I want to start building, guide me?

[Officer Bukowski]

The OP is like the only gurl here btw guise

[stripes]

okay guys, i'm ordering caps, and parts list that i have says i need a 5n, a 10n, and a 10-22n... i'm looking on parts sites and don't see any with the "n" unit. what's the conversion and what should i be ordering?

edit: FIGURED IT OUT Got a 0.005uF cap

[skullservant]

if you look up nf to uf in google, a really handy chart should be the first result!!

[Officer Bukowski]

5n would be .005uf or .005mf depending on where you're ordering from

10n is .01uf, 22n is .022uf, etc.

uF and mF are the same. nF is nano farad, which is a thousandth of an ultra farad. If you need any values in the picofarad (pF) range they'll likely be ceramics. Picofarad is a thousandth of a nanofarad.

[stripes]

oh yeah, i looked up a chart, got it!

[stripes]

getting parts from a list is mind numbing

[Officer Bukowski]

lol yeah. Especially when you're making something pretty complex.

Also, you should stock up on like 1n, 10n, 22n, 47n, and especially 100n caps. You'll be using a lot of them

10uf is a really common electro

Out of curiosity, what are you building?

[stripes]

got couple madbean pcbs - the rangemaster and the tonebender ones.

does it matter what breadboard i get for trying these out? also what do i need to attach it to a breadboard... would this be good to order?: http://www.mammothelectronics.com/Tonefiend-Breadboard-Rig-and-Supplies-Kit-p/kit-tnfnd-brd.htm

[Officer Bukowski]

That little breadboard kit looks sweet!

What do you want to attach to the breadboard exactly? Sorry I don't really understand what you mean.

If you're just planning on trying different transistors in the circuits, you could use sockets on the PCBs.

[stripes]

i just want to try out the circuit before i solder it and put it into an enclosure... but i don't have a breadboard and do want one for experimentation in the future!

[Officer Bukowski]

Gotcha. The part to experiment with in the Rangemaster would be the input cap.

What transistors are you getting? You can get matched sets of germaniums from smallbear but they're pretty expensive. I just got a set for a Buzzaround build that would be the same for the MKlll Bender. Pretty stoked about that

[stripes]

I just got a couple of the OC44, cause that's what it told me to get. I can swap any other transistor in though, right?

[stripes]

And how would different input caps change the sound?

[eatyourguitar]

the default cap value 5n is for a treble booster, the mod listed in the madbean documentation makes it more of an all-band booster but kinda like a mid boost. I used 22n for C2 and it works great. I used an OC44 from small bear. the CV7003 is identical to the OC44. any PNP transistor with a gain between Hfe 40 to Hfe 120 should work. it does not need to be germanium. the OC44 has a special sound that the rangemaster is famous for. especially true in this case since there is only one transistor. other circuits are less dependent on having super rare transistors to achieve the same sound.

I would suggest mounting your breadboard by gluing it to a piece of wood with the input and output jacks mounted on a piece of scrap metal or an old pedal enclosure. use 24awg or 22awg single conductor wire from the jacks to the breadboard. you can mount the 9v battery to the wood with double-sided tape. solder some more 24awg wire to the battery clip so you can easily plug into the breadboard.

don't ever give up. this is DIY. all your successes and failures are closely related to your determination and time spent. failures are learning experiences that will yield knowledge. knowledge is a valuable tool in DIY that will lead to your success.

[Officer Bukowski]

I just got a couple of the OC44, cause that's what it told me to get. I can swap any other transistor in though, right?

Excellent! You can swap in any other PNP transistor (unless you invert the power supply and electrolytic caps). Just check to make sure the pinout is right.

And how would different input caps change the sound?

The input cap regulates the frequencies that are going into the circuit and getting boosted. The bigger the cap value, the more low end you'll get.

Like eatyourguitar said, the Madbean board provides for a mod which switches the input cap value. You can tweak those values further to your liking though. If you want to take that a step further, you can even wire a cap blend on a pot like what I did in your delay (which I just sent out btw).

We can totes show you how to wire a cap blend if you want to do that. It would require some off board wiring though. I think the DAM Red Rooster uses this idea and the ARC Gamut seems to as well.