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frequently asked questions
how to order

Here's a list of frequently asked questions, in no particular order:

Q: I can't find "*" part in the stores in my town/city/country, what can I do?

A: Buy them online. Small Bear Electronics ships parts world wide. We sell the printed circuit board worldwide too.

Q: I have a question about guitar effect building, where's the answer?

A: There's a good chance your answer is here http://www.diystompboxes.com/cnews/FAQ.html

Q: In the pdf only the part value is specified, what type of resistors/caps/etc should I use?

A: This is a matter of taste. In most cases you can use the following guide unless specified otherwise: Resistors, 1/4 watt carbon film 5%. With capacitors it depends on the value: for values in the pF range ceramic or silver mica, for values in between 0.001uF and 1uF poly film, and for 1uF up aluminum electrolytics. Voltage rating should be higher than supply voltage.

Q: I really liked your page, what can I do to support it?

A: You can help by donating a small amount of money using www.paypal.com , just click on the PayPal Donate icon on the left menu bar. You may also help support us by buying boards, check out the ordering page for details.

Q: I emailed you guys and haven't had a reply yet, what's up?

A: We try to reply to all the emails we get, though sometimes it takes a while to read them all.

Q: How do I wire a bypass switch to the projects?

A: Look at our offboard wiring pdf. And read this article http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/bypass/bypass.htm

Q: What software do you use to make your layouts?

A: There's no autorouting in our layouts, they're made in a vector based drawing software package.

Q: Can you help me debug my project?

A: Any questions about problems building our projects would be best asked and answered at Aron's forum, where everyone can learn from the experience.

Q: When a resistor is labeled "2k2", what does that mean?

A: That's a 2.2k ohm resistor, it's labeled that way because when (photo)copying a schematic it's easy to loose the "."

Q: If no units are specified for a resistor, does that mean it's just "ohms"?

A: Yes, some pdfs don't mention units for the resistors under 1k, in those cases, it's just ohm. (220 resistor means 220 ohm resistor)

Q: What do I get when I order a Ready To Solder Board from you?

A: You get the printed circuit board which features silk screened component legend, plated/tinned pads, solder mask, RoHS compliance, drilled holes.

Q: Do you sell kits?

A: No, however you can get the pcb from us and the rest of the parts from Small Bear Electronics.

Q: How long does it take for an order to arrive?

A: About 4 days in the USA (usps with tracking), about a week to Europe and just under two weeks for the rest of the world.

Q: What material are the boards you sell made of?

A: Our pcbs are made of very high quality FR-4 Epoxy Glass 1 Oz. copper blanks, silk screened and solder masked, plated in compliance with ROHS.

Q: Where are the boards shipped from?

A: All orders are shipped from the USA.

Q: Do you ship internationally?

A: Yes, we send orders worldwide for a fixed $4 shipping rate per order.

Q: Do you have a schematic that is not posted?

A: No. We don't have any schematics that are not available online somewhere else.

Q: Why aren't offboard components besides the potentiometers shown on the layouts?

A: Because offboard wiring is usually just the bypass circuit, and how this is done depends on a number of things (switch used, led, millennium, grounding, etc). Also because it wouldn't fit easily on the page for the larger layouts, and there's information on how to do this in other websites. We have made a project exclusively to show some of the main offboard wiring options.

 

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