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Last year my daughter's boyfriend gave me this damaged MXR Distortion+ and here is a picture of the fried PCB trace side. The power trace from the red V+ connection is completely burned off the board. It looks like it took quite a hit! The 9V battery wires are sliced together so I suspect the previous owner probably tried to supply external power and blew the board! The only components that appear damaged are the IC chip, polarized tantalum cap, and one resistor:
I traced and etched an exact copy of the original circuit board. I soldered parts onto my new replica PCB last night. It was a pain but I de-soldered the four ceramic caps and put them on the new PCB. The pain part was one of them flipped out of my hand and it took me an hour crawling around on the floor until I found it! Anyway, the replacement PCB is ready to be attached after I clean the solder flux off the other side:
This will end up being a hybrid blend of DIY cloning the PCB amd repair of an actual MXR Distortion+ (first block logo) from 1980. I can't confirm 'repaired' quite yet until tonight when I'll give it a test. I also want to cut out some rubber insulation in the shapre of the board to lay under the bottom and on the inside lid to protect it. I have thin foam from packing material too but hate how it sometimes breaks down over many years making a mess. Not that this thing will last another 30 years!
Guitar > MXR Custom Comp > Neo-Classic 741 Overdrive > Boss NS2 Noise Suppressor > VHT Special 6 Ultra Combo Amp Input > Amp Send > MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay > Boss RC3 Loop Station > Amp Return
Jero wrote:Hey, cool stuff! Nice to see you were able to get it up and running, well hopefully. I bet it sounds great!
Thanks. I took a relatively safe chance salvaging the 4 ceramic caps. They don't look damaged because the voltage hit around pin 7 of the IC chip affecting a polarized tantalum cap attached to pin 6 and a one of the voltage divider resistors attached to the votage trace too.
Well that's it for this thread I suppose. The verdict is in - It works!!!
\m/
New DIY replacement board and refurbishment successful. Long live MXR Distortion+
Steve
Guitar > MXR Custom Comp > Neo-Classic 741 Overdrive > Boss NS2 Noise Suppressor > VHT Special 6 Ultra Combo Amp Input > Amp Send > MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay > Boss RC3 Loop Station > Amp Return
