urgent pedal build help!

[Output]

Hey DIY forum!

I have some questions regarding pedal building.

Stripboard. If I have a 3"x2" stripboard plate, can I cut it to make it smaller?

I have this 1/4" stereo input jack that has 4 tips as opposed to 3


This 1/4" mono input jack has 3 tips as opposed to 2


And I also have this breadboard. Can I use this breadboard to test out the stripboard layout below? I don't have the stripboard yet and I want to test it out before soldering



Why do both input jacks have one more tip than the one's I've seen and what are they used for?

I bought them so I could do this bypass right here:

http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/StompboxWiring/

Thank you!!!

[Pablo1234]

the extra connection is for a switch on the tip. when no jack is unserted into the plug it is connected to the tip, when a jack is inserted it is open. this is usually connected to gnd so when no jack is their the input is grounded.

[Tony Forestiere]

You can still use them. You just got a little extra with these jacks. If you look at the picture of the stereo plug, you will see a shorting contact touching the tip. Plug in a guitar plug and you'll see the tip bend out of the way (breaking the contact). Isolate the shorting contact and it's terminal (snap 'em off, making SURE you got the right ones), and use them as you planned.

[deadastronaut]

yep , you can use your breadboard, wire up a 9v battery to it, + -...join up the - + on both sides of it..

wire your jacks in/out, and away you go..sleeve -  tip +...

i would breadboard it from a schematic though...schematics are easier to read than vero layouts...use the vero for reference,

i always bread everything now, its fun, and you learn too......and most of all,  you get what 'you' like.....

[petemoore]

  With various types of 1/4'' jacks, visual tracing might allow seeing the connections, but then the plug matters too, a stereo plug will make different connections than a mono plug will in a 'more than mono' 1/4'' jack.
   ...The sleeve of the mono jack is sometimes used to connect two lugs of the stereo jack.
   With the number of types of jacks and 2 types of plug, the DMM can do a good job testing if testing continuities/insulation 'correctly'...having to go through again and find the mistake learnt me another jack-trick at least twice.

[Output]

hey man,

I did not get anything you just said  (english isn't my first language)

I'm mainly confused about the jacks because they have a shorting contact and Tony told me to snap it off, but I don't know which to snap off! THere's a tip right in the middle of the jack, it's connected to the input hole in the stereo, what the hell do I do?

(yes, this is my first pedal, so bear with me! )

[markeebee]

EDIT:
Picture corrected after Egasmus' post.  Soz!

[egasimus]

Use your multimeter to test which jack connects to the "red part", and snap that one off.
you don't really have to do this - you can leave it there, just make sure it doesn't touch anything. It's also pretty safe to connect it to ground, I think.

Regarding Markeebee's pic, EDIT: it's the right way around now

This is done for the following reason: when a cable isn't connected, the negative terminal of the battery isn't connected to the circuit, either. Thus, no power goes into the circuit, and the battery isn't drained. When you put a (MONO!) cable in the jack, both the shorter contact and the hole are touching the same area on the jack. This connects the battery negative terminal to the circuit ground, and the effect is now powered up.

[markeebee]

Oops, yeah, usually the other way round.

EDIT:
Picture is ok now.

[Output]

So, do I just leave it alone without snapping it off or bending it? Or will I be ok by putting an insulation sleeve on the shorting contact?

The mono jack has this too, do I leave it alone or put a sleeve on it?

Can you put LEDs in series to make a chain of leds for the 1590B Light Plate?

Also, can anyone tell me why all the 3PDT connections are soldered in this pic:


But there is one left out let out in this one?
http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/StompboxWiring/

Thank you so much guys! You've been really helpful!

[egasimus]

For some reason the pics don't work for me now, but you can just leave the contacts alone - they don't influence anything if the jacks are connected correctly. To be extra sure, you can put a big blob of nail polish or something on the terminal corresponding to the extra contact. Same goes for the mono jack.

As for LEDs in series, well, each LED has a different voltage drop (~2V for red LEDs as far as I remember). If the voltage between + and - is less than this, the LED just won't conduct (remember, it works just like a normal diode), and won't light up, either. I'd recommend wiring two or three LEDs in series, then wire as many chains of those as you need in parallel (you can also wire a lot of single LEDs in parallel, too). Then, you connect a suitable resistor in series with all that mess of wires and LEDs you've just created , and you're good to go.

As for the value of the resistor, try a 10k or 50k pot wired as a variable resistor (connect just lugs 1 and 2, doesn't matter which is which) and find a value at which the LEDs glow brightly enough, yet the current draw (milliamperes, milliamps, mA) isn't too much. Measure the resistance of the potentiometer, and put a resistor of a similar value in its place.

Or you could put a trim pot so the user can decide how much brightness they want, in series with a resistor to limit the current even when the pot is turned to max. There is a point (amount of current) where LEDs stop getting any brighter. Some more than that, they abruptly change color and start dying. No kidding. It's pretty, but try to avoid it.

[slacker]

Also, can anyone tell me why all the 3PDT connections are soldered in this pic:

But there is one left out let out in this one?
http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/StompboxWiring/

It's just a different way of wiring them up that grounds the input of the effect when it's bypassed, like this. The method Beavis shows leaves the input of the pedal not connected to anything when it's bypassed. This can make some pedals squeal which sometimes can be heard even though they are bypassed, grounding the input stops this.