I gotta say, I hate working in 1590A enclosures...

[Surgeon]

I mean, anything more than 1 pot is insane. Javi's awesome with this stuff but I'm not that meticulous and patient... still,in the case of smaller circuits (such as this Naga Viper), anything bigger would be a waste of an enclosure....  Still didn't end-up being that bad looking but damn I wish I had Javi's patience and fingers...

[inefficiency]

Looks good man.

I like them for boosts and meatheads. I made an em-drive in one too.

These help a little;

[rocket88]

looks good man. i agree completely. i did one for the an em-drive and went nuts. i really don't know how javi get so much into a 1590a box with ease. maybe black magic?

[inefficiency]

I found these little gems a while ago and thought it was a great idea.

Scroll down to the "Mini4Pot PCB"

http://www.grindcustomsfx.com/

[JaviCAP]

Nice build, matey, that's the first step, I sweated blood drops with my first 1590A build, not sure if it was a One Knob Fuzz or something similar.

No, let's say, insanity, not black magic :) When you deal with 1590A you just need to have  clear the  dimension limits and the board height.

If you use low profle jacks and get a board ~18mm tall, you can fit a 22 colummns x 12 rows vero with no problem. Pots: you can put up to 4 regular 16mm ones or 6 x 9mm ones.

For me, the most difficult part, is the dc jack. Using the previously mentioned one, or the typical 12mm external, is nearly mandatory.

Have to tell too, that 1590A are pretty useless for live situations, and thtat are very prone too to get dc noise, as all components and wires are too jammed.

I think the most difficult ones were the Rockett Animal and the BJT Pink Purple Fuzz, but once you have dimensions and measures clear, is not really difficult to use these enclosures.

J.

[Surgeon]

Thanks guys.

this is my third 1590a build but the first using more than 1 pot and they were 9mm of course... those dc jacks are on my list of things to order soon and will definitely help... I sure am not gonna do this too often.

[IvIark]

You're all braver than me.  1590A's are for buffers only unless you're criminally insane

[Frank_NH]

Since most of my builds don't actually make it to a real pedal board, I don't worry too much about physical size, but rather about robustness and reliability.  Thus, I have standardized on the 1590B for one/two control effects (like boosters and simple overdrives/fuzzes) and the 125B for most everything else.  For 5 or more controls (like the Britannia) I prefer the 1590BB.

[Surgeon]

You know, I understand the appeal of 125b but I really don't like them... up to 4 pots and a switch I have no problem going with a 1590b. The only real advantage of the 125 is that you can have the jacks over the pots on top... at least for me. If I'm going for5 knobs I'd much rather go with 1590bb myself. Plus, the 125 is much taller and a bit longer which makes it look akward amongst the others... yes, my gripe is mostly aesthetic at this point....

[rocket88]

see i prefer the 125b enclosures. i started building using 1590b's but i always feel like i have to fight getting everything into it where i want it, mostly i think its because of my sausage fingers. so now i use solely 125b's for pretty much everything, and if i feel like the board is too tight in the enclosure i'll use a 1590bb, which ended up happening with my modified small clone. i have a few 1590a boxes to put very small circuits in, if i can fit everything in, but after the em drive, i really have avoided doing another one .

also, what i like about the 125b is that i always leave room at the bottom to add a battery if i choose to later one. i never noticed anything odd as far as ascetics, go just my 2cents.

[Frank_NH]

The 125B has essentially the same planform as the 1590B, but has the advantage of being 0.5 inches deeper.  Thus, I can easily fit big boards on top of the pots and not feel like everything is being crammed into rear of the enclosure.  My Zendrive clone is in a 125B - I use it regularly, and I don't see any disadvantage to the taller box (in fact, it seems easier to reach with my foot amongst other effects).

[IvIark]

Yes I prefer the 125B too although I still build most things in a 1590B, but that's really because I can get them cheaper and have a lot more of them.  But if I was building something that I knew was going regularly in my rack tray I'd always use 125B's now, simply because I'm limited for space and if I have to stick with side mounted jacks with the 1590B, it compromises width even with pancake connectors.  With the 125B I can have every effect right next to each other with the patch cables at the top (which is the main reason), but that extra space also feels huge and makes the offboard far less annoying to me.

So if I hate something I'll pull out the transistors/opamps and anything else more valuable that I may have socketed and throw the board (usually only with resistors and caps and common diodes) in my recycle bin which I may retrieve parts from one day if I need them (but I doubt I'll ever be desperate enough).
If I don't particularly like something I'll bag the finished board keeping everything together just in case.
If I like something I'll put it in a 1590B.
If I really like something I'll put it in a 125B.

[Surgeon]

Well, it all comes down to personnal preferences... I don't like the 125s but I'm happy for you that you do. I have built a few in 125s and don't like them.... my loss I guess....

[IvIark]

It's all personal preference.  I like them for one main specific reason, but if I didn't use a rack tray that wouldn't be the same issue for me.  At the end of the day you use what you're happiest with and that's always to your own tastes and requirements, no one knows that better than you.

[Surgeon]

Couldn't have said it better myself, I was just explaining why....

[inefficiency]

I generally always use 1590B just because that's what I have a bunch of and they're cheap and easy to find.

I'm starting to lose patience with tall electrolytics though. I find I populate the board, drill the holes, add the hardware, wire everything in and lo and behold the caps are too tall the get the back on. So then, I have to remove the caps and re-do them kinda bent over so that they'll fit. You'd think I would learn, but I forget and do it all the time.

My current solution is to find a mega cheap source of low-profile electrolytics and use them from now on, but for tight builds I might grab a couple of 125Bs.

I like the idea of making drives/boosts/compression/anything that goes in front of the amp in a 1590B and then chrous/delay/effects loops stuff in a 125B and then put them in two rows. So, you have all your drives in shorter boxes in the front row and all the modulation and stuff in taller boxes behind to make them easier to get your foot on.

The idea of doing something like that only really works if you're on to the idea behind it and as such, doing it that way for anyone other than yourself is a bit pointless unless they request it, I guess.

[IvIark]

Get some SMD electrolytics.  I just got the set I posted in the BARGAINS! thread and they're absolutely tiny.  A lot smaller than even my mini through hole electrolytics

[inefficiency]

Oh yeah, I saw those. You just have to remove a little black thing? I'll check em out.

[Frank_NH]

Yeah, but where's the MOJO in SMD components??  You need those caps to be big, colorful, and shiny to have MOJO 

[IvIark]

Yeah they are boring.  So it's SMD for electrolytics, alongside some big ass paper in oil caps and carbon comps