Shakmat Four Bricks Rook User manual

Shakmat
Four Bricks Rook
Building Guide
16HP Eurorack Module Built & designed in Belgium www.shakmat.com

Preamble
Component list & necessary tools
PCB details
Top PCB assembly
4.1 Front
4.1.1 Jack connectors
4.1.2 Mini potentiometer
4.1.3 Big potentiometers
4.2 Back
4.2.1 Male headers (1x3 pin)
4.2.2 Male headers (1x8 pin)
Bottom PCB assembly
5.1 Back
5.1.1 Power header
5.2 Back
5.2.1 Diodes
5.2.2 Electrolytic capacitors
5.2.3 78L05
5.2.4 1.5 kΩ resistor
5.2.5 5.6 kΩ resistor
5.2.6 33 kΩ resistors
5.2.7 1.2 kΩ resistors
5.2.8 Push buttons
PCB stacking
Front panel preparation
LEDs mounting
Nuts mounting
Potentiometers & buttons caps
Powering & basic testing
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Table of contents
www.shakmat.com •

www.shakmat.com •
02/19
Thank you for purchasing a Shakmat DIY kit !
We spare no effort in our kit packing process to prevent any mistakes or
missing parts. In this document as well, we do our best to describe the assem-
bly process in the most practical and comprehensive way. If by any chance
there is a missing/damaged part in your kit or if you have any suggestion, feel
free to contact us via shakmat.com.
The assembly process will be dramatically simplified if you follow the order
defined by this building guide. We tested various orders of steps before finding
the most convenient, and the one presented here is the best!
1. Preamble

www.shakmat.com •
03/19
Pack 1
1x 1.5 kΩ1% resistor
4x 33 kΩ5% resistors
1x Red LED
4x Green LEDs
1x 2x5 pin power header
1x Mini potentiometer
3x Metal potentiometers
3x Metal potentiometer nuts
3x 33 µF electrolytic capacitors
2x 8 pin male header
2x 3 pin male header
9x Jack connectors
9x Jack connector nuts
1x 7 segment display
Pack 2
4x 5.5 kΩ1% resistors
1x 1.2 kΩ1% resistor
11x 1N4148 diodes
1x 78L05 regulator
1x WhiteLED
9x Amber LEDs
9x Push buttons
4x M3 screws
4x M3 nuts
5x Round push buttons caps
4x Square push buttons caps
2. Component list & necessary tools
Pack 3
1x Top PCB
1x Bottom PCB
Loose parts
3x Black rubber knobs
1x Power cable
1x User manual
Necessay tools
Soldering iron
Solder
Cutting pliers
Masking tape

www.shakmat.com •
04/19
3. PCB details
Top PCB
Front & back
Bottom PCB
Front & back
RECORD FUNCTION
ERASE
PAD1PAD2PAD3PAD4
QUANTIZE
AB
IC1 JP1
SHAKMAT MODULAR
FOUR BRICKS ROOK v1.1
JP3R
BLI1
SHIFT
IC2
LENGTH
TRIM
D4RSTIN
RN3 RN2
IC4
LED1
RNDMTLLFSTLP
TABLE IC3
JP8L JP8R
JP3L
IC1 REF-5
JP1
FILLOUT1
OUT2 OUT3 OUT4
CVTABLE CVLENGTH CVSHIFT
D5
D6
US2

www.shakmat.com •
05/19
4. Top PCB assembly
JP3R
BLI1
SHIFT
IC2
LENGTH
TRIM
D4RSTIN
RN3 RN2
IC4
LED1
RNDMTLLFSTLP
TABLE IC3
JP8L JP8R
JP3L
IC1 REF-5
JP1
FILLOUT1
OUT2 OUT3 OUT4
CVTABLE CVLENGTH CVSHIFT
D5
D6
Let’s begin by soldering the ten jack
connectors. Be sure to lay them
completely flat on the PCB before
soldering. If those jacks aren’t
perpendicular, the front panel will be
very hard to mount.
If one of the jack is not perfectly
perpendicular with the PCB, you can
reheat the pads and push it until it is
with your thumb.
JP3R
BLI1
SHIFT
IC2
LENGTH
TRIM
D4RSTIN
RN3 RN2
IC4
LED1
RNDMTLLFSTLP
TABLE IC3
JP8L JP8R
JP3L
IC1 REF-5
JP1
FILLOUT1
OUT2 OUT3 OUT4
CVTABLE
CVLENGTH
CVSHIFT
D5
D6
4.1 Front
4.1.1 Jack connectors (x10) P1
Place the mini potentiometer. To
ensure a perfect alignment of the
potentiometer with the front panel,
solder only one of the mechanical
pins and nothing else. You will solder
the remaining pins once the potentio-
meter is well placed through its front
panel hole.
4.1.2 Mini potentiometer P1
Only this leg

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06/19
JP3R
BLI1
SHIFT
IC2
LENGTH
TRIM
D4RSTIN
RN3 RN2
IC4
LED1
RNDMTLLFSTLP
TABLE IC3
JP8L JP8R
JP3L
IC1 REF-5
JP1
FILLOUT1
OUT2 OUT3 OUT4
CVTABLE CVLENGTH CVSHIFT
D5
D6
Before soldering, you will have to cut
a little metal piece off the top of each
potentiometer, as shown in the
picture. This little stud prevents the
front panel from sitting properly. Use
some small & sharp cutting pliers for
this task.
Then place the 3 big potentiometers
on the PCB. Mount the front panel
and tighten the 3 potentiometer nuts
(this will ensure a proper placement
of the pots) and then solder them.
Now verify that the mini potentiome-
ter from the previous step is well
placed thrugh its front panel hole. It
must move freely without touching
the panel. If necessary, you can
reheat the only pin you have solde-
red to adjust the pot placement.
Once the placement is OK, you can
solder every remaining pin.
4.1.3 Big potentiometers & nuts (x3) P1
Cut!
3x
JP3R
BLI1
SHIFT
IC2
LENGTH
TRIM
D4RSTIN
RN3 RN2
IC4
LED1
RNDMTLLFSTLP
TABLE IC3
JP8L JP8R
JP3L
IC1 REF-5
JP1
FILLOUT1
OUT2 OUT3 OUT4
CVTABLE CVLENGTH CVSHIFT
D5
D6
Check
Tighten
Tighten
Tighten

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07/19
Flip the PCB and place the 3 pin
male headers, with the short pin side
through the hole. Be sure to lay them
flat and upright. Those headers will
later join the two PCBs together so
they need to be perfectly perpendicu-
lar.
We recommend you to only solder
one of the pin. Then reheat your
soldered point and simultaneously
press the plastic part of the header
against the PCB to until its flat on the
board. Release the soldering iron but
keep pressing. Avoid touching the pins themselves because they will become
hot very quickly and move out of alignment within their plastic bracket. Once
you are satisfied with you placement, solder the remaining pin.
4.2 Back
4.2.1 Male headers (1x3 pin) (x2) P1
US2
We will solder these two headers one
by one. Place them, with the short pin
side through the hole. Use the same
procedure as for the smaller
headers. It is even more important to
have these two big headers upright
than the smaller headers.
4.2.2 Male headers (1x8 pin) (x2) P1
US2

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08/19
Flip the PCB and place the eleven
diodes. Be aware of their orientation,
as the black line on the component
goes into the circled hole on the
silkcreen. Push the diodes all the way
through their holes and be careful not
to bend the leg too far from the diode’s
body, as this can lead to shorts with
the aluminium front panel.
5.2 Front
5.2.1 1N4148 Diodes (x11) P2
RECORD FUNCTION
ERASE
PAD1PAD2PAD3PAD4
QUANTIZE
AB
IC1
JP1
SHAKMAT MODULAR
FOUR BRICKS ROOK v1.1
5. Bottom PCB assembly
Place the power header, short pin
side in the hole and solder only one
of the pins. Check the alignment and
correct with the same method as for
a single row header. Then, once your
component is upright and flat with the
PCB, solder the remaining pins.
5.1 Back
5.1.1 Power header P1

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09/19
RECORD FUNCTION
ERASE
PAD1PAD2PAD3PAD4
QUANTIZE
AB
IC1
Before soldering the 78L05,
bend the central leg a little to
help it sit flush with the PCB.
Also pay attention to the orientation,
the flat & round contour of the
component have to match the
contour of the PCB silkscreen.
5.2.3 78L05 P2
RECORD FUNCTION
ERASE
PAD1PAD2PAD3PAD4
QUANTIZE
AB
IC1
Solder the three 33µF capacitors.
You must pay attention to the
orientation of these components.
The long leg is indicating the posi-
tive side, therefore it has to match
the + sign on the PCB silkscreen.
5.2.2 Electrolytic capacitors (x3) P1

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10/19
RECORD FUNCTION
ERASE
PAD1PAD2PAD3PAD4
QUANTIZE
AB
IC1
Solder the 5k6Ωresistor.
There’s no orientation to observe on
resistors.
5.2.5 5.6 kΩ1% resistor P2
RECORD FUNCTION
ERASE
PAD1PAD2PAD3PAD4
QUANTIZE
AB
IC1
Solder the 1k5Ωresistor.
There’s no orientation to observe on
resistors. Be careful not to bend the
leg too far from the resistor’s body, as
this can lead to shorts with the
aluminium front panel.
5.2.4 1.5 kΩ1% resistor P1

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11/19
RECORD FUNCTION
ERASE
PAD1PAD2PAD3PAD4
QUANTIZE
AB
IC1
Solder the four 1k2Ωresistors.
There’s no orientation to observe on
resistors.
5.2.7 1.2 kΩ1% resistor (x4) P2
RECORD FUNCTION
ERASE
PAD1PAD2PAD3PAD4
QUANTIZE
AB
IC1
Solder the four 33kΩresistors.
There’s no orientation to observe on
resistors.
5.2.6 33 kΩ5% resistor (x4) P1

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12/19
RECORD FUNCTION
ERASE
PAD1PAD2PAD3PAD4
QUANTIZE
AB
IC1
The buttons need to be upright and
pushed well against the PCB. An
imprecise mounting will result in a
cap scrapping against the front
panel. We recommend you to place
the buttons, then flip the PCB
(holding the button in place with a
piece of cardboard) and press it
against a table.
5.2.8 Push buttons (x9) P2

JP3R
BLI1
SHIFT
IC2
LENGTH
TRIM
D4RSTIN
RN3 RN2
IC4
LED1
RNDMTLLFSTLP
TABLE IC3
JP8L JP8R
JP3L
IC1 REF-5
JP1
FILLOUT1
OUT2 OUT3 OUT4
CVTABLE CVLENGTH CVSHIFT
D5
D6
RECORD FUNCTION
ERASE
PAD1PAD2PAD3PAD4
QUANTIZE
AB
IC1
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13/19
6. PCB stacking
It’s now time to join and solder the two PCBs together. Be very careful during
this step. If you solder every pin and the PCBs arn’t well alligned, you will
likely not be able to correct it and will encounter all sorts of problems on your
way to the end of this build.
The first step is to assemble the two PCBs as shown above, and only solder the
first pin of the small vertical header. It is vey important that you firmly hold the
two PCBs against each other while soldering this point. There must be no gap
between the PCBs and the header’s black plastic part between them.
Once you’ve soldered the first point and it’s perfect, you can move on to the
second one listed above. Repeat the same procedure as for the first point for
all of the four points listed. Once they’re are all perfect, without any gap
between the PCBs and headers, you can solder every remaining point.
US2
JP1
SHAKMAT MODULAR
FOUR BRICKS ROOK v1.1
03
04
01
02

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14/19
7. Front panel preparation
Place some masking tape over
every LED hole on the front panel.
Be aware of not blocking any other
component’s hole with the tape.
The LEDs are special flat top
models intended to be mounted
flush with the front panel. The
masking tape will help you to do
this neatly.
You also need to screw a small M3
nut on each of the two studs of the
back of the front panel. You can
screw them almost until the end of
the thread. In addition to these, two
other nuts added later will assure
the stability & alignment of the
PCB’s bottom half.
M3 nut (x2) P2

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15/19
8. LED mounting
Placing the LEDs requires a specific orientation due to their polarity. The long
legs are the positive side and they all go into the left holes of the PCBs.
Place all the LEDs and the 7 segment display through the PCB. Be aware of
LED colors and the orientation of the display (the dot is on the bottom line).
Assemble the PCBs & front panel with some nuts: one on the Clock input, one
on Out 4 and one on the Length potentiometer. Once everything is well
secured, it’s time to adjust the two small M3 nuts you’ve screwed on (...)
JP3R
BLI1
SHIFT
IC2
LENGTH
TRIM
D4RSTIN
RN3 RN2
IC4
LED1
RNDMTLLFSTLP
TABLE IC3
JP8L JP8R
JP3L
IC1 REF-5
JP1
FILLOUT1
OUT2 OUT3 OUT4
CVTABLE CVLENGTH CVSHIFT
D5
D6
RECORD FUNCTION
ERASE
PAD1PAD2PAD3PAD4
QUANTIZE
AB
IC1
LED POLARITY!
Green LEDs ( Ax4) P1
White LED ( C) P2
Amber LEDs ( Bx9) P2
Red LED ( D) P1
7 segments display P1
Potentiometer nuts (x1) P1
Jack nuts (x2) P1 M3 nut (x2) P2

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16/19
(...) the previous step. These nuts have to rest against the PCB and can be
used to correct the bottom half PCB horizontality. Screw them until the PCB is
parrallel to the front panel from every angle (when the module is held horizon-
tally, the front panel toward the ceilling, check from the left, right and bottom
sides). When the PCB is well aligned with the front panel, tighten the two last
M3 nuts on the stud to secure the bottom PCB in place.
View of the left stud securing the bottom PCB to the front panel,
with the two nuts correctly mounted in place
Now, push every LED through their holes until they sit flush with the panel and
stick to the tape. Once they are all in place, you can solder them and trim their
legs. Finally, solder only one leg of the 7 segments display and check that it sits
well against the front panel window. Triple check the display alignment through
the front panel window. When all of its legs are soldered, it is imposible to
correct its placement. Once it’s nicely placed, you can solder the remaining
legs of the display and trim them all.

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17/19
9. Nut mounting
Screw all the nuts on the big metal
potentiometers and mini-jacks. To
firmly secure the bottom half of the
PCB, tighten the two last M3 nuts
over the front panel studs. Those
nuts and the previous ones,
installed behind the PCBs and
have to be firmly tightened in place
so that the PCBs are well held.
To ensure that these M3 nuts don’t
become loose over time and fall
inside your case (potentially
causing electrical damages), we
recommand you to put a little dab
of loctite or nail varnish over them.
Potentiometer nuts (x3) P1
Jack nuts (x10) P1
JP3R
BLI1
SHIFT
IC2
LENGTH
TRIM
D4RSTIN
RN3 RN2
IC4
LED1
RNDMTLLFSTLP
TABLE IC3
JP8L JP8R
JP3L
IC1 REF-5
JP1
FILLOUT1
OUT2 OUT3 OUT4
CVTABLE CVLENGTH CVSHIFT
D5
D6
RECORD FUNCTION
ERASE
PAD1PAD2PAD3PAD4
QUANTIZE
AB
IC1

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18/19
10. Potentiometers & buttons Caps
11. Powering & basic testing
Mount the five small button caps and
the 4 big ones. If they somehow feel a
bit loose, you can glue them on the
component with some gel glue. Just
be careful not to let the glue drain
down the button and destroy it!
At this step if a button is not sitting
properly on the front panel, you can
reheat its two solder points at the
same time and adjust it.
Finally, push the three knobs onto the
potentiometers.
Small button caps (x5) P2
Big button caps (x4) P2
Pot knobs (x3) LP
Plug in the power cable and
make sure the red side of the
ribbon matches the -12V on the
PCB. Now let's plug the module
in your system and test it.
When powering up for the first
time, the module will launch a
first start up routine that lasts a
few seconds. During this routine
a green LED flashes. After the
routine and the module starts up
normally, the display should
show an alphanumeric character.
t The Trig Length & Play mode
LED should be on. If nothing is
on, turn off the rack immediately.
US2
JP1
SHAKMAT MODULAR
FOUR BRICKS ROOK v1.1
-12V

Check the power cable connection, the orientation of all the diodes of step
5.2.1. The power header (5.1.1), the 78L05 (5.2.3) and all the headers joining
the two PCBs. You can also measure the voltage between a potentiometer’s
external pins, which should be around 5 volts.
If the module starts (even with one of the two LEDs off or a buggy display),
you can still test it. First, test the square buttons and mode LEDs by swapping
between the three different modes (FNCT + one of the four pads). This step
will show you if the pads & mode LEDs are working. Then, try the different
menu options (random, save and load table / fills). Don't forget to press the
FNCT button to exit menu.
If some LEDs or buttons don’t respond correctly, check the polarity of the
LEDs and diodes. You can also check all the buttons, resistors and LEDs
solder points.
Go to PTRN mode, play with the four pads and make sure that all the green
Status LEDs are working. Send a clock signal to the Clock input and the LEDs
should start blinking. Turn the table potentiometer fully clockwise (position 8),
all the LEDs should blink. Play with the Length and Shift potentiometer; the
green Status LEDs should blink differently. Send bipolar CV signals to the
Table CV input and the pattern should change.
Now test the four outputs and reset input.
Finally, remove the clock input, press on the four pads, and send a high gate
signal (or any 5V signal) into the fill input. All the green Status LEDs should
turn on. If at any moment you feel lost in a menu or stucked with something
you don't understand, turn the module off and on again. After testing, take time
to read the manual before playing - enjoy !
www.shakmat.com •
19/19