GGG MGV success!

[Surfcaster]

After building the GGG MGV on a breadboard, I decided to go ahead and purchase the PCB from GGG and build the pedal.  I completed the build last night and the pedal works nicely and sounds great!

I did encounter two problems.  First , I realized I should have waited to attach the LED when all the rest of the soldering was done, because after all the moving around the terminal broke off right at the LED and is now useless...and I only had the one! (well, I have a pack of LEDS I bought at Radio Shack a while back, but they are all low intensity, and besides this one was blue!)

The other problem...I downloaded the 1590BB drill template from the GGG site and ran into two issues.  First of all, I didn't realize it was intended for 16mm pots, and I had purchased 24mm pots.  I should have thought that one through before my initial order!  Anyway I placed an order for the 16mm pots.  But when they came, I couldn't get THEM to fit either!!  I was more than a little frustrated!  Turns out the template is not quite full-size...I should have measured it before I drilled.

So I have ordered a new enclosure AND some additional LEDs...will hopefully arrive later this week.

In the meantime, my enclosure looks like swiss-cheese, as I drilled several holes until I got everything to fit as I wanted!  I will use it as a template when the new one arrives.  I also have no indicator LED at the moment...but other than that, it works and it sounds great!! 

[SmoothAction]

I still have my first kit enclosure, it's super swiss cheese drilled too. A GGG bsiab 2, now it houses a delay and has housed many other circuits before that. It's my "temp" enclosure when band testing. Use yours to try out paint/etching techniques while waiting for your new box.

Congrats on the build! I love my guvnor, great distortion.

[Buzz]

Hey, good to hear you're getting there.

Sweet. The Guv'nor is my go-to dirtbox. It was also my second build.

Started making a bad ground noise last week so I pulled the back off it yesterday to sort it out.... just some dry solder on the output jack ground. Cured.

I tell you what the wiring looked like a comedy disco wig. Some of the soldering would make a chicken blush if she had left such a mess. I'm amazed it has worked so well for so long.

16mm pots are a PITA for me get locally, the only ones I can get in any parts stores around here have long shafts I have to cut down and PCB mounts instead of solder lugs.

Order a few extra whenever you're getting some and start building up a supply.

24mm pots just take up too much room in nearly any build.

[Surfcaster]

Yeah, so the pedal ended up costing me more in the end than I was expecting, but I didn't set out on this just for price.

And keeping the enclosure as a temp enclosure is a good option.  I do have another enclosure the same size that is very swiss-cheesy as well, but that's because back in my gigging days when I had different amp, I used it to switch in and out two separate FX loops...so I could turn multiple pedals on and off simultaneously.    So I've got a couple options there!

As for sourcing these parts locally...I'm not even sure I could.  The only place I'm aware of that sells electronic parts in town is Radio Shack, which has a pretty limited stock, is a little on the pricey side and I'm not convinced quality is the best.  I went yesterday to look for LEDs for an indicator, and the high intensity ones were running around $4 a piece!  Small Bear sells them for $0.50, so even with shipping it's comparable...especially if you throw a few extra items in!