Univibe build!

[thomasha]

Hi,
it's already december and this is only my second pedal this year!

I wanted to build the univibe, but the normal way, with transistors.
Here are some pictures of the build:
After my last etch I went with something simpler, with less detail and thick lines.

For the board I made my own layout. There is not much space left in there, but there is a small space (11 mm diameter) for the lamp and LDRs.
The lamp was quite long, so I drilled through the board, to gain the extra 2 mm and fixed the lamp directly to the copper side.



Here the paint was not dry enough, but I wanted to box this one.



I made an extra board for the pots. Since the 100kB and 50kB pots with washers where sold out I had to fix it somehow.



Another problem is the height of the pots, the stereo pot is much higher than the other two. To correct that while saving some mm I made this huge hole in the middle of the board and fixed the pot on the sides.



The first step was quite easy, and the board helped a lot. The jacks are nearer the top side of the pedal because of the height of the second board.


Here with the second board positioned.



This time I tried to solder it with the component side up since I wanted to adjust the lamp bias with everything inside.
To finish, here with everything working.
Unfortunately the smaller knobs don't hide the washer and look way longer in the middle position.
So I decided to use a different knob, luckily there is enough space for it to move without colliding with the other knobs.



The chorus setting is quite intense in this one, the maximum speed, on the other hand, is quite low. Now I have to learn some new songs...

[Aleph Null]

  Damn.
Nice etch, by the way.

[jubal81]

In a 1590. Wow. Next level. Got a contender here for the BOTY contest.

[dan.schumaker]

[fair.child]

What have you done... insanity level at good. I even can't think how you can get this to work. Very nice contender for 2018 BOTY

[mjg]

Damn!  That is impressive inside and out. 

[Bret608]

Wow! I would have already been bowled over by a 1590b build. I seriously would not have thought this was possible without some SMD wizardry.

[gordo]

I'm sorry, but this 1590A wizardry is now officially completely out of hand.  You guys are pissing me off.  :-)

Damn that's insane.  I wish I could etch like that but I have to admit I'd have backed away from trying to cram all that stuff in that little box.  No matter how good it looks.  It's no wonder it's only your second build this year, my nerves would be shot!

BOTY contender in a heartbeat.

[cooder]

What else to say.... f'n insane in the best "tiny monster" way...

[alanp]

I feel quite inadequate.

[rockola]

But where does the battery go? Just kidding. Pretty impressive. Do you do ships in bottles too?

[m-Kresol]

I wanted to build the univibe, but the normal way

What about this is "the normal way"? This should be physically impossible... I'm quite certain that if you cram even more in there you'd hit critical density and generate a black hole.

Most impressive!
How do you get such spotless etches? With etches like yours (with the graphics etched into the Al, so most of the face is not etched), I tend to get some etching where it's not supposed to be. Your's is super shiny with a very deep etch. What's your secret?

[thomasha]

Thanks guys for the compliments,
if someone is interested in giving it a try I made a small document with the layout. You find it attached.

How do you get such spotless etches?

I'm not sure what it is, I think it's a combination of factors
The old iron chloride, which I use for everything, is really slow/weak.

The glossy paper I found, without the extra coating, works really well. I use this one here:
https://www.conrad.de/de/laser-druckerpapier-avery-zweckform-superior-laser-paper-1198-din-a4-120-gm-200-blatt-weiss-914200.html

Another thing is the registration black setting available in illustrator. It is much better than normal black, which is not as dense.

For the bigger areas I also used nail polish over the toner. That guarantees better results there. In the image itself I had to sand a little bit to remove the superficial pitting.

[ahiddentableau]

That enclosure is a beauty.  And the board ain't too shabby either.  Congrats on the build.

[thomasha]

I made a video to test it. It's not as short as I would like, but I think I could test different configurations.

Adjust the lamp is more difficult that I thought. Are there some tips? Other than adjust for the most intense sound, since it's sounds intense as long as bulb goes red when off.