Building the boards, PT 1

Today I began the task of building the turret populated boards that will hold the amplifier circuitry. I have decided to omit the relay-switching of channels that I had planned and opt for the simpler "always-on" mixing circuit that the original Fenders had. Using this method I can still have reverb on the solid-state channel by jumping out of 1 of the unused inputs into the tube Fender channel, and be able to mix it in as necessary.

Turrets - what are they?

They are used as junction points for circuit connections. The device is installed onto a board - fiberglass, in this case, by a special turret staking tool. Once installed, components can be soldered directly to the turret, thus making an electrical connection. It can be considered one method of point-to-point wiring.

In the old Fender amps, they used solder "eyelets" which were essentially contact points like the turrets, but had a profile that was nearly even with the board level.

I chose turrets because I have some, and because a mechanical connection can also be achieved with them, strengthening the connection of the components.

I began the design of the turret board layout by using a CAD program called CADStd. The designer of the software offers a freeware version of the program than is very user friendly and has a quick learning curve.

Using CADStd, I drew up several of the components I had that would be going into the build of the tube amp - then after drawing them up, stopped. It became clear to me that things would go much quicker if I simply worked with the actual components, on the actual fiberglass board, and draw directly on the board.

This decision to head away from the computer was a good one. I took my schematics and layouts and laid everything I had out on the kitchen table and began setting things up. Within a few hours I had completed the layout for the turret board.

Now that I have this done, I need to drill the board (including holes for wires), install the turrets and begin populating the board.

I also have a self-etched PCB of the solid state preamp that needs preparation.

Regarding the turret staking tools, I may have to build the part that presses against the top of the turret, as I do not have this part, and none of the Keystone staking tools do not seem to match the size of the turrets that I have.

2:50PM-7PM; 11PM-12AM (5.17 HRS)