Noisy Cricket: PCB or Radio Shack?

[morpha2]

Just curious if anyone has any comments on building one of these with a custom PCB or the Radio Shack circuit board. Seems like the Radio Shack route would be easier. Do the results differ that much?

[slacker]

It will sound exactly the same however you build it if that's what you mean.

[morpha2]

Basically, yeah. THanks for the input. Now that I've looked over Dano's build sheet, though, the PCB looks pretty rad with the direct-mounted pots and switches. I hate etching, but I hate wires, so I'm at a bit of an impasse! Anyone know of a drill guide for the PCB build?

[Barcode80]

not sure what you mean by "drill guide." you drill wherever you see holes.... 

[morpha2]

Oh, for the enclosure. Having the pots and switches permanently in place worries me as I would likely screw up the drilling and one or more of them wouldn't fit. I guess I meant a drill template.

[hday]

You can make a drilling template for the correct spacing. Then solder the pots to the board while they're in their correct holes, that way if they're off a few mm or something, you have a bit of room to bend the leads before you solder them.

[ayayay!]

Dano's noisy cricket was my first "top to bottom" build, and looking back I didn't like that little Radio Shack "project" board.  But if you're not sure how to build in on perfboard from a schematic, then use the Radio Shack board.  I just eyeballed my enclosure for drilling since I knew it wasn't going to be a big deal.

[dano12]

I've built them both

The PCB route is a nicer build in the end, but I also hate etching PCBs. Regarding the holes, I usually drill the pot holes a bit larger than necessary to make it easier to line up the pots. The washer covers the slightly larger hole so it all seems to work out in the end.