Suggestions for a noob...

[The Apostle]

Total newbie here looking to start making pedals for myself as a hobby.

I've been lurking around here recently and I'm trying to find ANY vero layouts that match these requirements:

1. More complex than a Fuzz Face but not too complex.
2. No radial components being wired as axial...or the other way around!
3. Use no hard to find parts.

Suggestions?

[Pavlos]

I'm guessing you want to start with something fairly simple to build up skills and confidence?

Here's a few suggestions that are all very simple and sound good, and would be very easy to fault find if you have any problems

http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2013/01/electro-harmonix-lpb1-with-trimmer.html
http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2012/05/ehx-muff-fuzzes.html
http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2012/05/ehx-hogs-foot.html
http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2012/05/ehx-screaming-bird.html
http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2013/04/1-knob-fuzz-bonanza.html

Oh, and welcome to the forum, which part of the world do you call home?

[Travis]

Your second concern is gonna be a lot easier than you think, don’t worry about that

What kind of music do you like to play?

The Tube Screamer is a simple and extremely popular pedal that you could try all kinds of mods on if you want

[nocentelli]

Naga viper is a great little layout, all appropriate spans for standard size parts. The circuit is cool, just a single transistor boost but with an input cap blend for more bass and a gain control that adds some gritty overdrive.

[BlackDeathsquad]

A fuzz face is a simple but can be a challenge to get sounding good. Especially if it is germanium. Naga viper is a great circuit. An ep booster, speaker cranker or any of the Electra distortion type circuits. Any of the fet type boost. Jhs , Black eye. Also, just because there simple doesn’t mean they don’t sound good. Some of my favorite circuits are simple.

[HamishR]

This is a favourite of mine and an overdrive I use every day.  I like it way more than any more complex OD.  And believe me I have built a lot!  Even a boring tubescreamer is more complex - but to me doesn't sound better.  Don't worry if you can't find a C25K pot - B25K will do.

[The Apostle]

Hi guys,

Unfortunately those 2 veros posted fall foul of rule #2. I'm not a big fan of radial components being spreadeagled like that. I like using MKT caps (box caps) and they have a mounting space of 5mm and most of the electrolytic caps I use have a spacing of 2.5mm.

Another rule I should of added is that the pedal shouldn't be readily available on the 2nd hand market so TS808/9's, MXR Dist +'s and any Boss pedals are off the list.  

The some of the pedals I'm planning on having a crack at soon are the: CA Tube Sound Fuzz/WH Red Llama, ESR Graphic Fuzz, EHX IC BM, Gretsch Controfuzz (LM748 w/ comp caps), FT Plimsoul, MFE Demo Tape Fuzz, Maestro MFZ-1, Mosrite FuzzRite, PC Timmy and the Solasound Tonebender II (NPN Silicon)...

Some of those I've started drawing up on that DIY Layout Creator and I'll post on there if anyone is interested.

Has anyone on here done any layouts on these sort of PCBs???: https://www.jaycar.com.au/small-breadboard-layout-prototyping-board/p/HP9570

Cheers.

[Travis]

Literally all of those have been done on this site, several of them done multiple times

Just google whichever effect you want and add the word “vero” to the search and generally our site is the first result

[Muadzin]

If you're going to avoid layouts because of radial components being spreadeagled and fat box caps you're not going to be building a lot of pedals, that's for sure.

[IvIark]

If you don't like using radial components like that, why don't you get some axial caps as well so you're not limiting yourself with layouts?  They're not that expensive and you won't have to buy hundreds so isn't going to cost too much.

Alternatively, if you really don't want to used non-intended spacing or buy any new caps, in that Calibre layout, move the bottom lead of the right hand 47uf cap to the row below the top lead.  Put a cut next to pin 7 of the IC.  Move the other 47uf cap one column to the right so it's underneath the cap you just moved, and solder a wire link from the pin 7 row (to the right hand side of the new cut), down to the bottom row.  

[Marbles]

I like using MKT caps as well. But where did you order them? I once bought a batch as well from a german supplier. Not sure which one, and got a bag with the shortened legs. Then it does suck, cause they are hard to use. Is that the reason you don't want them to be spaces further apart then 2 rows (or however far they span)?

In that case I would urge you to find another supplier. Normally a layout is being made to take up as less real estate as possible. And the parts being layed out as convieniantly as possible. Don't know how these wizards do it, but I am pretty sure they are not taking in account if a cap is spanning 1 or 8 rows. And rightfully so ofcourse, normally a cap could span that far.

To find a layout that has caps spanning only a certain amount of rows will be, well, just incredibly lucky that the caps happen to be that way in that exact layout.
You will miss out on a lot of awesome layouts because of that I would think.

But turning them into PCB you could just replace the legs into a trace I'd think? Maybe I misunderstood, just don't miss out :) .


The pedals on your list are awesome btw. Especially the Tape Fuxx, Timmy en IC Muff.

[tracer03]

The Apostle wrote

The some of the pedals I'm planning on having a crack at soon are the: CA Tube Sound Fuzz/WH Red Llama, ESR Graphic Fuzz, EHX IC BM, Gretsch Controfuzz (LM748 w/ comp caps), FT Plimsoul, MFE Demo Tape Fuzz, Maestro MFZ-1, Mosrite FuzzRite, PC Timmy and the Solasound Tonebender II (NPN Silicon)...


Cheers.

If you build the Demo Tape, make sure you read the comments - I built it with the chip listed on the layout image and was totally underwhelmed. Came back to it a few months later and read through the comments, made the changes (different IC) as suggested and it really made a difference in the sound.

[Marbles]

Really? I love it with JRC. Maybe a coincidence, but I always prefer JRC4458 builds over TL072.

Better yet, I love it so much, I have built 2 of them in 1 enclosure cause I loved the High Gain and Gain all the way down. But to each his own :)

[tracer03]

Marbles wrote

Really? I love it with JRC. Maybe a coincidence, but I always prefer JRC4458 builds over TL072.

Better yet, I love it so much, I have built 2 of them in 1 enclosure cause I loved the High Gain and Gain all the way down. But to each his own :)

I tried a bunch of 4558s in it and they all sounded like poo. TL072 wasn't much better. I read somewhere that the MC33172L was the chip they were using, so I dropped one in and it sounds fantastic.