As more enclosure work comes my way, I’m realizing my process has become more streamlined and (almost) fool-proof. I now understand how to more easily get from A to B, and know the pitfalls to avoid along the way. So when a few people approached me asking me to explain how I etch, I decided it would be best just to document some of my work as it progresses.
This first tutorial will be a broad example of the etching process, but in the future I plan on doing a series of how-tos that go further in depth.
For now, I’m just going to show you how to get a graphic etched into an enclosure:
Over the last few days I’ve deconstructed a wooden shelf from Ikea’s GORM line of storage units, and rebuilt it into a Pedaltrain-like home made pedal board. Here’s the result of about three hours total work:
The GORM shelves come from the factory just begging to be made into a board. There are several size options for the shelves, however only two are really suited for pedal boards. I have chosen the wider of the two shorter shelves, which is close to the size of a Pedaltrain 2. The other, smaller size is almost a near match for a Pedaltrain Mini.
While I was comparing the sizes of the shelves in Ikea, I noticed that the GORM shelving system, because it was modular, was also sold as individual height extenders. These height extenders are essentially a 2×4 with holes drilled in specific increments. When I saw that two long planks were only $3, I snagged them and decided to use one as the back of the pedal board; the pre-drilled holes are perfect for zip-typing power supplies and cords underneath. The planks were also close in width to what I wanted the rear of my board to be in height.
Alright, now that we’re done breaking down your purchases from Ikea, it’s time to start building the actual board…
After making the 250 true bypass, I went ahead and did a few fidelity mods:
I removed the stock 4558 dual op amp, which sounds like ass, and replaced it with a 1458. The 1458 is essential a dual version of the 741 op amp, which was the chip in the original 250 ODs.
I removed the stock clipping diodes (I forget what they were) and replaced them with:
two 1N914 switching diodes
two 1N4004 rectifier diodes
no diodes
All of which I put on a SPDT on-off-on switch. I forget which on-side is which pair of diodes, but the middle (off) is the no-diode setting.
I bought the notoriously bland, famously on-the-edge-of-being-a-great-overdrive DOD 250 on the cheap recently. I picked it up with the sole intention of modding the circuitry. There are some great mods out there:
For instance, Analog Man has a page up giving a brief explanation of the circuit, and the differences between the reissue and the original pedal. It’s a good place to start for modding this pedal.
Also, a quick Google search will turn up half a dozen or so forum threads like this one, detailing people’s trial and errors with parts replacement.
I decided to start with true bypass.
One of my favorite things about this pedal is the use of a pin connector to easily separate the PCB from the actual hardware in the pedal. It’s a feature that will make it a hundred times easier to modify and test the circuit on a trial/error sort of basis. One snap of the connectors and I’ve got the circuit in my signal chain. An easy separation and I’ve got a stand-alone PCB to play with on the bench. Cool.
The signal path coming from/going to the white, female side of the connector is as follows:
From left to right, looking down on the opened enclosure.
Black: – output from circuit, coming from the second pin of the level pot.
White – ground
Green – positive
Grey - output
It certainly has been a while. You might be interested in one of the things that has distracted me this last week or so. I needed a pedal board, I couldn’t afford one, and so I built one.
Most pedal boards- especially those that don’t come with a power supply- are pretty over priced for what they are: board, carpet, case. I decided to cut out the cost of labor and the middle man by building one myself. I ended up saving over $100 when compared to the retail price of lower-quality boards.
I wanted to document the build, so I took some pictures along the way and I’ve written a detailed account of the process. So if you’re looking to build your own pedal board, you’re in luck- the photos and build notes can be found here.
