I finally found some time to finish the internal wiring of the preamp. Next job will be tests and VU meter calibration. I only need the meters to give a useful indication rather than accurate metering… more important is that they are both closely matched to each other. But other than that, the build is, to all intents and purposes, now complete. Here’s a couple more pics.

Having finished the PCB builds and then had a little break I have now made a start on the metalwork. Today I have drilled the front panel. First of all I sellotaped a full scale print out of the front panel design with cross hairs on each hole position and used a centre punch through the paper template to mark the drill hole positions. Luckily I have a pair of solid steel speaker stands (which my brother-in-law kindly built for me) which...

It’s been a little while since the last update, things have been busy round here which has meant a little bit of a delay in the build. I finished off the build of the rest of the boards at the weekend: 2 VU module boards, one DI board and one SC-1 preamp board. The VU board was quite quick due to the low number of components, so it was about a 30 minute build. Being a little bit more familiar with the kits now, the build time on the...

Another update. I built one of the DI add-on modules last night. For each of the two channels this will add a high impedance active DI input and three switches to offer a -20dB pad, phase reversal and mic/DI select options. Again the build was fairly straight forward. I didn’t install the 1/4″ jack socket as I’m planning to use a combo XLR/jack input socket to save panel space – plus I simply prefer the appearance of...

Tonight I assembled one of the main SC-1 preamp boards. It was also cool to try out my new temperature controlled soldering station… *so* much better than the old Antex iron! I did have one mishap though. I managed to snap the leg off a ceramic capacitor as I was pushing it home into it’s holes on the PCB… means I’ve now got to flipping well either drive 10 miles to the nearest Maplin store or order a single ceramic...

I have now assembled the first board: the PSU board. All components installed except the power LEDs which I’m currently thinking may be best mounted on the front panel. Whilst taking it steady and double checking the value and orientation of each component as it is installed and soldered,the build time for this board was about 90 minutes. Have also finished assembling the floor standing rack, next job is to paint it. I’ve...

OK, I bit the bullet and ordered a full kit of parts to build a stereo SC-1 preamp with DI module and LED VU meters on both channels a couple of weeks ago. Today the box arrived and the photos below give you an idea of the contents. Over the next few weeks I shall be building the preamp and will post updates as I go. First off, what I ordered was: 2 x SC-1 preamp kit 2 x Mini IO kit 2 x VU meter kit 1 x PSU kit 1 x toroidal mains...