PCBs for Pots

[Krinkle]

I've thinking about something for a while and Ampdoc1 brought it up on the orange drop polarity thread.

He's used pcbs to make a Trainwreck clone and after I finish my current build I would like to do the same.

My thought is that I would like to design a pcb for the pots as well as the main one that sits in the chassis. I saw that Fulltone is doing this with the new Fulldrive and it looks very sturdy. It would allow the amp to be built the same way every time, letting less experienced builders in on the enjoyment of being able to confidently build a Trainwreck clone and know beforehand that there would be a very good chance that there will not be any oscillations or tone loss from poor lead dress.

I mentioned how Fulltone uses pots that have the leads pointing towards the shaft, with the pcb sliding over the shaft and the nut securing it to the pot. Ampdoc1 had the idea of taking a regular pot and bending the leads back around and cutting off the tip where the wire is usually soldered. The components are then installed on the pot body side, with the solder side pointing towards the chassis. It looks to me like you would need a little more shaft and thread length than a typical pot has. If anybody is really familiar with pot brands and part numbers it would be nice to find a reliable pot that would allow this.

I have a few pedal designs on my breadboard that I've been meaning to put in an enclosure. I think that I'm going to take my 16mm Alpha pots and give it a shot. I'll have to leave the solder hole as the leads aren't long enough but I'll adjust the through hole in the pcb to allow it to solder properly.

I sure would like to be able to get those pots that Fulltone uses, though. Take a look on the Fulltone web site where he shows a picture of the inside of a new Fulldrive. Very nice engineering.

Darrin