Wampler Black '65 clone build. Help!

[Grlzzly]

Hi folks,

I'd really like to build a clone of the wampler black 65.  I have the schematic and some very basic soldering experience (wiring my SG to 50's wiring w/ independent volumes).  I've never worked with PCB's before and this seems like a whole new daunting world to me.  What difficulty level would you say this project is?  Is it doable for a beginner?

I have some idea how the schematic works; isolate the channels on the vector board, solder the components where they should be, link the appropriate contacts. Some things are still opaque to me.  What is the Q1-4 (J201) and where do they connect?  Are they just regions on the board?  What is a J201?  I also don't see where the boost switch connects.  Also nothing about where the indicator light goes. 

Thanks!

[thermionix]

J201s are JFET transistors.  Through-hole JFETs are getting a little scarce these days.  Most circuits that use them require you to select transistors with certain operating characteristics, or at least include trimmers in the circuit to adjust the bias.  Not to be too discouraging, but this might not be an ideal first pedal build.  The indicator LED is optional, and is usually wired in at the footswitch.  There are various ways to do it.

[Elijah-Baley]

Here's the schematic:



Remember, the point of view of the layout is from the top, under you can see the soldering side.

I'd say that, looking at the number of the parts, this pedal is a medium difficulty, but you could have an extra difficulty because the FET.
The Fet transistors have a variable element, and to adjust the bias you have to act on all those 5.6k resistors, theorically them should be fine, but you could use at least some socket and try some close value. Those resistors will change the amount of gain of the pedal.
Try to read all the comments in the page where this layuot is  posted: http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.it/2012/08/wampler-black-65.html

For the led you have to see the offboard wiring. This is good enough: http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2012/02/offboard-wiring.html

It's not impossible to build, but you need to pay much attention.

[duck_arse]

.... and welcome to the forum!

the black half circles marked GSD or DSG on your layout diagram are the jfets, Q1 ~ Q4. the circuit diagram is a different thing, as posted by E-B, which shows you the wiring of the switch. Sw2, Sw5 and Sw6 are the connection points to the switch on yr dia, corresponding with the numbers on the lower right switch diagram.

you might be better off starting w/ something simpler like and Electra distortion, or a fetzer or sparkleboost-ish thing. burn and learn a few things first. imo.

[reddesert]

I've built this pedal from this vero layout. It works fine, but I agree with everyone else who says that you should start with simpler projects. Start with a simple project, either using a pre-made PCB that you can get from one of several vendors catering to DIY builders (madbean, guitarpcb, etc). Or use vero (stripboard), but this requires more care and is easier to make mistakes.  Pick something that sounds nice but has a minimum of obscure components and offboard wiring.  For example, the Madbean Slow Loris, a Rat clone. Or one of the many Lovepedal variations on the Electra distortion.

In particular for the Black '65 project, there are several considerations that you can remember after you've built a few pedals and come back to this one:

- JFETs are highly variable in their properties and need to be selected and biased correctly to sound right. Wampler apparently selected his JFETs for a certain range of parameters. If you don't have a zillion JFETs, you may need to use different values for the drain resistors and the gain stages may sound different. I think mine may have less overdrive than Wampler's original, even though I was careful with the JFETs.

- This pedal has five pots and a switch. That's a lot of offboard wiring, which usually is a place that problems crop up. One advantage of PCBs over vero is that you can often get PCBs that allow you to board-mount the potentiometers - but then you have to drill the enclosure holes carefully.

- One can cram those five pots, a switch, and the largish vero board into a 125B enclosure, but it needs care. I wouldn't bother trying anything smaller.

[Paul Marossy]

Wampler apparently selected his JFETs for a certain range of parameters.

Yes, he does pay people to do this for him. I saw it in a video some time ago when he got his own place, a guy was sitting there just testing FETs.