Beginner Univibe uncertainties

Ok, you got your soldering iron and nothing is going to hold you back, but you have no clue where to start or what to build. There were others before you with the same questions... read them first.
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cotton.george231
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Post by cotton.george231 »

Okay so this is a stupid question. I’m new to building pedals and not an expert on the whole schematic thing. At some point I’m going to build a univibe (I know it’s ambitious, but I’ve got time on my hands). I’ll attach two images and can someone tell me if they’re the same thing? Do I need to buy them both, is one better than the other?

And alsoanywhere I can buy all the resistors etc for the pedal (I’m not bothered about the parts being from the right year and the right material, I want a decent sound but I’m no purist.

Any help would be much appreciated
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C32EE65D-AA9C-4447-BADD-8DA1A294B113.jpeg
Could someone also tell me why there’s two
Could someone also tell me why there’s two

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Intripped
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Post by Intripped »

are those PCB from the same seller? (JazzsGuitarPedals i see...)
i've been on this seller's Etsy page (the only result from google i've found) and i can see the first pic that you posted, but not the other one with 2 PCB.
on Etsy i can see a pic of the TOP side of the PCB, but this one has not the white SILK printing, and it has not plated holes, that's why i'm asking.

your second pic seems to show an upgraded PCB.

anyway just 1 PCB per pedal is needed, that's for sure.

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cotton.george231
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Post by cotton.george231 »

Intripped wrote: 22 Sep 2021, 12:00 are those PCB from the same seller? (JazzsGuitarPedals i see...)
i've been on this seller's Etsy page (the only result from google i've found) and i can see the first pic that you posted, but not the other one with 2 PCB.
on Etsy i can see a pic of the TOP side of the PCB, but this one has not the white SILK printing, and it has not plated holes, that's why i'm asking.

your second pic seems to show an upgraded PCB.

anyway just 1 PCB per pedal is needed, that's for sure.
Okay, so they’re essentially the same thing? With the second option being the better one. I was just confused because on the first board I could clearly see the copper showing the circuit and where the current would go, but I couldn’t see that one the second one so I thought it was something different. As is said I’m very new to this but thank you.

But to answer your question, the second picture was from eBay

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Intripped
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Post by Intripped »

PCBs have 2 sides, the BOTTOM side where you can see all the traces (or "the copper showing the circuit", as you said), and a TOP side, where you can usually see the SILK printing, that helps you in placing correctly the components, and in identifying them easily.

another characteristic of PCBs is to have or not plated holes (copper also goes inside the holes, on the holes' surface, and creates soldering-pads on the TOP side also). Plated holes make the assembled PCB much more solid and reliable, but could create difficulties in de-soldering components (for example if you notice that you've made an error, or if something has to be substituted for whatever reason)

then there are double-layer PCBs, where you can find traces on the TOP side also - on these kind of PCBs, holes are (almost) always plated.

...and there are multy-layer PCBs too - just google it to understand how they work.
In the pedals world anyway, we usually don't go beyond the double-layer (but there are exceptions).

the original vintage Univibe PCB was a single-layer, without plated holes.

as a side note, the title of this topic should be changed in "PCBs", bacause schematics are another thing. schematics are drawings that clearly show the circuits.
here's an example of Univibe schematic:
Image

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The G
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Post by The G »

I strongly recommend getting the vocabulary right. Otherwise, people wanting to help you will have a hard time grasping the sense of your questions. And, more importantly, it will make any of your DIY endeavours unnecessarily hard.
Just google 'pcb wiki' or 'electronic schematic wiki' to be sent to the corresponding Wikipedia page.

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