I want to build a simple electronics device. It will just contain a bunch of female jacks, potentiometers, switches, some capacitors, but no power. I wouldn't know how to go about creating a PCB (board) but I figure for this prototype thing I could just as easily get away with screwing all the hardware into the box's faceplate and solder all the internal connections with wire. But the thing is: <I>the box needs to provide (EMI) shielding</I>. As this is just a proof-of-concept project I was wondering if a metal <I>biscuit tin</I> would do the job (of shielding)? I'd use the removable lid as the faceplate.
Electronics Box Question
- Thread starter rathpy
- Start date
Roel
That SMART guy.
What is the use of yer little magic box? A metal box will probably do. Another trick is to glue aluminium paper to the inside of the box.
If it's just a few switches pots and caps, you can simple solder it on your pots with some wires in between. (see inside yer guitar if you need ideas. hehe) If it gets more complex you can buy some sort of proto-typing grid kinda pcb, which is just a pcb with alot of holes, and each hole has a little soldering-square, you can solder your components on it, and connect them with little wires soldered to the board... Kinda soldering your tracks with bare wire...
If it's just a few switches pots and caps, you can simple solder it on your pots with some wires in between. (see inside yer guitar if you need ideas. hehe) If it gets more complex you can buy some sort of proto-typing grid kinda pcb, which is just a pcb with alot of holes, and each hole has a little soldering-square, you can solder your components on it, and connect them with little wires soldered to the board... Kinda soldering your tracks with bare wire...
It's to experiment with how I might mod a guitar ... So many choices with 3 pickup, series/parallel combinations, phasing, capacitance values for tone, volume.
Yeah, I was thinking, even if the tin box didn't provide enough shielding I could line it with foil (like I intend to do under the pickguard of the guitar).
It might be just as easy to use wires, but I'll check out those experimenter’s boards. I can see them in my catalogue, ta.
Thanks.
Yeah, I was thinking, even if the tin box didn't provide enough shielding I could line it with foil (like I intend to do under the pickguard of the guitar).
It might be just as easy to use wires, but I'll check out those experimenter’s boards. I can see them in my catalogue, ta.
Thanks.
barefoot
barefootsound.com
What you need is a breadboard.
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=105&type=store
No soldering, move components around, etc. This is what people use to prototype.
I just throw mine inside and old stereo receiver chassis if shielding happens to be an issue.
barefoot
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=105&type=store
No soldering, move components around, etc. This is what people use to prototype.
I just throw mine inside and old stereo receiver chassis if shielding happens to be an issue.
barefoot
Sounds good. But in that case does that mean I'd have to buy PCB-mountable components (for the female jacks, potentiometers, switches)? I'm not sure that the hole spacing would accomodate all the components(?).barefoot said:
Part of the thing will be a mini patch-bay--5 jacks will be plugged in and out often, so I need something solid, even for this prototype. Do you think the breadboard might still be the way to go for this particular project?
Thanks
barefoot
barefootsound.com
"Sounds good. But in that case does that mean I'd have to buy PCB-mountable components (for the female jacks, potentiometers, switches)? I'm not sure that the hole spacing would accomodate all the components(?)."
No problem. You don't need to buy PCB-mountable components. You just solder solid core hookup wire to your jacks and controls, like you would need to anyway, then insert the lead ends into the breadboard.
"Part of the thing will be a mini patch-bay--5 jacks will be plugged in and out often, so I need something solid, even for this prototype. Do you think the breadboard might still be the way to go for this particular project?"
Same thing. Mount your jacks in a case or on a panel with leads going to the breadboard.
The breadboard has signal blocks and busses which make it very easy to arrange and rearrange the core components of your circuit. Use one buss for ground, one for + supply, one for - supply, etc., etc. You'll be very thankful you have one the first time you even just need to change a resistor or capacitor value. Soldering and unsoldering isn't fun and it wastes components.
barefoot
No problem. You don't need to buy PCB-mountable components. You just solder solid core hookup wire to your jacks and controls, like you would need to anyway, then insert the lead ends into the breadboard.
"Part of the thing will be a mini patch-bay--5 jacks will be plugged in and out often, so I need something solid, even for this prototype. Do you think the breadboard might still be the way to go for this particular project?"
Same thing. Mount your jacks in a case or on a panel with leads going to the breadboard.
The breadboard has signal blocks and busses which make it very easy to arrange and rearrange the core components of your circuit. Use one buss for ground, one for + supply, one for - supply, etc., etc. You'll be very thankful you have one the first time you even just need to change a resistor or capacitor value. Soldering and unsoldering isn't fun and it wastes components.
barefoot
barefoot
barefootsound.com
Cool! I’m just trying to picture how the faceplate and breadboard would be situated together inside the box. I suppose the standard way would be to lay the breadboard down flat and have the controls mounted on the long strip of the box (like what would be in most 1-rack-unit-sized devices).
In my device however, I have a number of controls to be mounted (8 potentiometers, 12 switches and 13 jacks) and I want these positioned in a certain way what will require about a 120mm*280mm (5”*11”) faceplate, so this implies that the controls will be mounted on the largest surface of the box. …Now I couldn’t have both the faceplate and the breadboard parallel because there would be little area to work in between them. So maybe the breadboard could run along the long strip of the box at right-angles to the large faceplate. hmmm… (Sorry man, ‘ just thinking aloud – painful isn’t it?).
In my device however, I have a number of controls to be mounted (8 potentiometers, 12 switches and 13 jacks) and I want these positioned in a certain way what will require about a 120mm*280mm (5”*11”) faceplate, so this implies that the controls will be mounted on the largest surface of the box. …Now I couldn’t have both the faceplate and the breadboard parallel because there would be little area to work in between them. So maybe the breadboard could run along the long strip of the box at right-angles to the large faceplate. hmmm… (Sorry man, ‘ just thinking aloud – painful isn’t it?).
barefoot
barefootsound.com
rapthy,
I'm just speculating, because it's not completely clear to me what you're building. But if you're trying to get a large variety of sounds with passive components it may not be as straight forward as you think.
Passive guitar circuits need to balance the relatively high output impedence of the pickups with component values in combination with the fairly low input impedence of many amplifiers. If you try to mix things up too much with only passive components you may just wind up with a variety of very muddy settings.
Like I said, I don't know what your circuit looks like. And I definitely don't want to discourage you, but this is something to consider if you have a limited background in electronics.
barefoot
I'm just speculating, because it's not completely clear to me what you're building. But if you're trying to get a large variety of sounds with passive components it may not be as straight forward as you think.
Passive guitar circuits need to balance the relatively high output impedence of the pickups with component values in combination with the fairly low input impedence of many amplifiers. If you try to mix things up too much with only passive components you may just wind up with a variety of very muddy settings.
Like I said, I don't know what your circuit looks like. And I definitely don't want to discourage you, but this is something to consider if you have a limited background in electronics.
barefoot
barefoot,
I am going to shield the insides of my Stratocaster and “fix-up” the standard grounding wiring, and move the controls around on the pickguard because the volume knob gets in my way. When I started investigating how to do this I came across a number of mods that also offer potentially different sounds. There are quite a number of theorectical combinations that can be done with 3 pickups, series/parallel ordering, pickup phase reversing, individual tone controls and capacitance values, volume controls and resistance values. Rather than taking the guitar strings off, unscrewing the faceplate, desoldering the jack, and working in a small guitar body cavity to try different things by resoldering wires, I want to try these experiments inside an external breakout box that should be easier to work with.
I won’t be surprised if 90% of the non-standard combinations turn out to be unusable. There are a number that reported to be (and I expect to be) usefull (eg. bridge+neck pickup, combining pickup and in series vs. parallel, combining pickups in or out of phase). And some combinations might work better on some amps than others.
I am thinking that although there will be a lot of selectable options on this device, any one option shouldn’t have any more components in the path that standard, and therefore shouldn’t be muddy. (One possible exception might be the idea to have separate tone/volume controls for each pickup, as well as a master tone/volume control--but the device will have the options to bypass these).
Most of the useable sounds I expect will come purely from pickup combinations-- This is the main purpose. (Over 40 combinations of 3 pickups, phase reversal, series/parallel.) I have a very basic understanding how inappropriate capacitor and resistance values can muddy up the tone or simply lower volume. However, the tone controls themselves aren’t a major part of the design. Hopefully I can follow guidelines and not get them in the way.
Any concerns given the above? Your thoughts are appreciated. Regards, rathpy.
I am going to shield the insides of my Stratocaster and “fix-up” the standard grounding wiring, and move the controls around on the pickguard because the volume knob gets in my way. When I started investigating how to do this I came across a number of mods that also offer potentially different sounds. There are quite a number of theorectical combinations that can be done with 3 pickups, series/parallel ordering, pickup phase reversing, individual tone controls and capacitance values, volume controls and resistance values. Rather than taking the guitar strings off, unscrewing the faceplate, desoldering the jack, and working in a small guitar body cavity to try different things by resoldering wires, I want to try these experiments inside an external breakout box that should be easier to work with.
I won’t be surprised if 90% of the non-standard combinations turn out to be unusable. There are a number that reported to be (and I expect to be) usefull (eg. bridge+neck pickup, combining pickup and in series vs. parallel, combining pickups in or out of phase). And some combinations might work better on some amps than others.
I am thinking that although there will be a lot of selectable options on this device, any one option shouldn’t have any more components in the path that standard, and therefore shouldn’t be muddy. (One possible exception might be the idea to have separate tone/volume controls for each pickup, as well as a master tone/volume control--but the device will have the options to bypass these).
Most of the useable sounds I expect will come purely from pickup combinations-- This is the main purpose. (Over 40 combinations of 3 pickups, phase reversal, series/parallel.) I have a very basic understanding how inappropriate capacitor and resistance values can muddy up the tone or simply lower volume. However, the tone controls themselves aren’t a major part of the design. Hopefully I can follow guidelines and not get them in the way.
Any concerns given the above? Your thoughts are appreciated. Regards, rathpy.
Roel
That SMART guy.
barefoot
barefootsound.com
Roel, you must only have experience with very cheap or very old and worn out ones, because mine never has contact issues.Roel said:
Btw rathpy, Global Specialties is the brand to get. They are excellent quality. You often see them in university laboratory classrooms because they hold up after years of student abuse.
barefoot