I was recently commissioned by a couple of guys at my church to build some Strymon favorite switches. These are pretty easy to build and are a great place to start if you're getting into building pedals. Not much to say about them other than that so let's get into the build.
There are only 3 holes to drill in this enclosure; footswitch, LED, and jack. Measure each of your parts so that you don't use the wrong drill bit size and you're all set. I use a step bit like this one so I don't have to change bits when I'm drilling.
I was surprised that I couldn't find a drilling template for one of these so I made one myself. If you want to use it just save this image and print it at 100%. Do not select "Fit to Page" or it won't scale properly it needs to be original size.
Now we're going to take all of the hardware and fit it in the enclosure. Since it's so few parts, we're just going to be soldering directly from one piece to another. I quickly discovered that some parts are easier to put in first with my drill template. I recommend starting with your LED bezel, then the TRS jack and finally the DPDT switch.
Parts
You will need the following parts for this build (tools not included):
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| Some Sweet Knolling |
- 1590LB Enclosure
- DPDT Latching Switch
- TRS Input Jack
- LED
- LED Bezel (These LEDs have bezels too)
- Resistor (between 1k and 8.2k is perfectly fine)
- Wire
Build Procedure
Step 1 - Prepare and drill the enclosure
This step is pretty straight forward. I purchased a powder coated enclosure (link above) so it didn't need any prep work before I started drilling. If you buy an unfinished enclosure then you'll want to sand and paint it before this step.There are only 3 holes to drill in this enclosure; footswitch, LED, and jack. Measure each of your parts so that you don't use the wrong drill bit size and you're all set. I use a step bit like this one so I don't have to change bits when I'm drilling.
I was surprised that I couldn't find a drilling template for one of these so I made one myself. If you want to use it just save this image and print it at 100%. Do not select "Fit to Page" or it won't scale properly it needs to be original size.
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| Strymon Favorite Switch -1590LB Drill Template |
Step 2 - Installing the Hardware
Now we're going to take all of the hardware and fit it in the enclosure. Since it's so few parts, we're just going to be soldering directly from one piece to another. I quickly discovered that some parts are easier to put in first with my drill template. I recommend starting with your LED bezel, then the TRS jack and finally the DPDT switch.
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| Hardware All Mounted |
A couple of things to note. If you're using my drilling template then you'll need to use a DPDT switch like the one linked above. There won't be room for a standard 3PDT or the larger X pattern DPDT switches. Also, to make a little more room I cut off the solder lugs from the switching side of the jack. These are disconnected from the circuit when a jack is plugged in so they're pretty much just in the way. There's no need to remove them though since they won't make a functional difference.
Step 3 - Soldering it all together
To actually put everything together I used the schematic from Coda-Effect's blog seen below. It's really straightforward and shows just how simple this project is. Mine ended up being only 8 solder points when you include the wire I attached to the LED.
This connections are fairly straightforward but I'll note a couple of tips.
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| Schematic Taken from Coda Effects Blog |
This connections are fairly straightforward but I'll note a couple of tips.
- Wrap the negative lead of the LED to one of the leads on the resistor. This ensures a good physical connection and makes it easy to solder (it's also very satisfying). You can do the same with the wire coming off of the positive LED lead too.
- Solder all of the single connections points first.
- In the double connections (middle and left lug in the pictures) insert the leads in the same direction to make it easy to clip off the excess.
You should end up with something like this (yes, the bottom row of the switch is unused):
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| Completed Wiring |
After this, plug in a TRS cable and test it out with your Strymon pedal of choice. You should be all good to go.