After many years of tweaking and building what are your inherent truths?

[duck_arse]

I only recently got into the habit of putting a pedal/circuit name on EVERY bit of paper I start drawing on. I only recently discovered the joys of paperclips.

[Cozybuilder]

1) 3 ring binders and plastic sheet protectors are a great way to keep all the notes, sub-system drawings, wiring diagrams, and schematics for a project together

2) the smaller the box the harder the build

3) he harder the build, the more satisfaction when it works right  (thats why I keep scratching this 1590LB itch)

[midwayfair]

Mine is that usually it doesn't matter, until it does.

[Cozybuilder]

JB Weld is your friend!

  1) You can fill in mis-drilled holes and save the box-

  2) Great for mounting threaded standoffs so you can mount your circuit card securely

  3) Can use it on jacks and pots to keep them from turning in those tight-space builds

[Mark Hammer]

My inherent truth

You (I) can spend a surprising amount of time debugging before realising that you haven't put the ICs in their sockets yet. 

Been there.  Done that.  Worn out the t-shirt, and waxed the car with it.
A similar amount of time can be spent without realizing that the chip goes in the other way.

[tubegeek]

I only recently discovered the joys of paperclips.

You're gonna really love THESE:



Their only drawback is that the shape isn't as good as a trombone-style clip for bending into an earwax-removal tool.

[bluebunny]

Cool.  What do you call these things - "nad-clips"?   

[tubegeek]

Regal clips. Hadn't noticed their nadiness until you pointed it out but they really DO look quite ballish, don't they?

[Brisance]

You (I) can spend a surprising amount of time debugging before realising that you haven't put the ICs in their sockets yet. 

Aint that the truth!

Once it took me almost an hour! mainly because sound was going through, but no effect.

[Frank_NH]

My inherent truth:

"The process of answering one question about a circuit always leads to at least ten more related and unrelated questions."

Example:  Someone was asking on another forum how to add more treble to an active three band Baxandall-style tone stack.  That led me to start studying passive/active tone stacks, variations of Baxandall, other three band tone stacks, why some work others don't, has someone simulated this with LTSpice, ...

[vigilante397]

You (I) can spend a surprising amount of time debugging before realising that you haven't put the ICs in their sockets yet. 

Or in my case plugged something in I was debugging a pedal last night, took a few minutes to realize I hadn't plugged in the power supply. Plugged in the power supply to find out that at some point in those few minutes I had unplugged my guitar. Get the guitar plugged in, still nothing, find out that for some reason I had unplugged my amp. Finally plugged everything in and SURPRISE the pedal worked 

[midwayfair]

I was debugging a pedal last night, took a few minutes to realize I hadn't plugged in the power supply.

I did exactly this last night, too. At first I was all like   then I was like   then I was like  

[Luke51411]

Every new circuit or circuit board, I automatically want regardless of how many other boards I have waiting to be populated even if the new one covers very similar territory to something else that is already on the "list"

[canman]

JB Weld is your friend!

  1) You can fill in mis-drilled holes and save the box-

  2) Great for mounting threaded standoffs so you can mount your circuit card securely

  3) Can use it on jacks and pots to keep them from turning in those tight-space builds

Genius!!  What JB Weld do you use to fill mis-drilled holes?  And is it safe to bake in an oven with some Rustoleum spray paint?

[Cozybuilder]

I use the original cold-weld formula- lots of practice with all my screw-ups 

I haven't tried oven curing epoxy paint on it, but once its cured I believe it will not off-gas. I switched to Rust-oleum also- although it takes a lot longer to cure than Krylon, its a whole lot more durable.

[monksanto]

6) When it comes to distortion, after the first 50 they pretty much all sound the same.

lol

[Govmnt_Lacky]

- Enamel paint takes approximately 124 years to fully cure.

- No matter what angle, level, distance, or pattern I spray Rustoleum Hammered paint.... I will NEVER get a good hammered look from it.

- YES! You are missing at least 1 piece to complete your build!

- The ratio of actual pictures to comments on the "Pictures" thread is about 1 to 8.

- The absolute BEST thing you can do to prevent problems with a build is to verify component values and placement AS YOU SELECT THEM and JUST PRIOR TO INSTALLING!

- People REALLY do not give a damn how much time and energy you put into a build.

- I have been doing this for over a decade and I still cannot follow most of what RG Keen and Mark Hammer post on here.    

I'm sure there is more....  

[lapsteelman]

Understand how the circuit works before you attempt to build it.

Try not to assume to much.

Give yourself room to work.

Break circuits down into the smaller circuits that make them up.

No matter how sure you are that the circuit will work and not go into crazy oscillation, don't test the circuit at 2 in the morning while your wife is asleep.

[Mark Hammer]

- The absolute BEST thing you can do to prevent problems with a build is to verify component values and placement AS YOU SELECT THEM and JUST PRIOR TO INSTALLING!

To adapt the carpenter's maxim: "identify and confirm twice, install once".

- I have been doing this for over a decade and I still cannot follow most of what RG Keen and Mark Hammer post on here.    

Neither can I. 

[Luke51411]

- The absolute BEST thing you can do to prevent problems with a build is to verify component values and placement AS YOU SELECT THEM and JUST PRIOR TO INSTALLING!

To adapt the carpenter's maxim: "identify and confirm twice, install once".

- I have been doing this for over a decade and I still cannot follow most of what RG Keen and Mark Hammer post on here.    

Neither can I. 

Going off of this thread...
When starting out you are referred to many articles or posts by RG or Mark Hammer as some of the experts of our hobby
One of the inherent truths I've found is that if you ask a question regarding some of their material you will almost always get an answer directly from one of them.