Mounting terminal strips ???

[Meowy]

Quick question: How do you mount a terminal strip to a pedal enclosure?

[fraser]

im just a beginner when it comes to pedals, but someone here, in another thread-(apologies to that person, i cant find it now),
suggested jb weld. makes sense to me.
http://jbweld.net/index.php

ive done a couple terminal strip builds, but they were in enclosures with rubber feet, so i secured the terminal strips with machine screws (head facing down)
and lock washers and nuts.
being at the base of an elevated enclosure you cant see them and they dont interfere with anything-
but really i dont think id have a problem with machine screw heads bieng seen elsewhere on an enclosure.
also as a noob i keep expecting a failure- screws make removal easier, should it be needed.

[Jeff B.]

You can use screws/nuts, rivets, epoxy, strong double-sided tape, glue, run a piece of heavy bus gage wire between the jacks and solder the terminal strip to that or glue/epoxy the mounting nuts inside and mount it to that with short screws. If the enclosure is steel you could spot weld on the inside. That's about all I can think of.

[11 Gauge]

I will occasionally fabricate sheetmetal to join anything with the circuit on it to either the pot holes, or jack/footswitch holes.

I prefer methods that don't require drilling the box or using some sort of adhesive that could make disassembly down the road more of a pain.

I will also resort to heavy gauge wire to tie between the grounds on the circuitboard and the negative terminals on the in and out jacks, if they are the open frame type and the layout supports it.

Sometimes it helps to just have all of the parts in front of you and play with them, and try to envision how to get them all to fit together in a way that works to your satisfaction.

[JohnnyCrash]

1. Why are you going to use terminal strips on a pedal build?

If it's for kicks, screw/bolt holes on the box look ugly.

If it's something basic (usually is if it's term strips), you might consider soldering resistors/caps directly to the pots, jacks, and switches using heat shrink to cover exposed leads instead of terminal strips.

[Meowy]

Originally Posted by 11 Gauge

I will occasionally fabricate sheetmetal to join anything with the circuit on it to either the pot holes, or jack/footswitch holes.

I prefer methods that don't require drilling the box or using some sort of adhesive that could make disassembly down the road more of a pain.

I will also resort to heavy gauge wire to tie between the grounds on the circuitboard and the negative terminals on the in and out jacks, if they are the open frame type and the layout supports it.

Sometimes it helps to just have all of the parts in front of you and play with them, and try to envision how to get them all to fit together in a way that works to your satisfaction.

Wow, very crafty! Do you have any pics you can share?

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

1. Why are you going to use terminal strips on a pedal build?

If it's for kicks, screw/bolt holes on the box look ugly.

If it's something basic (usually is if it's term strips), you might consider soldering resistors/caps directly to the pots, jacks, and switches using heat shrink to cover exposed leads instead of terminal strips.

Yes for kicks, sh!ts and giggles. I started out using Perf, then Vero, so I figured I'd work my way backwards

[JohnnyCrash]

Originally Posted by Meowy

Yes for kicks, sh!ts and giggles. I started out using Perf, then Vero, so I figured I'd work my way backwards

HAHAHA!

In that case, ignore my last post and be sure to share photos!

What kinda pedal are you building?

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by Meowy

Do you have any pics you can share?

If you do some searches within this forum for threads that I started, many have pics of how I handle getting ANYTHING mounted inside a box. Some were just thrown together, so don't include those...

...And none of them were terminal strip builds. But IMO it doesn't really matter if you're using TS, perf, vero, PCB - they all need to be attached, and many can be handled in a similar manner.

Another method that might work is to feed some larger gauge wires underneath whatever it is that holds the circuitry, kind of like an "old time stretcher." This can then be bent around like a support armature and soldered to ground connections of things like jack lugs. If you plan how the wires are routed, they can do double duty providing space between the circuit and the backsides of the pots, so that nothing grounds out at those points. I like that method A LOT more than using glues, velcro, tape, or those chintzy plastic standoffs.

[Ronsonic]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

HAHAHA!

3 Gibsons, 5 Teles, assorted other guitars, about a dozen amps, about two dozen pedals, a Smith & Wesson SW40VE, & a .40 SIG Sauer P226R = too many toys, no money, carpal tunnel, and a serious hearing problem.

According to Col. Cooper: firearms > neck ties = well ordered household

[11 Gauge]

Originally Posted by JohnnyCrash

If it's something basic...you might consider soldering resistors/caps directly to the pots, jacks, and switches using heat shrink to cover exposed leads instead of terminal strips.

I actually use jack lugs and pot lugs all the time for even more complex builds - resistors for "minimum gain" work great straddling two of the lugs on the drive pot. The "minimum resistance" resistor in a passive tone control like in a Rat works perfectly right on the pot, too.

People put the pulldown resistors right on the stomp switch lugs and run them to the jack lug grounds, many times.

There's little need to actually have the resistor for the status LED be mounted in the circuit itself - just heat shrink it in series.

Something as simple as a Fuzz Face or Rangemaster can be done right on the switch and pots, unless you are going to be constantly tweaking it. And if you are using germanium transistors, you can cleverly locate your bias trimmer so that you can use it for the "point to point" construction. You don't even need heatshrink in most instances - you can simply slip some wire insulation over the component leads!

You can oftentimes build a booster right on a pot as well.

The main reason not to build in this fashion is if you want to tweak things a bunch. It also can cause a "massive amount of rebuilding" if you have to replace a pot or two. But that's almost a stupid statement, because the circuits in question are so simple.