Build Diary number 1

[Ice-9]

Ok, i Will introduce myself, Been playing guitar for 20 years now and messing with electronics for about the same time.

The idea here is a build diary of a pedal, after my last build which was all smd components and turned out great, here goes a complete build of a BSIAB2 type pedal with full info on how i will do this from software used for pcb's through to the etching process and all the way to finishing the pedal. I hope there will be interest in this and others to do there own diary.

DIARY 1 BSIAB2

After looking at many different schematic/pcb programs and finding all of them imposible to use without a degree in patience, i came across a program called "diptrace" which there is a fee version to download that limits you to so many connections etc, (well beyond what we can fit in a pedal) so it sounded perfect. I downloaded this and to my complete surprise found it so easy to use.

First  thing i done was to make the schematic of the bsiab2 into the diptrace program, then open the pcb designer with the freshly made schematic . So now i have a print out of the pcb i want printed using a laser printer ( i think inkjet will work also) on draft paper. See pic 1.



I wanted the pcb to have everything on it, jacks led fx circuit  and all (i was after a pro made pedal and i dont see why hand made stuff cant be as pro as much as major makers can make them)

Next i had to have a uv light box to get the image onto the the copper cald board. The major factor here had to be cheap so i bought a light fitting at B&Q for £14 and a uv bulb to fit it for £4ish. As a make shift affair i just balance a bit of glass about 2" above the light on JD containers. see pic 2 ( uv is bad for your eyes so it should be boxed really, so if you try this take dont look at the light)




I have made about 5 pcb's with this and found an exposure of 2minutes and 15 seconds to work.

I then developed and etched the board, but this time i didnt leave the board in the developer the correct time and it has etched badly as you can see in the last picture,
I will get some more copper board and do the pcb again. and post the next part of this build soon. cya all again.

[Ice-9]

UPDATE 1

I bought some new photo resist fibreglass board and have started some new progress today. The first photo is the board after subjecting it to uv light and is ready to etch. I think its just the right amount of light as the tracks look quite good.



Ok i have now etched the board and it has done well. There are 2 bits where the tracks have shorted , but a quick run over with a dremel and its ok



I'm really looking forward to drilling and placing the components now .

By the way as this is a test board of a design i want to make/ modify myself i have called it  "The Stack" This circuit is a BSIAB2 with one change,  I have added a resistor between the gain pot and ground so that when the gain is turned right down there is still some output from the pedal. I wanted to stick to the original BSIAB2" design first to get a good idea of sound comparison, then at a later stage i will be adding a marshall style 3 band tone control which will probabally need an opamp buffer as its a very lossy tone control. Also i want to try and rid the circuit of the trimmer pot as i want to be able to build this pedal without all the hit and miss of having to mess with the trim pot.

[Ice-9]

I have now finished the main peal build. the next to pictures are of the pcb with some components placed, and the second fully built and tested. It sounds really rock solid. I have temp soldered the pots onto the board but to fit them in the top of the box i will have to put them on wires unless i cansource some pots with 90% solder tags.

here are the pics. The hardest thing next is to drill the box, as everything is all pcb mounted drilling the box must be really accurate but if i can make a drilling template then all my designs will have the jacks, psu, switch and led in the same place, that will make life eaier when drilling.

[ayayay!]

Fantastic build and great diary.  Are you cutting those pot shafts to be the same size or is that how it will stay? 

[Ice-9]

Thanks for looking in. I will definately be cutting the pot shafts to the same size. I just put the pots on temperary to test the circuit before fitting it to the case.

[harmonic]

This is cool! 

[John Lyons]

Looks nice!


john

[cpnyc23]

I think the build diary is a really good idea.  I'd love to see more people do stuff like this.  I might have to give it a shot myself.  The only problem is that my wife is a professional photographer so all of our cameras are super-fancy and well beyond my limited knowledge...

-chris

[Ice-9]

I've been busy again, I have now drilled the enclosure ready for painting and final placement of the circuit. The biggest problem i have had with finishing this project has been because everything is mounted on pcb it has been important to measure accurately the mounting points in the enclose before drilling (i must make a drilling template later to make life easy for future builds, as all the pcb designs will have the same dimentions for jacks etc, the only changes will be how many pots and where they are placed) Any way back to the plot. All the holes are drilled and correspont just right. I have put the  pcb in place and it fits,Whoohoo.

Three more photos, but now a colour scheme, any idea's .







The orange effect in the background is my first build whichis a boss sd1 i build with all smd component, he is a pic of that also, i'm really enjoying the pcb layout stuff and etching, can't wait for the next project after i've finished this one

[ambulancevoice]

how bout a brown enclosure for the brown sound???

[cpnyc23]

whoa... smd - i'd love to hear about your experiences with that proces.

-chris

[Ice-9]

@ ambulancevoice, great idea brown to match the circuit, but i've just looked in the shed and no brown paint, but van halen coined the term brownsound and he also describes his playing as "falling down the stairs and landing on his feet blues" I have blue paint so its blue. Next one will be brown.

@ cpnyc23, i have also altered the pcb to take the larger  mica and film caps as i want to do a side by side comparison of how the caps affect the sound, but my next build after that is going to be based on the front end of this BSIAB with a 4558 op amp driving a 3 band marshall style tone control (hopefully the redesing will rid the circuit of any need for biasing trims). This one will be SMD apart from the fets and i will do an improved diary layout on that pedal. ( i would use j201 smd but i have about 50 standard j201's to use first and 50 2n5457's also).

Anyway i am painting the enclosure now so will post a couple of pics later of the finished pedal. I must find someone who can make decals for me soon, or does anyone here have any tuts on decals / sticker making that would be helpful ?

[Ice-9]

Last update !!!!

I have now got the finished working pedal all bar the decals/stickers, so here is the last picture uploaded. The only thing left is to do a sound clip when i get my recording set up back together. I will try and get one done before the weekend and get it posted up.

Lastly  thanks for to all who looked in on this diary and i hope it might inspire others to make a diary/ progress of a build soon.

I will be back for my new diary soon with a build of a modified BSIAB so that the circuit doesn't need to have any bias trim setting making it easier to build and will include a full 3 band tone and will have both through hole pcb and also a Surface Mount Component version. After that i fancy a high voltage valve design built from scratch, who knows what could be next . Any ides ?



Cya all

[Barcode80]

I wanted the pcb to have everything on it, jacks led fx circuit  and all (i was after a pro made pedal and i dont see why hand made stuff cant be as pro as much as major makers can make them)

This statement is a little inaccurate. Pro build doesn't necessarily mean board mounts and pretty pcb's. dragonfly's stuff looks more professional than any crapola boss pedal layout. a better word would be "mass produced look"

HOWEVER...  KICK ASS! that's a great looking build and the diary thing is great. really, we already have it in the build reports that people post, but i wouldn't mind if it became it's own forum section and people went into this kind of detail in their build reports. GREAT WORK!

[Ice-9]

@ Barcode, Good point about how i worded that !

This statement is a little inaccurate. Pro build doesn't necessarily mean board mounts and pretty pcb's. dragonfly's stuff looks more professional than any crapola boss pedal layout. a better word would be "mass produced look"

Hand wired jobs are as good and as pcb mounted stuff, each has there own advantages and disadvantages. Every boss pedal i have owned has been wired with leads so mass produced can be both types as well .It has been an interesting project for me and i hope its highlighted some of the advantages as well as problems this type of build can have.