Messages

All of them look great as usual, Nico.  The Old Fashioned Heavy Metal particularly stands out to me.

Nice layout, Billy.  I like the artwork as well.

Have you tried doing a second or third pass with the laser?  That might help get more paint off the box.  I also clean mine with flux remover, which works great as long as the box has been powder coated.

Thanks Dave!  Not my layout though, I think this is stomp towns

I do 3 passes, went to bare metal, didn't like it as much as the black. A white or yellow could work I think.  (I've been interested in tone on tone lately, so that might be part of it.)

Makes sense.  Sometimes there just isn't enough contrast.  In those situations, only a fill will do.

Nice layout, Billy.  I like the artwork as well.

Have you tried doing a second or third pass with the laser?  That might help get more paint off the box.  I also clean mine with flux remover, which works great as long as the box has been powder coated.

Thanks Dave!  Not my layout though, I think this is stomp towns

Yeah, that was a proto PCB I did last year. Decided to pair it down a bit considering the PITA it would be to fit 3 pots and 3 spdt's in a 1590A. 

It can be done.  :-)

And yes, it was a PITA.

most effects pedals are AC-coupled so split supplies aren't as important since biasing is decoupled between different circuit stages, making the circuit much easier to build since the power supply is greatly simplified. by comparison, synthesizer electronics uses far fewer decoupling caps and split rails is ubiquitous. that said circuits with many opamps might benefit greatly from a split supply, especially with headroom when not using rail-to-rail opamps (the TL072 isn't!).

if you're not looking for double voltage, split supply can be had cheaply and easily with rail splitter devices (like this TLE2426). these things split your V+ in half with next to no loss, giving you +/- (0.5)V+, ie +/-4.5 from +9. it only has a maximum current sink of 20mA, but that's enough for 4 or 3 TL072's.

Yeah, these are used in a lot of DIY headphone amps that have a virtual ground.  Handy little devices.

I've only used them for work on specialized parts, but it went through without issue.

Of course, there better not have been issues as I checked the order multiple times before placing it.  Nothing like a $60k non-cancellable, non-returnable order to make you pay attention.  :-)

Most amazing one-handed player ever ...

Great video. Sounds awesome and I like the way you go through the settings. It gives a great impression of the range of sounds and does it quickly.

I think he was fretting with his feet.  :-)

Sounds great, Rej.  I still have to box mine up.

I looked at some smd parts I have and I thought, what are those tiny metal flakes??? Crap that's smd. I need to jump in, but I'm skeered!!!

Just jump in.  The water's shallow.  You may hit your head at first, but you'll adjust quickly.

I'll make it my next build. Gotta watch some YouTube videos and see how it's done I guess.

Get the following (inexpensive) tools:

1.)  Tweezers (you can find them for a couple of bucks on eBay or elsewhere.  Even Tayda sells some now.

2.)  Get a flux pen.  The Kester 186 works well.

3.)  Get some magnification.  On the cheap ($10) you can get magnified jeweler's glasses from Amazon.  On the expensive, you can by a stereo zoom microscope.

4.)  Get a fine tip for your soldering iron. 

5.)  A toothbrush and some high-purity alcohol for cleaning boards.  Flux remover is much better, but is more expensive.  If you have a Fry's near you, they carry some Flux remover that is $6-7 a can and totally worth it.

Overall, you might spend $20-25, but it's a good start to get the tools you'll need.

I looked at some smd parts I have and I thought, what are those tiny metal flakes??? Crap that's smd. I need to jump in, but I'm skeered!!!

Just jump in.  The water's shallow.  You may hit your head at first, but you'll adjust quickly.

I really like the artwork on this one.  Nice job.

Nice build (and layout), Rej.

I'm going to go with Tremster and the shiny pink enclosure mistake.   

Keefe, this is just fantastic.  VERY nice, clean PCB layout.

Nice job on this one, Jimi.  Dig those flames.

Nice layout, Billy.  I like the artwork as well.

Have you tried doing a second or third pass with the laser?  That might help get more paint off the box.  I also clean mine with flux remover, which works great as long as the box has been powder coated.

You got another winner here, Billy.  It looks great.

Looks great, Billy.  The solder work on the board looks really clean.  I still need to get around to populating mine one of these days.

What program did you use to setup the laser etch?  If you are going to redo it, I think you might be able to tighten up the resolution just a bit.  I totally dig the graphics.  They look great.