The Amazing Beavis Board

[modernage]

I know it's not as cool as a Beavis Board, but I did just stumble across this on Ebay. All you would have to do is build a breakout box, and you have a fairly inexpensive workalike. Also, I really like these jumper cables a lot more than the Beavis style ones.

[Jero]

[quote="D-Rainger"]Here's mine I made - out of pcb board. The copper side is underneath, and is the earth connection to jack sockets and board itself. I was pleased with the indent bits where you can fix pots for easy turning.
That's a cool design

[Achtane]

I know it's not as cool as a Beavis Board, but I did just stumble across this on Ebay. All you would have to do is build a breakout box, and you have a fairly inexpensive workalike. Also, I really like these jumper cables a lot more than the Beavis style ones.

Very cool! I might have to get this next. That PCB one is awesome too!

[warwick.hoy]

So I remember seeing in another thread that some ILFers would appreciate a list of parts from Mouser to complete a Beavis Board of their own.

I'm putting together my order so I can move forward on making one of these things. I'm expecting to have some difficulty in my order so is a shot from the hip to document part numbers to try to meet that desire and make it easier for other ILFers to order parts. Hopefully this won't take me 8 hours.

Now one thing to consider is that for certain parts you'll have some choices,...but I essentially went with comparisons to the photographs of the Beavis Box and culled a list of parts needed from a diagram of the Breakout Box from the Beavis Audio Research site (BAR). It would appear that there are some non-essential parts but I'm going to attempt to build a faithful recreation. The board itself will obviously come from Dhuff Guitars where I'm currently apprenticing. In some case when faced with two choices (such as the 1/4" Mono Jacks) I went with the cheaper option.

I will say that I'm not encouraging anyone to use batteries to power your Beavis Board,...so I won't be linking any battery clips or snaps part#s. If you wanna rape the earth,...you do the research. I'll be using a 1Spot or Boss PSA for mine.





All part numbers are Mouser part #s. If I forget anything I'll edit this post and bump the thread.

Breadboards: 854-BB400 (I ordered two)
Hammond 1590B Enclosure: 546-1590B
2.1mm DC Input Jack (Switchcraft): 502-722A
1/4" Mono Jacks (Neutrik): 568-NYS229L (you'll need two)
6 Position Terminal Strip: 571-15463066 (ordered two)

So for now I've hit a snag. Just looking for clarification on some parts before I commit to an order,...(any help would be appreciated).

Parts still need to order (according to the diagram):

spst switch (not clear what switch function I need ie None-On-Off,...etc etc)
3pdt Latching Switch: Impossible to find on Mouser,...will order from Mammoth
10k Linear Potentiometer: Same as with the Stompswitch. Mouser has thumbwheel pots and a number of PCB mount pots,...but I'm looking for the 3 lugs and they are just easier to find on Mammoth.
2k2 Resistor. I'm attempting to clarify the values of the resistors before I commit to an order.
LED Just seems easier to source from Mammoth.

EDIT: Keep Scrolling. Long story short,...order everything you can from Mammoth. They are cheaper and easier to navigate. The only thing you have to get from Mouser are the 6P Terminal strips.

[modernage]

Breadboards: 854-BB400 (I ordered two)
Hammond 1590B Enclosure: 546-1590B
2.1mm DC Input Jack (Switchcraft): 502-722A
1/4" Mono Jacks (Neutrik): 568-NYS229L (you'll need two)
6 Position Terminal Strip: 571-15463066 (ordered two)

So for now I've hit a snag. Just looking for clarification on some parts before I commit to an order,...(any help would be appreciated).

Parts still need to order (according to the diagram):

spst switch (not clear what switch function I need ie None-On-Off,...etc etc)
3pdt Latching Switch: Impossible to find on Mouser,...will order from Mammoth
10k Linear Potentiometer: Same as with the Stompswitch. Mouser has thumbwheel pots and a number of PCB mount pots,...but I'm looking for the 3 lugs and they are just easier to find on Mammoth.
2k2 Resistor. I'm attempting to clarify the values of the resistors before I commit to an order.
LED Just seems easier to source from Mammoth.

Why not just get everything at Mammoth? I think their prices will be better than Mouser.

Breadboard Breadboard 2
1590B Enclosure
DC Jacks
1/4" jacks
3pdt Switch
SPST Switch
10k Linear Pot
Resistors
LEDs (get a bezel to make it look even more classy)

The only thing they don't have is the Terminal Strip.

[warwick.hoy]

Damn,..they are way cheaper. I was not really expecting them to be but on some parts they are half the price.

So far my "project total' from Mouser is just under $29.00 I'll put together the same order with Mammoth and see where it comes out to for compare and contrast.

Thanks for the advice.

[McSpunckle]

Mouser isn't as good of a deal as you'd expect on the mechanical stuff, like pots, enclosures, jacks, etc. I do like Mountain Switch better than Taiway, and Mouser is definitely the place to get semiconductors and caps. Smallbear and Mammoth match them for resistors, though.

You really have to shop around. You eventually kinda figure out where you buy each part from. But I try to buy from the smaller guys a bit, just because it's a good thing to do. ... although I'm not sure Mammoth isn't 4Site, so I dunno if they qualify as the "smaller guys." But they could just be a place that sells the full 4Site lineup and is located a few blocks from 4Site. I dunno!

[warwick.hoy]

So I still can't seem to get any clarification on the two trouble spots.

The resistor shown on the diagram just says 2k2,...looking around I see 2k2,....2.2k,....but what tolerance? What wattage? Does 2.2k and 2k2 mean the same thing?

Can I use the SPDT in place of the SPST? I see in the diagram that there is nothing wired to the bottom pole which leads me to believe that it is a SPDT switch wired as a SPST.

Help!

[bigchiefbc]

So I still can't seem to get any clarification on the two trouble spots.

The resistor shown on the diagram just says 2k2,...looking around I see 2k2,....2.2k,....but what tolerance? What wattage? Does 2.2k and 2k2 mean the same thing?

Can I use the SPDT in place of the SPST? I see in the diagram that there is nothing wired to the bottom pole which leads me to believe that it is a SPDT switch wired as a SPST.

Help!

1.) Yes, 2K2 means 2.2K.

2.) Yes, SPDT with one lug not connected to anything is functionally an SPST.

[warwick.hoy]

Thanks BC,....

Are 1/4 watt resistors normally what we use?

[modernage]

So I still can't seem to get any clarification on the two trouble spots.

The resistor shown on the diagram just says 2k2,...looking around I see 2k2,....2.2k,....but what tolerance? What wattage? Does 2.2k and 2k2 mean the same thing?

Yep, 2.2k and 2k2 are the same thing. Throwing the "k" in the middle of the two numbers makes it easier to not mistake 2.2k for 22k at a glance. I'm sure there are other reasons for it, but that's why I like using it.

As for tolerance... the smaller the tolerance the less the value will vary from what it's supposed to be. ie; a 2.2k resistor at a tolerance of 5% can actually be anything between 2,090 ohms - 2,310 ohms. Whereas a 2.2k resistor at a tolerance of 1% will actually be between 2,178 ohms - 2,222 ohms. The 1% will be more accurate, but either will work fine for building pedals. Metal film resistors will often have a 1% tolerance, where carbon film is usually 5%.

I would go with 1/4 watt resistors. They are kind of the default. The wattage will also determine the size of the resistor. If you plan on building on pre-designed PCB (madbean, guitarpcb) then the layout will almost always be for 1/4 watt resistors. Sometimes though, on tighter layouts with high part counts, they'll design for the smaller 1/8w resistors (an example of this would be madbean's Klon layout).

Can I use the SPDT in place of the SPST? I see in the diagram that there is nothing wired to the bottom pole which leads me to believe that it is a SPDT switch wired as a SPST.

Yeah, you are correct. I didn't look at whether it was an SPST or SPDT when I was going through them. I just wanted to make sure it was a 2-way toggle (on-on). Oops. But yeah, you can use a SPDT switch and just ignore one of the outer lugs.

[bigchiefbc]

Thanks BC,....

Are 1/4 watt resistors normally what we use?

Yeah I usually use 1/4 watt, 5% tolerance

[modernage]

Dang. Short responses win the race. haha.

[warwick.hoy]

Thanks Chaps.

So far everything on Mammoth sans the breadboards is coming out to be ~$13. EDIT: Check that,...I still need to throw a knob in my cart. EDITx2 Added the solderless jumper cables like Modernage linked in an earlier response, a Davies Orange knob and also two bundles of wire. Shipped was around $32.

Not sure why Dano went with the two squatty breadboards as opposed to the one long breadboard. In trying to be faithful to the original design I think I'm just going to order two of the short boards from Mouser and get the rest from Mammoth. Ordered the two 6P Terminal Strips and two Breadboards from Mouser. Not sure what shipping will turn out to be but the subtotal is ~$16.

[warwick.hoy]

FUCK,...forgot to order the DC input jack. Lesson learned. $3.17 to ship a $.90 part

If you do go to Mammoth make sure you look for cheaper shipping options on their checkout. UPS can wind up being more expensive than USPS priority. They do offer that option but not by default.