# Few suggestions to help newcommers



## Dali (Sep 8, 2019)

The site is quite easy to navigate and the search works great. These are just suggestions:

A thing that could be helpful for newbies like me would be to indicate a level of difficulty to build: Easy, Medium/Moderate, Advanced.

Another thing would be to indicate how long in MS are the delays for: D3lay, Hydra Delay, Kaleidoscope, Unison, Magnetron and Leprechaun.

Dali


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## Robert (Sep 8, 2019)

Dali said:


> A thing that could be helpful for newbies like me would be to indicate a level of difficulty to build: Easy, Medium/Moderate, Advanced.



This is something I've been planning to do when I get time to do some work on the website, along with an indicator for 1/4W or 1/8W resistors, and whether a build requires any SMD components.



Dali said:


> Another thing would be to indicate how long in MS are the delays for: D3lay, Hydra Delay, Kaleidoscope, Unison, Magnetron and Leprechaun.



This really hadn't even crossed my mind, but definitely isn't a bad idea.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Sep 8, 2019)

A quick way to assess the difficulty is count the number of parts.  See if you can find sources for the transistors and diodes, sometime that is the hardest part.  If it has trimpots, that increases the difficulty because you have to adjust them to find the sweet spot.  Read the Build Reports and Troubleshooting forums to see how other people did building the pedals you're interested in.  Make sure you have all of the right tools: a good temp-controlled soldering station. A DMM. A drill press if you're going to drill your own boxes.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Sep 8, 2019)

Robert said:


> This is something I've been planning to do when I get time to do some work on the website, along with an indicator for 1/4W or 1/8W resistors...



I can't think of a good reason to use anything but 1/8W metal film resistors.  They are cheap, easy to come by, and will fit every board on this site.


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## niketplos (Sep 8, 2019)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> A quick way to assess the difficulty is count the number of parts.  See if you can find sources for the transistors and diodes, sometime that is the hardest part.  If it has trimpots, that increases the difficulty because you have to adjust them to find the sweet spot.  Read the Build Reports and Troubleshooting forums to see how other people did building the pedals you're interested in.  Make sure you have all of the right tools: a good temp-controlled soldering station. A DMM. A drill press if you're going to drill your own boxes.



thats usually the hardest or most time consuming part, sourcing components. that and drilling enclosures, no press so my step drill bits get a ton of use.


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## Nostradoomus (Sep 8, 2019)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> I can't think of a good reason to use anything but 1/8W metal film resistors.  They are cheap, easy to come by, and will fit every board on this site.



Damn that’s a good call my dude


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## Robert (Sep 8, 2019)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> I can't think of a good reason to use anything but 1/8W metal film resistors.  They are cheap, easy to come by, and will fit every board on this site.



At one point I started using 1/8W on some of the boards but a lot of folks weren't happy.

I couldn't count the number of emails I've gotten from people who say they can't get 1/8W resistors where they live.   I don't understand it, but I'm in no position to argue.

The only reason I can think to _not _use them is because it's virtually impossible to spot a wrong value in a troubleshooting photo.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Sep 8, 2019)

I'd agree that RN50 type resistors with number printed on them are hard to read.  Tayda and DigiKey both sell 1% MF resistors with color bands.  But you have to get the lighting just right to be able to differentiate red, orange and brown.  Standing 1/4 or 1/2 watt resistors up on end guarantees that no one will be able to read them in the photos.

I'm happy to help people troubleshoot their pedals, but I think it's reasonable to expect the builder to perform a proper visual inspection before asking for help here.


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## Nostradoomus (Sep 9, 2019)

I think maybe a workflow for boxing things as neatly and pain free as possible would be good.

Senór Kenobi’s post here is a good start






						Sunflower Fuzz
					

How about Another Fuzz?   I used a matched Fuzz Face transistor set from Smallbear. They are 2G308s from Texas Instruments. It sounds HUGE!



					forum.pedalpcb.com


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## niketplos (Sep 9, 2019)

Robert said:


> At one point I started using 1/8W on some of the boards but a lot of folks weren't happy.
> 
> I couldn't count the number of emails I've gotten from people who say they can't get 1/8W resistors where they live.   I don't understand it, but I'm in no position to argue.
> 
> The only reason I can think to _not _use them is because it's virtually impossible to spot a wrong value in a troubleshooting photo.


My eyes suck, it's hard enough to read the 1/4w resistors without magnification.


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Sep 9, 2019)

I'm in the process of posting a basic workflow thread. It will probably take a couple days to finish it.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Sep 9, 2019)

I use a magnifying visor.  Low mag for assembly, medium mag for soldering, high mag for inspection.


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## dlazzarini (Sep 9, 2019)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> I use a magnifying visor.  Low mag for assembly, medium mag for soldering, high mag for inspection.


I do the same. So much easier since I started using the visor.


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## Nostradoomus (Sep 10, 2019)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> I use a magnifying visor.  Low mag for assembly, medium mag for soldering, high mag for inspection.



Oh man if my wife doesn’t think I’m crazy already, strapping on a pair of THOSE will be the tipping point. 

(I bought a cheap USB microscope instead, now I look like a cool science man!)


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Sep 10, 2019)

Haha! My Optivisor with LED's is a game changer. I bought it years ago and use it all the time. I could not imagine doing this work without it. Rock it!




__





						- StewMac
					






					www.stewmac.com


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## dlazzarini (Sep 10, 2019)

Nostradoomus said:


> Oh man if my wife doesn’t think I’m crazy already, strapping on a pair of THOSE will be the tipping point.
> 
> (I bought a cheap USB microscope instead, now I look like a cool science man!)


Yep. She thinks I’m nuts. I think I’ve already been caught on Facebook with them on


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## JetFixxxer (Sep 10, 2019)

A few videos of those who aren't too family with how things work.  That could help you when looking at a schematic and troubleshooting.


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