Re: Other Than Vero

[k3yPr0gg3r]

Hi,

I'm just beginning my guitar pedal building journey, and I was wondering about subsitiuting "ready to solder boards" for the Vero. Would they effect the sound of the device?

Thank you

[Travis]

Vero is a brand. People often call stripboard vero, the same way people often call tissues "Kleenex".

The layouts on this site are designed to use .1" pitch stripboard, unless otherwise specified.

I'm not sure what you mean by "ready to solder" boards. Perf could be considered "ready to solder", as could a PCB. But if you're following a stripboard layout you're going to want to use stripboard

[k3yPr0gg3r]

Thanks Travis,

I just remember viewing something during my research on YouTube stating not to use Vero if one is just beginning because things can get confusing. The PCB's I was talking about where from Guitar Gadgets... Guess I should build a few easy ones first before attempting anything here.

[Synsound]

I started with vero and eventually used a few premade PCBs for things I couldn't find layouts for. Vero is no more difficult than PCB. You will just have a few extra steps like cutting traces and making links. After that its all just following the layout (paint by numbers). Generally, there should be no difference in the sound.

[Pavlos]

I'd say from my own limited experience that vero/stripboard is very easy to manage with. I've only been lurking on the site for a few months, initially trying to get my head round what all this crazy stuff was about, reading through posts and also the various how to guides that people have kindly contributed (Brilliant stuff everyone, very informative and much appreciated, has made my initial steps so much easier) I only started actually building a couple of weeks ago with a few fairly simple circuits (Boosters, fuzz etc) and apart from a couple of obvious mistakes by me, I've been fortunate that all of my builds have worked pretty much first time, or at worst with a few minutes of looking puzzled, double checking, muttering a few choice words under my breath as I realize what I did wrong then putting it right. I'm now looking at having a go at bigger and more complicated builds, overdrives, smaller trem circuits, amp in box type stuff, and even thinking of trying the phase 45 at some point.

Most of the circuits on here are not too scary as long as you can be fairly methodical, so my advice would be have a good look at the build guides, then start with some small and simple circuits, they are very good practice, and if you have any problems it is a lot easier to find what is wrong and put it right than jumping in at the deep end and just looking blankly at something daunting and not even knowing where to begin. Then once you feel like you are getting a bit of confidence try something a bit bigger, a few more componets, and work your way up until you feel like tackling some of the more brain melting circuits. And of course if you are struggling, just holler and I'm sure there will be someone who will help you out  :o)

[Beaker]

There is no doubt that in some ways PCB builds are easier, but they are very unforgiving if you make a mistake. De-soldering components can be very difficult, and you can easily wreck the board if you are not careful.

Vero, on the other hand, can take a lot of abuse, so correcting mistakes, or changing component values at a later date is much easier.

I would try a few simple veroboard builds first before trying PCBs, just to develop your skills. Besides, you can buy a big sheet of vero, enough for easily a dozen small circuits for the price of one PCB.