Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hi all - I've been holding back posting this question for a while trying to figure out on my own what I'm missing, but I'm stuck. I'm sure it's probably obvious, but whatever it is I just can't get it to click when I have time to sit down and work on this.

I've probably build 4 or 5 BYOC pedals over the years and thankfully have never had any real problems. I've loved every one. But the printing on the Soaring Skilled PCB is just different and I'm struggling to make sense of it. There are a lot of components here and I don't want to make a silly mistake. Here is what I'm struggling with.

On other PCBs - Blue Overdrive for example - the resistors are labeled in a way that makes absolute sense to me; 2k2, 10k, 100k, 1k5, etc.

However, on the Soaring Skilled PCB the labeling seems very unconventional (to me?) in that it doesn't follow this same convention.

For example Step 2a has you solder four 100k resistors into spots labeled "104", not 100k and a 470k resistor in a slot labeled 474, not 470k. With those specifically identified that was no problem, but by the time you get to step 3 the instructions are to just populate the remaining resistors.

I can't for the life of me figure out how the labeling aligns with the actual resistors. Is "224" 2k2 or 220k? Is 103 10k or 1k?

I imagine this might be some basic sort of fundamental nomenclature system that maybe I've simply missed or not needed to review to date, but I can't find it if so.

Any help in setting me straight here would be really appreciated. Thank you all in advance!

The first two digits are taken at face value. The 3rd tells you how many zeros to tack on the end. Works the same for capacitors. It's in picofarads. 473 = 47,000pF = 47nF = .047uF

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

It is, but don't feel bad about not knowing it yet.

It's pretty simple once you know it: the first two digits give you the value, and the third digit is a multiplier equal to the number of zeroes after the value. So 104 is a 10 with four zeroes after it, which is 100,000, also known as 100k. 474 = 47 with four zeroes, 470,000, 470k. 224 = 220000, or 220k. 103 = 10000, or 10k.

Make sense? Let us know if you have any other questions.

Edit: Keith beat me to it, and much less longwindedly as usual!

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Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

And there it is.... Thank you! I could see the start of the pattern but I just couldn't figure it all the way through.

Thanks again - back to building!

It's a little tricky when you have something like 47ohms or 47pF where there is no 3rd digit. We'd just label the PCB 47. However, on a standard orange ceramic disc cap, it will be labelled 470, because it's 47 and zero zeroes. 471 is 470pF. I think there's some 10pF caps in the Green Pony kit labelled 100, but there's also a 100pF cap which is labelled 101. It can be a little confusing.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

Awesome - thanks for this extra bit. I was wondering about this, and how it aligns with the 1k and 10ohms resistors. I figured that 1k must be 102 (10 + 00 = 1,000) and I did spot a "10" label on the board, figured that must be the 10ohms spot. In the end I'm starting with the high-volume obvious ones (21 103 resistors, etc) and working my way down, figuring any real questions will be sorted out by process of elimination But again, this is helpful and much appreciated!