Andy 40's DIY FX Pedals

[Andy40]

Hi guys,

I bought two DIY FX Pedal kits as a bit of a comparison for a newbie like me.

1. The 10 min dirt and boost from Paul at diyguitarpedals.com.au
Link Here: http://www.diyguitarpedals.com.au/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=35

2. The DIY Compressor Guitar Effect Pedal from protaitone1012 a Chinese supplier on Ebay
Link here: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Build-your-own-DIY-Compressor-Guitar-Effect-Pedal-Electric-Pedals-/112057024141?hash=item1a171e7e8d

I should say its not really a comparison as there was no way I could have built the compressor without watching heaps of Paul's videos and doing the 10 min dirt and boost first.

[Andy40]

The 10 min dirt and boost only had to come from Vic and got here in about a week or so.

I bought as many of the kit components as I could from Paul and it cost about $27. Not bad at all. The parts supplied are pretty good quality as well eg Germanium diodes and the PCB has almost idiot proof wide solder rings for each of the components.

This is how it came, with a personal hand signed note from Paul.

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I should note at the outset that Paul (at the moment) doesn't supply the enclosures for the pedals nor the foot switches but both of these can be picked up from Jaycar or elsewhere online.

[Andy40]

The DIY Compressor Guitar Effect Pedal got here in about 4 weeks and the shipping from China was free (or included in the price) which was $27.99.

In contrast, everything comes with the kit, the pre-drilled and painted enclosure, foot switches and everything. However, as you would expect its all Chinese parts.

This is how it came.
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[Andy40]

A couple of points to note:-

The dirt and boost is a lot simpler
Not only do you get comprehensive instructions but Paul has put up an idiot proof step by step video
The Compressor is a lot more complicated
if any of the parts were missing from the compressor, I would have to wait to get them from China as opposed to Victoria
There is no way I could have understood what to do if I didn't use the Jaycar "Short circuits" book and a couple of kits to practice



Luckily there was no parts missing and I pretty much understood what was going on.....so far.

The 10 Min Dirt and Boost PCB
14731 (had to get my glasses out)

The Compressor PCB and enclosure (its tight!)
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[Andy40]

I finished the 10 min Dirt and Boost in about 30 mins (I am a newbie) and wired it up with alligator clips. Works pretty well with the Fender Champion!

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I've got an enclosure from Jaycar about a 1590B size and just need to get a foot switch (I didn't realise one didn't come with the kit till today).

[Andy40]

This is as far as I got with the compressor today in about an 1hour - 1 1/2 hours.

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More to come:cool:

[DrNomis_44]

Good stuff Andy40, the circuit boards look nice and neat, if possible you should do some audio demos of the two pedals in action.

[Dedman]

Watching with interest Andy, now that I have a good soldering station.

[stan]

very interesting, do you have the choice of 9v battery and transformer power?

[Dedman]

you can buy the 9v socket from Jaycar and put it in place of the battery leads, that's what I did with Doc's Fuzz.

[stan]

Cheers Deddy, or double up for both?

[Dedman]

not sure, I didn't want the battery option. Doc could answer that question

[DrNomis_44]

It's actually not that hard at all to wire-up the pedals so that you can power it from either a plugpack adaptor, or a battery, if you're going to do that, I'd suggest getting a couple of black plastic DC-In sockets, or maybe a few of them, I've tried the metal ones that Jaycar sell, but found that they sometimes inadvertently short-out the power plugpack if they are installed in a metal case, the ones you want to use is one of these:


http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PPP&Product_Code=6004&Category_Code=JAC


These sockets have three solder connections on the back of them, one connection is for the centre-pin, another one is for the outer metal-sleeve, and the third one connects to a switch that makes contact with the connection for the centre-pin.

Pedal Parts Plus are a good source of parts for pedals that you can order online, as far as I know, they are the only company that stock the black-plastic DC sockets, there may be some companies, like Altronics in Australia, that stock them, surprisingly, Jaycar Electronics don't seem to stock them at all.


Hope that helps.

[WeirdBits]

Jaycar's descriptions are a bit lacking, but it looks like they do have 2.1mm (https://www.jaycar.com.au/2-1mm-bulkhead-male-dc-power-connector/p/PS0522) and 2.5mm (https://www.jaycar.com.au/2-5mm-bulkhead-male-dc-power-connector/p/PS0524) DC sockets and they appear to be the switched 3 lug versions (confirm before buying).

[DrNomis_44]

Jaycar's descriptions are a bit lacking, but it looks like they do have 2.1mm (https://www.jaycar.com.au/2-1mm-bulkhead-male-dc-power-connector/p/PS0522) and 2.5mm (https://www.jaycar.com.au/2-5mm-bulkhead-male-dc-power-connector/p/PS0524) DC sockets and they appear to be the switched 3 lug versions (confirm before buying).


They do, but the problem with the ones Jaycar stock is that the mounting-system is metal (the mounting-system happens to be connected to the sleeve connection), and if you mount it in a metal enclosure and wire it up so that it works with a standard 9V DC pedal plugpack (they are wired Centre-Negative as standard), this means that the plugpack adaptor will be shorted-out if the metal enclosure is earthed to prevent hum, I found that out by accident.

[WeirdBits]

Ouch, no wnder they don't show any pics, and yet these (https://www.jaycar.com.au/2-5mm-pc-mount-male-dc-power-connector/p/PS0520) (less useful ones) are supposedly plastic. I think I got my last lot from the US.

[Andy40]

Sorry didn;t get them finished this weekend...maybe next weekend.

[wazkelly]

G'day Andy, curious to know if you finished the DIY FX pedals over the weekend. Particularly interested in the Overdrive and how you rate the sound as some sound no better than a bunch of bees in a jar. I could be a starter on the Overdrive project but then again for around $50 - $60 there are some damn good factory made things on offer too.

Cheers, Waz.

[Simon Barden]

I finished the 10 min Dirt and Boost in about 30 mins (I am a newbie) and wired it up with alligator clips. Works pretty well with the Fender Champion!

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I've got an enclosure from Jaycar about a 1590B size and just need to get a foot switch (I didn't realise one didn't come with the kit till today).

As well as the footswitch, I also can't see a knob for the potentiometer in the kit. Have you got one? Easy to overlook until your final assembly and then it holds you up! Looks like a solid shaft on the pot, so you'll need a knob with a grub screw. As pot shafts come in different sizes, measure its diameter before you buy a knob! (Edit: looks like it should be 6.25mm)

I find it really is best to get your enclosure sorted and drilled before you start wiring things up, as you really want to keep your wire lengths as short as possible (for minimal noise pickup), whilst still giving you enough flexibility to move things around whilst putting it together. Whilst the casing should provide screening from outside interference, any circuit (those designed to add gain especially) allows for the pickup of circuit generated noise by nearby wires. The shorter the length of wire, the less of it there is to pick up noise. Also, it's just easier to fit everything in the box if you haven't got loads of excess wire all coiled up and getting in the way.

(Edit: It does come with an LED - built onto the circuit board so comment about possibly no LED deleted)

Both kit's jack sockets look like the ground connection is connected to the metal fixing screw, so the top half of your case will be nicely grounded as long as this can touch bare metal. You should be able to measure the continuity from the inside of the jack socket to the inside of the case with a multimeter. If there isn't any, then you may need to scrape away at any paint on the inside of the hole for the jack. Some kits come with plastic jack sockets. In this instance you may need to solder an earth wire onto the correct earth tag (or correct size washer) so that it can be connected to earth somewhere on the circuit and the tag mounted so that its kept pressing by a potentiometer or switch onto the metal case. If a potentiometer's body has a connection to earth, this also should provide a good earth connection for the case - but it's worth checking with a multimeter.

If it's a fairly standard cast alloy case, then the bottom cover will simply screw onto the top of the case. Be sure to scrape away any paint around the inner edges of the screw holes in the base plate, so that the screws provide earth continuity to the base plate.