Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hi all - first time builder post here

I felt pretty confident in my build up until the point of soldering to the 1/4" jacks, and then also my solder onto the power jack must have broken while trying to mount the pcb into the enclosure with the pots and switch. For the 1/4" jacks I am really struggling with soldering the wire to the spots I need to, I feel like its not sticking at all and won't be durable or even pretty in the longterm if I do get it to stick. Are there any tips/tricks here to get it to stick?

Low heat works good for soldering components to the board, but when you start soldering to metal pieces (like jacks, or way worse- the back of pots in guitars) you need more heat. If you don't have the tabs on the jack hot enough to fully melt the solder you won't have a good bind. It should be hot enough that the solder melts and flows quite "liquidy". The more metal, the more it acts like a "heat sink". If you only have a "one temp" soldering iron then you just have to hold it there until it's hot enough (and get the jack tab good and warm (hot) before even starting to get the wire or solder involved).

If you have an adjustable-heat soldering station, crank it up a bit when you get to soldering the jacks and switches.

Also, it's good to bend the wire through the hole in the jack or switch tab to make a "mechanical joint" before you start soldering. If you move the board around too much before final assembly you'll break the wires pretty easily- ask me how I know....

(EDIT: your photos just came through- yup- MORE HEAT!)

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Twisting and tinning is for chumps.

Yes, there are. Those jacks come with some sort of antioxidant coating on them which is resistant to solder wetting & flow. Disconnect your wires and remove as much of the residual solder as you can from the tabs of the two I/O jacks. A solder sucker and good quality desoldering braid works well for this, if you have them on hand; if not, use the tip of your soldering iron, cleaning off any solder between dabs on the solder tabs. Once you have the tabs reasonably clean (don't go overboard with this--you won't be able to get it all), use some fine sandpaper to scuff up the surface of the tabs. Then re-solder your wires; you'll find that the solder flows onto the tabs MUCH better.

P.S. While you're at it, I would re-do the solder joint on lug 8 of the footswitch.

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

Thank you so much for the suggestion, I will give that a try tonight or tomorrow and see where I end up . I must have thought I was hot shi* from soldering everything else with little fuss and didn't slow down enough for this part.

Ok, thanks to these great suggestions I was able to get it wired up and installed into the enclosure successfully (more or less). Now I am facing another issue...

The pedal plays a bypass tone no problem, but as soon as I activate the pedal I am getting zero sound, and if I turn the pots its not like anything turns up or down or makes a crackling noise. I also do not know where to start with the multimeters and how to begin troubleshooting to find where the problem lies.

Thanks all, sorry for being pretty vague and difficult

This is the most common problem we see here, and this is the most frequently effective solution: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=52188

I see many component connections where there is no solder visible through the eyelet around the component lead. This is a strong indication of inadequate solder flow. Please reflow ALL of your solder joints on the PCB. It doesn't take that long to do, and often solves this kind of problem. And if it doesn't, we can get into more involved troubleshooting methods. For future reference: a photo or two of the solder side of the PCB is very helpful to us.

BTW, when you engage the footswitch, does the LED light up?

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

Will do,

on my next post I will show the PCB as is right now on each side, and then when I reflow. The LED does light up when I activate the footswitch.

Thanks!

OK, then at least we know power is getting into the circuit.

Those before & after shots of the back of the PCB should be informative.

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

Remove both chips. Does the volume knob work in reverse now?

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*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

I don't notice it changing anything - but I cranked the amp all of the way up. I get the faintest of sounds with chips both in and both out - but none of the knobs seem to do anything.

Thanks,

With both chips out, and the volume knob full turn counter-clockwise, you should be able to get a sound that is just slightly lower than bypass. The other knobs won't do much of anything, but the volume knob should have a bit of effect (just reversed). If you're not getting this, then you probably have a cold solder joint on the PCB somewhere.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com