You just bought a Tape Preamp FX Teacher kit to assemble? Congratulations, this kit will allow you to assemble and customize a legendary effect yourself, while learning the basics of electronics and having the satisfaction of building the pedal yourself!
The Tape Preamp was inspired by the built-in preamp of a well-known tape echo from the 1970s. The preamp of this tape echo was used by many musicians as a boost alone, without the echo effect, to add character and boost their signal before going to the amp. These include Eric Johnson, Jimmy Page, Brian May… The Tape Preamp takes this unique preamp circuit and extends its possibilities with additional settings. The Louder control allows you to adjust the amount of boost, affecting both the volume and the gain. While the Dynamic control adjust the supply voltage, from 3 to 27V, to go from a broken velcro preamp to a warm and dynamic boost. Finally, a Bass switch allows to cut the bass sometimes too present, to improve precision.
In this article, you will learn how to assemble your Tape Preamp kit, step by step, while analyzing the operation of its circuit and the purpose of each component of the pedal.
before starting to assemble your tape preamp kit
technical documents
If you are familiar with Do It Yourself with your effect pedals, you will find everything you need in this downloadable document. If you’re just starting out, the rest of the article is really made for you, so hang in there! Download this document anyway, you will need it to move forward and understand the rest of the events. Then you’ll see it’ s very useful.
leave your soldering iron on for 2 minutes before we start
The assembly of a FX Teacher kit has nothing to do with what you have already found on the net. Indeed, we have developed our own method to assemble your PCB, step by step, and to constantly check its proper functioning! And yes, we are committed to the infallible, but you also have some work to do so. So, in order for you to understand all the tricks we’re going to ask you to do, I suggest you to start by devouring all of our tutorials, if you haven’t already done so.
If you’re in trouble with a step or you don’t understand something, we will be happy to help you. For this, leave a comment with your request on this blog post. This project is even so DIY, so it is up to you to make your own decisions and responsibilities, and to check what you are doing before going ahead. You will be answered as soon as possible and this answer will allow other readers to go forward. Don’t be surprised if your comment doesn’t appear immediately, we have to validate it to avoid spam from certain robots. To recap, no emails, no chat, no calls regarding DIY, only requests on comments section please. Otherwise, it’s unmanageable for us. Please also check that your request has not been treated, also that your tensions are good and that you have followed all the steps 🙂
the fx teacher masterclasses
If after receiving your kit, you feel that you need to be coached, you can always participate to one of our masterclass! The price of the masterclass includes the kit given on location, and the prestation. So if you have already received your kit, you can bring it back and pay only the difference! The masterclasses allow you to be supervised and to come home with a working pedal. But also to have all the necessary tools for the assembly, which can represent a little investment if you don’t have any material at home.
You want to assemble your Tape Preamp by yourself at home, but you don’t have the appropriate tools yet? We propose here different tool packs, which we have selected, so that you can get everything you need to assemble pedals, cables, or both.
In this FX Teacher kit, you will find inside the enclosure a bag 0 containing the PCB with LED and JFET already soldered, and 4 bags containing all the components to assemble your pedal step by step. The content of each bag is detailed in the BOMs of each step, with indications on the placement of each component.
PCB top sidePCB bottom side
The schematic of the Tape Preamp
first bag: power supply and dynamic control
electronic diagram analysis
The power supply is probably the most complex part of the pedal. So we’ll take a look at the diagram to understand how it works.
On the left, the 9V power supply reaches D7, which will protect the circuit from reverse polarity by blocking the signal in case of negative voltage. Then there is the LED with its R1 resistor which limits the current, connected to the footswitch. Then, the signal goes to a special circuit, which will generate 27V from a classic 9V supply. It is a charge pump circuit, which allows to generate a higher voltage than what it receives at the input.
the charge pump circuit
The NE555 chip is an oscillator, which will generate a square wave signal oscillating between 0 and 9V on its pin 3. Oscillation frequency depends on the values of R12, R13 and F10, and can be calculated with the formula 1.44 / ((R12 + 2 x R13) x F10). It is set here at about 21kHz, to be above the audible limit and thus not generate unwanted noise.
Then there is a series of diodes and capacitors, which in fact form a series of 3 charge pump stages. Each charge pump stage consists of 2 diodes and 2 capacitors, and works like this:
step 1
When the pedal has just been connected, the 9V supply reaches D1, the circuit is initialized. The output of the NE555 is at 0V and the 2 diodes are on, which charges the 2 capacitors E1 and E2 at 9V.
step 2
When the NE555 goes from 0 to 9V, the negative terminal of E1 goes to 9V. As E1 was charged in the previous step, it will keep a difference of 9V between its terminals, so its positive terminal is now at 18V. D1 sees its cathode go to 18V, which results in a negative voltage at its terminals. D1 turns off, isolating E1 from the power supply. During this time, D2 remains on, and E1 will charge E2 to 18V.
step 3
The NE555 then switches the negative terminal of E1 back to 0V, which makes D1 conductive again. E1 will then charge again while E2 remains at 18V. The voltage across D2 becomes negative, which turns D2 off, isolating E2 from the 9V supply.
Then the cycle will then be repeated between steps 2 and 3, at the frequency provided by the NE555. The goal is to oscillate fast enough so that the capacitors don’t discharge, thus producing a constant 18V output voltage.
the 3 stages charge pump
If you have understood the concept of a charge pump, then we can move on. Each charge pump stage allows to increase the voltage by 9V. With 3 stages we end up with 18V at the first stage, 27V at the second, and 36V at the third. At least, this is what we would obtain in theory, without any loss and if all components were ideal.
In reality, each diode has a threshold voltage which implies a voltage drop, about 0.5V for the 1N5817. Moreover, this kind of circuit can only provide very low current, dropping the voltage as soon as the circuit to be powered draws too much. This is enough to power a simple JFET boost, but don’t expect to power a more complex circuit with it.
When the pedal is fully assembled, the output voltage drops to about 27V. Then there is the Dynamic control, which is a simple potentiometer acting as a bridge divider to adjust the output voltage. R11 limits the minimum setting to 2V, instead of going down to 0V. Finally, there is a Op-amp follower, which provides a constant low impedance at the output of the power supply, to avoid any interference between the power supply and the audio circuit.
bag 1 bom and assembly
Now you can start assembling the first bag of your Tape Preamp!
Just a reminder before you start, you have in this bag some electrolytic capacitors and diodes. These are polarized components that have a direction. For the electrolytic capacitors, the + is drawn on the PCB and it corresponds to the longest leg. Another way to find the direction, the colored strip on the side of the capacitor indicates the -. For the diode, there is a gray ring drawn near one of the legs, the same ring is represented on the location on the PCB. You have two chips in this bag, IC1 and IC2, which also have a direction and which must be mounted on sockets. So you have to solder the sockets to the PCB first, respecting the direction of the notch that is drawn on the PCB. Then, just insert the chip in the socket, without soldering, respecting the direction. On the chip, there is either a notch or a dot drawn, which must be placed on the same side as the notch on the PCB and the socket.
Be careful with the trimpot which must be placed on the other side of the board at the bottom, where its symbol is drawn. Finally, the potentiometer must be well inserted and straight, otherwise the PCB will not fit in the enclosure. We advise you to solder only one pin, then to check that it is perfectly in place, before soldering the others.
expected result and test
Here’s what your PCB should look like at the end of this step:
Let’s go to the first test, nothing difficult here. You can solder a red wire on the 9V pad and a black wire on the G pad, which will allow you to supply the PCB with an FX teacher tester.
Then, use a multimeter to measure the voltage between the BIAS pad and the ground. There are 2 measurements to do, to check that the DYNAMIC control works well. With the potentiometer at minimum, you should get about 2V, and with the potentiometer at maximum about 29V.
Dynamic at minimumDynamic at maximum
If you don’t get the correct tensions at this step, you can check several points:
if you read a voltage too low:
make sure that the power supply you are using delivers 9V
check that you have the right values for R12, R13 and F10
if you have an oscilloscope, you can visualize the output of the NE555 on pin 3, you must obtain a square signal with 9V amplitude and at least 20kHz.
if you have no voltage at all:
check the polarity of your power supply, and that you have not reversed the red and black wires
check that the diodes are in the correct direction
make sure your multimeter is properly adjusted and connected correctly
make sure that you have inserted the two chips in the sockets, and that they are in the correct direction
check that the potentiometer has not been placed on the Louder location
second bag: op-amp boost
electronic diagram analysis
Let’s move to the audio section, with a first op-amp boost which will shape the signal before going to the JFET preamp. Indeed, the original JFET used in tape echo units does not exist anymore. So we tested many components before finding a JFET with the character we liked.
But this JFET needed a bit of extra gain in our opinion. So we added a boost in front of it, to bring out the full character of the JFET and thus provide a wider usable range.
This boost is a simple op-amp amplifier. It is a non-inverting bandpass circuit, which will boost a specific frequency band. The gain can be calculated with (1 + R4/R6) = 11.
F3 and R6 will act as a high-pass filter, cutting out some bass. The frequency can be calculated with 1 / (2 x π x R6 x F3) = 590Hz, which corresponds to the middle position of the Bass switch. The switch will allow you to add capacitors in parallel to F3, to lower this cutoff frequency and let more bass passing through.
bag 2 bom and assembly
You can now assemble the second bag. Be careful with the toggle switch, it has to be perfectly straight and flat on the PCB, otherwise the board won’t fit in the enclosure. We advise you to solder only one leg, and to check that it is correctly in place before soldering the others. For the other parts, there is no difficulty.
expected result and test
Your board should now look like this:
To go further, you can visualize the output signal of this stage, by connecting an FX teacher tester between the FX_IN and AMP pads.
bass switch in up positionbass switch in down positionbass switch in middle position
By analyzing the bandwidth, you can see the bass attenuated by the high pass filter. The Bass switch allows to change the response by shifting the cutoff frequency.
third bag: jfet preamp
electronic diagram analysis
Move on to the last stage of the pedal, the JFET preamp! The circuit is simply based on the preamp of the famous tape echo. Some modifications, the resistor on the JFET source is replaced by the LOUDER potentiometer, which allows to increase the gain of the circuit, making the JFET saturate. The BIAS trimpot allows to adjust perfectly the bias of the JFET, for an optimal headroom.
bag 3 bom and assembly
Let’s go to the assembly of the preamp with the third bag! Once again, pay attention to the potentiometer which must be soldered straight and well positioned on the PCB.
expected result and test
The board after step 3:
If everything is good, you can now adjust the bias. To do this, connect the power supply to your pedal, and set the Dynamic and Louder to max. Then place your voltmeter between the BIAS pad and ground.
With the potentiometers at max and the bag 3 assembled which draws some current from the power supply, the maximum voltage has dropped to about 27V. The bias must be set at half the power supply voltage, so the trimpot must be adjusted to get 13.5V.
Once the bias is set, you can visualize the signals with your FX Teacher tester.
dynamic at maximumdynamic at 50%dynamic at minimum
A first analysis showing the impact of the Dynamic on the signal. Louder is set to maximum, which implies a slight saturation of the signal. Dynamic at maximum, the signal is rich, with a slight asymmetric saturation produced by the JFET. By lowering the Dynamic, the headroom decreases, but the bias is also affected, producing an increasingly asymmetrical signal, giving that typical velcro sound.
louder at minimumlouder at maximum
On this second analysis, you can see the influence of the Louder control on the signal. At minimum, the Tape Preamp slightly colors the sound, with subtle harmonics. At maximum, the harmonic content is much more important, causing saturation. You can also see that the fundamental peak goes from -27 to -3dB, which means that the Tape Preamp provides a maximum volume boost of 24dB.
fourth bag: true bypass and jacks
If everything goes well, we move on to the boxing of the pedal! First, take the 2×6 pins male connector in the bag 4. You’ll have to solder it to the board. Insert the side with the shorter legs into the board on the bottom side, as shown in the picture. Then you have to solder it, making sure it is straight. As for the potentiometers and switches, you can solder only one leg and check that it is correctly inserted, before soldering the others.
Once the connector is soldered, you can wire the jacks! For the IN, the black wire already soldered on the board goes in the bevelled corner. Then, wire the other cables as shown on the picture.
Once the jacks are soldered, solder the red and black wires to the power supply connector on the enclosure. The red wire goes on the longest leg of the connector.
Finally, you can assemble the 3PDT true bypass kit of your Tape Preamp. Start with the footswitch, being careful, there are several points to respect:
place the footswitch on the side where the rectangle and the 6 lines are drawn
the pins of the footswitch must be in the same direction as the 6 small lines
you must not insert the footswitch completely, the pins must not go beyond the other side of the pcb. you can put the pcb on a desk and insert the footswitch on top of it so that it is straight.
Then solder the resistor and the 2×6 pins female connector. Finally you just have to insert the plastic washer and a first nut.
final assembly of the tape preamp
You’re almost finished! You can now insert the board in the enclosure, leaving a nut on the potentiometers. It allows to put them at the same height as the toggle switch. Once the PCB is in place, fix it by putting a washer and a nut on each potentiometer, and just a nut on the switch. You can then insert the jacks, fixing them with a washer and a nut.
All you have to do now is to insert the footswitch that you have assembled, fixing it with the last nut. Before putting the knobs on, test your pedal to make sure that everything works, because they are difficult to remove once mounted on the potentiometers.
you’ve finished to assemble your tape preamp!
Congratulations, you have successfully built the kit! We hope that everything is working well and that the pedal sounds great. If you enjoyed the experience, don’t hesitate to check out our other kits, there’s something for everyone.
You can aslo participate in a masterclass to be assisted by our team while having all the assembly material at your disposal. It’s the opportunity to exchange with other enthusiasts, and to ask all the questions you may have while assembling the kits.
Have fun with your new pedal and don’t hesitate to share your experience on social networks! We hope to see you soon for a new kit or a masterclass.
Assemble your fx teacher tape preamp kit
You just bought a Tape Preamp FX Teacher kit to assemble? Congratulations, this kit will allow you to assemble and customize a legendary effect yourself, while learning the basics of electronics and having the satisfaction of building the pedal yourself!
The Tape Preamp was inspired by the built-in preamp of a well-known tape echo from the 1970s. The preamp of this tape echo was used by many musicians as a boost alone, without the echo effect, to add character and boost their signal before going to the amp. These include Eric Johnson, Jimmy Page, Brian May…
The Tape Preamp takes this unique preamp circuit and extends its possibilities with additional settings. The Louder control allows you to adjust the amount of boost, affecting both the volume and the gain. While the Dynamic control adjust the supply voltage, from 3 to 27V, to go from a broken velcro preamp to a warm and dynamic boost. Finally, a Bass switch allows to cut the bass sometimes too present, to improve precision.
In this article, you will learn how to assemble your Tape Preamp kit, step by step, while analyzing the operation of its circuit and the purpose of each component of the pedal.
before starting to assemble your tape preamp kit
technical documents
If you are familiar with Do It Yourself with your effect pedals, you will find everything you need in this downloadable document.
If you’re just starting out, the rest of the article is really made for you, so hang in there! Download this document anyway, you will need it to move forward and understand the rest of the events. Then you’ll see it’ s very useful.
leave your soldering iron on for 2 minutes before we start
The assembly of a FX Teacher kit has nothing to do with what you have already found on the net. Indeed, we have developed our own method to assemble your PCB, step by step, and to constantly check its proper functioning! And yes, we are committed to the infallible, but you also have some work to do so.
So, in order for you to understand all the tricks we’re going to ask you to do, I suggest you to start by devouring all of our tutorials, if you haven’t already done so.
Here they are, in order:
disclaimer
If you’re in trouble with a step or you don’t understand something, we will be happy to help you. For this, leave a comment with your request on this blog post. This project is even so DIY, so it is up to you to make your own decisions and responsibilities, and to check what you are doing before going ahead. You will be answered as soon as possible and this answer will allow other readers to go forward. Don’t be surprised if your comment doesn’t appear immediately, we have to validate it to avoid spam from certain robots. To recap, no emails, no chat, no calls regarding DIY, only requests on comments section please. Otherwise, it’s unmanageable for us.
Please also check that your request has not been treated, also that your tensions are good and that you have followed all the steps 🙂
the fx teacher masterclasses
If after receiving your kit, you feel that you need to be coached, you can always participate to one of our masterclass! The price of the masterclass includes the kit given on location, and the prestation. So if you have already received your kit, you can bring it back and pay only the difference!
The masterclasses allow you to be supervised and to come home with a working pedal. But also to have all the necessary tools for the assembly, which can represent a little investment if you don’t have any material at home.
assemble the tape preamp fx teacher kit
the tools required
You want to assemble your Tape Preamp by yourself at home, but you don’t have the appropriate tools yet? We propose here different tool packs, which we have selected, so that you can get everything you need to assemble pedals, cables, or both.
the kit content
In this FX Teacher kit, you will find inside the enclosure a bag 0 containing the PCB with LED and JFET already soldered, and 4 bags containing all the components to assemble your pedal step by step.
The content of each bag is detailed in the BOMs of each step, with indications on the placement of each component.
first bag: power supply and dynamic control
electronic diagram analysis
The power supply is probably the most complex part of the pedal. So we’ll take a look at the diagram to understand how it works.
On the left, the 9V power supply reaches D7, which will protect the circuit from reverse polarity by blocking the signal in case of negative voltage. Then there is the LED with its R1 resistor which limits the current, connected to the footswitch.
Then, the signal goes to a special circuit, which will generate 27V from a classic 9V supply. It is a charge pump circuit, which allows to generate a higher voltage than what it receives at the input.
the charge pump circuit
The NE555 chip is an oscillator, which will generate a square wave signal oscillating between 0 and 9V on its pin 3. Oscillation frequency depends on the values of R12, R13 and F10, and can be calculated with the formula
1.44 / ((R12 + 2 x R13) x F10). It is set here at about 21kHz, to be above the audible limit and thus not generate unwanted noise.
Then there is a series of diodes and capacitors, which in fact form a series of 3 charge pump stages. Each charge pump stage consists of 2 diodes and 2 capacitors, and works like this:
step 1
When the pedal has just been connected, the 9V supply reaches D1, the circuit is initialized. The output of the NE555 is at 0V and the 2 diodes are on, which charges the 2 capacitors E1 and E2 at 9V.
step 2
When the NE555 goes from 0 to 9V, the negative terminal of E1 goes to 9V. As E1 was charged in the previous step, it will keep a difference of 9V between its terminals, so its positive terminal is now at 18V.
D1 sees its cathode go to 18V, which results in a negative voltage at its terminals. D1 turns off, isolating E1 from the power supply. During this time, D2 remains on, and E1 will charge E2 to 18V.
step 3
The NE555 then switches the negative terminal of E1 back to 0V, which makes D1 conductive again. E1 will then charge again while E2 remains at 18V. The voltage across D2 becomes negative, which turns D2 off, isolating E2 from the 9V supply.
Then the cycle will then be repeated between steps 2 and 3, at the frequency provided by the NE555. The goal is to oscillate fast enough so that the capacitors don’t discharge, thus producing a constant 18V output voltage.
the 3 stages charge pump
If you have understood the concept of a charge pump, then we can move on. Each charge pump stage allows to increase the voltage by 9V. With 3 stages we end up with 18V at the first stage, 27V at the second, and 36V at the third. At least, this is what we would obtain in theory, without any loss and if all components were ideal.
In reality, each diode has a threshold voltage which implies a voltage drop, about 0.5V for the 1N5817. Moreover, this kind of circuit can only provide very low current, dropping the voltage as soon as the circuit to be powered draws too much. This is enough to power a simple JFET boost, but don’t expect to power a more complex circuit with it.
When the pedal is fully assembled, the output voltage drops to about 27V. Then there is the Dynamic control, which is a simple potentiometer acting as a bridge divider to adjust the output voltage. R11 limits the minimum setting to 2V, instead of going down to 0V. Finally, there is a Op-amp follower, which provides a constant low impedance at the output of the power supply, to avoid any interference between the power supply and the audio circuit.
bag 1 bom and assembly
Now you can start assembling the first bag of your Tape Preamp!
Just a reminder before you start, you have in this bag some electrolytic capacitors and diodes. These are polarized components that have a direction.
For the electrolytic capacitors, the + is drawn on the PCB and it corresponds to the longest leg. Another way to find the direction, the colored strip on the side of the capacitor indicates the -.
For the diode, there is a gray ring drawn near one of the legs, the same ring is represented on the location on the PCB.
You have two chips in this bag, IC1 and IC2, which also have a direction and which must be mounted on sockets. So you have to solder the sockets to the PCB first, respecting the direction of the notch that is drawn on the PCB. Then, just insert the chip in the socket, without soldering, respecting the direction. On the chip, there is either a notch or a dot drawn, which must be placed on the same side as the notch on the PCB and the socket.
Be careful with the trimpot which must be placed on the other side of the board at the bottom, where its symbol is drawn. Finally, the potentiometer must be well inserted and straight, otherwise the PCB will not fit in the enclosure. We advise you to solder only one pin, then to check that it is perfectly in place, before soldering the others.
expected result and test
Here’s what your PCB should look like at the end of this step:
Let’s go to the first test, nothing difficult here. You can solder a red wire on the 9V pad and a black wire on the G pad, which will allow you to supply the PCB with an FX teacher tester.
Then, use a multimeter to measure the voltage between the BIAS pad and the ground. There are 2 measurements to do, to check that the DYNAMIC control works well. With the potentiometer at minimum, you should get about 2V, and with the potentiometer at maximum about 29V.
If you don’t get the correct tensions at this step, you can check several points:
second bag: op-amp boost
electronic diagram analysis
Let’s move to the audio section, with a first op-amp boost which will shape the signal before going to the JFET preamp. Indeed, the original JFET used in tape echo units does not exist anymore. So we tested many components before finding a JFET with the character we liked.
But this JFET needed a bit of extra gain in our opinion. So we added a boost in front of it, to bring out the full character of the JFET and thus provide a wider usable range.
This boost is a simple op-amp amplifier. It is a non-inverting bandpass circuit, which will boost a specific frequency band. The gain can be calculated with (1 + R4/R6) = 11.
F3 and R6 will act as a high-pass filter, cutting out some bass. The frequency can be calculated with
1 / (2 x π x R6 x F3) = 590Hz, which corresponds to the middle position of the Bass switch. The switch will allow you to add capacitors in parallel to F3, to lower this cutoff frequency and let more bass passing through.
bag 2 bom and assembly
You can now assemble the second bag. Be careful with the toggle switch, it has to be perfectly straight and flat on the PCB, otherwise the board won’t fit in the enclosure. We advise you to solder only one leg, and to check that it is correctly in place before soldering the others. For the other parts, there is no difficulty.
expected result and test
Your board should now look like this:
To go further, you can visualize the output signal of this stage, by connecting an FX teacher tester between the FX_IN and AMP pads.
By analyzing the bandwidth, you can see the bass attenuated by the high pass filter. The Bass switch allows to change the response by shifting the cutoff frequency.
third bag: jfet preamp
electronic diagram analysis
Move on to the last stage of the pedal, the JFET preamp! The circuit is simply based on the preamp of the famous tape echo. Some modifications, the resistor on the JFET source is replaced by the LOUDER potentiometer, which allows to increase the gain of the circuit, making the JFET saturate. The BIAS trimpot allows to adjust perfectly the bias of the JFET, for an optimal headroom.
bag 3 bom and assembly
Let’s go to the assembly of the preamp with the third bag! Once again, pay attention to the potentiometer which must be soldered straight and well positioned on the PCB.
expected result and test
The board after step 3:
If everything is good, you can now adjust the bias. To do this, connect the power supply to your pedal, and set the Dynamic and Louder to max. Then place your voltmeter between the BIAS pad and ground.
With the potentiometers at max and the bag 3 assembled which draws some current from the power supply, the maximum voltage has dropped to about 27V. The bias must be set at half the power supply voltage, so the trimpot must be adjusted to get 13.5V.
Once the bias is set, you can visualize the signals with your FX Teacher tester.
A first analysis showing the impact of the Dynamic on the signal. Louder is set to maximum, which implies a slight saturation of the signal.
Dynamic at maximum, the signal is rich, with a slight asymmetric saturation produced by the JFET. By lowering the Dynamic, the headroom decreases, but the bias is also affected, producing an increasingly asymmetrical signal, giving that typical velcro sound.
On this second analysis, you can see the influence of the Louder control on the signal. At minimum, the Tape Preamp slightly colors the sound, with subtle harmonics. At maximum, the harmonic content is much more important, causing saturation.
You can also see that the fundamental peak goes from -27 to -3dB, which means that the Tape Preamp provides a maximum volume boost of 24dB.
fourth bag: true bypass and jacks
If everything goes well, we move on to the boxing of the pedal! First, take the 2×6 pins male connector in the bag 4. You’ll have to solder it to the board. Insert the side with the shorter legs into the board on the bottom side, as shown in the picture. Then you have to solder it, making sure it is straight. As for the potentiometers and switches, you can solder only one leg and check that it is correctly inserted, before soldering the others.
Once the connector is soldered, you can wire the jacks! For the IN, the black wire already soldered on the board goes in the bevelled corner. Then, wire the other cables as shown on the picture.
Once the jacks are soldered, solder the red and black wires to the power supply connector on the enclosure. The red wire goes on the longest leg of the connector.
Finally, you can assemble the 3PDT true bypass kit of your Tape Preamp. Start with the footswitch, being careful, there are several points to respect:
Then solder the resistor and the 2×6 pins female connector. Finally you just have to insert the plastic washer and a first nut.
final assembly of the tape preamp
You’re almost finished! You can now insert the board in the enclosure, leaving a nut on the potentiometers. It allows to put them at the same height as the toggle switch. Once the PCB is in place, fix it by putting a washer and a nut on each potentiometer, and just a nut on the switch. You can then insert the jacks, fixing them with a washer and a nut.
All you have to do now is to insert the footswitch that you have assembled, fixing it with the last nut. Before putting the knobs on, test your pedal to make sure that everything works, because they are difficult to remove once mounted on the potentiometers.
you’ve finished to assemble your tape preamp!
Congratulations, you have successfully built the kit! We hope that everything is working well and that the pedal sounds great. If you enjoyed the experience, don’t hesitate to check out our other kits, there’s something for everyone.
You can aslo participate in a masterclass to be assisted by our team while having all the assembly material at your disposal. It’s the opportunity to exchange with other enthusiasts, and to ask all the questions you may have while assembling the kits.
Have fun with your new pedal and don’t hesitate to share your experience on social networks! We hope to see you soon for a new kit or a masterclass.