NEW 8 Step Sequencer Assembly Instructions

Welcome to the NEW 8 Step Sequencer Assembly Instructions!   If you’re new to circuit-building, this is a big kit and it takes some work so go slow and pay close attention to details. It will be well worth your time! Let’s get started!

BOM Layout

If you received your kit and you’re ready to build, the first step is to check to see if you have all of the parts. Above is the picture of the 8 Step Complete Kit. Check your kit against the BOM.  If you’re missing anything, we’ll send it to you free of charge.

Below are pictures of the other bare bone kits you could have ordered

Bare Bones Kit w/ Hardware

Bare Bones Kit w/ Soft Components

Basic Bare Bones Kit

PCB Components

Line up the half-moon notch on the IC sockets with the notch drawn on the PC board.

Capacitors and Resistors

The next part of our build are the capacitors.  C2, C3, C5 – C10, and C12 – C14 are .1uF non-polar ceramic capacitors, so their leads can go in either through-hole their silkscreen designates.  They look similar, but they have different values that are printed on their body in small lettering.  They are labeled ‘104’.

C1, C4, C11, and C15  are 10μF polarized electrolytic capacitors.  These capacitors must be placed correctly for the circuit to function correctly.  Most electrolytic capacitors have a thin band on their body (grey in the picture above) that denotes the negative lead.  New electrolytic capacitors will also have a longer positive lead.

LED/Diodes

Make sure the longer lead goes into the circle through-hole which is positive and the shorter lead into the square (negative) through-hole.

If your going to put your complete sequencer in a case you will want to wire the LED.

The small signal diodes will be used for D9 – D16, and D18 – D21. The Zener diode will be used for D22. Match up the black (negative) band on the diode with the white band on the PCB.

Transistor

Align the flat side of the transistor with the white flat line on the PCB

Wired Components

Potentiometers

Our first wired components to add to the PCB are Pot1, POT2 and POT3.

Match the PCB through-holes to the potentiometer solder lug numbering above.  Solder wires to the potentiometers, then insert them into their corresponding position.

When installing the pot, some pots come with nubs near the shaft that may get in the way of installing the circuit into a case. Check for a nub and clip as necessary.

Power Connections/Jacks

Connecting the 9V battery adapter jack is easy, so we’ll do this first.  The red wire is connected to the square through-hole next to the ‘+’ silkscreen.  The black wire is connected to the circle through-hole next to the ‘-‘.

The DC Jack is fairly straightforward.  Connect three wires to the DC Jack’s solder terminals and, using the picture above as a reference, connect them to the PCB at their respective through-holes.

If you do not want to install the 9V DC jack and only install the 9V battery clip you will have to short the S and C pins for the 9V DC Jack like shown in the picture below*.

* Your PCB may not look exactly like the photo, that is ok. What is important is that you short the same pins as shown in the photo.

Mono Jacks

The APC needs three mono jacks for the ‘CV-IN’ and ‘OUT’.  There are two solder lugs on 1/4″ mono jacks, with the ‘S’ standing for Sleeve and ‘T’ standing for Tip.  On the PCB, locate the through-holes for ‘CV-IN’ and ‘OUT’  Both of these have a ‘T’ and an ‘S’ next to the through-holes.  Using the picture above, connect the mono jacks to the PCB.

SPST On/Off Switch

Wire the power switch as shown in the picture.

Steps

There are 8 steps that contain 4 components each. Lots of wires!!! Above is a picture to help simplify things. Step 6 has been color coded to show which parts go where. Red = 1/8″ Mono Jack, Yellow = SPST switch, Pink = LED, Blue = 10k Potentiometer

Use the images below for wiring purposes

Mono Jacks = Red

S  = Sleeve, T = Tip

Switches = Yellow

The basic function of the SPST switch is to connect and disconnect the circuit. It doesn’t matter which hole the wires are placed in as long as they are in the red holes.

LED’s = Pink

Make sure the longer lead goes into the circle through-hole which is positive and the shorter lead into the square (negative) through-hole.

10k Potentiometers = Blue

Match the PCB through-holes to the potentiometer solder lug numbering above.  Solder wires to the potentiometers, then insert them into their corresponding position.

Congrats!

That’s the end of the assembly!  Put a battery into the 9v battery adapter jack, connect an external synth and an amplifier, turn the circuit  on, and turn it up!  Your main power LED should light up, and you should have a sequence coming out of your amp.  If it doesn’t work, go back through the instructions and carefully check all of your work.

Have fun with your new hand-made 8 Step Sequencer!!