Barber Compact Direct Drive

[Andy40]

Hey Jug, I meant to ask, how do you mount your PBC in the enclosure so it holds steady and doesn't short? I normally wire the pots directly on the PCB so I don't have that problem but I want to do a vero board project soon.

[jugglindan]

Hey Jug, I meant to ask, how do you mount your PBC in the enclosure so it holds steady and doesn't short? I normally wire the pots directly on the PCB so I don't have that problem but I want to do a vero board project soon.

I don't have an ideal solution yet. I first tried using hook and loop tape from my pedal board. Loop tape inside the lid, hook tape on the solder pads of the board, but the tape adhesive wouldn't stick to the board.

So right now I am lining the inside of the enclosure with electrical tape, lining the exposed pots and any other potential shorts, then just resting the board inside the case with some foam padding between the board and the lid. The tension of the wires seems to hold it in place, nested into the foam.


It's early days, but so far this is working. My pedals just stay on my board and don't moved around. If you planned on gigging with them, something more robust might be called for. I have seen others use hot glue to fix the board to the insulated case. Or you could use these. I got some in the Julius kit, but they should work with vero builds as well.

DC (jugglindan is just my generic username, DC is my real nickname )

[Andy40]

Cool DC,
I've used those stand offs before but not much success on getting them to stick on the inside of the enclosure for any period of time. the foam looks like a better option than electrical tape.

[jugglindan]

I don't have much foam left. It was packing in a box of bathroom taps. But the reject shop sell 3mm yoga mats cheap. One mat would be a lifetime of pedal insulation

Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk

[jugglindan]

A note to my future self: if you ever feel the need to fit a knurled pot knob to a smooth shaft pot by drilling out the knob slightly and fixing it with a bit of CA glue: use less glue! Or better still, stop being cheap and use matching pot styles.

So yes, I did exactly that and ended up with a drive knob that was glued strongly to the pot shaft, and to the enclosure so that it wouldn't turn. Wrenching it with pliers got it turning at the expense of some minor paint damage around the base of the knob. Not going to fix though as it still passes the 2 foot test and now has 3 matching knobs (the black and yellow ones seen above).

[DarkMark]

Nice looking pedal, jugglindan. Horribly, horribly noob question. Does the box need to be made of metal...could it be made out of wood?

[jugglindan]

Nice looking pedal, jugglindan. Horribly, horribly noob question. Does the box need to be made of metal...could it be made out of wood?

1000 posts! Congrats


All my pedals are in diecast aluminium boxes because they are readily available in standard sizes. The metal helps them stand up to being stepped on, and provides shielding from electrical interference. On some builds, the metal of the case is used to ground the input and output jacks instead of running ground wires to them. I don't usually do this though as an extra wire doesn't hurt.

If you had the woodworking skills you could definitely put a pedal into a wooden case. You would probably want to shield the interior with copper tape in the same way you shield the cavities on a guitar, otherwise you may get unwanted noise.

[jugglindan]

The more I use this pedal the more I like it. I found some settings yesterday for a light overdrive that seemed to enhance the note clarity and articulation. Notes just leapt shimmering from my amp. Fingerpicked passages had the clarity I had been trying to find for ages. It's early days, and I haven't rebuilt my pedalboard so a side by side is a while away, but this pedal might do the low gain thing better than my Timmy clone. Or maybe just as good but different.

The setting was tone at 2, drive at 10 or 11 and harmonics switch on. With the same settings but switching to the high gain setting I was in a much crunchier world. I wish I put the gain switch onto a footswitch with a second indicator LED. No room now that I have drilled, but if I ever rebox this would be the reason.

[jugglindan]

This build is done

I rebuilt my board tonight and this pedal sits just after the OD-2 (so I can kick it up a notch with the boost). If I ever build another boost I will call it the Spice Weasel ("let's kick it up a notch - BAM!"), but I digress.

The more I explore the sounds in this pedal, the more I like it. I pretty sure it has evicted two other drives (the Joyo Sweet Honey and the Caline Pure Sky) from my board. It has more clarity than the Sweet Honey and can do the warm low gain thing just as well with the tone rolled down. It also does the low-gain well-articulated driven chords rhythm thing (if that's a thing) better than the Pure Sky. It makes the Pure Sky sound more like a Low Clouds and Foggy Sky. The only thing the Pure Sky does better is the active EQ (but I can build an active EQ pedal) and can live without that for now.

About the only reason to keep the Pure Sky around is that it sits before the OD-2 and does a good job stacked into it. But once I get the Lemon Squeezy boxed it will be sitting at the front of the signal chain and should easily handle double-duty as a booster.

So all in all, this pedal has delivered far better sonic results than I expected. Very very happy

[DarkMatterResist]

@jugglindan Great build and thanks for sharing. I will no doubt be asking questions when the time is right to start this one How does it sound? It looks amazing ...