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PostPosted: Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:02 am 
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Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2021 3:47 pm
Posts: 2
Hello, people

I selected the Analog Delay pedal as my first BYOC kit, which was my fourth pandemic pedal build. It was reasonably priced, arrived quickly, every part tested within specs, there were no missing or extra parts. It worked first time and sounds great. The instructions were clear and reliable.

Things I won't do again...

select a DC coupler that has to be desoldered when the board comes out. "Internal?" I wasn't sure what that meant when I ordered it.
Buy a painted enclosure. I think it's more fun to do it myself. I may re-do this one - unless desoldering the DC socket is too much of a bother.

This was my first PCB build, the others were on stripboard. I liked those, because I could follow the schematic. I couldn't really see the traces on the green board, and I felt like I didn't learn as much about the circuit, though I did improve my soldering skills with over 100 points in a 3" square area.

Is there a discussion anywhere about how this circuit works and what function the components play?

Overall I was pleased with the experience.

My bank, however, thought that "Build Your Own Clone" had to be something sinister, so they put my card into time out until I called them!


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:52 am 
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Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:43 pm
Posts: 643
Location: Between sjaustin and duvoodooman
Welcome! And as we say around her "photos, or it didn't happen". :lol:

Glad it went well, that's been my experience with almost all the (10?!) BYOC pedals I've built too. I've kinda been forced to see what else is out there due to the current (hopefully not for much longer) shortage here "at home".

I do agree with you about the instructions being very clear, easy to follow, and well done. I also agree that I don't learn as much about the circuit and components as I'd like to- and that you do get with some (not all) other kits.

I'm on the fence about decorating. Sometimes I just want to get the thing together quickly and play it, sometimes I'll take the time to make it pretty too.

What's next?

_________________
Twisting and tinning is for chumps.


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 17, 2021 2:22 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jan 02, 2007 1:24 pm
Posts: 16196
Location: Albany, NY
Glad to hear of your positive BYOC kit experience. Hope you'll have a bunch more!

DSolo wrote:
Things I won't do again...

...select a DC coupler that has to be desoldered when the board comes out. "Internal?" I wasn't sure what that meant when I ordered it.

It's only three wires. I do this all the time. A quick touch of a properly tinned iron tip melts the joint and I just flip the end of the wire out of the solder tab with a small screwdriver. Repeat 2x. Use the iron tip to dab off any solder "blobs" left on the wire ends, and clean off the residual solder from the jack tabs with some good quality desoldering braid (THIS STUFF is fabulous!). Now you're ready to reconnect the wires when you're done with whatever task prompted you to remove the board in the first place.

True that the "external jack" comes out without desoldering the wires, but I've never liked that protruding treaded plastic barrel. The internal jack looks a lot better to me. Just one man's opinion.

DSolo wrote:
This was my first PCB build, the others were on stripboard. I liked those, because I could follow the schematic. I couldn't really see the traces on the green board, and I felt like I didn't learn as much about the circuit...

The BYOC instructions always include the circuit schematic, and you can use that together with the PCB to see how things are physically connected. The fact that BYOC uses two sided boards makes it a bit more of a challenge, but that's part of the fun. And if you're not into "trace-tracing", many of the circuits have schematics and an accompanying PCB "map" with the components all labeled with their schematic designations available here in the forum. Just look in the list of "stickies" in the applicable sub-forum that type of effect. As an example, you can find many of the BYOC fuzz effect PCB maps and schematics in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=51&t=39386

DSolo wrote:
Is there a discussion anywhere about how this circuit works and what function the components play?

Not in any systematic fashion, but if you're curious about how a given effect circuit works, post that question either in the effect type sub-forum or in Questions about BYOC Products. Might take a couple of days to get a response, but chances are somebody (maybe even Le Grande Fromage!) will chime in.

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2


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PostPosted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 2:38 pm 
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Joined: Fri Mar 12, 2021 3:47 pm
Posts: 2
Well, thanks for the responses.

Yes, I realize getting an internal DC jack out isn't a big deal, but from an engineering standpoint, it is one more step that needs to be taken if repair or modification is to take place. for me, the aesthetic tradeoff of an external thread/nut seems inconsequential - but I haven't thought about it much.

Next, I've been studying schematics of the "Horse-dude with a big knife" pedal, not because I think it's all that, but because it's a relatively small board in a larger enclosure. I'll select one of those or combine a couple features of the variants, order parts and try to breadboard it. From there I want to make my own circuit board ( this is where the bigger enclosure comes in, since I'm sure I won't be that efficient with space.) If I can pull that off, I'll build toward the more complex pedal projects, hopefully culminating with a faithful version of a Uni-Vibe with the light.

After that, on to lethal voltages!! Like a tube guitar amp and maybe a phono tube pre-amp. Then maybe microphone kits?

The funny thing is I play mostly acoustic guitar and tend to not use pedals! Fortunately, I have friends who can't seem to acquire enough of these things.


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