[Part 1] A High School Guitarist Wants to Build a Pedal - Circuit Board

Hey everyone!!!!
Do you want to do some soldering!!!!

“Yeeeeaaaahhhh!!!!”

I kick off this slightly niche call-and-response. Hi I’m a high school guitarist, S.

Starting from now, I’m going to create an original effect pedal! The pedal I’ll be making is a modeling distortion pedal from Marshall!

Since I’m making my own effect pedal, I’ve come up with a name for it. I’m calling this pedal ‘Astra’. In Latin, it means star or constellation. I chose this name because I personally love stars and wanted to express the sparkle characteristic of Marshall.

In this Part 1, I’ll be focusing on the PCB creation process, specifically building the circuit board for the effect pedal!

The term ‘circuit board’ might ring a bell from your middle school tech classes. But what exactly is a circuit board?

What is a Circuit Board?

A circuit board is described as “a board used to arrange components necessary to achieve a specific function, or a term referring to the board and its components as a whole” (quoted from Wikipedia).

To put it simply, it’s “the core board of a machine.” In the case of an effect pedal, electricity flows through this board, and signals pass through various circuits to be output as “effects.”

In other words, the circuit board can be thought of as the heart of the effect pedal. It’s no exaggeration to say this is the most crucial part. This is not something to take lightly.

What is Soldering?

What exactly is soldering? For those of you who might have forgotten this process from school, let’s refresh our memories.

Soldering is done with solder and a soldering iron.

Solder is an alloy of tin and lead, generally referring to those with a melting point below 450 degrees Celsius. In English, it’s called solder, and there are also solderless cables for patch cables.

A soldering iron is a tool used to melt the solder. The tip is made of copper, which has a melting point of 1,085 degrees Celsius, making it suitable for melting solder.

When solder is melted with a soldering iron and used to join metallic parts through which electric current flows, this process is called “soldering.”

Soldering is used not only for effect pedals but also when creating patch cables or DC cables. If you’re looking to make these, be sure to purchase solder and a soldering iron.

By the way, it’s also good to have a “solder wick” or “solder sucker.” These tools help remove excess solder or solder that has connected to places it shouldn’t have. If you’re not used to soldering, I recommend getting these as well.

Montreux / Solder Remover 1m [1676]

PCB Creation Process

The process of creating a circuit board follows the flowchart below.

This time, there are 24 parts, including resistors and capacitors. These parts are collectively referred to as ‘circuit elements’. We’ll repeat the following steps until every hole on the board is filled with specific circuit elements.

Circuit elements have legs that are inserted into the holes on the circuit board, which are then fixed in place by pouring solder.

(The rods extending on either side are the legs.)

Let’s Try It Out

Now, it’s finally time for the long-awaited soldering! Here’s the circuit board we’ll be using:

We’ll solder the specified circuit elements into their designated positions.

This is super fun!

I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands, so I was able to enjoy this process. I bent the legs, inserted them into the holes, soldered them, and cut off the excess legs with a pair of nippers. This repetitive yet simple task is the charm of creating an effect pedal.

Listening to the sound of the unfamiliar soldering iron tapping against the circuit board, I soldered with both excitement and fear.

Thinking about how each step connects to the final effect gives a profound sense of fulfillment.

By the way, there are four circuit elements in the upper right of the center of the circuit board that look like a book. This part is responsible for creating distortion. Distortion can be considered an artificial sound crackling. I won’t go into details, but this part handles that function.

After repeating this process for a while, I finally completed the circuit board!

How does it look?

For my first attempt at making a circuit board, I think I did a pretty good job soldering!

I started to grasp the technique midway through, and after that, the process went smoothly!

This effect pedal model has fewer circuit elements, making it just right for a beginner like me!

Impressions

My candid impression after making a circuit board for the first time is, “There’s a deep and enjoyable satisfaction in the detailed work.”
After more than ten repetitions, the joy surpassed the difficulty, and it became a continually enjoyable task.
If you love gear and have even a slight interest in making effect pedals, I highly encourage you to give it a try!

In the next part, I’ll be reaching the halfway point with “Enclosure Painting Edition.” Stay tuned!

Wishing you all a great guitar life!

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