I'm an experienced electronics tech and after 30+ years I still mess up every now and again. this is how we learn. bet you wont do that again... thanks for sharing the mistakes as well as your successes. it can be humbling and thanks to you, we also get to learned from your mistake. wish there were more like you out there that fess up to there screw-ups
There are no stupid mistakes Daisy. And as far as I've seen in your videos you are not bad at all making stuff, you are just so talented... The best part of this video is at the beginning (both literally and metaphorically speaking) when you say "It was quite overwhelming but I have a soldering iron and a good attitude" that just made my day. Great video and awesome attitude. Thank you!
Daisy, don’t despair. As a 53 year old I’m finding much inspiration from your videos on organizing my woodworking workshop, playing the guitar and electronics. So a big thank you for that. As to the pedal: ask for some help or start from the adapter input jack and work your way back. One or two of the components are blown. They cost Pennies to replace and it should be ok. … and material for the next video ! Keep it up, I’m showing your videos to my daughter as well. You’re an inspiration. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱
Hi Daisy. There's a good chance that the pedal is repairable. You've likely only dusted a copper trace on the board or one component. If you have a friend who does electronics, get them to take a look.
Look for a pin grounding out when you assemble..remove the knobs from chassis ( not completely) and fire it up and it works, its a stray ground. I make many stupid mistakes..
DAISY... thank YOU so much for YOUR transparency / honesty, because I postponed ( sometimes even QUIT ) about trying something NEW... and YOU gave ME that "push" to NOT quit ( maybe postpone for READ MORE and LEARN MORE )... there will be ALWAYS the RISK OF FAILURE... but THIS VIDEO has shown ME that FAILURE can be SUCCESS IN PROGRESS... once again... thanks 🙏🏽
In addition to the voltage, another important factor I learned to look for DC jacks is whether it’s center positive or center negative. You have to match a the configuration of the pedal to the DC Jack.
Most pedals are centre negative which tends to be the opposite to most other things you'll find a barrel jack on, worth remembering when building stuff like this if you're not experienced with electronics because it can be easy to get it backwards
@@petedavis7970 Not reeaaally, centre negative wasn't ever hard to come across, you could always buy them and those multi voltage with a selection of barrel jacks always had polarity switchers on them as other things used centre negative, too, it just wasn't as common. Most people with pedal boards have a dedicated pedal psu with nice clean power and lots of outputs anyway because running loads of individual power supplies would be a massive pain and daisy chaining them isn't ideal. Pedal manufacturers don't often sell power supplies :)
@@nicwilson89 While this may be true, many pedal manufacturers manufacture and sell pedal power supplies. BOSS, Electro Harmonix, Donner, Behringer and MXR all sell power supplies for pedals. Maybe it wasn't planned. It's definitely a pain, though.
I just built one of these a few weeks ago - a few things I learned - the wires on the back have to be clipped as far down as you can get, otherwise you'll cross circuits and get high pitched squealing or other odd sounds. Also the manual was not clear about the wiring of the 9 volt connector. After contacting support, they told me I had the wiring backwards. Once that was fixed it was all good - it actually sounds really really good and one of the best OD's I have. Keep up the good attitude and good work !
I did the same with mine! Tommy at stew mac pointed out my mistake, it was fun to do and yesterday I ordered a new pedal from them. The kings of tone pedal. Looking forward to it!
I made this same kit earlier this year with a friend. He and I both got our own kits. I made two big mistakes: I got too excited how far along I was and soldered the Pots on the wrong side of the board, requiring me to desolder them and accidentally wreck the leads on one. Fortunately, I was able to do some creative soldering and it worked out. The second was that the first day I was working on it, the house was hot. Being a Texas summer and two people soldering it was quite uncomfortable. Trying to be a gracious host to my guest, I went to my AC unit and turned it down to a ridiculously low temperature trying to get the place just a little cooler. However, I forgot to change it back and didnt notice for the next couple of days. The night I finished the pedal kit, I noticed my AC hadn't shut off in awhile and remembered I set the temperature extremely low. I ran over and set the temperature to a reasonable temperature. However, I guess I froze up the unit and after a couple of hours of thaw and condensation, I went to shut off the lights for bed and heard waterfall behind the wall. The AC unit was gushing water all over the place and it had made its way under the living room laminate floor. I spent the rest of the night quickly disassembling and drying my laminate, and managed to save it. Finished the Klon pedal though, so.
Oh ouch! Yeah that is no fun. I’ve had some issues with leaks at home this past year. Suuuuper stressful stuff. Especially if you have musical equipment. I have an entire studio and 30 some odd guitars. It’s stressful! Glad you got your build finished 👍
I just rewatch this again. If you have not thrown this in the bin, check, the protection diode, which is the black resistor looking thing with the gray stripe. You might have just blown up the protection diode. You can swap it out and see if the pedal works with 9v DC
Novice solderer here. I built this kit, and you’re right, those tiny resistors a DAMN hard to read. Especially when you’ve got crappy eyes. I didn’t take chances. I used a multimeter to test the values on everything. I wouldn’t have been able get it all together properly had I not. It’s definitely needed for this job. Check the values to sort them, and then double check them before you install them. But it went well for me. Everything worked beautifully first time!
Thanks for the video Daisy, I really enjoyed it. The case looks wicked too. The others who said it here are right- a Klon clone's a pretty rough choice if you don't solder a lot. Good on you for giving it a go though. I've been soldering professinoally for fifteen years and I started my pedal building with a much simpler circuit, a clone of an MXR distortion+. I built my way up to a Klon! I've done lots of them now and they are still pretty tricky. If you do want to have a go at building pedals, there's a few things you might like to know: Make sure you have a soldering iron of at least 40 watts, or a solder station capable of at least 300 degrees F. Anything less won't be hot enough to flow the solder quickly, and you'll end up holding it against the parts too long and burning some of them out. I'm guessing Daisy's Dremel unit just wasn't hot enough. Definitely make sure you have good pliers, flush trim cutters and wire strippers. If you're new to this, forget trying to do without them. It's a good idea to sparate all your components out, identify them all (this can take a while but saves a lot of trouble in the long run) and either drop them in individual labelled bags or tape them to a piece of paper and write 'Cap 1' 'Cap 2' 'diode 1' etc next to them, good and clearly. Then when you're fitting them on the board, it's a piece of cake. It makes it quicker to get it all soldered too, so you use less power. Good for your bills. Finally: don't assume it's a total disaster if it doesn't work first time. Just one thing in the wrong place can mess the whole circuit up, but you can fix it if you're patient and don't panic. I hope someone finds that useful!
for your last point for any other beginner builders, I found starting out that an audio probe was indispensable for finding where a problem lay. Just an old guitar cable with 1 jack cut off and the inner wires made into 2 probes with a cap on the central wire. Lets you trace the signal going through the circuit by hearing it through an amp until you can't hear it and there's your problem.
Came here looking for this comment. Tried building a pedal with a cheap soldering iron the first time. It takes hours. Wit a good one this pedal maybe takes a couple hours, but not much more to build. Few things annoy me more than crappy tools, what is even the point for their existence than just create frustration. So hopefully no one is put off building one of these becasue the time spent by her as it can go much quicker. The circuit board is then really easy. Still a bit tricky with the wiring stuff but manageable.
Wonderful and refreshing honesty and humility. I admire your courage to try new things. As a teenager learning to build effects I reversed the polarity on a large electrolytic cap and it did indeed explode :) but I went on to get an electrical engineering degree so all well. Great job Daisy, sail on silver girl
M’Lady, it seems as if (from this side of the pond, anyway) it has become “en vogue” to refuse to embrace, let alone acknowledge mistakes… a practice which severely inhibits the opportunity for learning. A Luthier, diving head first into an unrelated art form, sharing honest details concerning mistakes made, as well as lessons learned, is truly beautiful and inspirational!!! 😍👍💕🌹🌹🌹
Failure is a part of growing & learning, so be proud of your attempt. Judging from your video, you drew conclusions from the situation and would've applied the learnings to the next build - that's the most important thing. Thanks for sharing with us the whole thing without sugarcoating - it takes courage, self-security & distance to do so. On the other hand, I have to say that the enclosure was a success for sure. It looks gorgeous. I'm going to try that technique this year! Cheers!
The Klon is a pretty complex circuit for a first build. I recommend a fuzz pedal for a beginner. A silicon fuzz face or tone bender are much, much more simple circuits to learn on.
Or an Elektra overdrive (or one of the many love pedal derivatives). Personally I've struggled with fuzz faces (but then I'm picky as most of the commercial ones don't do it for me) unless you have a really good choice of transistors.
@@navinadv BYOC sells really solid kits with everything you need and detailed, step-by-step instructions. The Large Beaver (Big Muff) kit was an easy build IMHO.
There is something refreshing about learning a new skill and being bad at it. As we get older we spend most of our time doing things we are really good at. Don't give up on the pedal, you can replace one or two of the components and probably just move them off the burnt out part of the board. Beautiful paint job. Can't wait for the follow up video.
100% agree with this, I've made a career out of being awkwardly underskilled in positions and knowhow lol I happen to love electronics though and will be attempting this myself... ...Although, I'm thinking of taking my knowledge and doing something a bit different, installing adapters to allow the quick swapping of various components to test the different sounds available!
So true. I spent 25+ years being a touring musician and audio engineer. Then, as I was approaching 50, I decided to go to law school. Somehow I made it through and while I still gig, I get to save people from being deported and going to jail. It's a crazy life, but at least I feel like I'm doing some good in the world. It was really difficult to go into a field about which I knew nothing.
After a few years of building pedals and failing/succeeding/everything else in between, I can honestly say that the most important tool isn't the soldering iron - it's a multimeter. I absolutely love the hydro dip painting, what beautiful colors you've done! It looks like an aerial drone shot from a far away ghastly planet. Check placements of the IC chips for sure. An OP amp might be flipped around.
This video was randomly suggested to me! I’m a professional violin maker. I also have an electric guitar fetish that when lockdown happened, I started making some guitar pedals for myself, started with a kit and then started making circuit copies on tagboard that led to making my own layouts. Mistakes Were Made!! But now it’s going easy. Couple of tips: get a really good soldering iron, really good electrical solder and flush cut electrical snips. Test everything before you case the pedal, it’s easier to troubleshoot. Last thing, I bet you only fried the diode for circuit protection. -the diode closest to the input jack. Nice video!!
Hiya Daisy, Back in the early seventies when I started building things like pedals the ultimate build was a 'Ring modulating echo plexer' now that was fun. Fun to watch you as it brought back some great memories, thank you for that and the video too. Stay safe, and stay away from unlabeled DC supply. Steve...
At least you are a young lady working by yourself. Electronics is a whole different thing working in a lab with a bunch of men who have not grown up. One favourite trick was charging a big electrolytic mains voltage (240V) capacitor, and throwing it to a mate and inviting them to catch it. It's a reflex to catch when caught unawares, and if you did so with the terminals touching your skin, you could get a nasty shock. I can also remember the person sitting opposite me building a circuit that had a bank of large capacitors in parallel. Unfortunately, he had the polarity reversed, and the resulting BANG was like a gun going off. A wee tip to make soldering foolproof is to dab a tiny bit of flux paste on the joint. The solder will flow way better and give you clean joint with close to zero chance of a dry joint. I love the marbling effect.
I am building this pedal now. So far I think it is going ok- we will see. I am almost done- but I broke the last IC plug. I trudged ahead while waiting for the part, which is still on the way. One thing though- I ended up getting the pc holder because my Helping Hands stand was Not adequate. And- i had a multi meter hanging around. I borrowed magnifying glasses, and just happened upon the soldering tools at the store when getting solder. All of these are GOD SENDS. The multi meter especially- for making sure you are putting in the correct capacitors on the board. My soldering iron seemed to die on me- the tip did not heat, but the shaft did. Of course I was trying to solder out of the box and didn’t realize what was going on and I burned the board and exposed an etching within 10 mins of starting. I had to get a replacement.
I. Fried my 2014 KLON KTR! By accidentally using the wrong voltage on my power brick. I had it sent to the builder/creator of KLON. And he fixed it for me :)! Makes it incredibly unique. And now that the prices for the “Magic Diode” KTR’s are so high, I’m even more grateful to him for fixing it so kindly all those years ago, and feel ridiculously lucky to own it! The pedal sounds great. I’ve used it on thousands of tracks! Won’t ever sell it. Your circuit board is likely fixable. I hope you’re able to get it going :). Ps. LOVE the paint job!
I built one of these Ghost Drives from StewMac earlier this summer. It turned out very well! Since I've never heard or seen a real Klon Centaur I don't know how it compares. But, it is a good pedal.
I have built 2 of the Ghost Drive pedals. On the first one, I thought that I burned something up with the soldering iron. I was devistated that it did not work, so I ordered another one. While waiting on the 2nd to arrive, I got out my USB microscope and started checking all the solder joints and found I missed soldering one pin of one capacitor. I fixed that and it worked. The second one worked first try. I'm in the middle of the StewMac 2 Kings (King of Tone clone) now. Hopefully finish it up tonight. Don't give up. We all make mistakes.
Great job for a first timer! Some info: Regarding the three IC's, Maxim MAX1044 is only rated to 9.5V absolute maximum. This one would likely be dead. The two TL072 is rated at around 30V. So they may have survived. Each of those cylindrical shaped capacitor have voltage ratings written on them. Other smaller caps may have voltage labels as well (some are coded). They're probably like around 16V? Could be less or more. I wish I could get my hands on it, as it's likely (easily) salvageable.
Really cool video. Lesson learned. I once plugged the speaker out from a 50watt Marshall into an MXR Distortion + and then into a 4x12 cabinet. I thought it would work. The smoke came out of the MXR and that’s when I learned “it runs on smoke” because once the smoke gets out, it doesn’t work anymore.
My soldering skill are poor, but I managed to make this kit, and it worked. There were a few places in the instructions that were not very clear. In fact, I soldered the red wires to the input jack incorrectly, and it didn’t work. I contacted Stu Mac technical support, sent them a photo, and they diagnosed the problem, I changed the wiring, and it actually worked. I would contact them: they are very helpful and have always sent me free replacement parts when I screwed up a project.
I’d be willing to bet you can fix that pedal. Klons have an internal charge pump chip that boosts the voltage from 9V to 18V. That is likely what was fried. Maybe a protection diode too. Either way, a quick swap of a part or two should fix it right up provided the traces weren’t badly damaged as well. Good luck!
when soldering, heat the metal and then apply the solder which will melt like butter. if you are doing any type of IC chip the principle applies but be really fast or you could fry the chip. Get the piece as close as you can to the board, solder, then clip the tips from leads on the back side of the board.. Basically the leads are harder to heat than the solder so once you heat the leads apply the solder and clip the tips... they can short out...any ground lakes all the other leads to ground
Damn, that's cool. I built a tube pre-amp. It's on my pedal board, but now I have a tube amp! You need a super hot soldering iron with a small tip, keep it covered with a healthy amount of solder and you will get better results! Bob's your Uncle... CHEERS FROM ATLANTA GA.
Loved this! First off, as a relative newbie here, I didn't know that your interests included electric guitar stuff at all, so that was cool - I didn't go electric until I'd been playing for 4-5 years. Secondly, that you'd attempt something like this just shows your drive and willingness to learn, even fail. I would be way over my head with this project. I can solder, badly, but beyond that lies disillusionment and regret. Kudos for basically accomplishing what you set out to do, mostly! And lastly, owning up to what went wrong in such a direct and entertainingly honest way... well, lots of folks in my country would be looking to blame someone else, making insane claims about planted evidence, etc. It's bad here.
If its burned badly ( visible bubbling smelly and blistered ) then chuck it as the traces will be damaged beyond repair ! The pots , switch etc. will be fine . Sadly the circuit does not have a large MOV or polyswitch for protection or reverse polarity diode . It has about £20 worth of components and can be built on matrix board .Try a treble booster first . I use Rapid Electronics near my home town for most consumables and eBay for semiconductors not at Rapids . They also have a range of enclosures , pre painted . Hydro dipping in Essex is the posh word for " swimming ". I design build , repair modify ECUs for cars and motorcycles , guitars , tube and solid state amps , keyboards , etc .
Don't worry, it'll be repairable. Stuff like this is usually a simple fix. Always worth 'bench testing' things before final assembly because mistakes will happen and it saves time troubleshooting and getting back on track. Worth remembering that most music gear is centre negative on the DC barrel jack, most other things are centre positive, hence the polarity will be backwards. Probably caused a little more damage than if you'd plugged in a higher voltage with the correct polarity but it's not going to have caused significant damage and will likely just need a few components replacing. If it helps, it's even more satisfying when you also manage to fix a broken thing on top of having built a thingy thing
Also, from experience, the best money you could spend is on a temperature controlled solder station. So so important. I learned this the hard way!! Not just an ordinary soldering iron.
I’ve plugged in the the wrong voltage for pedals before as well. Fortunately, I now use an isolated power supply (brick) and that prevents my mistake from turning into a disaster. Great job on building the pedal either way!
Honestly, I really appreciate this video... It shows that someone can know enough to actually BUILD a Klon Centaur type pedal, and STILL make a "simple" mistake like not checking the adapter... I'll openly confess that I'm the MOST UN-HANDY person on the planet, lol... I can write songs and music ALL DAY, but I can't do ANYTHING technical, or that involves tools, like, AT ALL... A few years back I taught myself to build guitars, and honestly it's been SO DAMNED DIFFICULT, literally EVERY SINGLE STEP of the way... I'm JUST now learning how to build pedals, and I want to do it SO bad, but I ALSO know what I'm up against, lol... That I'm probably gonna screw THAT up too, every step of the way... But this video gives me hope... Bless your sunny attitude, ma'am, lol...
I just finished making my GhostDrive when this popped up. I though I'd blown mine, asI had no power when I plugged it in. I followed the diagram when soldering, but the red wires (battery + and PSU+) from power in to circuit board were the wrong way around when I checked it with a multimeter. This meant the power jack input was switched off when plugged into PSU, so I had no power. Swapping the red cables on the jack input around meant the switch between jack input and battery worked correctly, and the unit powered up. Long shot, but worth checking.
Thanks. Stew Mac is relatively close to where I live and I have used their products with very good results. While my electronics are generally ok, we won’t discuss how I botch up finishes.
The vast majority of pedals are 9V so if it takes one 9V battery it's 9V, If if takes 2 9V batteries it's 18V (much rarer) and there are a few at 12V and other odd voltages. I always check which voltage AND polarity of the input jack because there are different pedals with negative centers and some with positive centers. Running a battery at first will always be the safest, then you can look into voltages and polarity. Also there are a few pedals that can jump up a 9 volt battery up to 18v and some that can take both by switching an internal switch. Ultimately it's up to the user to determine all of this.
I've built several kits and raw circuits from scratch over the years. these are tiny boards and use the 9V ( -v at the tip) type pedals. Important not to use too hot a gun for this project or too big a tip. you can destroy the board and or components. Best if you can use a temperature controlled soldering iron.
Came back to this… it’s very likely you’d only have to replace the chips which would cost next to nothing at an electronics hobby retail. I noticed at 6:50, one IC leg may if may not be bent, and sticking out the side of the socket. The “quickly explode” part in relation to electrolytic capacitors, that’s a bit dramatic, and would only happen powered anyway. It’s both the kind of explosion that breaks the enclosure, but may make a mess on the board.
thanks for sharing your journey on the petal build. I can so relate, from the original interest to get everything just 'right', the intense focus to the end being a let down. I enjoy watching your channel from Texas USA, Cheers.
Oh, those Dremel torches. I think I destroyed about three in my lifetime working as a telemetry and tracking tech in vehicles. They were pretty good when new, but then the ceramic catalyst cartridge would shatter and leave the building via small exhaust hole, rendering the thing unusable (and also making temperature control a bitch while it fails) as a soldering iron, leaving you with glorified cigarette lighter. Also, one has to mind the small exhaust port, burning everything close by. I strongly recommend Pinecil all your soldering needs. Excellent temperature control, fast hea up, and accelerometer that switches the heater off when you put down the soldering iron, so you don't burn down the hacienda, especially if it is a wood shop. Oh, and you can power one with USB C charger. Oh, and one more thing: the sponge in the small metal tin: you are supposed to wet it before use.
I built a Klon pedal about 2 months ago. Despite barely knowing how to solder,, and it being my first time doing ANYthing with circuits, it went great. The directions included were super easy to follow until I got to one particular capacitor; it just looked all wrong, and was super tiny compared to all the others. I called Stewmac, and they said, yep, its correct, they have to substitute parts because of availability and vendor supply etc etc. Long story short, it all went swimmingly. Get another kit and use a 9v battery next time 🙂
Daisy, good effort despite the mishap. Love your channel. I built a fuzz pedal as my first project and it was a bit simpler. I bought the StewMac Swell Drive and it has so many parts it is still sitting on my bench waiting to be built.
Quite a difficult one to start from ahah If you will have another try I would suggest something simpler like the bluesbreaker or a fuzz 🤟 Very nice painting anyway!
you jumped in the deep end! there are a lot of things that can go wrong in a pedal build and can be a fair bit of head scratching in the troubleshooting. it's a really fun and rewarding hobby though, and an endless number of classic designs that can be built for cheap. as someone else mentioned this one is almost certainly salvageable!
Great video and excellent advice. Don't stress, build the next one and show us please! You're a talented lady and deserve the best! May peace be upon you
Very yummy and smart sausage :-) Good on you for attempting it, for starters! It's pretty unlikely that you've done anything irreparable to it. Hang in there!
Instead of the complicated soldering stands, you can just use a big chunk of blutack to hold the circuit board whilst installing the components. Easy, cheap and replaceable.
Using a multimeter to premeasure and mark on a board your resisters helps. Also part numbers on capacitors may not exactly match the book instructions so just internet search the numbers and you’ll see how they match up.
Components can have higher voltage tolerance than what the pedal is supposed to receive. It is all down to quality/over-spec'ing. Some people are known to over-voltage certain pedals on purpose. If the kit has overspec components, maybe the screaming is wiring error rather than dead compenents.
Hi Daisy, I'm from the southern part of the USA. South Georgia to be exact. I loved your southern hick accent impersonation. I got a chuckle out of that. It made me smile. Not bad at all. Sorry about the pedal fail. Love your channel btw.
Soldering on small circuit boards takes practice and having the right soldering iron and tip can make a big difference. I've been tinkering in electronics for a long time and my soldering skills are still weaker than I'd like. I've improved quite a bit over the years, but then I see these guys do really gorgeous work and I realize I'm just out of their league. But it's cool. I manage to get stuff working. I actually have a STACK of pedals in the form of populated or mostly-populated boards. I just need to put them in enclosures and connect up the jacks & pots and stuff. And that pile has been sitting there for a good bit. Maybe this weekend...
I can say I too did a Centaur as my first pedal... and It didn't go much better. I actually went back and redid it and got it half working (the treble control does nothing). Fuzzes are alot easier, especially the Fuzz Face (its only a hand full of components). Hope you have better luck in the future! Also, its fun to build in a fuzz into a guitar!
If anything has been fried at…. 18V or such. It’s those big capacitors. (The ones that may explode) Most everything else can handle much much higher voltages. Or maybe since it’s a Klon. The charge pump (if one is present) probably labeled as a TC1044
Well Done You! A good thing about these Pedals is their ability to use Battery power. Safer than "someone lending you" a supposed power supply for Guitar Pedals that don't run on much power.. Batteries are great testing things! So you may have done everything right for all we know...
I think you should make another one . I watched they next video from Five Watt World about that pedal the Klon. Hell , I'm thinking about making one myself. You learned a lot about what doesnt work I built 3 Tube amp kits from MOJO Tone and they I wired it just like the schematic said but i had wires going all over the place and talk about Hum. The little 5 watt champ sounded good but the other two I paid to have MOJO rewire one anyway, I did'n't have a very good Solder gun either lol. I liked the paint job. Thanks for that one. I do a lot of lot of the things you and your friends do. Anyway, You are a very cool person I can tell and I wish teh best for you.
I built this and it didn’t work so I contacted StewMac support. They were fantastic. From photos I sent they were able to identify what I had done incorrectly. They are amazing.
This reminds me of the first pedal I built, a tube screamer clone, all was good until I cooked the pots trying to tidy up the soldering haha. Anyways I literally just found your channel, I look forward to seeing more of your content 😎
We all live & learn & make mistakes,it's how we learn to get it right, you done a good job, just 1 mistake first time is good...most people make a few..your honest, willing to gives things a try, you'll get their in the end....we've all made mistakes building or rewiring something wrong but we remember & learn..respect
You chose a difficult project and I bet you would have pulled it off nicely without the easy to make mistake at the end. Cheers to you and keep on trying. This is how you grow and you will not regret learning the skills you have acquired during this endeavour. I love soldering on things and have soldered many projects including modding pedals and amps etc. It's a very enjoyable hobby.
Oh, Daisy........ Well, you know the old saying....... Whatever doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. Happy you weren't killed. BTW - Loved the spaghetti western music during the painting portion. Very dramatic. Cheers!
Like many have already mentioned, it should be pretty easy to repair your pedal. Most of the components (resistors, capacitors, diodes, wires, jacks) are rated for much more than 9 volts. If anything is damaged by the higher voltage, it is most likely the 3 ICs in the circuit. They should be fairly inexpensive. I would recommend a visual test to see if anything else looks burnt but I would consider replacing the ICs and giving it a try, If that does not work, then find a friend who has a good multimeter and some troubleshooting skills and they can troubleshoot further. Thanks for the video. I really enjoy watching your approach to the various challenges.
Really enjoying your channel. I run Fredric Effects in London and as a result have built hundreds of Klon-types. With your build, all may not be lost- the klon has a voltage protection diode designed to short out when given too much voltage. Part number 1N4742. Cut this part (yes really) and try the pedal with the correct power supply.
Hi Daisy, I'm pretty new to your channel but have already watched most of the videos and love it. Keep the videos coming! As someone who is experienced with soldering and assembling pcbs - also professionally - I'd say that this is not too bad a pcb for a beginner as it does not involve very difficult soldering by electronics standards. Key is a good soldering iron or even better a soldering station with a chisel tip, this makes it so much easier. These pointed tips are no good in general. IMHO the one part of a soldering iron or station that determines the usability the most is the tip, and the problem with cheaper equipment is that also the tips are not on par with the ones of the more expensive equipment like Weller, Hakko or Ersa. If possible prefer a soldering station with temperature regulation over a simple soldering iron, even if it's a cheaper one. Regarding the fried circuit I think you can fix it. I don't know if Stewmac have modified the cirucuit for any reason but I had a look at a Klon Centaur circuit I found online. The circuit is quite complex but it contains only three ICs, one ICL7660 voltage converter and two TL072 opamps. These are the first suspects to failure and as they aren't expensive components you could just change them and try again.
Be cool. My guess is that there is a protection circuit on the 9V input. It’a a Zener diode, probably 12V. It works as a protection for overvoltage and wrong polarity. It’s set so if you accidently connect 12 V or more or have the wrong polarity on the supply, the diode will blow. The pedal will appear dead. Most of the components in the pedal can handle 12V and more, so except the Zener diode, the rest of the components are probably OK. A new diode, guess it’s a 1N4742, cost abt 1 Eur for 10 pcs… just some desoldering and resoldering, and that you proved was no problem :-) Nice work by the way. Two strong recommendations that does not cost that much and make a difference. • Multimeter - To measure Volt, Ampere, Ohm’s (resistors), Farad (capacitance) etc. With this you can check components values, connections, short circuits, check diodes etc. abt 25 Euro and up. A good one abt 50 Euro. • Soldering Iron - A temp controlled with about at least 25W effect/390 degree temp. A fast hand is better than a low effect… That said, to high effect can quickly burn things up. Mine is 60W/400 degrees, but you need to know how to use that. • Desoldering - A desoldering pump is a big help and a saver off the circuit board and components on the bord. Both to de solder and to clean up. Some prefer braid. I prefer pump in general. Use braid if there is a tight spaces. Hope it helps get your nice pedal alive again //Per
Wow... As soon as you said "Can I borrow your DC jack", I got a horrible sinking feeling in my stomach. Many years ago, I repaired a liquid damaged laptop for a friend. It was some 8 hours of work cleaning the motherboard, which thankfully only needed a few components replacing. Got the whole thing plugged in, tested it and it all worked fine, so I came to close up the back of the case. I closed the lid and... crunch. This thing had irritated me so much the whole time I was working on it, and in frustration, I closed the lid too hard and smashed the screen. All it takes is that one little moment of distraction, and you're back even before square one. I kicked myself so much after that. Especially given that I then had to buy another screen for it, and strip the whole thing down again to replace it. It's a properly gutting feeling.
Likely just the zener protection diode, possibly the Maxx1044 step-up regulator chip. In general, I'd always suggest socketing that step-up regulator becuz (a) things fry, and (b) they CAN be electrically noisy and some are more susceptible to behaving badly if there's noise on ground (i.e. a high-current-demand digital pedal can do just that). Anyway, either of the component swaps can be done easily and inexpensively with that soldering iron and a little solder wick or a solder sucker. It is unlikely that the trace was vaporized as we aren't talking 10+ amps of current. Never fear. It was a good lesson, and one that will make you a better/safer user of pedals in the future. And shame on your friend for not anticipating the issue with the appropriate voltage... if he IS a proper pedal-nerd, he should have known that would happen... Klones (and positive-ground germanium fuzz pedals) are the two most common pedals to fry up for Sunday breakfast. Don't be down. Just cuz it was your first, doesn't mean it will be your last.
Once built a 2 channel 50watt class A valve amp. Worked really well during testing right up until I managed to slip with a meter probe and touch a BIG power Capacitor. Woke up 3 hours later in hospital with a lovely burn on my arm and a matching one on my waist which was in contact with the metal table via a belt buckle... 😆
The board won't be fried. I don't know the circuit, but many pedals have an input capacitor (C1) which is intended to protect the rest of the circuit. So chances are you just need to replace C1 cap. Hope this helps
So if you plugged a higher-than-specified DC voltage, the only components you're likely to have fried are the active components (chips, diodes, transistors). Surely you can identify each one and order a replacement (Farnell, Hobbytronics, RS Components....etc). Then just desolder the old one (need a solder sucker), and put the new one in.
Don't give up! You have the talent and the eye-hand coordination for producing quality guitars so building effect pedals will take just a little more time to get used to. Eventually, these same skills will enable you to add your own amp boards and pickups to your guitar designs. You got this!
If you will pardon my French, the guitar at the end there sounded damn good! Nice rhythm work. Very interesting journey too. You deserve a full day at the spa that one! ☺
Actually, this is quite inspiring!! I'm older than you are . . . actually much much older . . . and I make mistakes all the time! So, Kudos to you! Another life lesson is to maintain humility as we move forward. Perfection is a goal, a noble goal, but an unattainable goal. Let's all keep striving while realizing that we have goals that we will joyfully never attain! And for what it's worth, I started following you because I'm planning on building myself a guitar or bass . . . someday!! Cheers!
I think it's all been said re: the device's future (I'm an old electronics tech and play a little bit of guitar, which I reckon is how I ended up watching this vid :) ). Good on you for giving it a go, I'm sure you'll build another pedal, and win. Best wishes for every success with your channel, and greetings from down under (where every summer is like the one you're having now in the UK). david
keep the "Dali'" inspired metal box and build some-thing else. Your enthusiasm and dedication to getting a job finished is exemplary, just keep some 9volt batteries in easy reach. I would be happy to sit through more of your experiments with "wires and boxes" . Great job.All the supplier had to do was put a 9volt only big flourescent sticker on the cover of the manual.
I love that you were not bashful about posting this project. I tell you what, I HATE those little barrel DC power sources. There are too many that look identical. The barrel is positive on some and ground on the others, the detailed print is too small for a human to read....I hate them. Thanks for sharing.
![CAMPปลิ้น | EP.83[2/2] ประสบการณ์ขนหัวลุกจากตำนานวงการผี!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/T_kFecQw7Ds/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm an experienced electronics tech and after 30+ years I still mess up every now and again. this is how we learn. bet you wont do that again... thanks for sharing the mistakes as well as your successes. it can be humbling and thanks to you, we also get to learned from your mistake. wish there were more like you out there that fess up to there screw-ups
There are no stupid mistakes Daisy. And as far as I've seen in your videos you are not bad at all making stuff, you are just so talented... The best part of this video is at the beginning (both literally and metaphorically speaking) when you say "It was quite overwhelming but I have a soldering iron and a good attitude" that just made my day. Great video and awesome attitude. Thank you!
Daisy, don’t despair. As a 53 year old I’m finding much inspiration from your videos on organizing my woodworking workshop, playing the guitar and electronics. So a big thank you for that.
As to the pedal: ask for some help or start from the adapter input jack and work your way back. One or two of the components are blown. They cost Pennies to replace and it should be ok. … and material for the next video !
Keep it up, I’m showing your videos to my daughter as well. You’re an inspiration.
Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱
Hi Daisy. There's a good chance that the pedal is repairable. You've likely only dusted a copper trace on the board or one component. If you have a friend who does electronics, get them to take a look.
Also the led should go inside the ring, not outside. Looked cool though
I noticed that too but yeah, looks nifty. Actually, I wonder if the bezel might be shorting out the LED. That could cause something to fritz.
Look at you simping? you outta be a shamed of yourself.
Look for a pin grounding out when you assemble..remove the knobs from chassis ( not completely) and fire it up and it works, its a stray ground. I make many stupid mistakes..
Always test if it works before putting it in the enclosure too, just as a general tip!
DAISY... thank YOU so much for YOUR transparency / honesty, because I postponed ( sometimes even QUIT ) about trying something NEW... and YOU gave ME that "push" to NOT quit ( maybe postpone for READ MORE and LEARN MORE )... there will be ALWAYS the RISK OF FAILURE... but THIS VIDEO has shown ME that FAILURE can be SUCCESS IN PROGRESS... once again... thanks 🙏🏽
In addition to the voltage, another important factor I learned to look for DC jacks is whether it’s center positive or center negative. You have to match a the configuration of the pedal to the DC Jack.
Most pedals are centre negative which tends to be the opposite to most other things you'll find a barrel jack on, worth remembering when building stuff like this if you're not experienced with electronics because it can be easy to get it backwards
@@nicwilson89 Really freaking annoying of pedal manufacturers. Surely they did it so they could sell THEIR adapters.
@@petedavis7970 Not reeaaally, centre negative wasn't ever hard to come across, you could always buy them and those multi voltage with a selection of barrel jacks always had polarity switchers on them as other things used centre negative, too, it just wasn't as common. Most people with pedal boards have a dedicated pedal psu with nice clean power and lots of outputs anyway because running loads of individual power supplies would be a massive pain and daisy chaining them isn't ideal. Pedal manufacturers don't often sell power supplies :)
@@nicwilson89 While this may be true, many pedal manufacturers manufacture and sell pedal power supplies. BOSS, Electro Harmonix, Donner, Behringer and MXR all sell power supplies for pedals.
Maybe it wasn't planned. It's definitely a pain, though.
I just built one of these a few weeks ago - a few things I learned - the wires on the back have to be clipped as far down as you can get, otherwise you'll cross circuits and get high pitched squealing or other odd sounds. Also the manual was not clear about the wiring of the 9 volt connector. After contacting support, they told me I had the wiring backwards. Once that was fixed it was all good - it actually sounds really really good and one of the best OD's I have. Keep up the good attitude and good work !
I did the same with mine! Tommy at stew mac pointed out my mistake, it was fun to do and yesterday I ordered a new pedal from them. The kings of tone pedal. Looking forward to it!
I assembled one for a friend and one for myself. Without experience I could see how this would be quite a task! I do like the sound of these pedals.
I made this same kit earlier this year with a friend. He and I both got our own kits. I made two big mistakes: I got too excited how far along I was and soldered the Pots on the wrong side of the board, requiring me to desolder them and accidentally wreck the leads on one. Fortunately, I was able to do some creative soldering and it worked out.
The second was that the first day I was working on it, the house was hot. Being a Texas summer and two people soldering it was quite uncomfortable. Trying to be a gracious host to my guest, I went to my AC unit and turned it down to a ridiculously low temperature trying to get the place just a little cooler. However, I forgot to change it back and didnt notice for the next couple of days. The night I finished the pedal kit, I noticed my AC hadn't shut off in awhile and remembered I set the temperature extremely low. I ran over and set the temperature to a reasonable temperature. However, I guess I froze up the unit and after a couple of hours of thaw and condensation, I went to shut off the lights for bed and heard waterfall behind the wall. The AC unit was gushing water all over the place and it had made its way under the living room laminate floor. I spent the rest of the night quickly disassembling and drying my laminate, and managed to save it. Finished the Klon pedal though, so.
That sounds rough man.
Oh ouch! Yeah that is no fun. I’ve had some issues with leaks at home this past year. Suuuuper stressful stuff. Especially if you have musical equipment. I have an entire studio and 30 some odd guitars. It’s stressful! Glad you got your build finished 👍
You never know what to expect while assembling a pedal, definitely....
I just rewatch this again. If you have not thrown this in the bin, check, the protection diode, which is the black resistor looking thing with the gray stripe. You might have just blown up the protection diode. You can swap it out and see if the pedal works with 9v DC
Novice solderer here. I built this kit, and you’re right, those tiny resistors a DAMN hard to read. Especially when you’ve got crappy eyes.
I didn’t take chances. I used a multimeter to test the values on everything. I wouldn’t have been able get it all together properly had I not. It’s definitely needed for this job. Check the values to sort them, and then double check them before you install them.
But it went well for me. Everything worked beautifully first time!
Thanks for the video Daisy, I really enjoyed it. The case looks wicked too.
The others who said it here are right- a Klon clone's a pretty rough choice if you don't solder a lot. Good on you for giving it a go though. I've been soldering professinoally for fifteen years and I started my pedal building with a much simpler circuit, a clone of an MXR distortion+. I built my way up to a Klon! I've done lots of them now and they are still pretty tricky. If you do want to have a go at building pedals, there's a few things you might like to know:
Make sure you have a soldering iron of at least 40 watts, or a solder station capable of at least 300 degrees F. Anything less won't be hot enough to flow the solder quickly, and you'll end up holding it against the parts too long and burning some of them out. I'm guessing Daisy's Dremel unit just wasn't hot enough.
Definitely make sure you have good pliers, flush trim cutters and wire strippers. If you're new to this, forget trying to do without them.
It's a good idea to sparate all your components out, identify them all (this can take a while but saves a lot of trouble in the long run) and either drop them in individual labelled bags or tape them to a piece of paper and write 'Cap 1' 'Cap 2' 'diode 1' etc next to them, good and clearly. Then when you're fitting them on the board, it's a piece of cake. It makes it quicker to get it all soldered too, so you use less power. Good for your bills.
Finally: don't assume it's a total disaster if it doesn't work first time. Just one thing in the wrong place can mess the whole circuit up, but you can fix it if you're patient and don't panic.
I hope someone finds that useful!
for your last point for any other beginner builders, I found starting out that an audio probe was indispensable for finding where a problem lay. Just an old guitar cable with 1 jack cut off and the inner wires made into 2 probes with a cap on the central wire. Lets you trace the signal going through the circuit by hearing it through an amp until you can't hear it and there's your problem.
@@violentfrog_ Clever
Came here looking for this comment. Tried building a pedal with a cheap soldering iron the first time. It takes hours. Wit a good one this pedal maybe takes a couple hours, but not much more to build. Few things annoy me more than crappy tools, what is even the point for their existence than just create frustration. So hopefully no one is put off building one of these becasue the time spent by her as it can go much quicker. The circuit board is then really easy. Still a bit tricky with the wiring stuff but manageable.
@@niklasroos If it was useful even to one person I'm thrilled
Wonderful and refreshing honesty and humility. I admire your courage to try new things. As a teenager learning to build effects I reversed the polarity on a large electrolytic cap and it did indeed explode :) but I went on to get an electrical engineering degree so all well. Great job Daisy, sail on silver girl
M’Lady, it seems as if (from this side of the pond, anyway) it has become “en vogue” to refuse to embrace, let alone acknowledge mistakes… a practice which severely inhibits the opportunity for learning. A Luthier, diving head first into an unrelated art form, sharing honest details concerning mistakes made, as well as lessons learned, is truly beautiful and inspirational!!! 😍👍💕🌹🌹🌹
Inspirational! I myself went from software and electronics to coffee roasting with zero knowledge! Lots of fun
*tips fedora
Failure is a part of growing & learning, so be proud of your attempt. Judging from your video, you drew conclusions from the situation and would've applied the learnings to the next build - that's the most important thing. Thanks for sharing with us the whole thing without sugarcoating - it takes courage, self-security & distance to do so. On the other hand, I have to say that the enclosure was a success for sure. It looks gorgeous. I'm going to try that technique this year! Cheers!
The Klon is a pretty complex circuit for a first build.
I recommend a fuzz pedal for a beginner. A silicon fuzz face or tone bender are much, much more simple circuits to learn on.
A Big Muff isn’t too bad to start with either
@@chipsterb4946 a muff usually has 4 transistors, a tone bender has 1-2. Much simpler for a beginner
Yep Best is a fuzz....I still use my first fuzz... I hope she tries again.
Or an Elektra overdrive (or one of the many love pedal derivatives). Personally I've struggled with fuzz faces (but then I'm picky as most of the commercial ones don't do it for me) unless you have a really good choice of transistors.
@@navinadv BYOC sells really solid kits with everything you need and detailed, step-by-step instructions. The Large Beaver (Big Muff) kit was an easy build IMHO.
After watching this video, I bought my own and finished it today. Stressful build but fun. Thanks for posting the review.
There is something refreshing about learning a new skill and being bad at it. As we get older we spend most of our time doing things we are really good at. Don't give up on the pedal, you can replace one or two of the components and probably just move them off the burnt out part of the board. Beautiful paint job. Can't wait for the follow up video.
100% agree with this, I've made a career out of being awkwardly underskilled in positions and knowhow lol
I happen to love electronics though and will be attempting this myself...
...Although, I'm thinking of taking my knowledge and doing something a bit different, installing adapters to allow the quick swapping of various components to test the different sounds available!
So true. I spent 25+ years being a touring musician and audio engineer. Then, as I was approaching 50, I decided to go to law school. Somehow I made it through and while I still gig, I get to save people from being deported and going to jail. It's a crazy life, but at least I feel like I'm doing some good in the world. It was really difficult to go into a field about which I knew nothing.
After a few years of building pedals and failing/succeeding/everything else in between, I can honestly say that the most important tool isn't the soldering iron - it's a multimeter.
I absolutely love the hydro dip painting, what beautiful colors you've done! It looks like an aerial drone shot from a far away ghastly planet.
Check placements of the IC chips for sure. An OP amp might be flipped around.
This video was randomly suggested to me! I’m a professional violin maker. I also have an electric guitar fetish that when lockdown happened, I started making some guitar pedals for myself, started with a kit and then started making circuit copies on tagboard that led to making my own layouts. Mistakes Were Made!! But now it’s going easy.
Couple of tips: get a really good soldering iron, really good electrical solder and flush cut electrical snips. Test everything before you case the pedal, it’s easier to troubleshoot.
Last thing, I bet you only fried the diode for circuit protection. -the diode closest to the input jack.
Nice video!!
Hiya Daisy,
Back in the early seventies when I started building things like pedals the ultimate build was a 'Ring modulating echo plexer' now that was fun. Fun to watch you as it brought back some great memories, thank you for that and the video too.
Stay safe, and stay away from unlabeled DC supply. Steve...
Everyone makes mistakes. The fact that you tried in the first place is very cool. Keep up the curiosity and passion for building.
At least you are a young lady working by yourself. Electronics is a whole different thing working in a lab with a bunch of men who have not grown up. One favourite trick was charging a big electrolytic mains voltage (240V) capacitor, and throwing it to a mate and inviting them to catch it. It's a reflex to catch when caught unawares, and if you did so with the terminals touching your skin, you could get a nasty shock. I can also remember the person sitting opposite me building a circuit that had a bank of large capacitors in parallel. Unfortunately, he had the polarity reversed, and the resulting BANG was like a gun going off. A wee tip to make soldering foolproof is to dab a tiny bit of flux paste on the joint. The solder will flow way better and give you clean joint with close to zero chance of a dry joint. I love the marbling effect.
I am building this pedal now. So far I think it is going ok- we will see. I am almost done- but I broke the last IC plug. I trudged ahead while waiting for the part, which is still on the way.
One thing though- I ended up getting the pc holder because my Helping Hands stand was
Not adequate. And- i had a multi meter hanging around. I borrowed magnifying glasses, and just happened upon the soldering tools at the store when getting solder. All of these are GOD SENDS. The multi meter especially- for making sure you are putting in the correct capacitors on the board.
My soldering iron seemed to die on me- the tip did not heat, but the shaft did. Of course I was trying to solder out of the box and didn’t realize what was going on and I burned the board and exposed an etching within 10 mins of starting. I had to get a replacement.
I. Fried my 2014 KLON KTR! By accidentally using the wrong voltage on my power brick. I had it sent to the builder/creator of KLON. And he fixed it for me :)! Makes it incredibly unique. And now that the prices for the “Magic Diode” KTR’s are so high, I’m even more grateful to him for fixing it so kindly all those years ago, and feel ridiculously lucky to own it! The pedal sounds great. I’ve used it on thousands of tracks! Won’t ever sell it. Your circuit board is likely fixable. I hope you’re able to get it going :). Ps. LOVE the paint job!
I built one of these Ghost Drives from StewMac earlier this summer. It turned out very well! Since I've never heard or seen a real Klon Centaur I don't know how it compares. But, it is a good pedal.
I have built 2 of the Ghost Drive pedals. On the first one, I thought that I burned something up with the soldering iron. I was devistated that it did not work, so I ordered another one. While waiting on the 2nd to arrive, I got out my USB microscope and started checking all the solder joints and found I missed soldering one pin of one capacitor. I fixed that and it worked. The second one worked first try. I'm in the middle of the StewMac 2 Kings (King of Tone clone) now. Hopefully finish it up tonight. Don't give up. We all make mistakes.
Great job for a first timer! Some info: Regarding the three IC's, Maxim MAX1044 is only rated to 9.5V absolute maximum. This one would likely be dead. The two TL072 is rated at around 30V. So they may have survived. Each of those cylindrical shaped capacitor have voltage ratings written on them. Other smaller caps may have voltage labels as well (some are coded). They're probably like around 16V? Could be less or more. I wish I could get my hands on it, as it's likely (easily) salvageable.
Really cool video. Lesson learned.
I once plugged the speaker out from a 50watt Marshall into an MXR Distortion + and then into a 4x12 cabinet. I thought it would work. The smoke came out of the MXR and that’s when I learned “it runs on smoke” because once the smoke gets out, it doesn’t work anymore.
My soldering skill are poor, but I managed to make this kit, and it worked.
There were a few places in the instructions that were not very clear. In fact, I soldered the red wires to the input jack incorrectly, and it didn’t work. I contacted Stu Mac technical support, sent them a photo, and they diagnosed the problem, I changed the wiring, and it actually worked.
I would contact them: they are very helpful and have always sent me free replacement parts when I screwed up a project.
I’d be willing to bet you can fix that pedal. Klons have an internal charge pump chip that boosts the voltage from 9V to 18V. That is likely what was fried. Maybe a protection diode too. Either way, a quick swap of a part or two should fix it right up provided the traces weren’t badly damaged as well. Good luck!
For sure, just about anything is repairable. More simple electronics such as this are infinitely repairable :)
I love your enthusiasm in this project and inspired me to buy a kit myself and gift another to a friend.
when soldering, heat the metal and then apply the solder which will melt like butter. if you are doing any type of IC chip the principle applies but be really fast or you could fry the chip. Get the piece as close as you can to the board, solder, then clip the tips from leads on the back side of the board.. Basically the leads are harder to heat than the solder so once you heat the leads apply the solder and clip the tips... they can short out...any ground lakes all the other leads to ground
Damn, that's cool. I built a tube pre-amp. It's on my pedal board, but now I have a tube amp! You need a super hot soldering iron with a small tip, keep it covered with a healthy amount of solder and you will get better results! Bob's your Uncle... CHEERS FROM ATLANTA GA.
Loved this! First off, as a relative newbie here, I didn't know that your interests included electric guitar stuff at all, so that was cool - I didn't go electric until I'd been playing for 4-5 years. Secondly, that you'd attempt something like this just shows your drive and willingness to learn, even fail. I would be way over my head with this project. I can solder, badly, but beyond that lies disillusionment and regret. Kudos for basically accomplishing what you set out to do, mostly! And lastly, owning up to what went wrong in such a direct and entertainingly honest way... well, lots of folks in my country would be looking to blame someone else, making insane claims about planted evidence, etc. It's bad here.
Bueno!! Estoy por armar el mío!! Seguiré tu experiencia para seguir las instrucciones hasta el final
It's good you shared the whole journey. People rearly share their failures. But that's when you learn for your and others mistakes.
If its burned badly ( visible bubbling smelly and blistered ) then chuck it as the traces will be damaged beyond repair ! The pots , switch etc. will be fine . Sadly the circuit does not have a large MOV or polyswitch for protection or reverse polarity diode . It has about £20 worth of components and can be built on matrix board .Try a treble booster first . I use Rapid Electronics near my home town for most consumables and eBay for semiconductors not at Rapids . They also have a range of enclosures , pre painted . Hydro dipping in Essex is the posh word for " swimming ". I design build , repair modify ECUs for cars and motorcycles , guitars , tube and solid state amps , keyboards , etc .
Don't worry, it'll be repairable. Stuff like this is usually a simple fix. Always worth 'bench testing' things before final assembly because mistakes will happen and it saves time troubleshooting and getting back on track.
Worth remembering that most music gear is centre negative on the DC barrel jack, most other things are centre positive, hence the polarity will be backwards. Probably caused a little more damage than if you'd plugged in a higher voltage with the correct polarity but it's not going to have caused significant damage and will likely just need a few components replacing.
If it helps, it's even more satisfying when you also manage to fix a broken thing on top of having built a thingy thing
Also, from experience, the best money you could spend is on a temperature controlled solder station. So so important. I learned this the hard way!! Not just an ordinary soldering iron.
I’ve plugged in the the wrong voltage for pedals before as well. Fortunately, I now use an isolated power supply (brick) and that prevents my mistake from turning into a disaster.
Great job on building the pedal either way!
Honestly, I really appreciate this video... It shows that someone can know enough to actually BUILD a Klon Centaur type pedal, and STILL make a "simple" mistake like not checking the adapter... I'll openly confess that I'm the MOST UN-HANDY person on the planet, lol... I can write songs and music ALL DAY, but I can't do ANYTHING technical, or that involves tools, like, AT ALL... A few years back I taught myself to build guitars, and honestly it's been SO DAMNED DIFFICULT, literally EVERY SINGLE STEP of the way... I'm JUST now learning how to build pedals, and I want to do it SO bad, but I ALSO know what I'm up against, lol... That I'm probably gonna screw THAT up too, every step of the way... But this video gives me hope... Bless your sunny attitude, ma'am, lol...
I just finished making my GhostDrive when this popped up. I though I'd blown mine, asI had no power when I plugged it in. I followed the diagram when soldering, but the red wires (battery + and PSU+) from power in to circuit board were the wrong way around when I checked it with a multimeter. This meant the power jack input was switched off when plugged into PSU, so I had no power. Swapping the red cables on the jack input around meant the switch between jack input and battery worked correctly, and the unit powered up. Long shot, but worth checking.
I make the exact same mistake! I had to contact tech support for help and they told me,what I had done wrong. Fun build and great pedal!
Thanks. Stew Mac is relatively close to where I live and I have used their products with very good results. While my electronics are generally ok, we won’t discuss how I botch up finishes.
The vast majority of pedals are 9V so if it takes one 9V battery it's 9V, If if takes 2 9V batteries it's 18V (much rarer) and there are a few at 12V and other odd voltages. I always check which voltage AND polarity of the input jack because there are different pedals with negative centers and some with positive centers. Running a battery at first will always be the safest, then you can look into voltages and polarity. Also there are a few pedals that can jump up a 9 volt battery up to 18v and some that can take both by switching an internal switch. Ultimately it's up to the user to determine all of this.
I've built several kits and raw circuits from scratch over the years. these are tiny boards and use the 9V ( -v at the tip) type pedals. Important not to use too hot a gun for this project or too big a tip. you can destroy the board and or components. Best if you can use a temperature controlled soldering iron.
Awe dam, I was getting excited. You'll get it next time for sure.
I love your sense of humor and perspective. Keep it real :-)
"In memory of the pedals that never made it" the was gold. @11:43
Came back to this… it’s very likely you’d only have to replace the chips which would cost next to nothing at an electronics hobby retail. I noticed at 6:50, one IC leg may if may not be bent, and sticking out the side of the socket. The “quickly explode” part in relation to electrolytic capacitors, that’s a bit dramatic, and would only happen powered anyway. It’s both the kind of explosion that breaks the enclosure, but may make a mess on the board.
thanks for sharing your journey on the petal build. I can so relate, from the original interest to get everything just 'right', the intense focus to the end being a let down. I enjoy watching your channel from Texas USA, Cheers.
Oh, those Dremel torches. I think I destroyed about three in my lifetime working as a telemetry and tracking tech in vehicles. They were pretty good when new, but then the ceramic catalyst cartridge would shatter and leave the building via small exhaust hole, rendering the thing unusable (and also making temperature control a bitch while it fails) as a soldering iron, leaving you with glorified cigarette lighter. Also, one has to mind the small exhaust port, burning everything close by. I strongly recommend Pinecil all your soldering needs. Excellent temperature control, fast hea up, and accelerometer that switches the heater off when you put down the soldering iron, so you don't burn down the hacienda, especially if it is a wood shop. Oh, and you can power one with USB C charger. Oh, and one more thing: the sponge in the small metal tin: you are supposed to wet it before use.
I built a Klon pedal about 2 months ago. Despite barely knowing how to solder,, and it being my first time doing ANYthing with circuits, it went great. The directions included were super easy to follow until I got to one particular capacitor; it just looked all wrong, and was super tiny compared to all the others. I called Stewmac, and they said, yep, its correct, they have to substitute parts because of availability and vendor supply etc etc. Long story short, it all went swimmingly. Get another kit and use a 9v battery next time 🙂
Go back in a week to make certain the jack nuts, switch nuts and board mounting screws are tight. They loosen up after a bit of use. Good job Daisy
You did it, that was the journey. Great job. Now let's blame manufacturers who make different voltages using the same size plug.
Daisy, good effort despite the mishap. Love your channel. I built a fuzz pedal as my first project and it was a bit simpler. I bought the StewMac Swell Drive and it has so many parts it is still sitting on my bench waiting to be built.
Quite a difficult one to start from ahah
If you will have another try I would suggest something simpler like the bluesbreaker or a fuzz 🤟
Very nice painting anyway!
you jumped in the deep end! there are a lot of things that can go wrong in a pedal build and can be a fair bit of head scratching in the troubleshooting. it's a really fun and rewarding hobby though, and an endless number of classic designs that can be built for cheap. as someone else mentioned this one is almost certainly salvageable!
Great video and excellent advice. Don't stress, build the next one and show us please! You're a talented lady and deserve the best! May peace be upon you
Very yummy and smart sausage :-)
Good on you for attempting it, for starters!
It's pretty unlikely that you've done anything irreparable to it. Hang in there!
Instead of the complicated soldering stands, you can just use a big chunk of blutack to hold the circuit board whilst installing the components. Easy, cheap and replaceable.
Using a multimeter to premeasure and mark on a board your resisters helps. Also part numbers on capacitors may not exactly match the book instructions so just internet search the numbers and you’ll see how they match up.
Awwwww shiiiiiiit -- that's gutted > on the plus side now you can make a Mk2 😉 You're a joy to watch - much love !
Components can have higher voltage tolerance than what the pedal is supposed to receive. It is all down to quality/over-spec'ing. Some people are known to over-voltage certain pedals on purpose. If the kit has overspec components, maybe the screaming is wiring error rather than dead compenents.
Been there - done that.
But - building pedals can be extremely fun and rewarding.
Love your video.
Alas, we are all human…and it is humbling when we admit it. Admiration for you.👍
Hi Daisy, I'm from the southern part of the USA. South Georgia to be exact. I loved your southern hick accent impersonation. I got a chuckle out of that. It made me smile. Not bad at all. Sorry about the pedal fail. Love your channel btw.
Soldering on small circuit boards takes practice and having the right soldering iron and tip can make a big difference. I've been tinkering in electronics for a long time and my soldering skills are still weaker than I'd like. I've improved quite a bit over the years, but then I see these guys do really gorgeous work and I realize I'm just out of their league. But it's cool. I manage to get stuff working. I actually have a STACK of pedals in the form of populated or mostly-populated boards. I just need to put them in enclosures and connect up the jacks & pots and stuff. And that pile has been sitting there for a good bit. Maybe this weekend...
I can say I too did a Centaur as my first pedal... and It didn't go much better. I actually went back and redid it and got it half working (the treble control does nothing). Fuzzes are alot easier, especially the Fuzz Face (its only a hand full of components). Hope you have better luck in the future! Also, its fun to build in a fuzz into a guitar!
If anything has been fried at…. 18V or such. It’s those big capacitors. (The ones that may explode) Most everything else can handle much much higher voltages. Or maybe since it’s a Klon. The charge pump (if one is present) probably labeled as a TC1044
Well Done You! A good thing about these Pedals is their ability to use Battery power. Safer than "someone lending you" a supposed power supply for Guitar Pedals that don't run on much power.. Batteries are great testing things! So you may have done everything right for all we know...
I think you should make another one . I watched they next video from Five Watt World about that pedal the Klon. Hell , I'm thinking about making one myself. You learned a lot about what doesnt work I built 3 Tube amp kits from MOJO Tone and they I wired it just like the schematic said but i had wires going all over the place and talk about Hum. The little 5 watt champ sounded good but the other two I paid to have MOJO rewire one anyway, I did'n't have a very good Solder gun either lol. I liked the paint job. Thanks for that one. I do a lot of lot of the things you and your friends do. Anyway, You are a very cool person I can tell and I wish teh best for you.
I built this and it didn’t work so I contacted StewMac support. They were fantastic. From photos I sent they were able to identify what I had done incorrectly. They are amazing.
This reminds me of the first pedal I built, a tube screamer clone, all was good until I cooked the pots trying to tidy up the soldering haha. Anyways I literally just found your channel, I look forward to seeing more of your content 😎
If the capacitors are not damaged, you could try to change the op amp and the voltage inverter. It should be work :)
We all live & learn & make mistakes,it's how we learn to get it right, you done a good job, just 1 mistake first time is good...most people make a few..your honest, willing to gives things a try, you'll get their in the end....we've all made mistakes building or rewiring something wrong but we remember & learn..respect
You chose a difficult project and I bet you would have pulled it off nicely without the easy to make mistake at the end. Cheers to you and keep on trying. This is how you grow and you will not regret learning the skills you have acquired during this endeavour. I love soldering on things and have soldered many projects including modding pedals and amps etc. It's a very enjoyable hobby.
Oh, Daisy........ Well, you know the old saying....... Whatever doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. Happy you weren't killed.
BTW - Loved the spaghetti western music during the painting portion. Very dramatic.
Cheers!
Like many have already mentioned, it should be pretty easy to repair your pedal. Most of the components (resistors, capacitors, diodes, wires, jacks) are rated for much more than 9 volts. If anything is damaged by the higher voltage, it is most likely the 3 ICs in the circuit. They should be fairly inexpensive. I would recommend a visual test to see if anything else looks burnt but I would consider replacing the ICs and giving it a try, If that does not work, then find a friend who has a good multimeter and some troubleshooting skills and they can troubleshoot further.
Thanks for the video. I really enjoy watching your approach to the various challenges.
Really enjoying your channel. I run Fredric Effects in London and as a result have built hundreds of Klon-types. With your build, all may not be lost- the klon has a voltage protection diode designed to short out when given too much voltage. Part number 1N4742. Cut this part (yes really) and try the pedal with the correct power supply.
I think you should get a replacement board if you're not able to repair it. That case needs to house a working circuit... It's gorgeous!
Hi Daisy, I'm pretty new to your channel but have already watched most of the videos and love it. Keep the videos coming!
As someone who is experienced with soldering and assembling pcbs - also professionally - I'd say that this is not too bad a pcb for a beginner as it does not involve very difficult soldering by electronics standards. Key is a good soldering iron or even better a soldering station with a chisel tip, this makes it so much easier. These pointed tips are no good in general. IMHO the one part of a soldering iron or station that determines the usability the most is the tip, and the problem with cheaper equipment is that also the tips are not on par with the ones of the more expensive equipment like Weller, Hakko or Ersa. If possible prefer a soldering station with temperature regulation over a simple soldering iron, even if it's a cheaper one.
Regarding the fried circuit I think you can fix it. I don't know if Stewmac have modified the cirucuit for any reason but I had a look at a Klon Centaur circuit I found online. The circuit is quite complex but it contains only three ICs, one ICL7660 voltage converter and two TL072 opamps. These are the first suspects to failure and as they aren't expensive components you could just change them and try again.
I built one off of Etsy which is almost identical, best sounding drive pedal I own. Love it to bits through my Cornford rig..
Be cool. My guess is that there is a protection circuit on the 9V input. It’a a Zener diode, probably 12V. It works as a protection for overvoltage and wrong polarity. It’s set so if you accidently connect 12 V or more or have the wrong polarity on the supply, the diode will blow. The pedal will appear dead. Most of the components in the pedal can handle 12V and more, so except the Zener diode, the rest of the components are probably OK. A new diode, guess it’s a 1N4742, cost abt 1 Eur for 10 pcs… just some desoldering and resoldering, and that you proved was no problem :-)
Nice work by the way. Two strong recommendations that does not cost that much and make a difference.
• Multimeter - To measure Volt, Ampere, Ohm’s (resistors), Farad (capacitance) etc. With this you can check components values, connections, short circuits, check diodes etc. abt 25 Euro and up. A good one abt 50 Euro.
• Soldering Iron - A temp controlled with about at least 25W effect/390 degree temp. A fast hand is better than a low effect… That said, to high effect can quickly burn things up. Mine is 60W/400 degrees, but you need to know how to use that.
• Desoldering - A desoldering pump is a big help and a saver off the circuit board and components on the bord. Both to de solder and to clean up. Some prefer braid. I prefer pump in general. Use braid if there is a tight spaces.
Hope it helps get your nice pedal alive again //Per
Wow... As soon as you said "Can I borrow your DC jack", I got a horrible sinking feeling in my stomach. Many years ago, I repaired a liquid damaged laptop for a friend. It was some 8 hours of work cleaning the motherboard, which thankfully only needed a few components replacing. Got the whole thing plugged in, tested it and it all worked fine, so I came to close up the back of the case. I closed the lid and... crunch. This thing had irritated me so much the whole time I was working on it, and in frustration, I closed the lid too hard and smashed the screen.
All it takes is that one little moment of distraction, and you're back even before square one.
I kicked myself so much after that. Especially given that I then had to buy another screen for it, and strip the whole thing down again to replace it.
It's a properly gutting feeling.
Likely just the zener protection diode, possibly the Maxx1044 step-up regulator chip.
In general, I'd always suggest socketing that step-up regulator becuz (a) things fry, and (b) they CAN be electrically noisy and some are more susceptible to behaving badly if there's noise on ground (i.e. a high-current-demand digital pedal can do just that).
Anyway, either of the component swaps can be done easily and inexpensively with that soldering iron and a little solder wick or a solder sucker.
It is unlikely that the trace was vaporized as we aren't talking 10+ amps of current.
Never fear.
It was a good lesson, and one that will make you a better/safer user of pedals in the future.
And shame on your friend for not anticipating the issue with the appropriate voltage... if he IS a proper pedal-nerd, he should have known that would happen... Klones (and positive-ground germanium fuzz pedals) are the two most common pedals to fry up for Sunday breakfast.
Don't be down.
Just cuz it was your first, doesn't mean it will be your last.
Once built a 2 channel 50watt class A valve amp. Worked really well during testing right up until I managed to slip with a meter probe and touch a BIG power Capacitor. Woke up 3 hours later in hospital with a lovely burn on my arm and a matching one on my waist which was in contact with the metal table via a belt buckle... 😆
The board won't be fried. I don't know the circuit, but many pedals have an input capacitor (C1) which is intended to protect the rest of the circuit. So chances are you just need to replace C1 cap. Hope this helps
So if you plugged a higher-than-specified DC voltage, the only components you're likely to have fried are the active components (chips, diodes, transistors). Surely you can identify each one and order a replacement (Farnell, Hobbytronics, RS Components....etc). Then just desolder the old one (need a solder sucker), and put the new one in.
I'd describe it as fiddly, not hard. as long as you have good instructions. it's definitely worth doing.
Don't give up! You have the talent and the eye-hand coordination for producing quality guitars so building effect pedals will take just a little more time to get used to. Eventually, these same skills will enable you to add your own amp boards and pickups to your guitar designs. You got this!
If you will pardon my French, the guitar at the end there sounded damn good! Nice rhythm work. Very interesting journey too. You deserve a full day at the spa that one! ☺
A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing Daisy. Thanks for the video.👍👍
Actually, this is quite inspiring!! I'm older than you are . . . actually much much older . . . and I make mistakes all the time! So, Kudos to you! Another life lesson is to maintain humility as we move forward. Perfection is a goal, a noble goal, but an unattainable goal. Let's all keep striving while realizing that we have goals that we will joyfully never attain! And for what it's worth, I started following you because I'm planning on building myself a guitar or bass . . . someday!! Cheers!
I think it's all been said re: the device's future (I'm an old electronics tech and play a little bit of guitar, which I reckon is how I ended up watching this vid :) ). Good on you for giving it a go, I'm sure you'll build another pedal, and win. Best wishes for every success with your channel, and greetings from down under (where every summer is like the one you're having now in the UK). david
Thank you for doing the video even if it did not turnout well. Was good to see how relatively easy it is to DIY.
keep the "Dali'" inspired metal box and build some-thing else. Your enthusiasm and dedication to getting a job finished is exemplary, just keep some 9volt batteries in easy reach. I would be happy to sit through more of your experiments with "wires and boxes" . Great job.All the supplier had to do was put a 9volt only big flourescent sticker on the cover of the manual.
Heart breaking. I have two of these kits waiting for time off work to assemble. Found this video useful. Thank you.
I love that you were not bashful about posting this project. I tell you what, I HATE those little barrel DC power sources. There are too many that look identical. The barrel is positive on some and ground on the others, the detailed print is too small for a human to read....I hate them. Thanks for sharing.
all this work for a massive destruction, that's a brutal romance, some how I love it!