reboxing a tube screamer ts10 "classic." Advice? Where to start?

[bigandtall]

Hey all,
I'm new to the world of pedal mods and thought that I'd start with reboxing my old TS10. As you may know, the pots and jacks are soldered onto the board and don't stay that way.

I had it modded for bass guitar a while back (before I would ever try it myself), it just keeps breaking, so it makes sense to me to just rebox it and take the jacks and pots off of the board.

Is this a good idea? Where should I start? Do I need new pots and jacks or can I just use the old ones and attach them to the PCB with wire? I'm also thinking of getting a true bypass switch.

Is this a bad idea for a first project?

Thanks!

[bigandtall]

I think I found my answer here:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=37645.0

basically, don't do it.

[Taylor]

I really don't see what the big deal is. To true-bypass any pedal, you just need to build it inside a TB loop. The loop and the circuit will all go inside the same box. You don't need to mess with the buffers or FET switching. You'll have TB and an LED indicator.

http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e101/putzdaddy/?action=view&current=offboardwiringfordiy.jpg

As for moving the pots and jacks offboard, this is pretty straightforward. Again, you don't need any electronics knowledge to do this, you just connect the solder points of the board jacks to the new ones, etc. Very simple, even for a beginner.

Now, that's not to say you shouldn't learn anything if you're interested in building pedals. I just disagree with the approach of frightening people away from trying things out. Stompboxes are great because you can't hurt yourself or anyone else if you do something wrong. I don't know the value of this pedal, as I don't really pay attention to Tube Screamers and the zillion variants, but I assume value's no big deal to you if the thing breaks all the time and you're going to desolder parts, so there's no reason you shouldn't give this a go, you can't cause any irreparable damage.

[Chris S]

Hey Big and Tall,

Re housing and rechipping a TS-10 was one of my early projects and I am  by no means a great or naturally talented builder. I used R.G's guide to tubescreamer to work out what to take in and pull out. I added a 3dpt switch with a big 5mm led on the top for true by pass and a tiny spdt switch with a small 3mm led on the side to turn the effect on - certainly not the most elegant solution but it worked.