offricial DIY discussion thread

[LirvA]

anyone here ever done any circuit prototyping on breadboard before? I kinda want to try it imo.

[blkmagik98]

Originally Posted by LirvA

anyone here ever done any circuit prototyping on breadboard before? I kinda want to try it imo.

I have...what do you want to know about it?

Michael

[LirvA]

Any general info or tips would be good imo, also what your experiences were like. Whether successful, what you built on it and if you went on to build on PCB or perf imo.

[blkmagik98]

Originally Posted by LirvA

Any general info or tips would be good imo, also what your experiences were like. Whether successful, what you built on it and if you went on to build on PCB or perf imo.

I just did some research on the net, then bought a board. First thing I did was to make an interface box for it that made it easier to plug a guitar in and other things. Basically, I made this- http://www.beavisaudio.com/bboard/ He was selling those at some point and no longer does, but he put the plans up so anybody could make one. There is also a lot of useful breadboarding info on his site that I read. My first things were simple Fuzz Face circuits and I changed components around to change the tone to better fit my rig, then I moved onto more complicated things after I learned the basics. I mostly etched boards but I think perf is easier as etching is such a nasty process, but if it were me, I would try both. I highly recommend this book also- http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=679 Written by R. G. Keen, who is pretty much the father of the boutique effects industry. He also runs Geofex- http://www.geofex.com/, which is dated looking but tons of info on there as well.

Michael

[LirvA]

thx for the great post


do you have any pics of any breadboard prototypes you've done or any etched boards or anything?

[blkmagik98]

Originally Posted by LirvA

thx for the great post


do you have any pics of any breadboard prototypes you've done or any etched boards or anything?

No, all on my desktop that is in storage in Amsterdam.

Michael

[gitfiddle]

Lirv would like Amsterdam, daaamn...

[LirvA]

I bet I would imo

[blkmagik98]

Originally Posted by LirvA

I bet I would imo

Except for cost of living, which is pretty sick. Not sure where you live now, but the weather isn't ideal either, unless you can deal with not seeing a lot of sun. Typical northern Europe weather with lots of clouds and drizzle all the time, if you can deal with that. I am originally from NC, where we get more rain yearly than Amsterdam, but it typically rains like hell for a few hours and moves on, whereas in Amsterdam it rains slowly all day, almost every day. But of course there is the weed/hash if you are into that kind of thing, but they are going to cut that off except if you have a Dutch passport and a weed pass.

Michael

[LirvA]

Question: how the hell are you supposed to unsolder a mechanical connection? For instance, a mechanical connection like this.






Obviously getting the solder to melt is easy enough, but how the hell are you supposed to unwrap the wire before the solder hardens? Do you have to use that chemical that keeps solder liquid at low temps? Should a person just say **** it and use a different part? (I'm needing to change two wires on an AC adapter jack)

[Pot Odds RAC]

I'd snip open the little wire loop and then just remove it when the solder was hot.

[LirvA]

Ended up having success with desoldering braid.


On another note, just finished this Ampeg Scrambler clone.








I suck at painting (easiest part my ass) so it's just gonna stay metal. I think it looks good like that though. Easy build.

Sounds pretty good but there's gating with lower output pickups.

[RnR_Fantasy]

looks like a superb job electronic wise
you surely are patient and organized

[LirvA]

ty


turns out one of the transistors may be bad. Trying to get a replacement

[LirvA]

closer shots of the work














ideally I'd have some heat shrink over the connections on the jacks but I didn't have any or a gun