aion flare project has no pad for R7...how to get past this?

[vulture moon]

so i am in the middle of populating the aion electronics Flare fuzz factory project and the pcb has no pad for R7 (sets the max level of the "soft" pot, BUT the diagram in the documentations clearly shows a spot for it.  how can i get around this without omiting the soft pot? (this is why this pcb was so appealing to me) some sort of jumpering and of board point to point stuff.  i am relativly new to building (this is #7) and dont have the knowledge or where with all to figure it out alone. any help would be welcome.  oh and i am not interested in scrapping this board and starting over with one that has the pad on it, i have already waited weeks for a electronics supplier to fix my messed up order, i just want to get some stuff DONE. Thanks!

[MrStab]

hmm, it's weird that they have documentation WITH R7 on the same page you can buy a PCB WITHOUT.
having looked at the schematic but only having one side of the board to look at, all i can suggest is cutting the trace between Q1's Base pin and the Soft pot with a knife, soldering R7 to the same pad as Q1's Base, then connecting the other end to the pad for Soft lug 3. naturally, you'll wanna make sure R7 doesn't risk shorting any of Q1's pins. if the pots being on a different side of the board and/or components in the way are an issue, you could consider a wire, and maybe some hot glue to hold R7 in place. though that could be annoying and not pretty.

if soldering to the underside: if you tightly wrap one loop of the resistor leg around the end of the pins in question, then clip the slack, you can solder both the "proper" component and the resistor quite securely. it's harder to make it sturdy when you try to do it after the original soldering, but still possible.

or you could ask for a replacement!

[MrStab]

CAUTION: if cutting that trace, make sure you keep the connection between Q1 and C1!

(maybe C1 would somehow be easier to piggyback from, but it's further away)

[mth5044]

Is this the documentation?

https://aionelectronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/aion-flare-fuzz-factory-documentation.pdf

I don't see anything about R7 on the layout, schematic or partslist 

[Frank_NH]

It looks like you have the older PCB - the documentation for that version can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4123quqblxt7nr5/aion-flare-fuzz-factory-documentation.pdf?dl=1

The old Soft pot was B250K, but now it's B100K + R7 (fixed).  You get to choose R7 (<= 150K).  You could mod lug 3 of the Soft pot by bending up, solder one end of R7 to it then the other end into the PCB where lug 3 should go.  Wouldn't look elegant but no one would see it. 

[MrStab]

i just went with the first google result to the official page, tbh - though the board pictured had no R7, even though the documentation did. i guess for selling purposes there was no great need to update the pic.

[vulture moon]

wow, my first two hours on here and such a quick response, thanks all, i think i am going to go with modding the pot and squeezing the resistor in there with it, Awesome, evening saved!

[MrStab]

bending up, solder one end of R7 to it then the other end into the PCB where lug 3 should go.  Wouldn't look elegant but no one would see it. 

much more elegant than what i was suggesting! i completely overlooked the fact that the pots are right-angled. doesn't even make sense for them to be how i thought they were!

[duck_arse]

where are your manners, fellas?

hello, vulture moon, and welcome to the forum.

[vulture moon]

its nice to be here, Thanks.

[MrStab]

my apologies, we don't have manners where i live - we have swearing.

welcome to the forum! now you're a member there's NO WAY OUT!!!! pedal building will consume you and all you hold dear! but it's quite fun. lol

[mth5044]

Welcome to the forum!

PS I still don't see any R7 haha. Smarter brains have taken care of you though

[aion]

Wow, that was all really quick! Just some clarification: silver solder pads = version 1, gold-plated pads = v1.1.

R7 is the only difference between "v1" and "v1.1" - all the other parts are identical. What it does is limit the range of the "Soft" knob. With most transistors, the "Soft" knob will have a dead zone toward one end of the rotation where it cuts out all the sound. In the grand scheme of things not a very big deal, since the Fuzz Factory circuit is pretty glitchy already and half the knob settings don't work anyway But I decided to tweak it a bit to give people the option of getting rid of that dead zone if they want. I wouldn't consider version 1 to be inferior in any way though.

I'll get the photo updated