UPDATED 5/19/16:
BYOC has recently introduced a bunch of new "mini" pedal kits that offer that authentic vintage tone we've all come to love, while taking up a TINY amount of space on your pedal board. I've built all of them at this point, and can recommend them without reservation.
Overall, they're a quick and easy build, with just one rather challenging bit--squeezing the jacks, pots, footswitch and component-filled PCB into that tiny little enclosure doesn't leave much room for the wiring. And since it's imperative that the PCB fits tightly down against the two I/O jacks so that the cover plate will mount properly, you can't allow any of the wiring to get pinched in between. So no room for "spaghetti" wiring in these puppies--the wires need to tuck neatly into the little bits of available space between the hardware and the PCB. At the same time, you don't want to make the wires too short, or it becomes very difficult to disassemble/reassemble the pedal if you have to troubleshoot a problem. That's because it becomes almost impossible to get the I/O jacks out and back into the enclosure if the wires are too short. Starting to sound like wiring these mini-pedals is a hassle? Well, it can be, if not done correctly.
The good news is that there are several ways to wire up these pedals that will avoid these potential problems. Here's the method I've been using and found to work quite nicely:
- Populate your PCB with all of the components and set it aside.
- Mount the footswitch and the DC adapter jack into the enclosure, but leave the pots and I/O jacks out.
- Count the number of wires you'll need for the kit you're building--this will vary, based upon the number of pots in the kit.
- Cut the required number of lengths of wire. If you're an experienced builder and are confident that your chances of running into a pedal operating issue is small, make them each 1.5" long. If you're more of a novice and think that there's a pretty fair chance that the build may require some troubleshooting effort to get it running, make them 2" - 2.25".
- For the two wires that will be used to connect the DC jack to the PCB, strip 1/8" of insulation off each end. For all the others, strip 1/8" off one end and 1/4" off the other. Twist and tin ALL the wire ends.
- Solder all of the pieces of wire to their corresponding pieces of hardware. Use the longer stripped end for the I/O jack and pot connections, crimping the wire end over the connection lug before soldering. The I/O jacks and pots are easier to wire outside of the enclosure; mount them into the enclosure once you've soldered the wire connections.
- Here's the key part of my wiring method: Bend a U-shape into the middle of each length of wire, orienting the "U" so that it extends over an open space in the enclosure and away from the I/O jack bodies. The unsoldered end of the wire should protrude upward out of the enclosure. See the diagram below to help visualize this, as well as a photo of a pot prepped using this method and a couple of shots of a fully prepped enclosure, ready for PCB installation. The idea is that the "U" shape can expand or collapse within the space between the enclosure and PCB, once the latter is soldered to the wires.
- Now solder the various wires to the PCB by feeding their ends through the bottom of the board and soldering from the top side. I prefer to start from one long side and solder across to the other, though I suppose you could just as readily start at the top and work your way down. Use a small pair of tweezers or forceps to grip the wire ends and feed them up through the PCB eyelets. DON'T FORGET TO MOUNT THE LED before making the wire connections on that side of the PCB!
- Once all the wire connections are made, push the PCB straight down onto the footswitch lugs and against the top of the two I/O jack bodies. Assuming you positioned your wires correctly, the PCB should sit flat against the I/O jacks. Follow the instructions given in Step 4 of the "Wiring" section of the kit instructions for soldering the PCB to the footswitch. And don't forget to solder & trim the LED legs before you mount the rear cover plate.
That should do the trick. Now fire it up & rock out!!
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