I got a soldering iron

[McSpunckle]

make sure you have a nice small tip on that iron

Not too small. IMO, a lot of soldering tutorials for pedals tell you to use too small of a tip and too high of a soldering temperature. Example: The Beavis page suggest a small, conical tip (1/32", Weller ETO/P), but look up a pro tutorial for soldering PCBs-- almost always a somewhat larger chisel tip. Beavis also suggest an iron temperature of 900 degrees, which will kill a soldering tip.

I use a 1/16" chisel tip (Weller ETA-- basically the smallest chisel) at 700-750 degrees for basically everything (sometimes I use 650 for PCBs). The wider, flat edge give better heat transfer on things like pot lugs and switches. You want your solder joints to happen really fast.

A lot of this depends on the spec of your iron, too. High wattage irons can solder at lower temperatures. If you don't have temp control, just be careful your not over-heating things.

Anywho, more important than that... you know how to take care of your top, right? Basically, keep it tinned by melting some solder on it, and wiping it off on a damp sponge/wrag/whatever. The working surface is just bare iron, so it'll oxidize really quickly if there's no solder on it.

[Big Mon]

Botched. I'm pretty sure I fucked up and HARD. I couldn't tell what the parts were by the photos in the manual. I kn ow shit about polarity,and I'm the most mechanically uninclined person ever to begin with. Anybody wanna buy a Weller Soldering iron and spool of solder for 25.00?

[Gone Fission]

What's the project and what's going on? Put up pics and symptoms. We can see what we can do to help.

First one is one of the hardest. Mine is a limiter that I thought I botched. There were some issues in progress, like misreading a resistor code and breaking it when trying to take it out to move it to the right place. (Radio Shack was handy for a replacement and a stock assortment for later projects.) I thought I had totally botched the build when I powered up and got no sound, but then I remembered that I hadn't attached ground to the case.

[Big Mon]

What's the project and what's going on? Put up pics and symptoms. We can see what we can do to help.

First one is one of the hardest. Mine is a limiter that I thought I botched. There were some issues in progress, like misreading a resistor code and breaking it when trying to take it out to move it to the right place. (Radio Shack was handy for a replacement and a stock assortment for later projects.) I thought I had totally botched the build when I powered up and got no sound, but then I remembered that I hadn't attached ground to the case.

Mighty cool of you,sir. It's a one knob fuzz I ordered off Ebay. I just snapped shitty cell phone pics,so I hope they'll help. Hang on...

[Big Mon]

[futuresailors]

Stick with it ghosty. I'm a hack at this too, but the nerds here are great!
And throw up the instructions they sent you.

[tuffteef]

Stick with it ghosty. I'm a hack at this too, but the nerds here are great!
And throw up the instructions they sent you.

if only it were true
that i could stick my tongue in someones mouth
and suck the knowledge out of there brain

someday..

[Big Mon]

k,so I don't have a scanner here at home.But from the manual:
1. Vero board. Top of board has holes,also has strips of copper running length of board
2.Dude goes on to say he marked 2 places on the board where strips are cut,to prevent current from flowing there. Mine wasn't marked.
3.Heat up part/copper strip for a few secs. If any of the solder blobs bridge 2 of the copper strips,pedal will short,blah,blah. Installing 1st component,a 4.7 uf electrolytic capacitor. Note that it's poplarized,i.e. can only go in one direction. Positive side usually has longer lead. Negative side,marked with negative signs.
3. insert next component,a 1n914 silicon diode,also polarized Arrow faces downward?corresponds to band on one side of diode,band must face toward bottom of the board,insert thru board,bend leads and solder.
4.next,10k resistor. Not polarized. Stood up on end for maximum board space.
5.Socket for transistor,use electrical tape on bottom to hold in place while soldering. When putting tranny in socket,should face w/ flat sidetoward the right of the board.
6. Next add .1 uf cap,which is last component of the board.
So,A. I couldn't tell which parts were what by the black and white pics,and then the facvt that they are magnified 1,000,ooox. And to an electronics n00b,none of that shit made much sense about polarity and such. Dear Gawd,plz HALP!

[McSpunckle]

Honestly, I can't tell much of anything from those pictures.

It looks like it's a bazz fuss kit:

http://home-wrecker.com/bazz.html

So, try that layout with some perfboard!

as for polarity, it different with each component. The arrow on diodes points toward the line (on LEDs, the line is the short lead). Polarized caps usually clearly marked on the negative side, PLUS the negative side has a shorter lead. Transistors are the ones where you gotta check the datasheets/know that type of transistor.

[Big Mon]

Honestly, I can't tell much of anything from those pictures.

It looks like it's a bazz fuss kit:

http://home-wrecker.com/bazz.html

So, try that layout with some perfboard!

as for polarity, it different with each component. The arrow on diodes points toward the line (on LEDs, the line is the short lead). Polarized caps usually clearly marked on the negative side, PLUS the negative side has a shorter lead. Transistors are the ones where you gotta check the datasheets/know that type of transistor.

Is perfboard bigger than vero?

[Scruffie]

Honestly, I can't tell much of anything from those pictures.

It looks like it's a bazz fuss kit:

http://home-wrecker.com/bazz.html

So, try that layout with some perfboard!

as for polarity, it different with each component. The arrow on diodes points toward the line (on LEDs, the line is the short lead). Polarized caps usually clearly marked on the negative side, PLUS the negative side has a shorter lead. Transistors are the ones where you gotta check the datasheets/know that type of transistor.

Is perfboard bigger than vero?

Checkz out my DIY Info Collection, it tells of the difference.

But vero has strips of copper you break as tracks, Perfboard has pads and you make the tracks with the circuit leads.

Some people prefer Perf, others prefer Vero.

If you haven't broken any tracks on the vero, your pedal isn't going to work.

[Big Mon]

See,the manual didn't say dick about that. Where can I get perf?

[futuresailors]

I think culturejam's shop has some.

And check if he has any PCB kits left. It might be an easier way to learn some of the basics without getting overly frustrated.

[McSpunckle]

Honestly, I can't tell much of anything from those pictures.

It looks like it's a bazz fuss kit:

http://home-wrecker.com/bazz.html

So, try that layout with some perfboard!

as for polarity, it different with each component. The arrow on diodes points toward the line (on LEDs, the line is the short lead). Polarized caps usually clearly marked on the negative side, PLUS the negative side has a shorter lead. Transistors are the ones where you gotta check the datasheets/know that type of transistor.

Is perfboard bigger than vero?

Other way around.

I get my perf at Mouser. Do a search for "padboard", and you'll find a sheet of stuff called "padboard 3u"

I have some scrap left over if you want a couple of pieces.

[Big Mon]

Honestly, I can't tell much of anything from those pictures.

It looks like it's a bazz fuss kit:

http://home-wrecker.com/bazz.html

So, try that layout with some perfboard!

as for polarity, it different with each component. The arrow on diodes points toward the line (on LEDs, the line is the short lead). Polarized caps usually clearly marked on the negative side, PLUS the negative side has a shorter lead. Transistors are the ones where you gotta check the datasheets/know that type of transistor.

Is perfboard bigger than vero?

Other way around.

I get my perf at Mouser. Do a search for "padboard", and you'll find a sheet of stuff called "padboard 3u"

I have some scrap left over if you want a couple of pieces.

I need big,as my hands are shaky,and I suck at soldering(so far)