This
is a general instructable about how to build your own pedal clones.
It's not hard to do, just take care that you read up on some info
beforehand. There's numerous schematics and layouts on tonepad.
If it's the first build you're doing it's best to start with the easier
stuff, like a simple fuzz or overdrive. In this instructable I'll be
building an Electro Harmonix Pulsar clone, and a TychoBrahe Octavia
clone.
Step 1Equipment Needed:
Necessary equipent:''
General:
Soldering Iron with a small tip.
Thin solder
Blank copper PCB board
Iron (preferably an older one, as it might get a bit dirty and scratched)
etchant (I used Ammoniumpersufate)
Drill with a 1.0 or smaller head (I used a Column Drill of some old east german fashion to prevent breaking to many heads, it might be good to see if it's possible to gain acces to a similar drill.)
Acces to a laser printer
Glossy photo paper.
Some plastic or glass trays to perform the etching ceremony in. (do not use any metal object during the etching process, the etching fluid burns through any sort of metal.)
One stereo and one mono jack input
A 3DPT footswitch button, it is advised to get one of these, even though they're expensive, they save you from making a millenium bypass or something similar, unless ofcourse, you can't stand a good true bypass)
Thin wire.
A case to put the end result in.
Other parts:
The specific parts you need to depend on what pedal you want to make. D'OH
In this case I decided to make a two in one pedal. One side is a clone of the EHX Pulsar tremolo pedal. The other side is an octave up pedal, based on the Octavia. I got both the schematics, layouts and directly printable PCB etching drawing from www.tonepad.com. This is a very helpfull site, tons of layouts and schematics and some helpfull tutorials. Other good sites to check are: www.diystompboxes.com and (...)
Lots of components can be gotten from electronics shops, but most shops don'st stock the more effect pedal specific parts, so it is advised to buy everything online. I used the store www.newtone-online.com, but it's based in holland, americans and other could use smallbearelectronics and the like.
General:
Soldering Iron with a small tip.
Thin solder
Blank copper PCB board
Iron (preferably an older one, as it might get a bit dirty and scratched)
etchant (I used Ammoniumpersufate)
Drill with a 1.0 or smaller head (I used a Column Drill of some old east german fashion to prevent breaking to many heads, it might be good to see if it's possible to gain acces to a similar drill.)
Acces to a laser printer
Glossy photo paper.
Some plastic or glass trays to perform the etching ceremony in. (do not use any metal object during the etching process, the etching fluid burns through any sort of metal.)
One stereo and one mono jack input
A 3DPT footswitch button, it is advised to get one of these, even though they're expensive, they save you from making a millenium bypass or something similar, unless ofcourse, you can't stand a good true bypass)
Thin wire.
A case to put the end result in.
Other parts:
The specific parts you need to depend on what pedal you want to make. D'OH
In this case I decided to make a two in one pedal. One side is a clone of the EHX Pulsar tremolo pedal. The other side is an octave up pedal, based on the Octavia. I got both the schematics, layouts and directly printable PCB etching drawing from www.tonepad.com. This is a very helpfull site, tons of layouts and schematics and some helpfull tutorials. Other good sites to check are: www.diystompboxes.com and (...)
Lots of components can be gotten from electronics shops, but most shops don'st stock the more effect pedal specific parts, so it is advised to buy everything online. I used the store www.newtone-online.com, but it's based in holland, americans and other could use smallbearelectronics and the like.
Step 2How to get started:
Print
the layout on the glossy photo paper. I used Canon Glossy Photo paper
for this. Don't go too expensive, just cheap glossy paper. Make sure to
print it on a laser printer. Print the layout 2 or 3 times on the same
sheet, so you have an extra print if something goes wrong. Now you can
start to clean the copper board. Use a sponge and some fat removing
cleaning fluid. Make sure you clean the copper thoroughly, and don't
touch it with your fingers (or anything else that could put fat on the
copper), that might give you some troubles while ironing the layout on.
After you've cleaned and dried the copperboard you can start heating up
the iron. Use the hottest setting your iron has. Place the layout on the
copperboard (yesss with the toner facing the board 0.o), and place the
hot iron on. Apply a little pressure, and make sure the paper doesn't
move anymore after this. Keep the iron in place for about a minute. Then
carefully start moving the iron around over the paper, still making
sure the paper doesn't move. The whole process usually takes me about 10
minutes. If you think the toner is transfered onto the copperboard,
take of the iron, and feel if the paper is attached to the copper or
not. If it comes loose really easy, just take it off, if you really need
to pull it, put the whole board in a bit of cold water and carefully
peel the wet paper off.
If everything went well the circuit should be on the copperboard, without any gaps in the copper leads. If this is not the case, use some aceton or nail polish remover to clean the copperboard and start again. If the transfer of the toner went well, it's time to get to the etching.
If everything went well the circuit should be on the copperboard, without any gaps in the copper leads. If this is not the case, use some aceton or nail polish remover to clean the copperboard and start again. If the transfer of the toner went well, it's time to get to the etching.
Step 3The Etching:
There's
a few different fluids you can use to etch the copper of the board, and
reveal the circuit. I used Ammoniumpersulfate. You should check the
descriptions that come with the product you're using to etch. The
Ammoniumpersulfate I used had to be used at a temperature between 80 and
50 degrees celcius. Use plastic or glass containers only. I used a
small tray to put the etchant in, and perform the etching in, and a
larger one filled with hot water to keep the etchant hot, and to make
sure that if some of the etchant was spilled it wouldn't to any damage.
The duration of this process depends on the etchant you're using. If all
of the copper is dissapeared you can carefully take the board out, and
use water to clean all the etchant off. Store the etchant in a plastic
or glass bottle to use it another time, or to dump it at a chemical
disposal point. DON'T THROW IT IN THE SINK, unless you feel like
sponsoring the local plumber. Also, be sure to wear latex gloves the
whole time.
Be patient and careful during this step. Not to scare you off, but you're working with aggressive fluids here, and messing things up can really cost you.
Be patient and careful during this step. Not to scare you off, but you're working with aggressive fluids here, and messing things up can really cost you.
Step 4Drilling the holes:
If
the board is all clean, and you've got rid of the etchant you're ready
to drill the holes in the board. This can be pretty much a pain in the
ass, especially if you haven't got acces to a column drill, the drill
heads are so thin you can break it really easy, so you really have to
make sure to drill straight down, and don't try to correct the direction
while drilling.
Most people use 0.8 mm drills, but I advise using a 1.0 mm drill. The 0.8 mm might be a bit small for some components.
Most people use 0.8 mm drills, but I advise using a 1.0 mm drill. The 0.8 mm might be a bit small for some components.
Step 5Soldering The Components
Once
you've finished drilling all the holes we're getting to the fun part:
SOLDERING. For some reason I really enjoy locking myself in my room with
a nice beer, soldering iron and an interesting project. The soldering
is pretty easy, just put all the pieces on their places and solder them
onto the board. Try to do this as tidy as you can. Use a soldering iron
with a small point, and thin solder. Don't make too many big blobs all
around the board, it only makes things look bad, and might have
consequences for the way things work. Use thin, flexible wire for the
pots.
Step 6Offboard Wiring:
The
term offboard wiring is used for everything that's not placed on the
circuit board. Technically, pots are also part of the offboard wiring.
The wiring diagram depends on the type of switch your using.
When the on board soldering is ready, it's time for the offboard part, the stompswitch and inputs. In my optimism of almost being done with a project I really have to be carefull not to make mistakes near the end, it's easy to get so anxious to try your project that it's not unlikely that you'll make a little wiring mistake, and spend hours of troubleshooting. Tonepad has really good offboard wiring layouts, and once you get the principle it's easy to think them out yourself. If you start soldering wires onto the 3DPT switch, remember to start with the middle connection, that saves you a lot of forking solder through small spaces etc. Various schematics can be found on Tonepad.com.
When the on board soldering is ready, it's time for the offboard part, the stompswitch and inputs. In my optimism of almost being done with a project I really have to be carefull not to make mistakes near the end, it's easy to get so anxious to try your project that it's not unlikely that you'll make a little wiring mistake, and spend hours of troubleshooting. Tonepad has really good offboard wiring layouts, and once you get the principle it's easy to think them out yourself. If you start soldering wires onto the 3DPT switch, remember to start with the middle connection, that saves you a lot of forking solder through small spaces etc. Various schematics can be found on Tonepad.com.
Step 7Casing the Thing
Test
the whole thing before you start putting it in the case. Make all the
wires as short as possible to prevent the inside of the pedal to look
like a plate of spaghetti. I wasn't sure about what case I was gonna
use, so mine has a lot of spare wire inside.
If you're ready to put it in the case, find some drills that match the width of the pot shafts, and stompswitch. If you have installed status LED's get some LED holders, and another right sized drill.
If you're ready to put it in the case, find some drills that match the width of the pot shafts, and stompswitch. If you have installed status LED's get some LED holders, and another right sized drill.
Step 8TroubleShooting:
If there's something wrong, there's a couple of things you can try:
Check your offboard wiring, sometimes it's easy to mix input and ground. If that happens, you will hear some noise out of your amp when the pedal is engaged, but no guitar signal coming through.
If all the wiring is correct, check for bad solder joints, both in the offboard wiring and on the board. The solder joints should be clean and silvery.
Next thing is checking if there's any current coming through. Get a multimeter, and check if the circuit is complete, and if heat sensitive parts like transistors and op-amps aren't fried.
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