my first perf build---questions?3

[rpjones]

I am planning on building the Bandito from MarkM's gallery on perfboard as a gift for a friend. I have built a couple of circuits on pcb's that I purchased, but this is all new to me. The layout in the gallery is a pcb layout, so I am trying to figure out my component layout. A couple of questions:

The drain of Q1 connects to ther source of Q2. Would it be okay to lay out the components more or less as they are in the pcb diagram and use a wire jumpered through the board to make this connection, or maybe better to locate the sockets close together and solder the connections directly?

Is it best to solder on a piece of solid wire for the ground rail or just use a bead of solder to connect the pads?

And a little off topic, will this fit in a 1590B enclosure with a battery, dc adapter jack, 3pdt switch, and led? I should ask will it fit without difficulty. Since it is my first perf build maybe I should just go with the old tried and true a590BB.

Thanks in advance, this board and its members are great.

[mdh]

If I were perfing based on that layout, I'd rotate Q1 180 degrees, which would make the routing of wires/component leads more direct.  I would still connect the socket pins with a short piece of wire or cut off component lead, because socket pins tend to be short, and it's not worth it to try to get them very close together.

As for general perfing practice, you should try to make your joints mechanically sound before you solder them.  Don't count on solder to make things mechanically stable.  I'm not sure exactly what you mean by using a bead of solder to connect pads as opposed to a solid ground wire.  It is often useful to route a wire around the edge of the board to serve as a ground bus, but it's also pretty common to just connect component leads that go to ground directly in a kind of daisy-chain arrangement, adding wires only when you need to span a longer distance than you can reach with the component leads themselves.

Good luck!

[oldrocker]

Your question about using a bead of solder to connect pads or use wire leads I'd say both.  If it's a fairly short distance one or two even three pads you can connect them with beads.  Cold solder joints can of coarse be a problem doing that so just make sure you get enough heat time on it and you should be okay.  Longer distances should be either leads or wire. 
As for following the layout it's totally up to you and what's easier or more sensable.  That's the beauty of perf is the freedom to make different layout decisions.  I've laid them out like the schematics and used layouts all with great results.  I would try and use markm's layout as is but it's up to you.

[soulsonic]

I personally don't like the kind of perfboards that have solder pads on them. I much prefer the plain kind with no copper on them. I do all the connections with component leads and maybe a couple wires here and there.

[oldrocker]

Below is a list of some of the perfboard effects I've built using the pad per hole and the RS center strip perfboard.  They all work great IMHO.

FUZZ & DISTORTION EFFECTS
Fuzz Face - Muff Fuzz (Transisitor) - Muff Fuzz (Opamp) -  Big Muff PI (Stock) - Big Muff (Opamp)
Boss Tone  - Blues Breaker - Pro Co Rat - Voodoo Lab - DOD 250 Distortion - Tube Screamer 808
Highway 89 - Mock Man (Rock Man) - Red Llama - Omni Drive

OCTAVE DISTORTION
Green Ringer - NeOctavia - ShackTave - Scrambler

BOOSTERS AMPS & SIMULATORS
Noisy Cricket Amp - Ruby Amp - Strato Blaster - Condor (Cab Sim)
Professor Tweed (Amp Sim) - Headbanger Stereo Headphone Amp

MODULATION EFFECTS
MXR Phase 45 - Easy Vibe - Pulsar (Tremolo) - Kay (Tremolo)
Cheap Auto Wah - Zombie Chorus - Ultra Flanger

COMPRESSION & GATE
FlatLine Compressor - DOD 280 Comp. - Orange Squeezer
MXR Noise Gate

WAH AND ENVELOPE FILTERS
Color Sound Wah - VOX 847 Wah - Dr. Quack (Dr. Q)
Nurse Quacky (From Dr. Q) - Phuncgnosis Auto Wah

COOL SOUND EFFECTS - DELAY
Rebote 2.5 (Delay) - Ugly Face - Crash Sync
Nyquist Aliaser - SG-1 Slow Gear - Princeton (Rebote) Delay
Colin Analog Bit Crusher - Hysteresis Oscillator
Random Number Generator (RNG) - Atari Punk Console