Bottlehead Crack Channel Imbalance Issue

[hmbscott]

Paul & Paul what's the downside to soldering to the Alps pins? I ask because way back when I build my first BH kit, the Crack, I used a Blue Velvet pot, and being a nube, of course I soldered the wires directly to the pins. It seems to work just fine, so I am wondering what's the downside?

[Paul Birkeland]

The pins snap off from the pressure of the wires pulling on them.

[mete]

I dont know where you are based but check local retailers also, RK27 can be surprisingly found even for cheaper than Mouser prices.

I have recently mounted a RK27 a few days ago and I did not have a PCB for it. I thought I can solder to the pins but the cables are too thick and pins are not and looks fragile. So my solution was to cut a proto PCB (with plated holes only) and solder it there and then solder the cables to the pins/PCB combination. It was much better. So I also do not recommend soldering directly to the pins.

[hmbscott]

I didn't have any difficult soldering directly to the pins. I pre-coiled and prepositioned the wire to slip nicely over the pins without straining them. I found it to be a bit fiddly but relatively easy solder job, which was why I was curious about the universal warnings not to do it. I do have a lot of soldering experience both electrical and from model railroading where soldering is used a lot on track-work, especially if your hand-laying track, and frankly that kind of soldering is much more challenging than the extremely well thought out Bottlehead kits. So perhaps that had something to do with why it seemed pretty easy to me.

[Paul Birkeland]

It's the physical construction of the Alps pot itself which doesn't tolerate this all that well. 

[Mucker]

I agree, the PCB is the only way to go with ALPS. My wiring runs also looked better afterwards. But I ultimately switched to AudioNote pots on both of my Cracks. Really like those pots and they are easy to hookup with the lugs.

[hmbscott]

While I completely agree with the recommendation to go with a PC board, and I definitely would have gone that route if I knew that boards were available at the time, for those interested in how I directly wired to mine, here's a picture of what I did.