Embaressed to ask this, but i need alot of help please

[9V]

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/v2/pics/neovibe_pcb.jpg

*is this the PC board kit or Perfboard? or is it the same thing?*

*also that shiney metallic lines all over across the board, is copper right?, but is it sold in radio shack like that? or do i have to draw(?) the copper all over across the board like that?, if so how do i draw or make the lines?*

*i've noticed alot of small holes on the circles on the metallic ends of the line,  heard i'll have to drill them...what kind of drills to do i have to buy?*

i have more questions.. but i'll probably ask them later, please give me some help.

thank you :oops:

[aron]

That particular excellent example is ready for you to put the parts in and solder. You buy the board like from that site.

You can buy an etching kit and make your own, but in many cases it is easier to simply purchase an already etched and drilled board.

Perfboard is totally different. Take a look at the beginner project pictures on how to work with perfboard.

[9V]

can you buy them at radio shack? all drilled and coppered(?)

if i have to do it, how can i put them coppers(?) on the pc board, How can i put it so perfect and nicely? (i'm trying to make the Electra Distortion on the site that is provided).

so i can make a electra distortion with a pc board Or a Perfboard?

[9V]

http://www.diystompboxes.com/beginner/build/npnboostbuild.htm

this is a perfboard right? so this thing has all the coppered bottom, so don't nessasarely have to buy a PC board right? cos it's hard..

but sitll don't understand them differences between the PC and Perfboard...

[el duderino]

ok basically the one with all the lines of copper going across is strip board
(strips of copper hence the name!) this is sold in sheets depending on the size you want and it already has the holes drilled on it.

PC board (Printed Circuit board) is something you make yourself with an etchant called ferric chloride and you have to drill it your self...........

Since you are starting out i would advise and i think probly everyone else here would to is to use strip board radio shack sell it ready to use and so do most good electronic shops. ope this helps and good luck with your
electra!!

eamonn

[el duderino]

also when soldering on stripboard make sure to stay in between the lines or else this will break your circuit and thats bad :cry:  cos it will lead to all kinds of messy desoldering!  :shock:

eamonn

[9V]

so i bought all the components today, and the #$#%^&*^%  total was unbelievable at 100 #$#%^&*^%dollars. well the soldering iron, and all the other i can reused it later.

and bought a green led, but didn't #$#%^&*^% need it was this schematic was on and off switch, so i guess you don't a pretty lighting reminder when it's on or not.  :?  :x  oh well.....

then this newbie has another series of questions to ask...

i got the grid style pc board (is this the strip board you've been telling me?) 115x160mm (276-147A) and has a coppered bottem around millions and millions of little circles. so then i don't need that ethcing solution or any other things right?, like i can just solder the components in and solder the wires and lines on the coppered bottem?

like so? http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/1355/electra2.gif?

will this work, just so simply or some unknown frustration lieing ahead, i still really pissed about the expensive parts... i just can't understand this...

[aron]

What project are you trying to build? As for the cost of parts, please read the GEO FAQ located above. It explains the cost of building vs. buying.

Here's the link:

http://www.geofex.com/effxfaq/bldfx.htm

Finally, here's a bit of text from my Schematics page:

Before you go wild downloading these links and buying parts for the schematics listed below, there are a few things you should know.

   * If you don't feel like reading yourself or helping yourself, you shouldn't pursue building your own boxes. Read all the links you can before asking questions.
   * Some schematics on the Internet have mistakes. There is no way to know. I got caught by one of these and it cost me a lot of time before I realized that the schematic was incorrect. You can protect yourself from this by purchasing a solderless breadboard (also known as prototype board). These types of boards make it easy to prototype a circuit and see if it works and how it sounds before you commit to putting it on a perfboard where changes are not as easy to make. Unfortunately you still have to buy the parts to prototype it even if it's a bad schematic :-(
   * Building a complete effect (with box, stomp switch) costs money. The components are cheap but the box, stomp switch, pots, are expensive. If possible, go mail order for these parts. In many cases you may be paying MORE than if you had purchased the unit.
   * YOU WILL MAKE MISTAKES. Prepare to take some time to debug your circuit. If you're the type that's patient and can use this as a learning experience, great! If you don't like this sort of thing, don't do it. Buy ready-made effects. Read R.G. Keen's Effect FAQ for more caveats.
   * Your stompbox could sound different from the original, especially if you don't use the recommended parts or values. This is especially important when using certain types of transistors such as FETs. Many times, even the brand and type matters, especially for capacitors!
   * Just purchase some of them, if you look at the schematic and it looks intensive, then perhaps you should just buy the pedal. This goes for most delay type pedals unless you have a PCB. Hand-wiring is just not appropriate for complex circuits. There is a coolness factor that is the box and name alone. Another reason is that some of these manufacturers are really cool guys and care about their pedals. Many hand-made pedals are simply great and there is a reason why they are so popular. If you value your time and really can't afford to waste a lot of it, consider the reasonable prices of hand-made pedals that are popular and selling. After you get past some of your mistakes and buy a bunch of parts, $175 for a hand-wired pedal doesn't seem bad at all :-)

I encourage you to purchase pedals in production. If it's currently in production and you can afford it, buy it.

[9V]

i've read that site since three monthes ago, and didn't provide any kind of descent information towards me, well i am an extremely slow learner for everything.

i do help myself to look into the diagrams and the actual valuable informations and tips i am blessed to find on some of the sites which others told me to visit into.

but none of these sites don't have answers to my previous questions, or is there something wrong with me when it comes to asking questions, but i still do believe it is SIMPLE and that you advanced effect build can answer without even thinking once about it... but oh well, i guess i'll have to do it and whine later right?

i am just frustrated that i had to spend about 100$ on every materials i do not make lots of money every week, but some of it (50$) i can use it later on for about (i am guessing) 2 or barely 3 effects.

[aron]

>i've read that site since three monthes ago, and didn't provide any kind of descent information towards me

I would say that the FAQ directly addresses your questions about how much building an effect may cost. In addition, that FAQ has withstood the test of time very well.

The first line of this section says:

Isn't it cheaper to make my own?
No.

There is the answer right there.

http://www.geofex.com/effxfaq/bldfx.htm

i do help myself to look into the diagrams and the actual valuable informations and tips i am blessed to find on some of the sites which others told me to visit into.

>but none of these sites don't have answers to my previous questions,

You have had an answer for every question you have posted under this thread. What is unanswered?

> like i can just solder the components in and solder the wires and lines on the coppered bottem?

Please go through this forum and read the steps. There's even a pictorial for you to check out.

>i am just frustrated that i had to spend about 100$ on every materials i do not make lots of money every week, but some of it (50$) i can use it later on for about (i am guessing) 2 or barely 3 effects.

I understand that things seem expensive, but that's addressed in the FAQ as well.

You are learning a skill as well as developing a potential hobby. In the scheme of things, $100 doesn't seem like a lot to spend.

[9V]

i guess you are right, i seems that if i like something and passionate about one particular genre of hobby, well 100$ and (it might go lower as i develope my skills :lol: ).

asides from joking, i really wanted know the differences between BREADBOARD/MICRO-MINIATURE PERFBOARD/GRID STYLE PCBOARD/EXPERIEMENTAL PC BOARD/DUAL-SIDED PC BOARD/PC DUAL-MINI BOARD/MULTI-PURPOSE PC BOARD / UNIVERSAL PC BOARD / IC BOARD

i know some of them board has pretty lines, or circled coppered bottems and some i have to PNPeel the schematics from the site, like those pc boards.

but i've seen alot of pictures, which they just solder the components(easy enough, if i get the soldering part down), into some board, but what board is that? would it matter if i use any of the board up there, and grid style pc board which i have 276-147A, has copperd botton all over the board, but it's hole circles and copper around the cirlces, could i start soldering and putting the components into the right place?

[9V]

with alot of reading, i've found out, that it's just easy to draw the layout of the electra distortion with the perminant marker on the copper clad board, and etching it, and rubbing of the perminant marker, (but will the etching solution take off the perminant marker too?)

but what about just using gird style board? is that same as skipping steps of preparing the etching solution and even the drawing of the layout?

[Chris R]

etching does not take the permanant marker off.  durring the etching process the etchant solution eats away the copper that is exposed.  After the exposed copper has been removed from the board.. you pull the board out of the etchant and sand away the perminant marker.  This leaves nice copper traces to each of the components.  Then you drill... Then you'll populate the board.

I can tell you from experience that it is even more expensive to start etching your own boards.. your better off buying the pre-etched boards from tonepad or generalguitargadgets.  

Then why do people etch their own boards.. you ask ?
1.  It starts getting cheaper as you are prepared to etch several boards at once.
2.  In the spirit of DIY.

The first project i did was also the electra distortion.. in which it etched my own board using perminant marker... it was definately a learning experience.. but in hindsight i could have made this simple distortion alot cheaper by just following the process oulined in this beginner project (Perf Board)

chris

[punkaled]

If your just starting at this (you just bought your first soldering iron) this is what i would recommend-

for your first project, get something simple with not many parts and a ready made pcb. either choose a simple project from GGG or somewhere and buy the pcb from them, all you need to do then is buy the components, solder them in place, and then fit it into a box. Some electronics shops sell complete kits (for example a headphone amp from maplin) which include the pcb and all the components and good instructions. This would be ideal for a beginner solderer.

After that maybe move on to something like the simple boost circuit described in this forum, build that on stripboard or perfboard (i prefer stripboard personally).

When you have had a little more practice at trhis then you may want to tackle something a little trickier, like designing and etching your own pcbs, or some of the more complicated circuits.

mainly, have fun, and stick at it, whether it costs less, or even a little more than buying a pedal, its the sense of achievment when you hear it working the first time which makes it worth doing not the financial benefits.

[9V]

thanks for the replies guys,

helped me alot to build the pedals, i began the electra distortion construction today, i'll soon post some pics on here, to get more help, if you guys don't mind me doing that.

when i was cutting up my grid board, (those copper rings around circles)

i smashed some piece :? , i'll explain it with the pic
and also i read the gfx site, and said the grid board was infact a perfboard in a more superior way (cus it has that copper rings around every circles)
so i put in my diodes and everything, but cut the long lines (is it called leads), but the site said i would have to do something with that order to connect the bottom, (since my board don't have that coppered lines along the board), now i am thinking ##!!AA@@?!?!.

but on the site, it said something similiar like (just put it and it's done, because of the coppered rings)...hmm..

i also noticed that this version of the electra has only one knob and no led...kinda weird ain't it? tone or volume..hmmm, where the heck is the level.. also some sound clips stated that..it was infact an octave pedal on the low E only.. heh... :?:

anyways i''l post them up, and please help if you guys don't mind, and if y'all having some spare time left,

thanks

[aron]

> i'll soon post some pics on here, to get more help, if you guys don't mind me doing that.

That would be good.

>so i put in my diodes and everything, but cut the long lines (is it called leads), but the site said i would have to do something with that order to connect the bottom,

Well you need the leads on the components so that you can "make" the traces on the bottom of the board. You basically connect the leads of different components together using their leads.

>i also noticed that this version of the electra has only one knob and no led...kinda weird ain't it?

It's a beginner project, that's why it's so bare bones.

9V, the beginner forum was put here for a reason. Most of the problems you are experiencing could have been avoided by checking out and building the beginner project. If you were to build the beginner project as described, you would know how to use perfboard, how to connect leads together, how the LED and other components connect to the board etc...

Anyway, since the Electra project is not part of the beginner project, I will move this thread to the main "Building your own stompbox" forum.

[9V]

http://www.geocities.com/filmonamountainrat/mypage.html?1083974992440

that's where all the pictures are...

building the effect was super fun, and i would like to thank you all for taking me this far, however some questions rise in the process of making it...., take the look at the pics, and correct me or tell me, or help me, with what i am doing so wrong.

[Paul Marossy]

So, it doesn't work, I gather?
Do you have a DMM? If so, measure your voltages and make sure that those are OK.
Also, are sure that everything that is connected to ground is actually connected to ground?
I did notice in your picture of the bypass switch that it appears that you do not have it wired correctly for true bypass. It looks like it would have no signal going thru it when the switch is in one position, but would in the other position.
Are you sure that the transistor is oriented properly? If it is backwards, it won't work.
It also looks like some of the blobs of solder may be touching eachother. It they are, that will short circuit something, and it won't work.

[9V]

I do not have the DMM for now.
Also, are sure that everything that is connected to ground is actually connected to ground?
i think so, what part of the picture is wrong?

i've followed the instructions on the site for building the electra distortion
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/1355/beginners.htm
didn't mention anything about true bypass, so i have no idea of doing a bypass nor true bypass.

yes the blobs of soldering is touching other blobs, and i might have some problem, i also think, it got too hot and i blew up the transistor, or i used 0.47F polyester film capacitor, instead of using 0.1F capacitor which they recommanded me with.

will the part be damaged if i re-solder it and solder it again??, because, i am not sure what the correct polarity is, nor the EBC transistor, i think i might blew up the EBC one. please check the pictures out thanks :wink:

http://www.geocities.com/filmonamountainrat/mypage.html

[Paul Marossy]

Well, if those pieces of solder are touching eachother, and they shouldn't be, then it won't work. I really can't tell from the pictures if you have everything connected properly or not. You may need to get some de-soldering braid and do just a little bit of solder removal in those areas so that they are at least not touching.

It's possible to fry a transistor by applying heat for too long while soldering it, but in my experience, they are pretty tough. I have never fried one myself. But, I also have been using sockets for a while now, too.
You can do an internet search for a data sheet on the transistor to see what the pinout is. Collector goes to power supply thru a resistor, base goes to signal and emitter goes to ground thru a resistor.

Read the FAQ section here to see how to wire up a DPDT switch for true bypass.