What tips/trick/secret sauce do you have that others might find useful?

[drdn0]

Been thinking about little things I've picked up from others who have probably forgotten more than I know that have been incredibly useful to me, but I don't see them written about often. I'm sure some others have plenty of things they do that they've learned in similar ways which aren't commonly spoken about, and would love to see them together.

I'll start: while it's nothing revolutionary, pogo pins make neat, incredibly small footprint and cheap spring-loaded terminals to connect the ground plane of a PCB to an enclosure if you're using insulated jacks.

[ElectricDruid]

"A flat frequency response isn't what you want".

I often find myself trying to design pedals as if they were hi-fi's, and trying to make the response flat across the full range of the signal. But this is almost always a bad idea. All the pedals we like have some defined "character" and often that's down to which frequencies they emphasise or cut and where.
So don't be afraid to do some tone shaping in your designs.

[antonis]

don't be afraid to do some tone shaping in your designs.

Most interesting tone shapes are the unintentional ones..

[Mark Hammer]

"A flat frequency response isn't what you want".

I often find myself trying to design pedals as if they were hi-fi's, and trying to make the response flat across the full range of the signal. But this is almost always a bad idea. All the pedals we like have some defined "character" and often that's down to which frequencies they emphasise or cut and where.
So don't be afraid to do some tone shaping in your designs.

I find many pedals have wider bandwidth than what is optimal.  In particular, I find the control of top end in drive pedals is problematic.  I like to be able to engage a drive for a nice thick and vocal sound, but without having to turn the treble down on the amplifier.  One should be able to go from a pleasing drive tone to a bright clear unaffected sound using the bypass switch alone.

[bluelagoon]

I like the Pogo pin idea, I have been using springs to ground the Box to the Circuit GND.
 But is difficult to source the best spring tension for the job, most the ones I have purchased are a little to soft on the spring compression.
As for the Pogo Pins, I would imagine they would take a lot of heat from a solder iron to solder in place.
But the concept looks good.

[Focalized]

I've been cutting the box for the DC jack so I can pull out the whole insides with out desoldering. I need a proper Dremel cutter but it only takes a few minutes to file the bit out.

[GibsonGM]

^  That works great, and now we can use the SQUARE, Boss-type jacks!  As long as we remember to use the size of the slot, rather than the outer dimension, ha ha (how did I learn that? Doh)

[Matthew Sanford]

That's a pretty brilliant way! I bought a bunch of tiny 2 pin M/F connectors to avoid not using my nut on the inside power jacks, but this is a much simpler method!

[Eddododo]

Oh man, that's great. And for anybody Who doesn't want that big of a slot, all you really need is a slot that is big enough for the wires.. It would be more fiddly, but you just have to undo the nut and pull the jack out straight, then the wires just shimmy down the thin slot.. And I guess, for either size it would be pretty trivial to fashion some sort of rubber plug to fill the gap if it irks you or the build is for someone else etc

[Focalized]

Oh man, that's great. And for anybody Who doesn't want that big of a slot, all you really need is a slot that is big enough for the wires.. It would be more fiddly, but you just have to undo the nut and pull the jack out straight, then the wires just shimmy down the thin slot.. And I guess, for either size it would be pretty trivial to fashion some sort of rubber plug to fill the gap if it irks you or the build is for someone else etc

Took my a minute to get what you said. I'd say good improvement.

[Phend]

Hum, so much for cutting the wires and then soldering them back together.
But aren't these effects never needing to be taken apart?
Darn I've been soldering the covers on too.

[Matthew Sanford]

Ah, you're a loon!

[Phend]

Loonacy set aside, guess I've taken the cheap way to connect/disconnect power.

[Kevin Mitchell]

Everything here so far is very neat! Folks will surely be inspired to give it a try, though caveats must be considered.

I think every builder should have a set of Rocket Sockets in their arsenal.

[Focalized]

But aren't these effects never needing to be taken apart?

I'm very non linear with my builds. I'll have 2 or 3 unpainted but want to keep it in my chain a while before deciding I like it and finish. And I have a bunch of files I find a need to use. I thought to buy some tiny crimped connectors maybe. I like making use of as much stuff I have laying around. From cutting up some odd material instead of buying rubber feet to making battery clips out of dead batteries.

Also recently lost 50 pounds so out comes the needle and thread for all my shorts.

[drdn0]

I like the Pogo pin idea, I have been using springs to ground the Box to the Circuit GND.
 But is difficult to source the best spring tension for the job, most the ones I have purchased are a little to soft on the spring compression.
As for the Pogo Pins, I would imagine they would take a lot of heat from a solder iron to solder in place.
But the concept looks good.

No more than any other component - in fact, probably faster (sped up by the fact I hold them in by hand, and they get real warm real fast).

[bean]

I've been cutting the box for the DC jack so I can pull out the whole insides with out desoldering. I need a proper Dremel cutter but it only takes a few minutes to file the bit out.

Just to chime in on an alternative approach to the desoldering thing. You can get super cheap ribbon cable and headers from AliExpress in any number of pins, 2.54mm spaced. I often use a two pin header for the DC connection for the same reason. Just disonnect and pull the entire assembly out.

[marcelomd]

I use Blu Tack, reusable adhesive putty, to hold things when soldering.

Only drawback is it "falls apart" when it gets too hot, so bits of it stick to the component leads/pins. It regains cohesion when cold, though, so it can be cleaned if you tap it with a bigger blob. Not usually a problem.

[mark2]

I live and die by the blue putty. I have 3 or 4 different "helping hands" tools, but almost never use them since the blue putty is usually quicker and more effective.

It's great for holding parts in place, or just holding a board to the bench while you solder it.

[Elektrojänis]

making battery clips out of dead batteries.

This is a good one. It's almost comical how you can make a battery clip from the ends of an old 9 volt batttery, a few wires and a bit of hot glue and it will be more sturdy than most battery clips you can buy.