PCB?

[Jenna Jamieson]

Is it worth to buy the necessary gear to make PCB? Does the sound is better? What do you have to buy? How does it costs? Thank you a lot for your answers

[Aharon]

I'll tell you if you send me one of your movies.
Aharon

[Chris R]

I would say it is a lot less hassle to buy a ready to solder pcb from either
www.generalguitargadgets.com
www.tonepad.com

also, the tonepad.com site has a few photoessays about making pcb's.

C

[smoguzbenjamin]

Perf is good only if
A) you don't get confuzed easily
B) you are patient enough to hand-wire the circuit
C) you're not going to make more than one or two circuits

Otherwise making PCBs is a good option.

[Jenna Jamieson]

Thank you for your fast answers.

[petemoore]

lol..if I made PCB's, That statement might make sense.
 everything I have is on perf except a Small Stone and Ross Compressor...I got the PCBs from Fransisco/Tonepad.
 For simple stuff, I think perf is just fine.
 Perfing...you get to think about the circuit more than PCB...which for me made building a much quicker 'color by number' affair.
 PCB's make more sense for larger [say34+ component] projects,
 1 they're usually smaller
 2 chances are better it'll fire right up
 3 there are other reasons I'm sure, but none of them stand out...
 I've perfed perfedly great FF's Dist+'s Boosters of all types, all kinds of circuits , I use alot of sockets [expecially first try circuits] so it's about half breadboard ... with resistors on the board that follow the schematic.
 I think if you start getting circuit with more than 3 or 4 transistors PCB's start making more sense.

[javacody]

Perf, gives you more options for experimentation.

[gez]

Right from day one I've always made PCBs for my effects.  

More compact than perf and saves time if you're doing more than one effect.  

Bit of a learning curve mind (but not THAT bad!)

[smoguzbenjamin]

Perf does give you a little more insight on what the circuit actually does, that's true. But it can get confusing sometimes. It's a matter of personal opinion though. I prefer perf whil gez for instance likes PCBs better. It all depends....

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

I find stripboard (veroboard) a million times easier than doing a PCB, but it always takes more space (not a bad thing, if you are building fx in old modem cases and putting 10 knobs on them!).
On the other hand, some people actually ENJOY making PCB layouts, etching etc.

[smoguzbenjamin]

Oh the horror..... :| Perf's a lot easier...

[bobbletrox]

I never look forward to making a PCB...but when it's populated and ready to go into the box it's all worth it.  This may sound lame, but I treat each one as a work of art.  Hello Neurosis :wink:

[RobB]

Oh the horror.....  Perf's a lot easier...

The complete opposite of that.  I built the Highway 89 on perf and then again on PCB.  The perf build was too difficult to mod and experiment with because de soldering is a real pain.  Component leads are bent over and there is always more than one wire at any joint.  I’ll never perf again.  I’d rather proto type an idea on a made PCBs.

As for spending money to set up for PCBs, it all depends on what you already have.  I already had an old clothes iron and a drill.  All I bought was a packet of Ammonium Persulfate, some small drill bits, a fine tip permanent marker and copper clad board.  

Layouts done in MS paint and photocopied onto plain photocopy paper on the work photocopier.  I will try acetate transparencies next time.  Etching is done in one of those plastic fast food containers with the lid on so there is no spillage.  

In my case the set up cost was minimal.  The results I get are not far off the quality of  GGG boards.

Time spent making the board is saved when it comes to soldering components and then resoldering when tweaking values.

[Paul Marossy]

I am one of those weirdos who like to design and use PCBs. I can perf in a pinch, if I'm feeling lazy and I don't have a blank PCB or I ran out of etchant or something. I've perfed a few things lately, but that is mainly because I have a bunch of freebie perfboard lying around that I am trying to use up.

[smoguzbenjamin]

I did say it was a matter of opinion

[Paul Marossy]

Of, course you did.  

Everyone has their own way of doing things.

[nightingale]

that handle is hot.. lol~!
i have a rule.. if it's a small circuit, fuzz/boost whateva.. i will use perf... but a modulation devices, delay/trem etc. usually get the PCB... this was my rule for a long time, but i find myself making PCB's most of the time now.. just becasuse i like the professional quality result, and mostly because of the way it looks aesthetically.. i'm might have OCD, but i even like my resistors and caps to all match up and look"cool"...
another perk of building PCB's is that.. if i sell it to someone.. you feel pretty damn secure about it not failing...

but i learned on perf.. and i feel if i had just jumped in making PCB's i would not understand schematics, or making layouts quite as well... like i would just have been concenrd with parts placement...
dealers choice... sorry for an earfull!

[smoguzbenjamin]

I must say if I'm ever going to sell anything to anyone other than my friends I'll seriously consider a PCB. I guess it looks more trustworthy than perf

[spongebob]

I find stripboard (veroboard) a million times easier than doing a PCB...

Me too! I fell in love with stripboard the first time I used it, much better than perfboard. Only drawback is that you have to split some traces if you want to place ICs on it, but that's easily done with a small chisel.

I'm even working on a small program that helps me creating stripboard layouts, it's coming along nicely but is still far from complete... if there is interest I can make it available once I got it working.

[petemoore]

I cheat' when I perf.
 I make connections on the top of the board, and have 'bridges' on the bottom of the board, use sockets to poke flattenned ends of wires into [as opposed to finding an alternate route and soldering both ends...many ppl would consider these techniques 'not passable', actually I have no troubles [well] with them.
 as a seasoned perfer, I say kudos to PCBers...most PCBers I would guess have the ability to perf/choose perf.
 I just never did, partly because of the startup costs, uncertainty of printer ability [spotty track record anywya on the printer]....etc, messing with storing, handling, disposing of etchant...I'm probably just lazy, but I think these drawbacks make good arguements for a 'lazy' [actually still liking the 'old' trick] perfer.
 So one IS better IMO for a certain set of circumstances than the other...there's a pretty good bit of info in this thread...you should be able to decide what you want to try for your next projects.
 Personally for single production units, I see buying some pre-made PCB's as providing good options...obviously more options are available if your a 'dipper'.