Remedial Beginner's Project - Simple pass-through patch bay.

[OverMachoGrande]

Hey, guys!

To say I'm a beginner with this sort of wiring is an understatement, so please take it easy on me!  I really want to get involved with this to a much greater extent, but I need to get my feet wet here.

I know this is going to seem ridiculously remedial for you guys, but I wanted to run my very first project here by you to make sure there aren't any problems (especially with grounding).

All I want to do is make a simple patch bay for my rack-mounted pedals -the signal will just pass right on through:



FYI -my signal is already running through a buffer (a GCX Audio Switcher), so it's low impedance and I'm not so worried too much about extra connectors, etc., thinning out the signal.  ...And I'm doing this pretty much just so it's easier to disconnect/reconnect the snake of cords going to my pedals.

Ok, so I guessed that the best way to wire this would simply be tip to tip, base to base:



I intend to solder the wires to the terminals and use heat shrink to cover them.

So, as you see, I just wrapped the wire around the terminals and tested it and it worked well, but is there anything that I'm not considering here?  I'm particularly concerned about grounding... do I need to do anything else other than just wire the base to the other base?  How about shielding of some sort -is it necessary?

Grounding is something that I've always struggled with -no matter what I'm dabbling in- and this is the reason I posted here!

Thank you!

-John (O.M.G.)

[trixdropd]

That's the enclosure I built my 1st pedal in...

I would line the box with foil tape and the lid. Then, when you install your jacks, they will ground the foil. This will create a grounded enclosure, stopping any stray noise from getting in.


Everything else looks good. Best of luck!

[OverMachoGrande]

Yeah, thank goodness for Radio Shack!  I was actually looking online for a longer, thinner, slightly shallower enclosure, but they were a lot harder to find than I would have guessed. 

Anyway, thanks for that!  That helps me immensely.  I actually have some conductive paint left over from a past project, so I think I'll use that for the shielding.

I wasn't sure I could do that with the foil or the conductive paint because I thought there was a chance that it would create a grounding loop since it wasn't just one output going down one straight path, but like I said... I have a tremendous LACK of understanding about practical grounding!

Anyway, thanks again for the help, and I'm sure I'll be back!  There are so many times where something isn't "perfect" in my setup, and I've wished that I could just BUILD IT like I want it.  This site will help me to do that!

-John (O.M.G.)

[Mark Hammer]

Excellent choice!

I often recommend stuff like that for first projects.  No worries about component values, burning anything out, pin orientations or polarity.  No etching or perfing.  Just some thinking, machining, soldering, and functioning goodness.

The nice thing is that where a simple fuzz may eventually lose its charm as your tastes change, a box like you made will always be useful.

[OverMachoGrande]

Hey, Guys!

Thanks again for the help!  Here they are -the Send and Return patchbays for my rack-mounted pedals:



I haven't been able to test them completely "in action" (two of my rack-mounted pedals are being modded right now anyway), but from what I've tested so far, they sound excellent!  No noise whatsoever, and no detectable signal loss, either.

I'll make a smaller one for my pedalboard on the floor (one with a midi input/output, too).  This type of stuff really does helps you have a pro setup!  I'm still a month out on getting everything up and running again, but when I do... it'll rock.

Thanks again!

-John (O.M.G.)

P.S. - Completely off topic, but does anyone know of a midi controlled power strip??  I'd love to be able to hook up different colored light strands for each setting that would automatically be controlled with my Ground Control Pro.  I've looked around and I see some DMX controlled things, but nothing that is midi footswitch controllable.