one of my favorite tricks for solder removal only works on small, light components. wires, yes, whole amps no, a circuit board or stompbox yes.

momentum!

get the solder hot, hold the thing in your hand, above something like a hardwood floor, accelerate it toward the floor and then either bring it to an immediate halt or even jerk it slightly back upward. the wet solder will keep conserving its momentum, and drop into a little spot on the floor. once it cools, after a few seconds, you can pop it right off the floor and throw it out.

be careful. molten solder is hot as hell. if it gets on some part of your body, the momentum trick is one of the best ways to get it off. the last thing you wanna do is try and wipe it off and just wipe it a little. it'll only smear and burn a larger area that way. if you're gonna wipe it, make sure to wipe the fuck out of it and spread it over as wide an area as you can, cause that way it cools quicker and also doesn't burn a deep hole into you.

if you do it right, the molten solder should never come into contact with any part of your body. nor should you touch the soldering iron itself, which is also hundreds of degrees.

i've got a pedal 90% designed. once I finish it and build it, everybody is gonna want one. i'll put the schematics online or something. it'll be pretty easy to build. some diodes, resistors, capacitors, pots, jacks, tube sockets, pushbuttons, wires, and an enclosure, and that's about it.

Scott,
What kind of pedal?

it's a superpedal! basically, depending on what you do with it, it can be used as any or all of the following...

clean boost
overdrive/distortion
EQ
A/B/Y
effects loop
phase/polarity switching, for ABY or effects loop capabilities in a 2-amp setup

its main purpose, the reason I need it, is to be able to manage a two amp setup using distortion pedals that flip phase when they're turned on, and also to turn two or more pedals on/off with a single button press, with adjustable EQ for pedal chains so a pedal like the MXR Distortion+ becomes usable because it's kinda like adding a tone control to it. an added bonus is that it can be used to generate soft clipping/distortion (all tube) so there's a more complex gain staging and response to pick intensity.

and I guess it could be a standalone all-tube guitar preamp, too, with gain and tone controls like you'd find on a nice tube amp.

it's gonna be pretty awesome, and offer lotsa flexibility and control. quest for tone and whatnot.

Sounds pretty awesome!

I've started to add effects back to my rig, and the Scottbox sounds like something I can make frequent use of. Please post. :)

scott wrote: quest for tone and whatnot.

You are certifiable.

Please post a schematic of the Scottbox when you are completed.

endofanera wrote:

scott wrote: quest for tone and whatnot. :)

You are certifiable.

Please post a schematic of the Scottbox when you are completed.

Scottbox. it only can have this name.

When I read "Scottbox" my brain makes it sound like the Dirtbombs singing "Foxbox" and that makes me think of good sounding guitar so I think this name "Scottbox" is perfect.

scott wrote:i've got a pedal 90% designed. once I finish it and build it, everybody is gonna want one. i'll put the schematics online or something. it'll be pretty easy to build. some diodes, resistors, capacitors, pots, jacks, tube sockets, pushbuttons, wires, and an enclosure, and that's about it.

instead of putting it online you oughta go into business with a guy who's already got a pedal company who can manufacture it and both you and he can make some money.

i'm talking about themilford, by the way.

It's funny that you've just been putting something together Scott as likewise I've just designed a new pedal too.

It's currently on breadboard, but when I get it onto veroboard and into an enclosure I'll let you guys know about it as it is a fairly novel design.