Vintage Output Assembly Guide

Safety Precautions, Warranty, and Disclaimer Improper soldering and handling of electricity can cause serious injury and damage to your property. Read and understand the instructions below before beginning your project. Follow the instructions, build carefully, and use the appropriate tools. Build at your own risk. DIY Recording Equipment, LLC is not responsible for any damage or injury resulting from the assembly or use of your kit. You are the manufacturer of your kit. It is your responsibility to turn this group of parts into a working piece of recording equipment. DIY Recording Equipment, LLC does not guarantee the success of your project and disclaims any Implied Warranty of Merchantability. Please visit the support forum for assembly support.
Damaged or Missing Parts All kits and parts are checked before being shipped to you. If something arrives damaged or if your kit is missing a part, please open a support ticket to inquire about a replacement. Missing parts will be replaced at our expense. Damaged parts should be returned for verification. If the part shows signs of use beyond what was necessary to determine that it was damaged, DIY Recording Equipment, LLC reserves the right not to replace the part.

Welcome to the Vintage Output Assembly Guide

Thank you for purchasing a Vintage Output Bundle!

If this is your first DIY project ever, we recommend reading our Getting Started Guide.

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Table of Contents

Required Tools

You'll need the tools below to complete this build.

Soldering Iron
We recommend an adjustable-temperature station, such as the $40 Weller WLC100.

Solder
You can use 60/40 "leaded" solder or lead-free. We recommend 60/40 because it flows better and is easier for beginners to use.

Phillips Head Screwdriver
A #1 Phillips head screwdriver.

Wire Cutters
You'll need a pair of good "snips" for cutting of the excess leads after soldering.

Optional Tools

These tools aren't strictly necessary but can make your build a bit easier.

Tape
A bit of clear tape will help hold some tricky components in place for soldering.

Multi-Meter
If you find the color bands on resistors a bit hard to read, you can use a meter to sort them with absolute confidence.

Desoldering Pump
If you accidentally solder something in the wrong place, a desoldering pump can save the day.

Build the Stock Kit

This guide assumes that you have already built the stock EQP5 or OLA5 with the Modern output and whatever discrete opamp (DOA) you plan to use. If you haven't built your EQP5, OLA5, or DOA yet, follow that guide and the come back here!

Resistors and Capacitors

Solder Resistors and Small Cap

Identify the resistors via their color codes or my measuring them with a meter. Then place the resistors and small capacitor in their respective positions on the PCB. The capacitor is not polarized. Bend the leads against the PCB, solder, and trim.

Note that you will be have an extra resistor, as the EQP5 and OLA5 require different gain-setting resistors.

Component	EQP5	OLA5
100p Cap	C25	C23
15k Resistor	R14	R47
2.7k Resistor	R15	X
8.8k Resistor	X	R48

Solder Tantalum Capacitor

Locate the "+" text on the body of the large, tantalum capacitor. This indicates the positive lead of the cap. Place the cap with the positive lead next to the "+" on the PCB. Note that this capacitor may be either 220uF or 330uF.

Solder and trim.

DOA Sockets

Place DOA Sockets

Place the DOA sockets in the six plated holes of DOA1. Place tape over them to hold them in place during soldering.

Note: There is one extra socket in case you drop one.

Solder DOA Sockets

Solder the DOA sockets and remove the tape.

Transformer

Trim Leads

Trim the leads of the transformer down to about 1.5" (38mm). Be generous! You can always cut them shorter, but you can't make them longer after you've cut.

Then strip off about 1/8" (3mm) of the insulation and tin the leads by applying a bit of solder.

Place Transformer

Fasten the transformer in the X1 position with the included screws, nuts, and washers. Insert the screw through from the bottom of the PCB, then place the mounting parts over the screw in this order: plastic washers, transformer, lock washers, nuts.

Solder Transformer

Place the leads of the transformer through their respective holes (the GRY and VIO holes will remain empty) and bend the leads against the bottom of the PCB. Then flip the PCB over, solder, and trim.

Finishing Up

Place DOA

Place the DOA in the sockets. Push down until you feel the leads snap into place. If you purchased the RED-25, see the RED-25 Assembly Guide.

Move Jumpers

Move the jumpers on CON1 from "IC" (Modern) to "FE" (Vintage). You can change the jumpers back any time you want to use the Modern output.

Final Checks

Before you wrap up, check the following things:

Resistors: Do all of the resistor positions correspond the chart and/or sorting sheet?
Soldering: Is every solder joint shiny and clean? If one is cloudy or misshapen, try reheating it for 8 seconds and adding a tiny bit more solder.
Trimming: Are all of the excess leads trimmed down as close to the joint as possible?

All good? Congrats on finishing your build! Have a question or problem? Drop us a line.