Success at last!!! A big thanks to DIYstomboxes

[kleydj13]

Last night I got not just 1 but 2 of my projects working after a long drought.  I've zero knowledge of electronics and can't read a schematic for beans.  I have built a BYOC ts-808, GGG fuzz face, and a GGG A/B box.  I've just recently started moving away from kits and trying to build my own on a generic perfboard from radioshack.  I tried a couple of single transistor boosts, smallbears tweak-o, even the beginner project on this site.  No luck, nothing would work.  I also was tinkering with my fuzz face trying to move it from NPN to PNP to try some different transistors, messed that up and broke the PCB from GGG.  I also had a GGG bluesbreaker PCB that I was going to use with sourcing my own parts, that didn't work either.  Man I was in a dry spell. 

I went back to the basics and started actually learning about how to build these things, instead of just plugging components in and soldering them together.  I bought a breadboard from radioshack and tried the simplest circuit I could find:  the Bazz Fuss.  http://www.home-wrecker.com/bazz.html  It worked first try!  I tweaked the input cap and diode until I got something I really liked and put it into an old enclosure.  Still working!  This thing actually sounds pretty sweet for being so simple.  Awesome!

Then I pulled up my bootstraps and tried smallbears how to breadboard a fuzz face.  Didn't work at first, but I tried the stuff on the debugging page.  I kept at it, checking voltages of the transistors and following the circuit path.  Using the breadboard has been the best thing for me, allowing me to quickly address and solve problems without desoldering joints.  Late last night I found the wrong connection and started blasting away on some beautifully raunchy fuzz.  Oh, I was in bliss.  When my GGG fuzz face went down it was a pretty stinky blow to my board.  I've got a Dano CC-fuzz that sat in place, but it wasn't the same.  I can't wait to tweak this new one to my ears and getting it in an enclosure. 

Overall, I'm pumped to have some success and am having a blast thinking about the next circuit I want to tackle and the tweaking the ones I've already got.  I've gleaned a ton of info from this forum, specifically the beginner project and the debugging page.  Thanks to all of you who have made my excitement possible!

Oh and here's a pic of my first complete solo non-kit build:

http://i822.photobucket.com/albums/zz146/kleydj13/Bass%20Fuzz/IMG_2629.jpg?t=1287676573

[DougH]

Hey, that's fantastic! Congratulations! 

I've preached the mantra of breadboarding for years. It is really the best hands-on way to learn how to put stuff together and what affects what, outside of hitting the books. Once it's working on the breadboard, it's not too hard to transfer it to a final soldered version on the perfboard- then box it up and you have a finished effect.

I love hearing success stories like this.

*All* newbies should read this thread. It would make a good stickie too.

[deadastronaut]

excellent, ..

yep, breadboards are your friend...and save a lot of waste and hassle too..

its also nice to be able to change parts to suit your ears and amp etc.....well done dude!. rock on..

[jefe]

Good to hear, kleydj13! It's a great feeling, isn't it?

I've breadboarded my circuits from day one, and I've had very few problems getting the finshed product to fire up.

[petemoore]

  This is how she teaches.
  Totally unforgiving come test time, no bending of rules, ever.
  That's what's cool once persistance produces a working circuit, it has to work, just like it had to not work...it is all very conditional.
  Anyway figure you've already got many counts of debugging experience.
  One of the best skills is the ability to say 'daugh'..time to take a break or be persistant without freaking out.
  I used 'perf-bread' circuits [sockets, trimpots etc. here and there for swaps]...never had a BBoard, but either way is a good format for "linear-circuit-learning"...Vero and PCB is so convoluted that 'reading' circuits in those layouts is more like decyphering a code, very hard to follow, making analysis or discussion is even harder.

[BadIdeas]

What gauge is that wire? In the stillframe it looks pretty stiff (yeah, I know); like it would take some serious determination to work with that stuff. I'm just wondering because I am not sure of what gauge to use in my projects. I've got these flexible jumpers from a place called hacktronics (I actually ordered them through Amazon) but they don't say what gauge. Let's see if I can find it...

http://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Wire-Jumpers-Male-Male-100/dp/B003B1XR28/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1287703292&sr=8-1

Anyways, congratulations on your achievement. I'm a noob myself and I know what it's like to have a project go wrong. I also know how happy my simple true bypass effects loop made me, even thought I had to grind off part of the lip of the bottom plate to get the LED battery to fit. I messed up when drilling the hole for the switch. 

Learn the science. Don't be afraid to use your imagination.

[Joseph]

you might check mammoth out. Their brd boards and wire bundles are the best price I've found and those guys ship pretty quick.

http://www.mammothelectronics.com/category-s/76.htm


-j