Disclaimer - Complete newb with no pedal building experience.
I was reading the notes for the Egodriver and I'm a little confussed by the "Parts" section of the notes. It says:
Parts
· Xicon General or HiTemp radial electrolytic caps, 25v
· Xicon carbon film or metal film resistors, ¼W
· Panasonic ECQV, Xicon Mylar ("Greenies"), or WIMA box caps, 25v or above
· Xicon Ceramic caps
· Alpha 16mm or 24mm potentiometers
Showing all my newbie glory here, I see five different types of caps. Is this note just telling me that there are multiple options for the caps or is there specific brands and types that I need to use in specific places?
We've all been there ;) You can look at the shapes and values to help determine what cap to buy.
pF values are typically ceramic, silver mica etc.. nF values are typically film caps, and uF values are typically electrolytic. There are other types and this is just a general rule to start you out. This link will help with value conversion from nF to uF to help you order http://www.justradios.com/uFnFpF.html
C1 22n Polyester Film Caps
C2 220pF Ceramic caps
C3 68n Polyester Film Caps
C4 1n Polyester Film Caps
C5 220pF Ceramic caps
C6 100n Polyester Film Caps
C7 10uF electrolytic caps
C8 47n Polyester Film Caps
C9 10uF electrolytic caps
C10 10uF electrolytic caps
C11 100n Polyester Film Caps
josh
Thanx for the great information. It also mentions "25v or above" on the one line. Is there any advantage to using >25v? Also, there is no voltage or amps mentioned for the ceramic caps, diodes, and transistors. How do you determine the proper voltage and amps for those?
1) No 25v is fine. Just don't go under 25v for this build. Many players run this pedal at 18v. You can go with a higher max voltage but the caps usually get larger the higher max volts you go.
2) Yes, but most ceramics are rated 50v and above.
josh
What about the simiconductors and transistors? Any particular amps and volts?
Most of the stuff we use in pedal circuits falls within the specs necessary. If you use the specific IC and transistors listed in the build docs you'll be fine.
Perfect...thanx for letting me bend your ear.
I'm sorry to jump in right out of the blue like this, but I thought I should share the combination I used for my EgoDriver, which in my opinion sounded really cool! :
C2: Silver Mica
C6 & C8: Panasonic Film
C7, C9, C10: Tantalum
C5: Ceramic
The rest are 50V rated greenies
D1: BAT41
I've built 5 of these so far, and I used different component types in every one of them and they all sound pretty different. I guess what I'm saying is try different combination of components, there is definitely not a single "correct" way to build these. This is where it gets really fun! :) Good luck
-Kaleb
I hate to ask this BUT if someone has the time...this is a cart I started at Mousers. Do I have anything wrong?
http://www.mouser.com/ProjectManager/ProjectDetail.aspx?AccessID=238ff4b29c
Looks good to me! :) Remember to order the rest of your hardware, like your switches, jacks, etc ;) Good luck!
-Kaleb
You've got some back ordered parts on there. It will take forever to get those...
For the .1uF you can sub this part # 80-MMK5104J63J01L4 or this 667-ECQ-V1H104JL3
For the 22nF 80-MMK5223K100J01L4 or 667-ECQ-V1223JM
I'd also suggest getting more than one or two of each. You never know if your going to mess a component up by accident. Plus it makes it a little more worth while since you'll pay at least $5 shipping on your $8 order. :o
I've never used the other xicon caps but they look ok. A little pricey compared to other notable brands.
Order a socket as well for your IC.
josh
Here's another dumb question. On the pots it says 1MA, 10kB, and 500kA. Am I safe just ordering 1M, 10k, and 500k pots from here:
http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=PPP&Category_Code=Pot16
What's the A and B for?
the letter designates the pots taper
A is audio
B is linear
C is reverse audio
...and audio taper is sometimes referred to as log (logarithmic) taper. Likewise, reverse audio would also be reverse log.....
If the build specifies a brand of caps/resistors, say Xicon vs Vishay as in the case of the Ego, is that really going to matter in the sound of the pedal?
Quote from: tenwatt on March 22, 2011, 09:51:19 PM
If the build specifies a brand of caps/resistors, say Xicon vs Vishay as in the case of the Ego, is that really going to matter in the sound of the pedal?
Not noticably in my experience anyways. The thing that will matter is tolerance of the component. In some cases a certain brand will make a higher quality component with a smaller tolerance value being the one you may want. Try and experiment, its the best method. And all of the docs here pretty much say specific parts like WIMA box caps or Panasonic ECQ-B caps.
I will say I've built a pedal using what is considered lower quality green mylar caps and it still sounded great!
Those particular brands are listed because they are easy to get, have the correct lead spacing for the board and sound good. But, they are not a requirement, in any sense.
Thanx for all the info. Due to your all's helpfulness I think I'm going to take this on.
Quote from: tenwatt on March 23, 2011, 01:43:38 PM
Thanx for all the info. Due to your all's helpfulness I think I'm going to take this on.
Do it! Don't be afraid to ask any questions :)
Oh my, I only used box caps and electrolytic caps =/ will this fail entirely? or just sound different
I also used 1/2 watt resistors, the shop had a crap selection of 1/4 watts, will that change the sound? Or will it just have a better power resistence?
No change to the sound.
jacob
Quote from: MJL90 on March 24, 2011, 11:19:29 PM
I also used 1/2 watt resistors, the shop had a crap selection of 1/4 watts, will that change the sound? Or will it just have a better power resistence?
The wattage has to do with power dissapation which we don't really worry about. The components you would wanna change would be certain caps in the circuit(usually the non polarized ones) and the diodes that are invovled with clipping if it applies to the circuit your working with. There's lots of difference capacitors out there to experiment with. Also lots of discussions on forums talking about this which i kinda find subjective to the individual. Some people really claim they hear a difference when others state its impossible to tell a difference. Let your ears be your judge ;D
I just received all my parts in the mail from Mammoth. That had everything except the Tantalum which a friend was so kind to mail to me. No I'm just awaiting the PCBs. I can hardly wait to get started.