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Austin AUSTINDRIVE Quick Start Manual

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AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02
December, 2020
AUSTINDRIVE PEDAL
DIY PROJECTS
1

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Summary of Contents for Austin AUSTINDRIVE

  • Page 1 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 AUSTINDRIVE PEDAL DIY PROJECTS...
  • Page 2 Use of these parts and instructions is at your own risk. By choosing to use these instructions and assemble the parts provided, you have just assumed all liability and risk, releasing Austin Microphones and Rick Wilkinson from damages and/or liability. Please contact me for details.
  • Page 3 1. You should have some soldering skills. Like our DIY Ribbon Microphone & Preamp Kits, The AUSTINDRIVE is designed to be an easy weekend project. However, some prior experience with solder and circuit boards really helps. If you’ve never soldered anything before, search "soldering”...

  • Page 4: Circuit Design

    AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 CIRCUIT DESIGN This is how this circuit works: (It’s simple… really!) Short version: Two amplifiers amplify and clip-off the peaks of the waveforms, resulting in distortion. “Clipping” is literally cutting-off the tops and bottoms of a signal.

  • Page 5: Theory Of Operation

    AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 THEORY OF OPERATION (Numbered on the next page) 1. The 9V power circuit is completed (powered-on) when you insert a guitar cable into the input 2. The signal from the guitar goes through two poles of the 3-Pole, Double-Throw (3PDT) switch 3.
  • Page 6 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020...
  • Page 7 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 DRILL THE ENCLOSURE (Before any graphics are applied) NOTE: Most kits come with pre-drilled enclosures, but a few “budget-friendly” kits do not. I have drawn templates for marking the holes below. Print this page onto regular paper and cut them out around the outside edges.
  • Page 8 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 While drilling the enclosure, block or clamp the enclosure so it does not spin. Keep the enclosure from spinning while drilling by pressing it against a piece of wood that is clamped to the table with clamps or heavy spring clips.
  • Page 9 APPLY THE GRAPHICS (Drill first, Label second!) For workshops and customers designing their own graphics, use the AUSTINDRIVE Graphics Creator on Google Slides. Labels will be printed from your artwork. All other kits have a graphics label included, or search YouTube to learn how to make your own graphic labels without me! Clean the face of the pedal with Isopropyl Alcohol and let it dry.
  • Page 10 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 PREPARE YOUR PARTS AND WORKSPACE Clean off your bench or prepare a nice workspace where you won’t burn a kitchen tabletop or tablecloth. Having a nice area ahead of time really does help.
  • Page 11 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 STUFF THE CIRCUIT BOARD Find the PCB Bag. It has the following components: 4) 8-pin Sockets 1) 100µF Electrolytic cap 3) “104” (0.1µF) Caps 1) 10µF Electrolytic cap 2) 1MEG resistors 1) 1N400x Diode (x= 1, 4 or 7)
  • Page 12 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 D1 (1N400x) Diode Bend the 1N400x diode with your fingers so it fits in the holes. Check-Off A diode is “polarized” and current only flows one way. Put the diode through the holes so that the stripe on the diode matches the stripe on the board.
  • Page 13 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 R4 & R5 (1 MEG) Resistors Bend one lead of each resistor back-over on itself, so that both legs point the same direction. Install resistors upright. Check-Off These resistors divide the 9V equally into +/- 4.5v, to “center-bias”...
  • Page 14 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 Both electrolytic capacitors lay flat on the board. They must be installed correctly. These capacitors ARE polarized. The longer leg goes into the square “+” pad. C4 is the 100µF capacitor at the top, that lines-up horizontal.
  • Page 15 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 DRIVE Jumper IF YOU ARE INSTALLING THE OPTIONAL DRIVE KNOB: Leave these pads empty for now. We will wire them in the final step: Wiring the Enclosure. If you are not installing a DRIVE knob, you must place a jumper...
  • Page 16 Use a slow drill, pinch the wires with your fingers, and slowly twist wire pairs if you need to. Not more than 2 turns per inch, or about 1 turn per cm. NOTE: AUSTINDRIVE Kits have pre-twisted wire pairs for certain connections.
  • Page 17 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 THE PEDAL PORT Throughout this tutorial, I use The Pedal Port, a silicone parts holer molded exclusively for pedal-building. It grips parts tight without scratching, and it doesn’t suck-out the heat of soldering.
  • Page 18 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 PRE-WIRE THE JACKS POTS AND SWITCHES THE INPUT JACK has 3 connections, commonly called a “Tip/Ring/Sleeve” (TRS) or “Stereo” jack. When a guitar cable is plugged-in, the ring makes contact with ground, connecting the DC Power Jack for as long as a cable is plugged-in.
  • Page 19 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 THE VOLUME POT is a B250k Pot with 3 connections. The outside two are the ends of a “C- shaped” resistor, and the center connection is a moveable point (“wiper”) along that resistor.
  • Page 20 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 Otherwise, the things you need to know to continue are: 1. The orientation matters. The pins are rectangles: Longer in one direction than the other. In the diagrams above and below, the pins are taller than they are wide. If the switch is oriented like this diagram in your enclosure, the pin numbers will be correct.
  • Page 21 I had to find my tone again. Therefore, a basic AUSTINDRIVE pedal without a drive knob lets you nail-down your own “sweet spot” with fixed resistors. The sound will be exactly the same every time, unless you want to...
  • Page 22 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 WIRE THE ENCLOSURE NOTE: For simplicity, not every wire is shown in these assembly diagrams, and the enclosure in the photos does not have a graphic on it. Wires are not drawn here with the correct lengths. Keeping the wires long while you build allows you to remove the circuit board to make circuit changes easier.
  • Page 23 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 Install the DC Jack Install the Volume Pot into the enclosure. This is a B250k Pot. Check-Off • Red wire to switch Pin 3 (Next to the Green wire) Route the red wire over the input jack, against the wall of the enclosure.
  • Page 24 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 Secure the potentiometers with a little nail polish Check-Off on the threads and nut. Avoid getting nail polish down the barrel of the potentiometer shaft!! (The part that turns.) Install the LED into the enclosure from the outside.
  • Page 25 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 There are 4 wire pairs that get soldered to the PCB. (Just 3 pairs if you don’t have a DRIVE knob.) Don’t worry… We will check-off each pair in this section: Check-Off Check-Off...
  • Page 26 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 Double-Checking and Routing Wires Now is a good time to double-check your wiring against the plans and photos, while thinking about how and where to route the wires inside the enclosure. Here are some tips: •...
  • Page 27 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 WIRE THE ENCLOSURE Wire the Switch to the PCB Even though the distance is short, I suggest keeping the wires long so that when you want to change components, the PCB moves freely.
  • Page 28 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 Wire the LED Check-Off • LED Red to PCB LED+ • LED Black to Switch Pin 5 Route the black wire over the input jack, as shown. DC Jack to PCB Check-Off • Red to PCB 9V+ •...

  • Page 29: Final Assembly

    AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 FINAL ASSEMBLY Check-Off Double-check your connections with the pictures above in this tutorial. The Black & White, and Yellow wires are long, so you can move the PCB. Make them loop around inside the enclosure.
  • Page 30 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 Create Your Tone By changing resistors, capacitors, diodes and Op-Amps in this circuit, YOU define your sound. The following images will help guide you, but YOU will have the final say in your sound.

  • Page 31: Important Note

    AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 Bend all resistors and diodes so that they fit into the sockets, and cut-off the legs. Needle-nose pliers and magnification can help when installing these components into the sockets. IMPORTANT NOTE: IN400x diodes are black with a silver stripe on one end. They can be 1N4001, 1N4004, or 1N4007 diodes, and may vary between kits.
  • Page 32 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 4001...
  • Page 33 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 4001...
  • Page 34 AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 Bend the legs to fit the socket You must first bend the legs of the Op-Amps slightly to fit into the sockets. Placing the chip on its side, with 4 legs touching the work surface, lean the chip over just a little bit, bending the legs in so that they fit the socket.
  • Page 35 The pedal plays nice with the volume knob on your guitar, reducing drive without getting too much quieter. If you always chase your tone, or use this pedal between multiple guitars, amps, and playing styles, you can install an optional Drive Knob Kit, available from Austin Mics. www.AustinMics.com/austindrive If your clean sound works, but stomping on the switch doesn’t turn on the overdrive, you might...

  • Page 36: Troubleshooting Problems

    AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 TROUBLESHOOTING PROBLEMS If your pedal does not work the first time, the good news is there are only a few problems you can possibly have. Some are obvious, some take a little time to figure out. When hooked-up correctly, the circuit works every time.

  • Page 37: Final Note

    AUSTINDRIVE Assembly Tutorial Rev 3.02 December, 2020 PEDAL HAS SOME SOUND, BUT IT’S BAD OR SUPER QUIET: 1. Verify your power supply, guitar, and cables. If you’re using the 9V battery adapter, is your battery dead? A REALLY dead battery will make it sound bad. Like REALLY dead. Verify your DC jack wiring, and check your guitar cables and amplifier volumes.
  • Page 38 I created this circuit. However, I owe a lot to pedal builders that have come before me. Everything in this circuit has been done before… but maybe not in this type of way before AUSTINDRIVE. Stop chasing your sound… Create it. Participate in your tone! Build an AUSTINDRIVE pedal. Rick Wilkinson June, 2020...