Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Im not an expert builder. But I have some tips I hope that help some of you looking to attempt this.

Its not easy, so take your time.

Read the directions all the way though first. then go through it step by step. There may be some different instructions than what you would think when looking at the "paint by numbers" layout. There was a part of me that wanted to race through, but Im glad I didn't. You really need to read the directions.

The hardest part in my opinion is placing the pots on the board, then raising it up into the enclosure. Holy cow that was hard. Not only was it difficult to line up and get in there, but then it would slip out when trying to make room when soldering. I seriously spent about 2.5 hours on this step. Doing the Leds at the same time.. wasn't going to happen.

So here's what I did. I pushed the LEDs through, and clipped the leads a little bit - remembering which one was the longer one. perhaps mark it with a sharpie, use different color wire, etc. I then attached wires to them and left them hanging out of the enclosure. I attached them later to the eyelets for the LED's.

I placed a pot in its space. turned the pcb over, and soldered just one connection, suspending it in the air a few mm. Soldering just the one lug was strong enough to hold it in the air, but weak enough to be adjusted if needed. I then placed the board + the soldered pot into the enclosure. It fit just fine. Then I did the next pot. I only soldered one lug. then I once again, put the whole board into the enclosure. I found it didn't really need any adjusting, but if it did, it was easy to bend slightly to fit. Same with the switches. I would turn over the board, place the switch lugs in, and soldered just one lug while suspending it in the air off the board. I also made sure it was "in line" with the height of the pots. I then placed the board again into the enclosure. You see the pattern. Its doing one pot or switch at a time, and checking the fit in the enclosure.

Pretty soon, all were partially soldered, and the entire thing fit inside the enclosure without jostling and juggling to get the pots/switches through the holes.

I usually splay the two outside lugs of the pots a bit before installing them to the board and that usually keeps them in place pretty well. Do the same for the leads of the LEDs after pushing them through the board holes to keep them in place; then straighten them for moving the LED bulb into it's hole on the enclosure for soldering.

What worked best for me was setting and soldering the toggle switches first. Once they were all properly installed, I moved on to the pots. I think I did the pots two at a time.

I think it's important to bolt the pots to the enclosure before you solder them. If you solder a pot to the pcb before it is bolted to the enclosure, you run the risk of putting a lot of torque on the pot body when you bolt it, if it's not quite positioned correctly where you soldered it.

I like your method of tack soldering one lug to hold it in place. I would just recommend reheating that tack joint after bolting the pot to the enclosure to relieve any torque that may have built up, before soldering the other two lugs.

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MasterDelayer/Reverbrador/Ampaholic/TopJacker

When I did my Aion Lab Series L5 which has a ton of pots, I mounted all of the pots loosely in the enclosure and laid the PCB over the pots. Took a little bit of finagling, but after just a little bit I was able to get all of the pots through the holes and was able to solder them up.

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+1! The pins of the switches are rigid, so getting them installed first is a big help. It's then quite easy to bend the legs of the pots slightly to align with the holes in the PCB. As Morgan suggests, do a couple at a time--mount them in the enclosure (finger-tightening the nuts works well for this), slide the PCB into place over them, install the nuts on a couple of the toggle switches to hold the PCB in place, and solder the pot legs. "Rinse & repeat", as they say. When all the pots are soldered, you can snug all the nuts down--just don't over-torque them.


This is exactly what I do when a kit has the usual 3 - 6 pots and switches to mount. But it gets pretty time-consuming when you have the amount of hardware that the CJ does--that's 13 pots and switches totaling 48 solder pins to align for this kit! I think Morgan's "a couple at a time" method is the better way to go in this case.

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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

I've found it best to do the switches first, like Morgan suggests. But then I go and solder all the pots to the PCB without lining it up with the enclosure first. BUT I only solder the center lug/eyelet so that the pots are easily moved into position. I mean....of course, try to line them up as best you can by eye and hold them in place while the solder joint cools. Don't just tack them in there all willy nilly. Insert the LEDs, and bend their leads so they don't fall out. Once you've got everything lined up, solder the rest of the joints and reflow all the middle joints.

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*patience is a virtue*

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

I tried to dry fit my pcb to the pots and switches with them already in the enclosure and that definitely wasn't going to fly. I've managed to do that with quite a few other builds but with those switches so close to pots etc, it's tough to get everything to cooperate. I'll definitely go the suggested route of switches first and center lug on pots etc

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