GSSL (or other compressor) first build!

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Ave Crux

Active member
Joined
Oct 3, 2014
Messages
32
Location
Canada
Hey guys,

I have been eagerly contemplating to do this, but today I have finally decided to start a DIY Compressor.

I'm very excited, but very worried at the same time. I've looked around and it seems that the GSSL is the easiest compressor to build. Gustav have all the parts minus the enclosure available and the instructions seem like just putting the pieces in the right places (like some puzzle).

However, I have NEVER touched a soldering iron before, or anything in regards to electronic building/fixing. There are things I'm worried about, like calibration, setting the right adjustments, I don't know, still some things I need to search up on. And it seems a little daunting.

My goal is to make a GSSL with the HP Sidechain and possible a turbo also, and I was wondering if a newbie like me can accomplish this as my very first project?

I am aware of logic gates, not sure if that helps. I'm taking a major in computer science (but it's pretty much the software side) and we don't touch the hardware side.

What do I need to start off?
I know I need a soldering iron (40-50 watts?) , some solder (which one?!), a multimeter? And the PCB kit, enclosure, power stuff.

Any insight would be appreciated. I really do want do tackle the DIY compressor, and hopefully somebody can engrave the idea that it actually doesn't seem as bad as it looks the first time.
Thanks!
 
Ave Crux said:
I have been eagerly contemplating to do this, but today I have finally decided to start a DIY Compressor.

I'm very excited, but very worried at the same time. I've looked around and it seems that the GSSL is the easiest compressor to build. Gustav have all the parts minus the enclosure available and the instructions seem like just putting the pieces in the right places (like some puzzle).
However, I have NEVER touched a soldering iron before, or anything in regards to electronic building/fixing. There are things I'm worried about, like calibration, setting the right adjustments, I don't know, still some things I need to search up on. And it seems a little daunting.

My goal is to make a GSSL with the HP Sidechain and possible a turbo also, and I was wondering if a newbie like me can accomplish this as my very first project?

Nice to hear that! :) Don't worry, it is the best choice for beginners. But i recommend you to make some basic solder "tests" on a separate board to practice your skills and learn how to do it the right way. Watch some tutorials on how to solder if you never got in contact with that. It is important that you take your time and do everything exactly like it is written down. Just follow the guide very carefully and don't hesitate to rest, take a coffe break.. ;) But be careful with the voltages, you may injure yourself if you get in contact. And don't worry about calibration and adjustments, the main part is getting the thing work and the fine tuning comes afterwards. No big deal here, just take your time and read the gssl help thread if you can't find any solution.

Ave Crux said:
What do I need to start off?
I know I need a soldering iron (40-50 watts?) , some solder (which one?!), a multimeter? And the PCB kit, enclosure, power stuff.

Any insight would be appreciated. I really do want do tackle the DIY compressor, and hopefully somebody can engrave the idea that it actually doesn't seem as bad as it looks the first time.
Thanks!

You need a simple mulitmeter, some soldering iron (any 1mm will do) and i recommend buying a solder station (ca 50-70 EUR). You will need a thin tip to make fine solders.
For custom frontpanels and cases i can only give reference to Franks online shop. He has a very good cnc service and you can send him custom panels or choose one of his templates for the gssl comp: http://www.frontpanels.de/miscellaneous-frontpanels/gyraf-g-ssl/

Finally you have to choose which vu meter you want to use and if you want pushbuttons etc..


I hope this helps ;)

weiss
 
Ave Crux said:
Hey guys,

I have been eagerly contemplating to do this, but today I have finally decided to start a DIY Compressor.

I'm very excited, but very worried at the same time. I've looked around and it seems that the GSSL is the easiest compressor to build. Gustav have all the parts minus the enclosure available and the instructions seem like just putting the pieces in the right places (like some puzzle).

However, I have NEVER touched a soldering iron before, or anything in regards to electronic building/fixing. There are things I'm worried about, like calibration, setting the right adjustments, I don't know, still some things I need to search up on. And it seems a little daunting.

My goal is to make a GSSL with the HP Sidechain and possible a turbo also, and I was wondering if a newbie like me can accomplish this as my very first project?

The GssL isn't too hard, but.

You write two long paragraphs about being worried about making it work.

Then you introduce the idea of adding two mods to your first build of this complexity.

May be obvious, but I would leave the mods until I had a basic version working. I am sure there are quite a few GssL comps that never came to life, because the inexperienced builders got too ambitious adding alternative switching and mods to the basic version without knowing what they were doing.

Good luck with the build!

Gustav
 
Thanks for the insight guys! And yeah, I think I'll just be building a regular one for now Gustav, maybe later on I'll add all the other mods when I get a more firmer understanding of what I'm doing.

I've been looking around stores to see which tools I should get and I was hoping for some opinions from any of you guys if I am either not getting the right tools/there are better tools for the value.

I live in Canada by the way, and it's a little harder to acquire tools that are available in local US stores than it is here.

Soldering Iron - Mastercraft Solder Station

Soldering Wire - Rosin Core Solder

Multimeter - Handsfree Digital Multimeter

And also perhaps some third hand or desoldering wick or something just incase I mess up.
Also, are there some kind of "practice PCB" stuff that I can try and practice on soldering first? Or do I just kinda get a cheap PCB and some parts to randomly solder in for practice?

Thanks again everybody! Sorry for the extreme noobieness...
 

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