EA Tremolo: where to wire ground?

[dacaumodo]

Hello
I'm new here, and I'm about to build an EA tremolo, using the version found on runoffgroove.com.
Since this is only my second pedal, I have some (probably silly) hesitations, one of which is:
Do I solder ALL the ground wires to the single hole labelled "ground" on the PCB (http://www.runoffgroove.com/eatrem-pcb.pdf) ? This seems difficult in only one small hole, since I need to connect the input jack, the output jack and the switch to this...

Can someone help?

thanks
Guillaume

[Alex C]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

If I may ask, what was your first pedal, and how did you wire the grounds on that one? 


The ground points all need to be connected together, and not necessarily at the board ground.   The sleeve of each jack, the negative battery terminal or power jack terminal all get connected together, and the board ground point is a means of connecting all the ground points on the board to the jack and power grounds.


The topic of ground is covered in the first few questions here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/cnews/FAQ.html

The rest of that page is a wonderful resource, as is this page : http://www.geofex.com/effxfaq/fxfaq.htm
and the rest of that site: http://www.geofex.com/index.htm



Most of the questions you'll probably have are likely already discussed in detail in the links above, and you can also search the forum here.  The people here are friendly and helpful, and are very willing to help, so if you have more questions, ask away!

-Alex

[dacaumodo]

Thank you so much Alex.
My first pedal was a "lineal booster", built from a kit bought here: http://www.musikding.de/product_info.php?cPath=52&products_id=616
As you can see, there were several "holes" to solder the wires supposed to go to ground, as opposed to the EA tremolo layout, where only one "hole" appears.

Any tip on where best to solder the jack sleeves, etc.  on the EA tremolo? I suppose I could try to jam them all together in the "ground" hole of the board, but am afraid it will be  mess...

Best

Guillaume

[Alex C]

As you can see, there were several "holes" to solder the wires supposed to go to ground, as opposed to the EA tremolo layout, where only one "hole" appears.
Any tip on where best to solder the jack sleeves, etc.  on the EA tremolo? I suppose I could try to jam them all together in the "ground" hole of the board, but am afraid it will be  mess...

I would suggest that you think of the ground not as a hole on the circuit board, but as a reference point that exists throughout the devices in your setup: guitar electronics, effects, and amp; the ground points are all connected through your instrument cables and power cables, if you use them.  The ground point does not exist only on the board; rather, there is a pre-existing ground connection, which is the sleeve of an input or output jack (or both).  Only a single wire is needed to connect the board's ground to the existing signal ground.

Some builders here only connect power ground and the board ground to a single jack sleeve connection, and rely on the conductivity of the metal enclosure to make the ground connection on the other jack.   This is with ground loops in mind, although this is rarely an issue for our low-current applications.   From a reliability standpoint, it's probably better to connect the sleeves of both jacks together, as this way, even if your jack wobbles loose mid-performance, the ground connection will be maintained.

Rather than a point on the board, the sleeve lug on a jack is a good place for a common ground point; I'll call it the "Ground Point A."  Use a single wire to connect the board's ground point to Ground Point A.  Use another wire to connect the sleeve lug of the other jack to Ground Point A.  Use one more wire to connect the negative terminal of the battery or power jack to Ground Point A.  You're all set, unless you're using an LED indicator.  If this is the case, use one more wire to connect the cathode of the LED to Ground Point A.  This may vary depending on your switching setup, but whatever ground connection you need for the switching, connect it to Ground Point A. 

I hope that helps.  Keep reading the FAQs and searching, and feel free to ask more questions.  I am by no means an expert, and there is much better information to be had around here, by very generous and helpful people.  Mark Hammer writes the equivalent of a few novels a week with his explanations, suggestions, and encouragement, and R.G. Keen goes out of his way to repeat information he wrote years ago and has gone over time and again, and acts as our resident guru.  We've got some professional builders here as well, so you're in good company!

Good luck!

-Alex

[dacaumodo]

Thanks a lot Alex, this is really helpful.

Guillaume