Build Your Own Clone Message Board

i don't know anything about electronics but i am building a leeds fuzz nonetheless. Question: the eyelets where the LED has to go are marked + & -, that is to say one is square the other round. does that mean LEDS are polarized? if so how do I know which pole of the LED is which?

Welcome!
LED stands for Light Emitting Diode, and diodes are polarized.
The long leg is the Anode (+) the shorter leg the Cathode (-)
You'll also notice that they are round with a flattened side, so you can just orientate it the same as the silkscreened image on the board too.
The Leeds is a lot of fun too!

Thank you for the quick reply and for explaining! i see now that one of the legs is indeed slightly longer and that the led has a flattened edge. Will keep you posted on the proceedings of the build:)

Best,

Arjen

Well i finished building my leeds fuzz this afternoon and this is what happened;
Bypass: OK
Fuzz: Sounded great. For five seconds. Then i noticed that the decay became very short and the output began to fade. i turned the gain nob and played one very hard note. then silence. Again; bypass is ok, LED switches on and of but when i press the on/off nob or flip the toggleswitch i get a loud tick. Also when i tick against the casing.
conclusion: i've done something wrong. Maybe it shortcircuits somewhere, maybe something on the circuitboard, i don't know. Can anyone, based on what i wrote above give me a hint as where to look?

thnx, Arjen

if you hear a sound thru the amp when you touch the enclosure, that probably means something is shorting to ground that shouldn't be. check for any long leads sticking out on the solder side of the board and clip them close. be sure to look under the pots for long leads as well. Maybe insulate the back of the pots with some electrical tape. See the sticky called "Stephen's Tips for a Successful Build" for examples of what your solder joints should look like! Examine your board... if they don't look like Stephen's, reflow (reheat) all the joints, adding or removing solder as necessary, to make sure they look right. If you used sockets for your trannies, remove them before reheating. If you didn't use sockets and the trannies are soldered directly to the board, take care to heat them as little as possible to avoid damage from overheating. Pay close attention to your wiring at the jacks and footswitch, making sure that the wire makes a solid physical connection to the lugs underneath the solder. Trim away any long leads or frizzy ends of the wires at these locations to ensure they are only touching where they need to.

if all that doesn't work, it's time to post some pictures. I recommend photobucket as a hosting site, since it automatically resizes images for web posting and provides a one-click link for embedding.