Pedal Prototype Board
I’ve been spending a ton of time researching pedal designs, and understanding some ‘basics’ of electronics. It’s a big pill to swallow with what seems to be a never ending list of topics, theories, opinions, etc. But one step at a time, I feel like I’ll get somewhere.
One of the things that I wanted to have before getting too involved with breadboarding a circuit design was to build a prototype board. Basically, this is a ‘Beavis Board‘. Since I’m really a hands on sorta person, and every chance I can get to hold a soldering iron will help improve my skills, I opted to build one vs. buying one.
Basically, the concept is to have a enclosure mounted on a board. The enclosure is wired up with true bypass 3PDT switch, LED, input/output jacks, DC and 9V power. The send/return leads and power/ground leads leave the enclosure and mount to a terminal strip. From there you would connect the terminal strip to a breadboard where you would build your effect circuit. Why I wanted this instead of just riding with a breadboard.. is simple. I want something that I can step on and easily plug my guitar in with out worrying about messing up my circuit. Also, the ability to pick up the unit and take it somewhere is a little easier. This is my phase 1 version. I’m planning on adding a ‘pot row’ where I can mount several pots and wire them into the terminal strip for my circuit. Also, similar to the Beavis Board, I would like to add voltage ‘sag’ control as well.
All the components have been screwed down to the board, with the exception of the enclosure where I used the velcro method to affix it to the board.
It’s a fun project, quick.. and easy, but I know it’ll be very handy when it’s circuit building time.
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March 9th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I just started my first pedal mod. Boss CS-3 using instructions from Brian Wampler. It’s really cool to hear how significantly a few changes can make to the tone. But now I’m interested in learning why and how these changes work so I can come up with my own versions. I just came across the Beavis board yesterday and was considering doing exactly what you did. I like the idea of the “pot row” a lot.
What exactly is the voltage sag control for?
March 9th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Thanks John for commenting!
The Beavis board looks awesome, but I wanted to build everything. Every soldering chance I get.. the better I become, plus I wanted to problem solve.
If you go my route, I would definitely do some things differently. #1 Move the terminal strip right next to the enclosure. #2 Move the bread board close to the terminal strip.
I’ve been fighting shielding issues due to the length of my send/return leads. You can address this by adding shielded wire (use RCA cables – cut the ends and strip). But all of this could have been avoided if I pushed things closer.
Voltage sag, is to simulate a dying battery. Some people like that sound on certain distortions, etc. Also, you can get some interesting effects/sounds by starving the voltage to a circuit. I’ve just read about it.. haven’t done it.
It’s basically adding a resistor pot on the 9v lead to the board.
Keep me posted, and feel free to email me. I’m just starting out as well!
hank
March 9th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
thanks for the tip. I never would have thought about that short of a wire run picking up interference.
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March 9th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Yep, I was getting some pretty serious buzz. I was thinking it was related to bad ground, but after getting some great advice, and wrapped the leads into the enclosure, I was surprised that the buzz went away.