i must be missing something...

[b_rogers]

i bought a breadboard and jumper kit the other day, and i have tried 4 or 5 different schems and only one worked..the smash drive. am i missing something? i think the rows of 5 holes connect together correct? and that leaves 4 other holes to connect the next component..right? then if that component needs =9v or ground i just go to the rails..right? does what hole you place the next component correlate to the order the signal is bled off? am i making any sense at all? this is hard to explain...say a resistor goes in the middle of the five holes, i could split the signal if i want by jumpering to each side right? does this even make sense? if i put the component on the end hole then i could hook 4 other components off of that one right? i can get sound out of all my builds and usually got the correct voltage on collectors etc. but no distortion..if anyone can explain or draw a picture or something that will help me figure out what i am doing wrong...

[Boofhead]

Referring to the picture at:

http://www.joestump.com/PrototypeBoard.html

The rows are vertical in this pic.

Each row is split into two groups of 5 by the "dividing line".  The pins in a group of 5 connect  together as you suspected - it doesn't matter what order you connect them since they just connect together.

The group of 5 opposite the dividing line are connect together like the first group of 5 but they aren't not connected to the first group of 5.  You can see how the IC plugs in the what I'm saying here is IC pin 1 doesn't short to IC pin 8,  they are separate.

You will see two strips on the outer edges of the breadboard which are handy for power connections.  These are not connected to the groups of 5.  

You have to be careful with these because how they connect depends on the brand of breadboard.

Variation 1: On some breadboards there are *two* strips on *each side* (the type shown only has one).  In the two strips/side case the two strips are *not* connected.

Variation 2: The strips can connect together *along* the whole length, or, there might be split halfway *along*  the length of the strip. It's hard to see if it's split in half or not, use a multimeter.  With the split type it's generally a good idea to use a permanent wire jumper (at the centre) to connect both halves of the strip.

You have to make sure the component pins pokes right into the board, usually you can feel some friction on the component pin.

When in doubt use your multimeter!

[b_rogers]

thanks boof for the explanation. that is kinda how i thought it worked. hmmm i wonder what im doing wrong? i guess i am gonna keep trying. i need some different value pots as all i have are 5k for drive and 1m for whatever. i guess im just frustrated that all i could get to work was the smash drive which ive perfed before. i did the blackfire the other night and it took a while to do, and i could get guitar signal thru but no distortion. i picked that one cause it looks like a circuit invented on a board to me...hey if i wanna omit the fuzz pot on a fuzz face, i just put a resistor of the same value as the pot to cap to ground in place of the pot right?

[Boofhead]

i guess im just frustrated that all i could get to work was the smash drive

Sometimes the parts get knocked out as you put the later ones in.  Also resistors and caps sometimes don't connect if they are new and have that sticky stuff on the ends (from the paper which holds them on the "reel").  Use solid core wire of the correct diameter for you breadboard- you can feel the wire grabbing like a resistor leg.

There's a possibility you just made a simple error.  It's easy for example to not connect the grounds or power to all parts of the circuit. You might build sections of circuit but power or ground only goes to one part, in isolation the the sections look OK and you eye doesn't spot the missing connection *between* the sections.  All I can say is stick with it and try to work through it, you will often find it's only a small mistake.

Poke around with you multimeter.  If you get 0V when there should be a voltage then that's somewhere to start looking.

hey if i wanna omit the fuzz pot on a fuzz face, i just put a resistor of the same value as the pot to cap to ground in place of the pot right?

It's OK to put resistors in for pots.  Remember it only simulates one position of the pot, so you have to choose the pot position you want.  Just how to do this depends on the circuit.   In general a pot is like two resistors but in some instances you can get away with one resistor, a fuzz-face with the drive on full is one example.  Here you replace the pot with a 1k resistor but don't forget to connect the cap.  If you want to simulate a fuzz-face at half drive you would use say two 470ohm resistors in series (2x470 = 940 ohms which is close enough to 1k) then connect the cap to the junction of the two resistors.

[b_rogers]

thanks for the encouragement...i tried to breadboard a ff tonight and could get signal but no fuzz...grabbed a piece of perf and bam...instant germanium goodness..maybe i am just overlooking something simple like you say. i am gonna retry the ff again tomorrow and see. preciate the info too.

Brent

[aron]

The truth is that the breadboard is way funky but incredibly useful.

One thing to remember is that the "visual" orientation of the transistors are reversed from how you might think of them on perfboard.

It's easy for me now, but it used to drive me nuts.

[smoguzbenjamin]

It took me ages to get breadboards figured out, and my breadboarding is still hectic. As soon as the ckt's on there, I forget what half of it is and what part on the schematic it represents, as it were

I'm breadboarding right now and having loadsa fun. Although pots are a pain, because stuffing hand-twisted wire into a breadboad is almost impossible. Pre-tinned wire is good for this though