BYOC Bass Overdrive Manual

Build Your Own Clone
Blue Overdrive
Kit Instructions
Warranty:
BYOC, Inc. guarantees that your kit will be complete and that all parts and components
will arrive as described, functioning and free of defect. Soldering, clipping, cutting,
stripping, or using any of the components in any way voids this guarantee. BYOC, Inc.
guarantees that the instructions for your kit will be free of any majors errors that would
cause you to permanently damage any components in your kit, but does not guarantee
that the instructions will be free of typos or minor errors. BYOC, Inc. does not warranty
the completed pedal as a whole functioning unit, nor do we warranty any of the
individual parts once they have been used. If you have a component that is used, but feel
it was defective prior to you using it, we reserve the right to determine whether or not the
component was faulty upon arrival. Please direct all warranty issues to:
[email protected] this would include any missing parts issues.
Return:
BYOC, Inc. accepts returns and exchanges on all products for any reason, as long as they
are unused. We do not accept partial kit returns. Returns and exchanges are for the full
purchase price less the cost of shipping and/or any promotional pricing. Return shipping
is the customer’s responsibility. This responsibility not only includes the cost of
shipping, but accountability of deliver as well. Please contact
[email protected] to receive a return authorization before mailing.

Tech Support:
BYOC, Inc. makes no promises or guarantees that you will successfully complete your
kit in a satisfactory manor. Nor does BYOC, Inc. promise or guarantee that you will
receive any technical support. Purchasing a product from BYOC, Inc. does not entitle
you to any amount of technical support. BYOC, Inc. does not promise or guarantee that
any technical support you may receive will be able to resolve any or all issues you may
be experiencing.
That being said, we will do our best to help you as much as we can. Our philosophy at
BYOC is that we will help you only as much as you are willing to help yourself. We
have a wonderful and friendly DIY discussion forum with an entire section devoted to the
technical support and modifications of BYOC kits.
www.byocelectronics.com/board
When posting a tech support thread on the BYOC forum, please post it in the correct
lounge, and please title your thread appropriately. If everyone titles their threads
“HELP!” then it makes it impossible for the people who are helping you to keep track of
your progress. A very brief description of your specific problem will do. It will also
make it easier to see if someone else is having or has had the same problem as you. The
question you are about to ask may already be answered. Here is a list of things that you
should include in the body of your tech support thread:
1. A detailed explanation of what the problem is. (more than, “It doesn’t work, help”)
2. Pic of the topside of your PCB.
3. Pic of the underside of your PCB.
4. Pic that clearly shows your footswitch/jack wiring and the wires going to the PCB
5. A pic that clearly shows your wiring going from the PCB to the pots and any other
switches(only if your kit has non-PC mounted pots and switches)
6. Is bypass working?
7. Does the LED come on?
8. If you answered yes to 6 and 7, what does the pedal do when it is in the "on" position?
9. Battery or adapter (if battery, is it good? If adapter, what type?)
Also, please only post photos that are in focus.
Copyrights:
All material in this document is copyrighted 2016 by BYOC, Inc.

Blue Overdrive Kit Instruction Index
Parts Checklist……………………….................…...page 5
Populating the Circuit Board…….................…...…page 7
Main PCB Assembly..................................................page 15
Wiring……………………………….........................page 21
Operation Overview...................................................page 23
Schematic....................................................................page 24

This is what your kit should look like when it’s complete. Your kit may come with
different color capacitors, switches etc. Don’t be alarmed by this. They all still do
the exact same thing.

Parts Checklist for the Blue Overdrive Kit
Resistors: Metal Film (5-bands) / Carbon Comp (4-bands)
1 - 1k (Brown/Black/Black/Brown/Brown) / (Brown/Black/Red/Gold)
1 - 1k2 (Brown/Red/Black/Brown/Brown) / (Brown/Red/Red/Gold)
1 - 1k5 (Brown/Green/Black/Brown/Brown) / (Brown/Green/Red/Gold)
6 - 2k2 (Red/Red/Black/Brown/Brown) / (Red/Red/Red/Gold)
3 - 4k7 (Yellow/Purple/Black/Brown/Brown)/ (Yellow/Purple/Red/Gold)
1 - 5k6 (Green/Blue/Black/Brown/Brown) / (Green/Blue/Red/Gold)
1 - 6k8 (Blue/Gray/Black/Brown/Brown) / (Blue/Gray/Red/Gold)
6 - 10k (Brown/Black/Black/Red/Brown) / (Brown/Black/Orange/Gold)
1 - 15k (Brown/Green/Black/Red/Brown) / (Brown/Green/Orange/Gold)
1 - 22k (Red/Red/Black/Red/Brown) / (Red/Red/Orange/Gold)
1 - 33k (Orange/Orange/Black/Red/Brown) / (Orange/Orange/Orange/Gold)
3 - 100k (Brown/Black/Black/Orange/Brown) / (Brown/Black/Yellow/Gold)
1 - 220k (Red/Red/Black/Orange/Brown) / (Red/Red/Yellow/Gold)
1 - 330k (Orange/Orange/Black/Orange/Brown) (Orange/Orange/Yellow/Gold)
2 - 470k (Yellow/Purple/Black/Orange/Brown)/ (Yellow/Purple/Yellow/Gold)
3 - 1M (Brown/Black/Black/Yellow/Brown) / (Brown/Black/Green/Gold)
Visit www.byocelectronics.com/resistorcodes.pdf for more information on how to
differentiate resistors.
Capacitors:
2 - 47p Ceramic Disc (May say ‘47’ on the body
2 - 100p Ceramic Disc (May say ‘101’ on the body)
1 - 220p Ceramic Disc (May say ‘221’ on the body)
2 - 222/ .0022uF film cap (may say “222” on the body)
1 - 562/ .0056uF film cap (may say ‘562’ on the body)
1 - 682/ .0068uF film cap (may say ‘682’ on the body
2 - 183/ .018uF film cap (may say ‘183’ on the body)
3 - 473/ .047uF film cap (may say “473” on the body)
2 - 563/ .056uF film cap (may say ‘563’ on the body)
2 - 104/ .1uF film cap (may say “104” or “u1” on the body)
1 - 154/ .15uF film cap (may say ‘154’ on the body)
1 - 1uF Aluminum Electrolytic
2 - 10uF Aluminum Electrolytic
2 - 47uF Aluminum Electrolytic
2 - 100uf Aluminum Electrolytic
Visit www.byocelectronics.com/capcodes.pdf for more info on how to differentiate
capacitors.
Diodes:
1 - 1N4001
6 - 1N4148
Sockets:
1 - 8-pin IC socket

Transistors:
3 - 2N3904 or similar NPN transistor with similar pinout
2 - 2N3906 or similar PNP transistor with similar pinout
5 - 2n5457 or similar FET with similar pinout
IC:
1 - TL072 or similar dual opamp
Potentiometers: SNAP THE SMALL TABS ON THE TOP OF THE POTS OFF WITH A
PAIR OF NEEDLE NOSE PLIERS
1 - A100k (Volume)
1 - B10k(Tone)
1 - A250K Dual (Drive)
Hardware:
1 - predrilled enclosure w/ 4 screws
1 – Blue Overdrive circuit board
1 - 3pdt footswitch
1 - AC adaptor jack
1 - ¼”stereo jack
1 - ¼” mono jack
1 - battery snap
4 – rubber bumpers
2 – lock washers (for in and out jacks)
hook-up wire

Before you begin:
If you will be using the Mod Pack, leave the following
components off the PCB, and follow the link on page 14
for the Mod Pack component placement instructions.

Populating the Circuit Board
Step 1: Add all the resistors. Resistors are not polarized and can be inserted
in either direction. The spot highlighted in yellow is a jumper spot. Use a
piece of wire or clipping.

Step 2: Add the diodes. Be sure to match the end of the diodes with the
stripe to the layout on the PCB. The striped end should go in the square
solder pad.

Step 3: Add the IC socket. ONLY SOLDER THE SOCKET!
This is a socket. The socket gets soldered to the PCB. The IC gets inserted
into the socket. The actual IC will never get soldered. You will insert the

IC into the socket after the entire pedal has been built.
Step 4: Add the silicon transistors. Orient them so that the flat side matches
up with the flat side on the PCB layout. 2N5457 are highlighted in red.
2N3904 are highlighted in green. 2N3906 are highlighted in yellow.

Step 5: Add the film and ceramic disc capacitors. These are non-polarized
so they can go in either direction. The ceramic disc caps are highlighted in
yellow

Step 6: Add the aluminum electrolytic capacitors. These ARE polarized,
meaning there is a positive and negative end. The positive side will have a
longer lead and goes in the square solder pad. The negative side will have a

shorter lead and a stripe running along the body of the cap, and goes in the
round solder pad.

Here is where we recommend adding the mod
components. Follow the link to learn what to
change.
http://byocelectronics.com/blueoverdrivemodinstructions.pdf

Step 7: Add the battery snap. Thread the leads into the strain relief holes
first through the bottom side of the PCB. Then insert the leads into their
respective solder pad hole on the top side of the PCB. The red lead goes in
the + hole and the black lead goes in the – hole.

Step 8:Add wires to the IN, OUT, LED, POS, and the Ground eyelet
located in the top of the board. . Start by cutting 4 3.5” pieces of wire.
Strip 1/4” off each end and tin the ends. Tinning means to apply some
solder to the stripped ends of the wires. This keeps the strands from fraying
and primes the wire for soldering. Load the wires in from the top and solder
on the bottom of the PCB.

Main PCB Assembly
Step 1: Mount the DC adapter jack to the enclosure. Your kit may come
with either an external thread or internal thread. Don’t get confused by this.
They still function exactly the same. You just thread the external nut on the
outside and the internal nut on the inside. The picture below is of an internal
nut jack.

Step 2: Flip the PCB over so that the bottom or solder side is up. Insert the
three potentiometers, and the LED into the bottom side of the PCB. DO
NOT SOLDER ANYTHING YET!!! The LED will have one lead that is
longer than the other. THIS WILL GO INTO THE SQUARE SOLDER
HOLE. Don’t forget to remove the nuts and washers from the pots and also
to snap off the tabs before you do this step.

Step 3: Hold the PCB in one hand so that the component side of the PCB is
in the palm of your hand and the bottom side with the pots and LED are
facing up. Now use your other hand to guide the predrilled enclosure onto
the PCB assembly so that the pots and LED all go into their respective holes.
Once the PCB assembly is in place, secure it by screwing on the washers and
nuts for the pots. Only tighten them with your fingers. You do not want
them very tight yet. Make sure you’ve removed the nuts and washers from
the pots and that you’ve also snapped the tabs off the pots as well before
installing.
Step 4: Turn the entire pedal over so that the component side of the PCB is
facing up. Lift the PCB up off the pots about 2mm just to make sure that the
back of the PCB does not short out against the pots. Make sure the PCB is
level and symmetrically seated inside the enclosure.
Step 5: Solder the pots and LED. You will solder these parts on the
component side of the PCB. After you have soldered them in place, be sure
to tighten up their nuts. Be careful not to burn any of the components on the
PCB. If you do, it won’t harm anything, but it will look ugly.