First Pedal Build, let me know what you think

[Bobandy]

After breaking a friends Behringer pedal trying to mod it, I decided that I would build him a new pedal.  Took me over 2 months of experimenting and breadboarding and a lot of headaches and troubleshooting, but today I finally got everything working.  It is a Bazz Fuss/Pwm with the option of running each one individually or simultaneously.  I also threw in a stomp that activates loud feedback and I threw in a momentary killswitch as well for stuttering the sound.  I think I was maybe a bit ambitious with this build having just learning to solder a few months ago but I am happy with it and I think it sounds great. 

[Ben Lyman]

Great looking first build, Youtube vid please! 

[pedlar]

Nice art work! Great job.  love those square pad-per-hole boards, use them myself.

[smallbearelec]

I think I was maybe a bit ambitious with this build having just learning to solder a few months ago...

I agree. However, Since you got it working, you clearly learned a lot. Congratulations! A few suggestions:

• I would have put the whole thing on one board; larger pieces of perf are readily available.
• When you plan the layout, do it so that the connections to the off-board parts line up on an edge of the board and as close as possible to the pots and jacks. This helps with troubleshooting and repair when needed. If you have already learned to use layout software in planning this build, good. If not, learn to use DIY Layout Creator.
• For mechanical stability, use standoffs on the corners of the board.
• While it adds cost, I find that I really like using either push-in terminals or Molex headers and plugs to make off-board connections. Some examples are in here:

http://diystompboxes.com/barebonesfuzzface/

[Bobandy]

Those boards are actually the second incarnation. The first was one solid board but I kept having stuff go wrong and figured it would be easier to do each circuit on its own board for troubleshooting purposes. The first board also had op amps and transistors soldered directly to the board which ended up being a huge mistake when one of the chips crapped out on me so I redid the whole thing  correctly but on two boards. Not a bad build for 30$

[Electron Tornado]

Good thing to go with something simple and not get too ambitious on your first pedal. 

A couple of suggestions:

1. I'll second Steve's suggestion to use standoffs for the boards. Keep them secure.
2. The battery looks like it's just sitting there. It's a relatively large mass in there that can flop around and create shorts or broken connections. Suggest using a battery clip if you're going to have a battery in there, or leave it out and just use an external power supply.


Pedal looks great!

[mcknib]

Very nice looking pedal well done to you Sir!

Always a good idea to use sockets when your starting out makes it much easier to try different components for a wee bit of added experimentation

No doubt you learned a lot from your debugging exploits too and +1 to all the great advice you've received.

That enclosure labelling is impressive for a first build - I think your friends gonna be a happy bunny he / she might even give you another coupla pedals to break!

[duck_arse]

a kill knob and a kill switch? that doesn't sound right to me.

I do like the swallows. very nice looking build.

[Bobandy]

The kill knob affects how much signal gets cut.  Just made a video testing the pedal.  sound quality is crap and Its basic but oh well.

[aron]

That is a great first build. Mine looks nothing like that!!!!! Congratulations!