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Step 7Wire up the External Components
Each of the external controls connects to the PCB using a short piece of wire, terminated with a female header connector. Unfortunately, the tiny pins that crimp onto the wires require a special tool, one that is expensive and hard to get. Fortunately, you can get close enough by painstakingly crimping them by hand with needle-nose pliers.
For wire I used a bunch of stuff that I fished out of the trash at work. It was perfectly good wire, just too short for most applications. You may not be so lucky and will have to buy wire. Get lots of colours to make assembly easier later on.
Start with the audio jack, it's the easiest. Measure out a length of wire that will easily reach from the eventual mounting position, to where the connector is when the board is mounted in the guitar. Solder the wires onto the terminals on the audio jack, and slide heat-shrink over the terminals for a neat finished look. On the other end, strip about 3mm of insulation from the wire, and fold the tiny wings of the pin around the wire. If you've never done this before, you'll probably screw up. The wings will need to be folded flat enough that the pin can be inserted into the connector. But don't insert the pin all the way! For extra security, drop a small amount of solder onto the connection as well. Then, being mindful of which wire goes into which position (pin 1 is marked with an arrow), insert the pins into the connector.
The Skew potentiometer is the next easiest, with just three wires. Do these the same as the audio jack, and twist the wires together to keep them neat.
Next up are the LFO and Sync knobs. These are harder, and require a bit more planning. These knobs have both a potentiometer and a switch inside. Don't mix these up! Use different coloured wires if you can, to help keep them separate. Make sure you solder to the correct pins for the switch, and also make sure the right wires go to the right positions in the 5 pin connector.
The rangefinder connector is hard to do, since you have to crimp pins onto both ends. If you thought the regular pins were hard to do, wait till you try the miniature ones on the sensor end! It's maybe a good thing that you have to buy a minimum quantity, since there's a good chance you'll destroy at least one pin in the process. Alternatively, you can buy this sensor with a pre-made wire and save yourself the hassle.
Last up is the rotary switch. This one's hard. If you use the same switch as me, you'll first have to configure it for triple-throw. That is, three switch positions. This is done by removing the lock nut and washers from the threaded section. There is a small washer inside with a pin that fits into one of 10 slots (2 to 11 positions) - place it in the position that will give three positions (or two clicks). You'll see what I mean when you try it. Put all the washers back on, and then proceed to solder on the wires. There are three "sectors" here, consisting of one pole and three positions. If you bundle the sectors into groups of four and maintain the same colour amongst the different positions (ie. black for all the poles) then the resulting three connectors will be interchangeable. It's complicated, but you're smart. You'll figure it out.
For wire I used a bunch of stuff that I fished out of the trash at work. It was perfectly good wire, just too short for most applications. You may not be so lucky and will have to buy wire. Get lots of colours to make assembly easier later on.
Start with the audio jack, it's the easiest. Measure out a length of wire that will easily reach from the eventual mounting position, to where the connector is when the board is mounted in the guitar. Solder the wires onto the terminals on the audio jack, and slide heat-shrink over the terminals for a neat finished look. On the other end, strip about 3mm of insulation from the wire, and fold the tiny wings of the pin around the wire. If you've never done this before, you'll probably screw up. The wings will need to be folded flat enough that the pin can be inserted into the connector. But don't insert the pin all the way! For extra security, drop a small amount of solder onto the connection as well. Then, being mindful of which wire goes into which position (pin 1 is marked with an arrow), insert the pins into the connector.
The Skew potentiometer is the next easiest, with just three wires. Do these the same as the audio jack, and twist the wires together to keep them neat.
Next up are the LFO and Sync knobs. These are harder, and require a bit more planning. These knobs have both a potentiometer and a switch inside. Don't mix these up! Use different coloured wires if you can, to help keep them separate. Make sure you solder to the correct pins for the switch, and also make sure the right wires go to the right positions in the 5 pin connector.
The rangefinder connector is hard to do, since you have to crimp pins onto both ends. If you thought the regular pins were hard to do, wait till you try the miniature ones on the sensor end! It's maybe a good thing that you have to buy a minimum quantity, since there's a good chance you'll destroy at least one pin in the process. Alternatively, you can buy this sensor with a pre-made wire and save yourself the hassle.
Last up is the rotary switch. This one's hard. If you use the same switch as me, you'll first have to configure it for triple-throw. That is, three switch positions. This is done by removing the lock nut and washers from the threaded section. There is a small washer inside with a pin that fits into one of 10 slots (2 to 11 positions) - place it in the position that will give three positions (or two clicks). You'll see what I mean when you try it. Put all the washers back on, and then proceed to solder on the wires. There are three "sectors" here, consisting of one pole and three positions. If you bundle the sectors into groups of four and maintain the same colour amongst the different positions (ie. black for all the poles) then the resulting three connectors will be interchangeable. It's complicated, but you're smart. You'll figure it out.
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Oct 8, 2009. 2:16 PM
seandogue
says:
seandogue
says:
(removed by author or community request)
34
Oct 9, 2009. 3:32 AMjeff-o (author)
says:
jeff-o (author)
says:
Oh, definitely. I think I soldered all of my crimps, too.
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Oct 9, 2009. 10:19 AMseandogue
says:
seandogue
says:
(removed by author or community request)
34
Oct 9, 2009. 11:28 AMjeff-o (author)
says:
jeff-o (author)
says:
I've actually got access at work to virtually any crimper I'd need, but decided against it for this instructable. Obviously, most people don't have access to dozens of different crimpers like we do, so it's easier to just not include them and avoid confusion... ;)
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