Check Out My Universal Guitar Pedal Wiring Jig

[Paul Marossy]

This weekend I figured out how to make a universal guitar pedal wiring jig that can accommodate 1590B, 125 & 1590BB size enclosures as well as Boss/DOD type things. It makes it much less annoying to wire up things with the enclosure being on a stable platform that can spin around to be in any position that is most convenient for soldering stuff. I made a few jigs for the pedals I had to mass produce in 2009-2010 when that was my job, but I never thought of doing it for my own builds. I should have done this YEARS ago!!!

[diffeq]

Cool jig. A bit like those universal PCB vises I saw.

How's the rotating platform called? More importantly... where to get it? 

[Ice-9]

It would be a nice touch If you could make the holding rails spring loaded.

[Paul Marossy]

Cool jig. A bit like those universal PCB vises I saw.

How's the rotating platform called? More importantly... where to get it? 

It's a "lazy susan swivel plate". Pretty sure I got it at Lowes a few years ago.

It would be a nice touch If you could make the holding rails spring loaded.

I thought of that but I think in the end I would be annoyed by that.

[caspercody]

Thanks for the idea!

[patrick398]

Very cool idea and nicely implemented!
Do you use any kind of template/jig for the actual drilling? I was thinking today it would be nice to have some kind of metal sheet to place over the enclosure so the holes are in the exact same spot every time. I don't have a drill press and am starting to get frustrated with my cack handed lack of accuracy

[Paul Marossy]

Very cool idea and nicely implemented!
Do you use any kind of template/jig for the actual drilling? I was thinking today it would be nice to have some kind of metal sheet to place over the enclosure so the holes are in the exact same spot every time. I don't have a drill press and am starting to get frustrated with my cack handed lack of accuracy

Thanks. Don't really need a template. I used to have the enclosures supplied to me to wire up and the pots and/or switches were always in the same place, so I just made a fixture that worked for that specific pedal or range of pedals. On the very first jig I made I was able to wired up 5-6 different pedal designs on the same jig. If I had to also drill all the holes and stuff I would use a template like you describe.

[caspercody]

PedalPCB has a nice template cover for 125B boxes

https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/125b-drill-template/

https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/125b-top-jack-drill-template/

A little pricey for me, someone just making for my use, but for making and selling might be worth it.

Also, gave me a great idea to cut a plastic piece about same size as box, and drill punch holes. Then I use tape and a adjustable straight edge to properly line up the plastic piece, and pre-punch the holes.

[patrick398]

PedalPCB has a nice template cover for 125B boxes

https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/125b-drill-template/

https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/125b-top-jack-drill-template/

A little pricey for me, someone just making for my use, but for making and selling might be worth it.

Also, gave me a great idea to cut a plastic piece about same size as box, and drill punch holes. Then I use tape and a adjustable straight edge to properly line up the plastic piece, and pre-punch the holes.

Yeah that's pretty much what i'm after, although you're right it's pricey. I think i'll try and make one as you suggest

[ElectricDruid]

I was thinking today it would be nice to have some kind of metal sheet to place over the enclosure so the holes are in the exact same spot every time. I don't have a drill press and am starting to get frustrated with my cack handed lack of accuracy

I did that once when I was making a series of pedals. It was just a piece of copper sheet (that was what I had) bent over a 1590BB enclosure, with 2mm holes drilled in it where I needed to drill, both on top and the sides for jacks. It was a simple matter to slip it over a blank enclosure and mark the drill holes with a centre punch. It worked well.

You could do a more "universal" one if you put multiple sets of holes in it (3 knobs, four knobs, etc) but the risk then is centre-punching through the wrong hole, so it's probably better to do separate jigs.

Tom

[Ice-9]

I make my own drilling templates which sit over the top side or end or of an enclosure, all holes are pilot holes 4mm, remove the template then drill out to final size. These one's are about 5 year old and still accurate and get used a LOT. So much of a time saver.

[caspercody]

Ice-9

What material did you use to make those jigs?

[Ice-9]

Ice-9

What material did you use to make those jigs?

I used 10mm thick HDPE Sheet, High Density Polyethylene to cut the template jigs.

[cc_335]

I make my own drilling templates which sit over the top side or end or of an enclosure, all holes are pilot holes 4mm, remove the template then drill out to final size. These one's are about 5 year old and still accurate and get used a LOT. So much of a time saver.

That's really neat! I've been thinking of making something like that myself. Did you use a router to cut out the template?

[Ice-9]

I make my own drilling templates which sit over the top side or end or of an enclosure, all holes are pilot holes 4mm, remove the template then drill out to final size. These one's are about 5 year old and still accurate and get used a LOT. So much of a time saver.

That's really neat! I've been thinking of making something like that myself. Did you use a router to cut out the template?

Yes I used a router to do that, I had at the time bought a cnc3040 routing machine which was perfect for this type of thing.