Build Your Own Clone Message Board

I've built 6 or 7 BYOC pedals so I can't believe I've done this. I am building a Silver Pony and soldered the three ICs directly to the circuit board instead of soldering the sockets to the board. I assume it is a lost cause to correct this or try to remove the ICs. If I am wrong let me know. Argh!

Couple of comments:

1) There is nothing "wrong", per se, with soldering the IC's to the board--this is how almost all commercial effects are made. It just keeps you from being able to conveniently switch out the IC's, should one fail or if you just want to experiment with different types. And if you get to the point where one of those things happens...

2) ...it's not a "lost cause" to remove a soldered IC, just a fairly large PITA. With a combination of a solder sucker, good quality de-soldering braid, and MUCHO TIME & PATIENCE, it's possible to remove one intact from the PCB. Of course, if you don't care about the IC you're removing (like if you're sure it's fried), just clip all the legs and then remove them individually from the board. Clean up the eyelets, and then solder in a socket, so that you don't have to go through this again!

But for now, I'd suggest you just leave them as is. The pedal should certainly work as it is, unless there's some other separate problem.

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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

Wow! Surprised to hear this. I was ready to scrap the whole build. I will leave them in as-is and continue with my build. Thanks for your quick reply!

My experience has been IC's are fairly forgiving. I wouldn't invest the time attempting to remove it unless it ends up being faulty.

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Johnny Balmer
Alchemy Audio
http://www.alchemy-audio.com