Proto Pedal for DIY Guitar Effects

Designing and building your own guitar effects is a great way to combine a passion for electronics and guitar.  However, when testing new designs, I found the fragile circuit on the solderless breadboard was difficult to connect to patch cords and control the potentiometers.

The answer was simple: build a guitar pedal just for prototyping!

UPDATE:  The wire pin sockets I was using for signal in/out broke on me, so I made use of the spare holes and put in binding posts for them.  Definitely a great improvement.

Some great guitar pedal building references:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/wpress/   <- great forum

http://tonepad.com/projects.asp?projectType=fx <- well-documented projects

http://generalguitargadgets.com/ <- projects and kits available

http://www.geofex.com/ <- more good pedals and amp designs

  http://www.diyguitarist.com/<- lots of pedal stuff

  http://runoffgroove.com/ <- a good few more schematics and projects

Step 1 Materials and Tools

You will need:

- 20 gauge aluminum sheet
- Solderless breadboard with adhesive backing
- 3x 100k ohm potentiometers (optional)
- 1M ohm potentiometer (optional)
- 4x knobs (optional)
- 2x Bolt on binding posts
- 2x 1/4" mono cable jacks
- 2.5mm DC power jack
- 9V/12V power brick w/ 2.5mm connector
- LED and holder
- 1k resistor
- DPDT footswitch
- 2x SPDT toggle switches (optional)
- Self-tapping screws
- Wire
- Solder

Tools:
- Drill or drill press
- Sheet metal bender (aka brake press)
- Nibbler, notcher or tin snips
- Screwdriver
- Pliers
- Soldering Iron
- Scribing tool
- Center punch
- Hammer
- Wire cutters
-

Comments

[TheRiz]

I think you might want to give a shout out to Beavis Audio Research, the maker of the commercial Beavis Board. http://www.beavisaudio.com/bboard/projects/ Also a great source for breadboard guitar FX project layouts!

[mattthegamer463]

While the Beavis Board is the only real commercial Proto-pedal of sorts, the idea of mounting a breadboard to a power supply, or mounting it to a piece of wood to include extra parts/jacks/switches is not original to Beavis Audio. I also did not claim to invent guitar effect-focused prototyping platforms. The Beavis board is a nice product though, albeit slightly overpriced. Thats what DIY is for though, isn't it?

[TheRiz]

To clarify: the link I posted: http://www.beavisaudio.com/bboard/projects/ has free .pdfs with both schematics & Comic-Style/Graphical layouts for breadboarding guitar effects.

If you don't have an engineering background, or can't read schematics, this information is invaluable to the hobbyist.

I do not own a Beavis Board myself as I built one using the plans which Dano Beavis makes freely available on his site! The "overpriced" comment is unnecessary. While I appreciate your instructable, especially the enclosure layout, Beavis has had information on the web about this sort of thing for several years and, more importantly, offers a source of information as to "what you do with it" once you have built this project.

[mischka]

Thanks for sharing that link!

[danobeavis]

Congrats on your super cool prototype box, and for sharing it with the diy community. Regarding the slightly overpriced comment, I'd extend this challenge to all comers: try to build the beavis board in quantity, source all the parts, do the packaging, QA and support and see if you can turn a profit at the beavis board price point. Not something I'd recommend for the faint of heart :) However, that's not the point. It is all about DIY. That's why all my guides, projects, articles and in-depth how-to resources are, and always will be, free to all. Thanks for your great instructable! -beavis

[pfred2]

I don't usually try to 'turn a profit' on myself. DIY is about a lot of things, often times money not being the least of it.

[mattthegamer463]

I didn't mean to offend. Being a DIY'er in general, I see anything I can make at home as "overpriced." I really like your project, and your site has some really good resources. Sorry to offend.

[pfred2]

I see it that way too! A lot of guitar related commercial electronics is an out and out total rip off. Anyone offended by my comment is obviously having a defensive reaction due to guilt.

[mattthegamer463]

Certainly anyone selling something for the DIY community is just offering a DIY-style project that is preassembled for the people who are interested but don't have the tools or the skills yet. The beavis board is a teaching implement, since it comes with projects and components, and it is a really nice and reasonable buy for the novice who wants to get into DIY guitar effects.

[fezrock]

Great simple idea! You're so right about pots and switches being a pain. Perfect solution. I'd post links to some other schematics websites, but I haven't dug them out of my new computer. (links didn't migrate well) Some quick searching will give you all you can handle for a long time though!

[microman171]

Would be good if you linked to some of your favourite guitar pedal websites... I have had a look once before, but it would be good to learn the theory behind the pedal. That way it is easier to design them, and make new effects.

[mattthegamer463]

Added on intro page. Good idea.

[colin353]

OMG, I will make one of these immediately, amazing.

[mattthegamer463]

Yes, since I have you my failotype unit ;) The works done for you.