A Few Quick Questions

[kurtlives]

http://www.indyguitarist.com/torchy/
Are these layouts verified?

http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=PPP&Category_Code=JAC
What's the difference between Switchcraft jacks at $1.45 and no name ones at $0.50? I could never figure this out.

Thanks

[tcobretti]

http://www.indyguitarist.com/torchy/
Are these layouts verified?

Most, if not all, have been built by different members of the site.  You could search the forum for particular layouts as you build them to verify that they have been built.  I would build a Torchy layout without hesitation.

http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=PPP&Category_Code=JAC
What's the difference between Switchcraft jacks at $1.45 and no name ones at $0.50? I could never figure this out.

Thanks

Quality.  Radio Shack jacks will spin apart as you tighten them down.  Don't get me wrong; I use cheap jacks, but there is certainly a difference.

It's still true - you get what you pay for.

[Mark Hammer]

The multiple layers that comprise an open phone jack are riveted to hold together.  I find that the cheaper ones have a tendency to loosen their grip.  Particularly if you try to tighten the nut outside the chassis too much.  The "rivet" aspect is essentially an extension of the ground/threaded-collet.  Imagine a piece of tube that passes through several things and has one end of it hammered down to squeeze together all those things it passed through.  As the nut is tightened, it essentially pulls that "tube" outward.  As it gets pulled outward, the little lip that makes up the rivet-like action gets bent back up, and the rivet function is reduced.

The higher-quality  jacks like Switchcraft, et al, have a much sturdier rivetting action that holds up well to repeated tightenings.  The cheap ones can work out okay if: a) you make a point of using locking washers that reduce the need to tighten the nuts as much, and if you don't repeatedly tighten/loosen/tighten/loosen.

[kurtlives]

Thanks for the responses....I am building the Orange Squeezer and Fat Booster.

I guess I will go with the Neutrik jacks. They seem to be in the middle quality wise between Switchcraft and non-name.

[kurtlives]

http://www.indyguitarist.com/torchy/Dan_Armstrong_Effects/Orange%20Squeezer/Squeezer.gif
What does the trim and diode do? I am guessing biasing and power protection. Also I assume R1 (4.7M) is there to stop "pop"...could I use a 3.3M instead?

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_osq_lo_pot.pdf?phpMyAdmin=4a28f86a515b7883e7bc35a68d4e7b6d
Why is lug 1 of the pot grounded?

[petemoore]

  I can't recommend working with junk jacks...
  But I get RS ones to work, if there lugs can be made to take solder [usually they solder fine].
  Don't super duper tighten the nut, grab the 'twist lug' [would be the sleeve in a mono jack] from the inside while tightening the nut, sometimes I'll just put a screwdriver in there, other times I'll use a thick glove or just a patch of cardboard between my finger and the lug so I don't poke a hole in my finger.
  Sand the lug, use high heat when the usual methods of soldering fail.

[kurtlives]

http://www.indyguitarist.com/torchy/Dan_Armstrong_Effects/Orange%20Squeezer/Squeezer.gif
What does the trim and diode do? I am guessing biasing and power protection. Also I assume R1 (4.7M) is there to stop "pop"...could I use a 3.3M instead?

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_osq_lo_pot.pdf?phpMyAdmin=4a28f86a515b7883e7bc35a68d4e7b6d
Why is lug 1 of the pot grounded?

??

[caress]

that volume pot wiring is typical of most circuits using one -
at one extreme, the pot acts as though it weren't there (more or less), letting the signal pass to the output without any resistance/attenuation.
at the other extreme, the pot shunts the signal to ground leaving you with no volume.

[tcobretti]

Yes, the trim pot is to bias the fets, and you could use a 3.3M instead of 4.7M.

[kurtlives]

And the diode for DC protection?

http://www.indyguitarist.com/torchy/Boosters/GGG%20Fat%20Boostered/Fat%20Boostered.GIF
Is the 47mF cap for power filtering?

[tcobretti]

Yes.

Yes.

[kurtlives]

Yaaa I am starting to understand things.

Ok but alas I have another question. 47mF is not a lot for filtering. Should I step that up to 220mF or so? Or should I keep the 47mF where it is and add a cap on the DC jack?

[tcobretti]

I don't think it's going to matter much what size cap you use as long as you don't use less than 47u.  You could certainly use larger if you want to. 

The only thing separating the cap from the DC jack is a 100R resistor.  I think that resistor is there to make sure the diode does its job.  It will have little or no effect on how the cap 'filters' the power.

[kurtlives]

Ok I never really learned how the value effects the filtering so I guess I will just leave the 47mF be.

[kurtlives]

One other thing
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/diagrams/tonebender_m2p_lo_pp.gif

Why is the LED going to the ground? How is it getting power?

[aron]

This might be a mistake with the led

[kurtlives]

I got thinking...

At first I thought maybe it is connected to ground because this pedal is positive ground and it needs positive voltage.   

I then realized that the - end is goign to the ground (+).

[kurtlives]

http://www.indyguitarist.com/torchy/Dan_Armstrong_Effects/Orange%20Squeezer/Squeezer.gif

What diode should I use? I does not say on the list at the bottom.

Also for the 10K trim pot all I have is 8K. Would this work? What is the standard value for this trim? Like if it was a set value what would it be?


Thanks

[kurtlives]

One other thing...

I feel like such a n00b asking this. I have found many different pinouts of a J201. Can someone give the correct pinout?

[tcobretti]

For the diode, you want to look at the actual schematic.  As you build more pedals, you learn that there are places to look for schems, and one of the is JD Sleep's generalguitargadgets.com.  He has the schem there, and it calls for a Germanium diode.  A Silicon diode will likely not work.

For the trim pot, I would try your 8k.  It may not work, but I think it will.

There is no correct pinout of a transistor- it is dependent on the manufacturer.  What you need to do is figure out who made your 201s, then track down a data sheet that explains the pinout.  I usually go to mouser.com and find the transistors I have because they usually have links to data sheets, but the manufacturer will host them at their website as well.