Beginner needing simple answers!

[Bunford]

Hey,

I'm after an answer to this question in simple English as i'm a beginner and nowhere near understanding the technical lingo!

I basically want to know how soldering parts works. Does the wire on the bottom of the PCB just get solered into place and then cut off? Or does it get crossed with other wires (touching or untouching) etc?

Does the signal/current travel through the copper in the PCB and no need to cross wires underneath?

In it's most basic form, is it a case of buying a ready made PCB and the relevant parts. Then soldering the parts underneath in relevant holes and cutting any excess wire. Then when all part are completed and wiring is done it is just a case of housing the fully build PCB in an enclosure?

Cheers,

Gav.

[slacker]

Hey,

I'm after an answer to this question in simple English as i'm a beginner and nowhere near understanding the technical lingo!

I basically want to know how soldering parts works. Does the wire on the bottom of the PCB just get solered into place and then cut off? Or does it get crossed with other wires (touching or untouching) etc?

Yes you solder the wires in place then trim off the excess.

Does the signal/current travel through the copper in the PCB and no need to cross wires underneath?

Yes, the copper joins the components together and makes the circuit.

In it's most basic form, is it a case of buying a ready made PCB and the relevant parts. Then soldering the parts underneath in relevant holes and cutting any excess wire. Then when all part are completed and wiring is done it is just a case of housing the fully build PCB in an enclosure?

Yes that's exactly it. In an ideal world thats all you'd have to do, in reality all manner of things might go wrong

Have a look here for a short tutorial about making a tube screamer http://www.tonepad.com/photoessay.asp?photoEssayID=24&sequenceNo=1

[Bunford]

Cheers for this! So it (in an ideal World) could be a case of buying a ready made PCB (which seems like less hassle than trying to make my own), buying parts and then soldering everything into place and then chucking it all into a ready prepared and painted enclosure for the finishing touches and hey presto!

Sound like something i should pick up fairly quickly. I bought a little Strobe/LED kit on the weekend for £4 which had resistors, capacitors, switches, LEDs etc so i can have a go at that to try and make it.

Any tips before i start this evening? Is it better to solder each piece as you go or to put everything in place and then solder?

[boogietube]

Solder sockets, then resistors,  then capacitors, then transistors, then place any ic's in the socket. I like to wire everything together before I put the IC'S in. I wouldn't want to blow an expensive IC  with static charges or otherwise.  There's lots of great beginner info at www.generalguitargadgets.com  I'd recommend that you read it all. Also, there's a lot of info on the wiki on this site. If you can find it someone made a little video on soldering on this site. Search for soldering tutorial and I'm sure you'll find it.

Sean

[darron]

and here's my soldering technique tutorial:



you might be confused with overlapping wires and soldering them together because some people prefer to do that on a board and don't have an etched pcb.

[cb]

Solder sockets, then resistors,  then capacitors, then transistors, then place any ic's in the socket. I like to wire everything together before I put the IC'S in. I wouldn't want to blow an expensive IC  with static charges or otherwise. 

I like to solder components generally following the signal path, and only a section at a time. For example, if I'm building a tube screamer clone, I would solder the IC socket, then the just the parts for the clipping section, then pop the IC in the socket. This way you can test as you build. Use miniature alligator clips from your guitar cord to the input and again from the output to a cord to your amp. Solder the power supply components and either solder up a 9V battery snap or use the clips, and power up the board. Then, play the guitar and see if it sounds like what you expect (or if there's any sound at all!). Using this technique, my builds have always worked the first time.

[Mark F]

One mistake many beginners make is trying to "Butter" the solder joint. I once had a tech who came straight from school and didn't know the proper way to solder and he "Buttered" the joint on something he was doing. So, it's not only beginners who do that. Oh, "Buttering is the incorrect practice of trying to smear or spread the solder onto the joint as opposed to letting the joint heat and letting the solder flow over the leads etc. Good Luck!