SMD Fuzz

[culturejam]

This is a Fuzz Face-like circuit with most of the components being SMD (and the pot is board mounted). I kept the transistors and elctro caps through-hole. Not sure why I did it that way. Maybe I'll update with all SMD next time.   But I will say that I really like the SMD trimmer I used on this one. It's pretty sweet. 

SMD is cool for layouts because you can put parts on both sides of the board, and you don't have to worry about through holes getting in the way. It's a different approach, for sure though, and it took a while to get my head around it.

To make things more complicated, I also decided to try out a new enclosure: the Hammond 1550P. It's an odd size. It's about twice as wide as a 1590A, but it's also shallower. That makes fitting hardware much trickier. I don't recommend this enclosure for anything with board-mounted pots. It would probably work great for true PTP fuzz circuits, however. I ended up having to machine the lid a bit to get it to sit flush with the jacks. The electros had to be laid flat as well. Oh, and the "inside" nut had to be removed from the stomp switch to keep the lugs from hitting the lid.

Anyway, here she is. I used a bottle cap for size reference.


Top of board, with diode, trimmer, trannies, and electros:




Bottom of board, with all the other passives (I should probably clean up all that nasty flux):




Outside enclosure:




Upskirt: (you can see that my poor choice of LED placement caused a lot of havoc in routing)

[k.rock!]

Oooh SMD...I like it man! 

That enclosure is pretty cool too. I think I'm gonna have to check that one out for my baby builds...Did you find that at mouser?

Thanks for sharing man!

-K

[culturejam]

That enclosure is pretty cool too. I think I'm gonna have to check that one out for my baby builds...Did you find that at mouser?

You should be aware that these enclosures are very shallow, which makes it hard to fit standard jacks. I had to do quite a bit of work on the lid to get those jacks to fit without shorting out. Also, as noted above, I had to remove the stomp switch's internal nut so that the lugs wouldn't touch the lid.

If you plan on using this box, I recommend these jacks, as they are smaller and also the housing is plastic (can't short out on metal):
http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=NRJ4HFvirtualkey56810000virtualkey550-10284
And don't forget to order nuts for these:
http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=NRJ-NUT-Bvirtualkey56810000virtualkey550-1005

And here is the 1550P on Mouser:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Hammond-Manufacturing/1550P/?qs=aOcK2sAy4002f%252bJIUJXWj5eg58XRV%2fj1QtnZZtQjC4s%3d

[crashguitar]

Very cool build. I have been thinking about taking the smd plunge at some point. Thanks for the inspiration.

Chad

[pickdropper]

Very cool.

Now you just have to find SMD mojo caps and germanium transistors. 

[nzCdog]

Hahaha thats fully awesome!  Using smd just makes things crazy small... you could do a whole pedal board in one enclosure with footprints like that!
All these teenny tiny pedals being posted around here are making me queasy though!

[joegagan]

Nice build. Congrats, and kudos.

[jkokura]

Neat!

Jacob

[culturejam]

Nice build. Congrats, and kudos.

Much appreciated, Mr. Gagan! 

[televisiondown]

River Horse. Perfect product placement. Love it.

[culturejam]

River Horse. Perfect product placement. Love it.

They are local to me, so I like to promote them whenever possible. Nice guys, too.

[midwayfair]

I'm seeing more and more SMD pop up on DIY forums. If this becomes the norm, my 50v Panasonic polys are going to become the New Mojo. 1590As will be considered quaint and oversized.

[nzCdog]

I'm seeing more and more SMD pop up on DIY forums. If this becomes the norm, my 50v Panasonic polys are going to become the New Mojo. 1590As will be considered quaint and oversized.

lol!