Why use a 0 ohm resistor?

[Taylor]

I was looking at some Lovetone guts, and there are several 0 ohm resistors (just a single black band).

I've heard of their use in machine populated boards. Some people use the same board with different values to make different circuits, and in the case where a jumper is needed, it's easier to feed the machine a 0 ohm resistor than fit a special head for holding jumper wires.

But, I can't imagine that the Lovetone boards were populated by machine. I could be wrong about that, but it just doesn't seem likely. Are there any reasons to use these when populating by hand?

[trixdropd]

My friend is good friends with the lovetone guy. he said he's a multimillionaire from those pedals.  perhaps he has them made overseas ala most companies...

[Taylor]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, but no way is he a multi-millionaire from them. There is a possibility that he has them made overseas, though.

[trixdropd]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic, but no way is he a multi-millionaire from them. There is a possibility that he has them made overseas, though.

Not being sarcastic. I don't know the guy at all, but like I said, my friend is good buddys with him. He lives in waterford, Mi. This is what I was told... it may or may not be true.

[petemoore]

Are there any reasons to use these when populating by hand?
  Nice clean leads that I'm used to working with, and an insulating body right where I need it if I use crafty placement, I can take a 'lead' right through some transistor leads...
  most of the time, a teeny value added resistor makes no difference compared to a wire, or brings 'the other' bigger resistor a little closer to it's code marking.

[hday]

Duh, because they look awesome! 

Some people just aren't impressed with low component circuits, and aren't willing to pay for something that's overly simple. Heck, every new piece of equipment I buy I open up to examine. Most of the time it just results in me saying "Hell, I could have made this!"

Plus, there's just sometime about a jumper wire that just looks tacky to me. I'd rather layout my circuits without jumpers and sacrifice space than have a lot of wire jumpers.

[Taylor]

Well, I agree that jumpers should be avoided as much as possible, but I don't think anybody would open up a Lovetone box and be disappointed with the parts count. I'm doing a ? Flanger right now and it's just ridiculous.

It's funny to imagine the Lovetone guy being a millionaire. I remember a post where Paul Perry speculated that Lovetone kept going out of business and then reappearing because the builder occasionally found a better source of income. I guess not. Anybody know how much Lovetones cost when they were new? I'm trying to figure out how many you'd have to sell to make a couple million.

[trixdropd]

Well, I agree that jumpers should be avoided as much as possible, but I don't think anybody/i] would open up a Lovetone box and be disappointed with the parts count. I'm doing a ? Flanger right now and it's just ridiculous.

It's funny to imagine the Lovetone guy being a millionaire. I remember a post where Paul Perry speculated that Lovetone kept going out of business and then reappearing because the builder occasionally found a better source of income. I guess not. Anybody know how much Lovetones cost when they were new? I'm trying to figure out how many you'd have to sell to make a couple million.

Actually, I was wrong. it was Love pedal  http://www.lovepedal.com/

[Taylor]

Hmm, that guy's stuff is pretty cheap. He's been around since '03. Figure he makes an average of $75 per pedal. He'd have to sell 1900 pedals a year for 7 years at $75 average to make a million.

I'm not trying to bust your balls, btw, I'm just a little skeptical. 1900 is an awful lot to crank out in a year.

[doitle]

Some of his pedals sell for a ton. I see them on the pro guitar shop store. He makes limited runs of pedals in special colors for a huge markup.

[trixdropd]

Hmm, that guy's stuff is pretty cheap. He's been around since '03. Figure he makes an average of $75 per pedal. He'd have to sell 1900 pedals a year for 7 years at $75 average to make a million.

I'm not trying to bust your balls, btw, I'm just a little skeptical. 1900 is an awful lot to crank out in a year.

I agree. Doitle has a point too. I've seen a bunch of his pedals hit ebay for 4 or $500 though there's none at the moment. maybe he has a good day job as well. IDK. Anyways, I don't know one way or another,
I just figured if he was a rich man, he'd probably have his pedals made overseas.

I agree the 0 ohm resister does look better than a jumper wire.

[Taylor]

Yeah, I have noticed that if I type "love" into ebay's search, the top suggestion is Lovepedal. I guess his stuff is pretty sought after. Seems pretty generic to me, but I'm not into the whole mojo-tone-TheGearPage "I paid $500 for a clean boost" junk.

[trixdropd]

Yeah, I have noticed that if I type "love" into ebay's search, the top suggestion is Lovepedal. I guess his stuff is pretty sought after. Seems pretty generic to me, but I'm not into the whole mojo-tone-TheGearPage "I paid $500 for a clean boost" junk.

Yeah, me neither. I guess he got a couple big names playing his pedals then the demand hit hard with little supply...

I just noticed he's got Andy summers and richard fortus using them..

[Thomeeque]

Well, I agree that jumpers should be avoided as much as possible..

Actually, is there some good reading about reasons why jumpers should be avoided as much as possible?

I use them a lot (even mostly for power and ground distribution; it makes more sence to me than thin traces doing slalom between other traces and component's pins over half of PCB), so maybe it's time to get educated..

Thanks, T.

[newfish]

Maybe it's zero ohms because all resistance is futile?

I'll get my coat...

[Paul Marossy]

I think a zero ohm resistor is just goofy. I think they might exist for robots that populate PCBs or something like that. I've seen plain wire jumpers on lots of older pedals from overseas, like in an Arion pedal for example.

If you have a complicated circuit and a single sided PCB that's not designed by an auto-router, you're going to end up up with a few jumpers. It doesn't mean that it's bad design.

[ayayay!]

Maybe it's zero ohms because all resistance is futile?

I'll get my coat... 

HAHAHAH!

Anyway, I use them as my 3PDT bypass jumpers, but that's about it.   

[edvard]

I think the bias against jumpers is that folks can accuse you of getting lazy with your layout skills.
True, a good layout WILL avoid jumpers, especially with low-parts-count designs, but I agree with trixdropd.
Better to have a few smartly-placed jumpers than unnecessary trace gymnastics.

[JOHNO]

Yeah i dont get all the hoo haa with jumpers. if you hand wire a circuit point to point its just like using all jumpers isnt it? And they call that "Mojo". but stick a jumper in a circiut board and its some kind of sin.

[edvard]

That's it! From now on, I'm going "dead bug" construction on all my builds!
It'll be Mojo-tastic! 

P.S. According to Wikipedia:

A zero-ohm link or zero-ohm resistor is a wire link used to connect traces on a printed circuit board that is packaged in the same format as a resistor. This format allows it to be placed on the circuit board using same automated equipment used to place other resistors instead of requiring a separate machine to install a jumper or other wire. Zero-ohm resistors may be packaged like cylindrical resistors, or like surface-mount resistors.