This PCB came from Elktronics. It’s fuzz similar to the fuzz face and Tonebender built around the CA3046/3086 transistor array. Here’s a demo:
The board came with all of the surface mount parts in place. I needed to add the two box caps, the two glass diodes, and the CA3046. I put a socket in place since this was a first build.
The board was sized to fit a 125B enclosure. I didn’t have drill guide so I estimated where the pots, switch and LED would fall, leaving room for the jacks at the top of the enclosure.
I some fun coming up with a design. I used font ornaments. This will be a test to see how much detail I can get out of the mill. I tried this font at a smaller size on another project and the detail was a little too tight for the mill to do a good job.
I did three passes with the mill which took about three hours. I was trying to get the engraving deep enough to fill with paint. I was thinking about the Moollon.com classic series and wondered if I could get something in that ballpark. My results were not as good but heading in the right direction!
I filled the engraved design with some acrylic paint and sanded the excess. This worked but acrylic was not the best choice. Next time I mights try some enamel.
Next I assembled the board. My drilling was not quite right. I realized the PCB would hit the stompswitch. The board needed to move toward the top of the box a few millimeters. I was able to bend the legs on the pots enough to allow things to fit. This had an unintentional benefit!
Since the board went right up to the switch the connections on the daughter board were directly above the connections on the main board. To connect the two I just soldered some wires to the main boards and then soldered the daughter board after.
This might prove to be a hassle to take apart if needed but for now it made sassily clean and easy!
The last step was to wire the jacks and assemble the rest. This was pretty easy since the board was laid out well with all of the jack connections at the top.
I used a couple of those big 27mm Boss style knobs. I’m a fan of the 1590B sized enclosures but the 125B enclosures give more options for knobs and working inside the box is easier. I could get to like these!
How does it sound? Sounds great! Just like the demo video. Would I recommend build these? I would but, the boards are not a regular offering as far as I know.
How about that 3046 transistor array? I think this is a really great chip for making guitar pedals. I mean who can’t make use of a few transistors! You don’t even have to use all of the transistors! I built a Zvex Woolly Mammoth clone a few years ago using a CA3086 and only used two of the transistors. Here are a couple links to posts about using this chip:
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