Bought my board. Where do I go from here?

[monkeyssj1]

Hey so this may be one of the most if not the most noob question on the entire forum, but I am about to buy a green bean board and am now wondering what am I to do from here. I know i need to source all the parts (which at the moment seems like a very daunting task), but once I recieve the parts, do I need to find some sort of instruction manual with step by steps on how to assemble the parts? Or do instructions come with the board? Like I said, I am as new as it comes so I hope this question doesn't offend anyone here. I'm just a poor kid wanting to save as much money as possible while making awesome sounds .

Curious... also I was looking at http://forums.vintageamps.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=88362 and someone was saying something about the Landgraff clone which is supposed to be awesome. I was wondering if anyone had any input on the notion of that pedal. Would I need to get different parts (I'm assuming yes... and wondering what parts instead of what).

All feedback is greatly appreciated.

[Om_Audio]

Welcome to the forums!

Well, basically you get the board, get the parts, download the .pdf from here for the board you bought, install the parts on the PCB, set up your enclosure, wire it all up. The documentation you get with the board will only show where the parts go and how it is wired up. no step by step. it will also give any important options for mods or part swap options.

What board did you buy?

I just did my first and had MANY questions before i even started. Be sure to search the forums and utilize the links section to visit and use other websites and forums as well.

i bought my parts from Small Bear and had a lot of noob questions which Steve answered for me (SB owner)
i got my enclosure from Pedal Parts Plus as they have great finishing options.

Anyway- ask questions- do searches and read- and be prepared. if you have never soldered before for example you will DEF want to practice first before possibly damaging your parts or your PCB.

Good luck!

Clifford

[monkeyssj1]

Thank you Cliff, I assumed that was the case. I want to make a Green Bean. Now it's time for the scary task of finding the parts online

[Om_Audio]

FYI if you are buying from SB and using a Madbean PCB it is very likely you can tell SB what you are building and send them the pdf build sheet and they can put the order together for you. i seem to recall SB and madbean having some sort of working relationship- or SB maybe kept parts lists on file for Madbean projects.
C

[monkeyssj1]

awesome! i was just looking at SB and am starting to understand the parts. How much did your pedal cost to build from scratch? I see people trying to sell TS808 clone kits for around 80 but I assume it'd be much cheaper to buy all the parts individually right?

[Om_Audio]

$80 sounds very competitive to me if you think of time saved shopping and such and also if enclosure is pre-drilled and so forth- but i can look at my receipts they are at home on my desk. Can send info later. i'd make an initial guess that maybe you save $20 bucks or so. maybe more.

I just checked- my cost was about $73 but I had to order knobs separate so the fewer sources the less tax/shipping etc.

[saxoftenest]

Welcome!

Brian's docs for his boards are awesome, just be sure to familiarize yourself with the whole thing. Since you're looking to build a Green Bean, consider the suggested mods and be sure the parts associated with them end up in your parts order!

One note on the build doc - the parts list omits what we consider "standard wiring" parts (jacks, 3pdt switch, etc.). So, be sure you also reference the Madbean Standard Wiring Diagram.

To sum up and add a few suggestions:

• Order all the parts from the build doc (including mods) and the standard wiring diagram.
• Order extras of everything as a contingency.
• Don't forget an enclosure - do you have the means to drill your own using the template in the doc?
• While you're waiting for parts, spend time on this board and others like it. Useful tips are abundant and noob friendly.
• After your parts arrive, do an inventory.
• At that point, check back in with us for more guidance!

[monkeyssj1]

Thank you guys so much for your help so far. I wrote in this forum without much other than a stroke of inspiration to start understanding how to build pedals. I've done a lot of research since yesterday and feel a little more comfortable with searching for parts (the whole mF/uF had me confused for a tiny bit). I emailed the owner of small bear and he suggested that I purchase a tweak-o to start out with... although I kind of want to save the cash and just play it very carefully with the Bean. What do you guys think?

[ckim715]

If you are careful and take your time, you should be ok. Soldering can be tricky, and it does take practice. Keep in mind more solder does not always mean a better connection. Neatness, especially when soldering, counts.

Be prepared to do some troubleshooting. I have had pedals fire up and work right off the bat, and I've had more than a couple pedals give me trouble. Of course, if you run into any problems, we will be more than happy to assist you.

My first pedal was a madbean Fat Pants, and it turned out OK. The Green Bean doesn't have TOO high of a parts count, and it is fairly straight forward; you should be OK. Triple check your parts order; too many times I've put in an order only to realize that I forgot 1 resistor or capacitor; it's really annoying.

Do you have a  digital multimeter and/or a signal probe? If not, I would highly suggest getting them. A signal probe is easy to make, and a good dmm can be purchased on amazon for under 20 bucks.

[ckim715]

Also, when ordering your parts, make sure to purchase diodes. They are left blank as many people who build overdrives and distortions like to mix and match diode combinations. On a related note, make sure you also purchase sockets for your IC (if you want the classic TS808, go with a JRC 4558) and for your diodes. Here are smallbear links to those items.


http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=101
http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=100

Sockets are soldered onto the circuit board, then the component placed on top. Many components such as diodes, transistors, and opamps (ic's) are heat sensitive, and it is best not to expose those components to the heat of a soldering iron.

As for diodes, there are a LOT. The more common ones are 3mm LEDs, BAT41, 1n914, and 1n34As. (at least those are the ones I've used most often) Each of them have their own slightly different characteristics. Which one is best is for you to listen to and decide.

[monkeyssj1]

Thanks Charlie.. i'm definitely going to quadruple check the parts and get spares. I'm getting interested in doing this modification. What do you think about it? I'm having trouble finding the parts I would need to get to do it instead of the stock parts. What are your thoughts?

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=363310

http://revolutiondeux.blogspot.com/2008/03/clay-jones-od-grandlaff-dynnamic.html

[ckim715]

OPA2134:
http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=584

I have this opamp in my Serendipity (Zen Drive Clone) and I love it.

As for the "clippers" that he talks about, those are the diodes. I suggest you socket D1-D5 and see what you like. The 3mm LEDs in the Green Bean are replaced with 5mm red LEDs in the Langraff. It looks like the langraff uses 1n914 diodes.

It looks like the potentiometer values are different as well. Gain is a 1 meg linear, Tone is a 25k linear, and the volume is still the same 100k Audio.

Unless I'm wrong (someone please correct me if I am), it looks like C3 is a 51pf instead of a 100 pf, as well.

[ckim715]

R7 looks to be a 47k instead of the 10k in the Green Bean. There are couple other small changes, but unfortunately, I am not as good as some of the others on here at reading schematics. I am going to have to defer to their expertise (wait for them to respond, lol)

[jtn191]

R7 looks to be a 47k instead of the 10k in the Green Bean.

I think ya might have gotten those mixed up, R7 is 47k on the stock Green Bean BOM but it is 10k on the CJOD according to Soulsonic. BTW, ckim715, have you tried the OPA2134A in the Neutrino/Eternity? Curious how that'd sound...

I'll try to write up a complete BOM for the CJOD and update it here...I'm hoping they use corresponding components--otherwise an Open Source TS PCB might be the way to go
Differences are in yellow

R1: OMIT
R2: 1k
R3: 510k
R4: 10k
R5: 10k
R6: 1k
R7: 10k
R8: 1k
R9: OMIT?  
R10: 220R
R11: 1k
R12: 1k
R13: 510k
R14: 10k
R15: 100R
R16: 10k
R17: JUMPER
R18: 10k
R19: 10k

C1: 20n   (aka 0.02uF)
C2: 1uF
C3: 51pF*
C4: 220nF
C5: Socket this position...try something like 150nF? If your fat switch sounds too dark, try something at a lower value
C6: 220nF (aka 0.22uF)
C7: 220nF  (")
C8: 1uF
C9: 100nF
C10: 10uF
C11: 47uF
C12: 100uF

D1-D5: 3mm red LED (or your choice for mod)
D6 1N4001


Q1: BC546B *check pinout
Q2: BC546B *check pinout

IC1: OPA2134A

-----same switches as in stock BOM-----

Drive: 1Meg Log
Tone: 25k reverse taper
Vol: 10k reverse taper

* check here for nF, pF to uF conversion http://www.justradios.com/uFnFpF.html

Enjoy   I'm mostly sure about this. Imma post it in the mods section too

[ckim715]

Haven't tried it in a Neutrino, but I did try it in a Tubescreamer that I built. Should be similar, as the Eternity/Neutrino is a YATS. Sounds very nice, I like the Burr Brown chips over the 4558s.