Etching and setup thoughts

[Bunford]

Does anybody here etch pcb's for a fee? I've a few pedals i would like to build but i have the pcb template but nowhere sells ready-to-solder pcb's for some of them. I can find a few on Tonepad and General Guitar Gadgets. My setup will hopefully be:

Dirty Channel:
AMZ Mosfet Booster (General Guitar Gadgets) > MXR Dynacomp (General Guitar Gadgets) > Supa Nova Overdrive (General Guitar Gadgets) > ITS8 Ibanez Tube Screamer 808 Replica (General Guitar Gadgets) > PT-80 Echo/Delay > Stage Center Reverb (General Guitar Gadgets) > Vox V847 Wah Wah > 6-Band Equaliser (General Guitar Gadgets) > Matchbox (Matchless DC/30 Amp Emulator) (Runoffgroove) > Thunderchief (Marshall 100 Watt Super Lead Amp Emulator)

Clean Channel:
MXR Microamp (Tonepad) > Orange Squeezer (General Guitar Gadgets) > Supa Nova Overdrive (General Guitar Gadgets) > PT-80 Echo/Delay (General Guitar Gadgets) > Stage Center Reverb (General Guitar Gadgets) > 6-Band Equaliser (General Guitar Gadgets) > Professor Tweed (Fender Princeton Amp Emulator) (Runoffgroove)

I am hoping to build some kind of box too which i can have a master input for my guitar and a master output to run off into my Marshall JCM800 50 Watt all valve original 80's amplifier. This box will then have two effect loops running off it processing the signal to put out of the master output. The two effects loops will be the 'dirty channel' and the 'clean channel' as shown above.

I am hoping to buy ready-to-solder PCBs for all of these. Is there anywhere that makes PCBs to order? As some i cannot find ready-to-solder versions being sold.

What is everyone's opinion on this setup? The two effect loops will sit inbetween a Gibson SG/Gibson Nighthawk/Tokai Firebird/Fender Telecaster (depending which i use for different sounds/songs) and a Marshall JCM800 50 Watt Lead original 80's all valve amplifier.

I'm hoping to get a cracking sound out of this setup as i'm dedicating the next few weeks of my life to building these effects pedals.....

PS - UK makers would be ideal for quicker/cheaper delivery etc but will consider Worldwide makers

[MikeH]

You're probably not going to find anyone willing to etch you free PCB's.  Definately not that many.  I'd recomend either learning to etch them yourself (there's a great tutorial on tonepad.com, I'm sure you may have seen it already.  It may seem arduous but it's actually quite simple), or consider using vero board for you builds. You can buy it from the forum store (link at the top of the page), and you can find vero layouts for almost anything, if you spend a little time browsing the layouts gallery (again, link at the top of the page), or through the layouts and schematics forum.

The "Dual effects Loop" thingy you want to build doesn't require a PCB, and would probably be a good place to start.  Just find a diagram for a "True Bypass Box" or "True Bypass Loop" and double the recipe so-to-speak.  And after that I'd start with the most simple designs and work your way along.  You're planning on building 20 or so projects in the next few weeks; that's more than most people crank out in a year.  Spend some time searching and reading about the projects you want to build and gather as much info as you can, and it will be much easier to get people to help you, because you'll understand what they're talking about, and they'll be able to explain things at a more efficient level.

There's a book you can buy (downloaded or hard copy) from guitartone.net that's a how to manual for begginers, and it teaches a lot of very basic concepts that will already put you 2 steps ahead of where you are now.  I'd reccomend picking it up.  It really helped me get started.

Good luck!

[boogietube]

Any PCB that you can't find available-
I would be happy to make for you. It's a very relaxing thing for me to make them.
PM me or e-mail me and we'll chat about pricing etc..
Sean Harris

[marlin]

You're probably not going to find anyone willing to etch you free PCB's.

I belive he said for a "fee" and not for free 

Would be great witha store that makes PCB's by request tho, I could use one cause I don't have the time or space to start etching.... good thing that "boogietube" offered to make one for me.

[MikeH]

Ha ha!  Oh man.  I thought to myself "this guys got some balls". 

[snoof]

I just got a board from Boogietube, did a good job!

[greenacarina]

There's a book you can buy (downloaded or hard copy) from guitartone.net that's a how to manual for begginers, and it teaches a lot of very basic concepts that will already put you 2 steps ahead of where you are now.  I'd reccomend picking it up.  It really helped me get started.

Good luck!

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but I wanted to say thanks for the mention of this book! I'm ordering mine right now!!     

[scaesic]

Does anybody here etch pcb's for a fee? I've a few pedals i would like to build but i have the pcb template but nowhere sells ready-to-solder pcb's for some of them. I can find a few on Tonepad and General Guitar Gadgets. My setup will hopefully be:

Dirty Channel:
AMZ Mosfet Booster (General Guitar Gadgets) > MXR Dynacomp (General Guitar Gadgets) > Supa Nova Overdrive (General Guitar Gadgets) > ITS8 Ibanez Tube Screamer 808 Replica (General Guitar Gadgets) > PT-80 Echo/Delay > Stage Center Reverb (General Guitar Gadgets) > Vox V847 Wah Wah > 6-Band Equaliser (General Guitar Gadgets) > Matchbox (Matchless DC/30 Amp Emulator) (Runoffgroove) > Thunderchief (Marshall 100 Watt Super Lead Amp Emulator)

you realise the center stage reverb is just a driver for a reverb tank? it's not a "reverb stomp box".

also, etching isnt nearly as difficult as you probably think. especially if you have access to a lase printer. im assuming since you're building so many pedals you have time and money to put into this...

go to maplin, buy 1. press n peel blue transfer paper, found in the pcb prototypiing section
                          2. ferric chloride solution/or ferric chloride granules.
                          3. copper board
                          4. mini hand drill with 0.8mm drill bit
                          5. buy a flat shallowish container to put the solution in, maplin sell a starters kit which has all these things (apart from drill) which is overpriced but nevertheless pretty good for starters.

you'll need a set of decent tools too, like a steel ruler/sharp permanent marker pen
print off the layouts on the press n peel paper, press it on to a well prepared copper board, and iron. the design will transfer on to the copper board, then put the board in the ferric chloride solution till all the excess copper has disolved. then clean off the board with alcohol/nail varnish remover and drill the holes for the components.

i use overhead projector acetate, it doesnt work as well as press n peel but a lot of places wont let me put it in their laser printers. you can touch up any sections which don't transfer well by using a thin precise permanent marker.

If you do this there are a lot of good threads on good techniques for etching. one i found particularly good is to float the copper side of the board on top of the ferric chloride solution. Also, warm the solution, the warmer it is, the faster and better a result you'll get.

[boogietube]

Thanks for the board compliment Snoof! Enjoy!! If they're not commercially available I'll make anyone a board! 
Sean

[zjokka]

go to maplin, buy 1. press n peel blue transfer paper, found in the pcb prototypiing section
(....)
i use overhead projector acetate, it doesnt work as well as press n peel but a lot of places wont let me put it in their laser printers. you can touch up any sections which don't transfer well by using a thin precise permanent marker.

or just laser copy it on INKJET picture paper, the shiny side. Very cheap and you cannot overheat it: the paper peels off automatically after soaking in hot water.

keep on saying this like shouting in the desert -- waited to start etching for months because I couldn't find a european source for PNP, then when I found it, discovered you can almost use any slippery surface household material you can print or laser copy on. Video insight:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snileUK7PQg

[scaesic]

i didn't know you could inkjet it. i havnt tried the photo paper method because of the mess i invisage when removing the pulp.

[toneman]

scaesic, read the post more carefully   

[scaesic]

oh, i see now.

[zjokka]

yeah, you need laser toner on inktjet paper. the quality of the toner print (density) is rather important if you want to reach perfection. also, very important is to punch tiny holes in the white tonerless areas between the traces. this will allow the air that might creep in between the toner and surface to escape without damaging the traces. try it, really works, I forgot this is my previous post..
j

[moritz]

PCB etching is actually a lot easier than it may seem. Check out this link for some resources on various etching methods:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/wiki/index.php?title=PrintedCircuitBoards

Good luck!

[scaesic]

has anyone found a way to remove the mask without using acetone?

i've found with acetone that the board gets stained black around the sides of the traces.

[David]

has anyone found a way to remove the mask without using acetone?

i've found with acetone that the board gets stained black around the sides of the traces.

Steel wool works for me...

[markm]

Same here.
Fast too!

[scaesic]

yeah, but it leaves all these nasty scratches on the copper...

[markm]

yeah, but it leaves all these nasty scratches on the copper...

Ya gotta use 0000 steel wool.