DIY Distortion + FINISHED!

[MrMason]

I'm trying to learn how to build my own overdrives and distortions as a hobby and hopefully to supplement my income. The dream would be to come up with my own designs that were good enough where I could quit my job, but that's more a hope than a goal right now.

Anyway, a guy at work has been saying that he wants an original script logo MXR distortion +. But the script logo doesn't have an LED so he's never bought one. So we got to talking and I decided since I had the schematic I would build him one for the price of parts; and I'm using only the best parts I can get my hands on, I want to make as good a product as I can.
So I prototype the thing, and it sounds GREAT (for leads anyway, it's too bass heavy for modern rhythm) and so I start ordering parts for the complete build. FINALLY I get everything after waiting a month for my TPDT footswitches to come, having had to order everything from about 4 or 5 different suppliers. So tonight I decided to drill the holes for the Volume and Gain pots, to see how everything is going to lay out before I drill any more holes:

How in the HELL do companies fit circuit boards inside these things? :shock: :lol: I'm about 90% sure I'm going to need a bigger box, but I'm gonna do my best to see if I can cram it all in there.
More to come: hopefully hahaha.

Edit: If anyone's wondering about the big hoochie-mamma pot that's in the thing, the original pedal used a 1 Meg REVERSE audio taper pot; I searched high and low and Weber Speakers was the only place I could find one, and it's more than I need because it actually has an on-off switch on the back. So it's the only Pot that could get me to original specs.

 

[droptrd]

What type of board are you using? Perf? Vero? Even with perf, it would be hard to get the board size smaller than 2"x1"

 

[MrMason]

I'm using protostack boards, I guess they're vero board but a search on "vero board" doesn't really yield any results so I'm not sure if protostack boards are or not. I ended up getting a bigger box, I could almost make the board fit but it just wasn't gonna work without things being too close to shorting out. I just got the new box today, so crossing my fingers that I'll be done this weekend.
The guy I'm building it for wanted it as close to the original as possible, so it's pretty bare-bones, but after I finish with it I think I'm going to try to tweak the circuit some to see what I can get out of it.

 

[droptrd]

Good luck with your build. Let us know how it turns out

 

[elvis]

Some of those old MXR pedals were hand-wired with no PCB - the components just hang off the pots (like the LPB-1). Otherwise, it's not too hard to get a D+ down to about 1"x1" on a proto board - there's just not that much to it. Takes a little planning and some practice.

I just put a dual JFET buffer in about 1"x1/2".

 

[MrMason]

The biggest problem is the big pot that I needed for the pedal, it forced me to give up space to make the two knobs symmetrical. I got a bigger box, and it looks to be the perfect size; yeah I know most guitarists like small pedals to save space on their board, but I just don't feel comfortable with things almost shorting out because of being so close together.

 

[MrMason]

Here's what the box I'm gonna use looks like after what must have been 10 coats of clear coat. I can still see an outline of the decals if I turn the box a certain direction but it's not noticeable at all unless you're looking for it. I think I'm done clear coating considering that I'm only getting paid for parts. I used Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Clear, but I'm going to try matte on a practice box next time just to see if I can get it done in less coats.
Once it dries it'll be ready to install, I'll try to get sound clips when it's done

 

[MrMason]

No time for sound clips, I'm giving it to the guy tomorrow. But I'll do some clips of the breadboarded one I have, they sound pretty much identical. I'm really not 100% satisfied with the tone, but everything I've heard about the original is that it doesn't have much high end. And since I'm using high quality parts and following the original specs (which is what the guy wanted), then it'll have to do. For myself, I want to tweak the circuit though. I may use a different OpAmp, and add a gain stage and maybe a buffer or two.
I'm learning, that's for sure. I plan on making my next pedal neater inside; this one doesn't look bad but I can do better now that I know what to expect. Then there's the space concern, and I have a few ideas to get more out of the space inside the pedal...next! :mrgreen: