Neat wiring - how to do it?

[ronh95]

I see some great examples of 'boutique' wiring from time to time on this forum and when I popped the back off my new/used Diabolical Gristle Tone Manipulator, my jaw dropped at the meticulous interior.  I've built three pedals so far, two from BYOC kits and a Ross Compressor clone that I etched/drilled, etc.  While all work, none are cleanly wired like this.  It troubles me.

I'm guessing these tightly wired pedals are being wired out of the box, perhaps on some sort of jig before installing the components into the boxes, otherwise I can't explain the lack of service loops in the wires.  They're just long enough to elegantly arrive at their respective components.  I love that look.  I'd appreciate any suggestions/links, etc., on how to achieve such aesthetically pleasing innards.

Many thanks, Ron

[GibsonGM]

Keep searching, man...I've found a few good ideas on the forum.  Some lay out a board with holes where their pots will go (a mirror image of how the pedal will look from above).  All the parts are fit into these holes, wired up, and then slapped right into the pre-drilled box!  Makes things a lot easier and neater, you can route your wires and cable-tie them ahead of time.    Setting up the enclosure first is the key, and then transferring that to a layout board so the dimensions will be right-on.  Avoids that folding, bending and generally stuffing crud into a small box...

 

[AL]

That's just something that comes with time. Keep building pedals. In a few years you'll look inside your early pedals and cringe. Build, build, build.

AL

[$uperpuma]

Before


Not quite 1 year after


I did the wood template thing. On a piece of wood, I traced the outline of an enclosure, then drilled a couple knob configurations into it. Put the pot shafts into the drilled holes and wire it up. Then when you go to put it in the box, its all ready.

[petemoore]

  There's wires you don't want run parallel like
  *PS wires [anything with lots of current, or spikes like LFO's etc.]
  >Output wires
  <Input wires
  Figure out where the pots go in the box, where the board and everything else can fit, make a template is a good idea, or eye it, I like to run my [little bit long] wires through holes in the edge of the board, this 'stay's them [glue/hot glue could further this function, but I don't use it], Then I just cut the extra length, de-insulate, solder the offboard lugs last.

[Jay Doyle]

For me, what worked was to put everything in the box as it should be with the PCB having long leads running from all of the offboard pads. Then starting with the critical wires I run them to insure the least interference and then mark the wire with a sharpie, trim, strip and solder.

It takes a while but it ends up being neater.

I hate wiring up stuff.

[MikeH]

Lately I've been drilling my enclosures ahead of time, and wiring it up inside the box.  Then I remove the guts, and paint the box.  And then put it all together again.

[markm]

I wire all of my builds inside the box as I go.

[calculating_infinity]

I'm starting to wonder what MarkM cant do...  Nice!  What do you use to hold your pcb?  Velcro?

I end up with rats nests and am interested how others do it.  $uperpuma those pots looked wired nicely.  If only mine were like that!

-Jonathan

[markm]

Thanks Jonathan......
Them there screws on the board hold that rascal down!!
I use standoffs JB Welded into the enclosure with screws going through the board most of the time.

[ronh95]

Based on the suggestions here, I think I'll try ginning up a jig with some holes on a 1x6 that will mimic the two enclosures sizes I'm likely to use.  I think if I lay it out as if the box were flattened out, as if the corner seams had been cut through and laid open, I can drill holes for various two, three and four pot combinations.

Excellent suggestions, thanks to all!