Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hello,

I’m wrapping up my Shredder build and just have a couple of quick questions.

1. One of the ceramic disc capacitors had a “10” on it and the instructions said it should say “101.” I just wanted to make sure this wasn’t an issue.

2. Do the gray lines on the footswitch wiring diagram indicate any action needed on my part—i.e., are these jumpers I need to install or something?

Thank you in advance.

On question 2, the answer is Yes, you need to install two jumpers there as indicated by the gray ("silver") lines in the figure. Many of us use bare wire rather than an insulated wire so the gray depiction is sort of realistic. Also, it is common to implement the 4-to-9 jumper as a stripped end of the wire that meets switch pin 4 from the other side, but that isn't necessary and it may not even be easier (you would strip it and tin it first, then carefully shove it through the hole in pin 4), so if you have already soldered the other (insulated) wire to 4 it's ok, you can just add the jumper wire separately. I am not too proud to say that I use component leads that I have snipped off as the source of the bare jumper wire.

On reading the Shredder instructions I see that this discussion of the jumpers wasn't included, though it is included in most of the byoc kit instructions. You can also see this older thread

https://www.byocelectronics.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=57810&hilit=shredder

in which another builder encountered the same issue; that thread also points to this discussion of mechanical switch bypass methods

http://byocelectronics.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6525

which you may find edifying.

On question 1: If you don't have a way to measure the capacitance separately, it's probably best to assume that it is as marked: 10 pF, rather than the 100 pF called for in the parts list and the schematic.

While the pedal would probably nominally work with the 10 pF cap, you may wish to wait and get the correct value part. In my experience BYOC has been wonderfully responsive in replacing incorrect or damaged parts.

In other cases I might say "if you are in a hurry and are willing to swap in the correct value later if need be, just put the 10 pF in there and try it" BUT here swapping afterwards won't be as easy, given that it looks like one of the pots will block access to the back side of the board where the soldering is usually done. You would still be able to change it afterwards, but you would either have to first remove that pot or bend its leads a whole lot (a nuisance either way), or else deal with the renewed soldering from the front.

In the latter case (soldering from the front) the easiest might be to leave the 10 pF in place and tack-solder a 100 pF disc cap in parallel with it (esp. if you had the foresight to leave some 10 pF leads accessible). That would give a total (parallel) capacitance of 110 pF, which would be close enough to the design value. Removing and replacing would also be possible, just not as easy as if done from the back.

Thank you both for your help. I added in the jumpers this morning, and I requested a replacement capacitor from BYOC, so I should be on my way to finishing this thing. I really enjoyed the process Thanks for making a newbie feel welcome.