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Home 2010 March Pedal Prototype Board

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.

Mar 3, 2010admin

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Comments: 4
  1. John
    15 years ago

    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?

    ReplyCancel
  2. admin
    15 years ago

    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

    ReplyCancel
  3. John
    15 years ago

    thanks for the tip. I never would have thought about that short of a wire run picking up interference.
    .-= John´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at =-.

    ReplyCancel
  4. admin
    15 years ago

    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.

    ReplyCancel

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admin
15 years ago 4 Comments Mods, Repairs & Buildingbeavis, bread board, building, prototype2,204
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