Thank you. I want to keep it clean looking to fit with what I purchased and also I wish to build with parts that are accessible/easy to obtain. I have a print company printing out some decals for me if this all goes ahead and I'll include a few other goodies to go with it such as appropriate boxing, manual, schematic since I think it'll compliment the experience I had when I bought my Animato. A few issues I'm facing as far as the design is concerned:
- LED placement. It'll have to go to the bottom left next to the switch. That'll allow for production PCB's to be placed in, most likely with a double sided foam against the case. I like to have the components facing up on my boards and displayed. Main reason for getting proper PCB's printed over home etched is for quality and time saving. I want it to be nice. For the cost vs scale, it's also fairly comparable. I might even be able to get my hands onto a family member's laser etching machine which would make my life immensely better.
- Enclosures. I don't have the right gear here to paint them to an appropriate quality as I tested during the week which seemed to just get too dirty for my liking. This will be the bit that sets me back the most financially. The drilling spots I've selected are good for the time being. At least proves it can all fit in a tidy manner. A version with a clean blend will go in a bigger enclosure but I'd rather get accurate clones out over going nuts with it (imagine clean/big muff/animato all stuffed into one? mmmmm)
- Sourcing potentiometers and knobs. The knobs I featured are no longer available but there is something similar in stock elsewhere. Also, my favoured electronics supplier does not stock the dual gang pots with smooth shafts for knobs. Easy thing to get around, just a bit more of a nuisance.
- Working on a design where as many components as possible are placed on the board flat. It's quite difficult to make a board layout compact, functional and look aesthetically pleasing. It's the case of have three options, pick two. I think I've pretty much achieved this one though. I did once
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- Finding the right transistors to pair with it that produce an
honest representation of the pedal. I believe my breadboarded demo does a great job with the attack but just edges slightly away from the decay side. I have a few other silicon types coming in so if I can find a set there that work, it'll be nice. If a Darlington transistor drops in the best, so be it (that'll be nicer too, three less pins to worry about). If I absolutely must go the germanium route, I'll have to take some time and money to decide how to go about them. They are virtually impossible to get locally and with their *ahem* lack of reliability, it puts them comfortably 10-20 times more expensive than silicon variants (a few cents compared to ~$5-10). That's why I'm really happy john_k and others have assisted with building and assessing it. It makes this task less risky, especially for a uni student who isn't doing this for profit (just yet, I'd rather focus on my own designs).
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Time and money. While I technically have my last class for the year tomorrow, I have exams until mid/late next month. I do not wish to ask people for deposits, I want the pedals to be there ready to go, then put up for sale as to not disappoint and I am working as fast as I can to ensure that it's possible to get some clones out. Amazingly, I've had a few people donate money to the project which has been fantastic. It allowed me to get the supplies required to breadboard it and have a go at buying the parts to build it so a huge thank you to all of them.
I'll put all the design stuff up too so people at home can have a go. I *hope* to have started building these come late November, early December. I'm also working on other projects in the meantime for myself such as looking into making a hybrid digital/analog reverb but that'll take a lot of study time learning ways to manipulate that stuff.
For now, if you want an Animato sound, find an old Dallas Rangemaster and shove a Big Muff Pi after it. Close enough.
