actually like those knobs. I picked up some from a Rat Shack that is closing and they are on the nicer side compared to what you get from most places.

[Mantaray14]

Just wanted report that I'm totally in love with this pedal. Thank you Madbean!

There's not a lot of demos on this pedal so I put together a little diddy, recorded on my crappy Sony Xperia phone. The repeats sit in the pocket perfectly, very inspiring pedal for ambient style music. Playing a EBMM Silhouette Special into a 20W Brunetti Maranello amp. Straight into the Totall Recall and into the clean channel.

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/richard-yannotta/sounds-from-sunday-morning[/soundcloud]   

[Adam_DIY]

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.

Same one I bought the difference between it and the el cheapo I used to have is unbelievable I haven't ruined a pad since switching to it.

Your pedal looks awesome man the tonal recall is next when I finish my current batch of boards.