Wow. This is harder than it looks.

So is posting all the time....

Between waiting on parts orders, family vacation, the job search, and various and sundry life occurrences,  I haven't worked on the fuzz build at all hardly.

'Craig', you say, with a note of sadness in your voice, 'I am extremely disappointed.'

I know, and excuses aren't going to cut it. But I have my reasons...in no particular order:

Family Spring Break trip to Chicago. Museums, parking, tales of action and adventure, and the (almost) $600 set of lost keys.

Job hunting.

Family stuff.

So, anyway, let's get caught up, shall we?

A while back, I had this fantastic idea. 'Self, ' I said to myself, 'it would make sense if you had some sort of test box for the effect circuits you are going to build. So that, if there's an issue, you don't have to rip apart an entire pedal to find the issue.'

'Why, that's a CAPITAL idea, self! I shall design and build one forthwith! I mean, how hard can it be? Why, I would bet that there are already existing plans out on the Internets.'

'There certainly are - and I would bet that you could whip together a simple box with a minimum of effort...'

I won't go into the details, but let's just say that there was an enormous amount of FAIL involved with that idea. The good news is that it helped me avoid some mistakes that really could have torpedoed my whole first effort.

So, fast forward to today. 'Self, you are GOING to get that circuit done.' I break out the soldering iron, the parts, the wire....A little soldering, some quick connections for testing, and a battery clip.

Quickly inspect the board for any cold joints, then break out the Strat and practice amp, fire it up, and....

Houston, we have fuzz. There is still the matter of wiring the switch, bypass board and led, but the circuit works. Lots of silicon fuzzy goodness. Yay.

Still waiting. And waiting. And...

...waiting. Enclosure and some other bits are still in transit, so I have held off on further assembly until they get here. What's left, you ask?

Wiring the stomp switch.
Offboard wiring for power.
Wiring control pots.
Wiring input/output jacks.

I can finish the stomp switch bypass board, but I've held off on doing any of the other wiring until the enclosure arrives, so I don't have a ton of extra/wasted wire. Also, since it's my first build, I want to make sure that there's enough support for the circuit board in the case, or that I can mount it without any wire length issues.

Once I get the enclosure in my hands, I can roughly measure wire lengths, test fit/position things - and then I will wire the circuit for testing. Until then, it's more waiting...

Thank you, US Post Office....

Parts is parts....

The cost of a build. And waiting...

...for parts. According to USPS, I have two packages set for delivery today and tomorrow. Lots of goodies for this (and upcoming) builds. I also found a drilled Red 1590B enclosure on eBay that will be a perfect match, but that won't be here until next week.

Tony (the guitarist I am building this for) - asked if I could get graphics onto the enclosure - like a decal or lettering. I've worked with waterslide decals before, so I need to order some inkjet decal paper and get to Photoshopping. I also pestered him for his choice in knobs so I can get those ordered (hopefully from the same place...), but those are the last bits I need for the build.

So, until everything I need arrives (AND I have time to solder and assemble...) - no build progress yesterday. However - I did add up the running cost of parts and stuff for this build so far.

Taking into effect bulk parts pricing, average shipping costs (including multiple shipments from multiple retailers)  - the total cost in components SO FAR comes to...(drum roll please)...$25.70!!! Tack on another 3-5 bucks for knobs and the waterslide decal paper, and we'll bump it to an even $30.

Compare that to the cost of what a used Lovepedal Fuzzmaster is going for on Reverb...

Unfortunately, mine won't come with the awesome cardboard box....

Soldering!

Took the kids to Ax-man today - I had promised Sophia and Ben a trip, and Sam decided to tag along...along with Ben's friend Tyler....and there was much 'ooh'-ing and 'aah'-ing. Things were purchased that did get the raised eyebrow upon arrival home - but they had fun. I scored a bunch of transistors I need for upcoming builds, along with a bunch of random fill-in values of other parts - and another storage case.

When we arrived home, I found that Mr. Postman had left me TWO packages...and after some sifting and sorting, I realized I had all the on-board components for the Fuzz build! So - after supper and the cleanup, the soldering station was brought forth, and...Ta-da!

Okay, THIS isn't pretty. But it's not bad for being out of practice on a pcb for over 30 years. I may go over it just to reflow some of the solder joints - most of them "look" solid, but I don't want a cold joint messing up my first attempt. Besides - I still have to hook up the power  and pot wires.

Sorting Parts is FUN....

...said in all seriousness. Yes, I *am* a nerd.

After dinner, I tore into my packages (don't even get me started) from Tayda and Mammoth, and started sorting and testing all the components. Even though I sprung for parts with high tolerances, I did find a couple that didn't quite make the cut. Not sure if they were from Ax-man or not (I'm guessing they were - since I pretty much dumped everything on the table like a kid at Christmas).

And - since my over-developed sense of OCD took over (thanks, Dad!) - I decided to list and sort EVERYTHING I have...which ended up being a good thing, actually.

In comparing and listing the parts, I found that a couple of the radial capacitors I purchased were only rated for 6.3 volts. Since I decided to undertake this hobby, I've had a crash-refresher-course in electronics - and I re-learned something about capacitors.

ALWAYS use a capacitor that is at least double the voltage the circuit will put through it. If you don't the capacitor goes 'pop'. Like the Weasel. Or like this:

Bored Kid Explodes Capacitors

I also found that I shorted myself on a few components, so before I put in yet another Tayda order, it's back to the Ax-man for more capacitors...

Really, USPS, you're hardly even trying.

A voicemail at 9:32 AM today:

"Craig this is ((REDACTED)) at the Eagan Post Office. Say, I talked to your carrier, and he said he found the packages and redelivered them yesterday afternoon. Blah blah blah..."

Funny, I checked my front steps before and AFTER I shoveled, and there was nothing. And the mailbox was empty last night.

BIG FAT LYING LIAR FACES.

Gr.

EDIT: Just received a text from the wife - the packages have arrived. Funny. Well, since I re-ordered everything, looks like I have enough parts for 2 sets of builds.

The mystery of the missing packages...

Well, that's two, now:

So, either someone's a Big Fat Liar Face, or my packages are getting stolen. And since First-class mail isn't insured, even IF I show proof of the value of the contents, I still get NOTHING. GOOD DAY, SIR.

Lying liars at the Post Office.

"...delivered in or at the mailbox at 12:15 PM on January 30, 2016..."

Lies. LIES, I tell you. Since the Gub'mint don't work on weekends (insert joke here), me an' Uncle Sam are gonna have WORDS on Monday.

So - no build progress today...:(

EDIT: here's a demo of the pedal I am going to build, for reference. The Lovepedal Silicon Fuzzmaster.

Saturday Slacking....

Okay, or not. Had too much on the 'to do' list that didn't involve solder huffing, so no progress today. I *did* get a chance to hit Ax-man in St. Louis Park, and was able to score gobs of components - mostly utility resistors and such.

I think the next project will be a prototyping board of some kind - so I can assemble the circuits and test BEFORE soldering them up. There are a bunch of sites that show how to build your own, so I just need to add the parts to the 'want' list.

The descent down the rabbit hole continues....

The smell of solder in the evening...

Okay, so while I DON'T have all the parts yet, I can start soldering the parts I *do* have - so, I get to break out the Christmas present to myself: a Brand New Circuit Specialists Station 75.

This is what kind of started me down the path of building, actually. See, I got tired of trying to use the hacky little Radio Shack pencil soldering irons for guitar work, so I did a little searching, and found Circuit Specialists. For the price of a couple of Radio Shack cheapies, I can get a temp controlled station, stand, extra tips, and a bunch of other goodies. After using this setup on a couple of quick projects around the house, I realized that 'Hey! Soldering DOESN'T suck as much as I thought it did!' Which, started the creaky old gears in my brain going, and since I'm already an effects addict, well...here we are.

After a few failed attempts at starting (including soldering the components to the wrong side of the stripboard - D'Oh!), I got into the rhythm of things.

Not half bad for being out of practice for ((CENSORED)) years....

Once I ran out of parts for the fuzz, I decided to start working on the miniboards for the bypass/stomp switch. I guess it's now 'Millenium Bypass' - at least that's what the cool kids call it.

I got two bypass boards started and ran out of components...then the camera batteries died, I ran out of Diet Dew (OH NOES), and it was time for the kids to get to bed. 

My component order is scheduled to arrive on Monday, so not much more to be done on this one until then.

Jumping in with both feet.

....And no life jacket, really.

My "formal" electronics knowledge comes from a couple of semesters of electronics in high school - which is a place I've not been in a long time...a long time....(end Obi-wan flashback).

My dad was an electronics guy all his life - working on sensitive radar and electronics in the Navy, to a career at 3M. After retirement, he started to dabble in building computers, and he always seemed to be able to repair the broken electronic stuff around the house. He showed me how *NOT* to burn myself with a soldering iron, and how to use a meter.

Over the years, I've taken to upgrading my guitar electronics, as well as the occasional home electronics repair - but I haven't built anything from scratch since I built a Heathkit tone generator from a kit in High School.

So, since I need some sort of hobby to keep me occupied, I'm going to try this. Nothing like jumping into the deep end....

Day one: Starting my first Build...

Plan: put the Electronics knowledge to use. And occupy my time...I wanted to do something both creative and technical, musical yet calculative. Solution: build and test guitar effect pedals!

After doing some research I decided to go for an 'easier' first build. Many resources recommend a simple silicon fuzz, so a quick search on my new favorite site - Tagboard Effects - and I decided on a clone of the Lovepedal Silicon Fuzzmaster.

I spent a few days falling down the rabbit hole of parts sites, before I remembered that the Ax-Man carries heaps of surplus stuff. And electronics. LOTS AND LOTS of electronics... A couple of afternoon trips and I have almost everything I need! I can get most of the board set up while I wait for the parts I had to order to arrive.

First, we prepare the work area. Bags of parts, stripboard, tools, and the pcb layout.

More tools, and Dew. Hydration and caffeine: vital to building.

First, we need to cut the stripboard down to size. Once cut, I file/scrape the copper traces from the edges so there won't be any shorts.

Some filing, sanding, a couple of expletives....and our boards are cut. I will be building the fuzz circuit on a larger board, and a smaller pieces will be cut down to smaller boards for the switch bypass and LED.

Next, we need to cut traces in the stripboard, per the schematic. I will be adding the links when I start to solder (and when I get the hookup wire I ordered...)

And that's it for the night! Next up, I plan to start wiring and soldering the main board...