A couple of thoughts/queries regarding the blog

[Kalimna]

Greetings all,
I'm now well into my 8-9th build (mostly OD, but a delay and a couple tremolo-y boxes too), and have learnt a huge amount from this site (though not, incidentally, to double check before soldering the output lead to the ground connection of the output socket and wondering why it was silent - only a Timmy in a 1590b, but it was my neatest yet!). So thanks to all who contribute their time and skills to the updating and running of this site. And yah-boo-to-you to all the inconsiderate whingers.

I do have a couple of questions about the blog, however....

Is there an easy way to print off the comments associated with a build (in an easy-to-read fashion), as I find these invaluable?

How do you assess the difficulty of a build? Primarily parts count/size, or mainly because of fettling that needs to be done to get a layout working properly? (For instance, I have just put a Naga Viper and CB30 into the same box and struggled a bit to fit everything in, although the individual layouts weren't huge at all)

Following on from a couple of forum posts (one of which being mine), would it be of any use to have a spreadsheet listing a few details of each build on the site - board size/knob count/effect type etc? This might be an easy way for someone with a bunch of spare parts to quickly look through builds that might be suitable. My Excel skills are meagre, but I would be willing to give it a go if thought useful.

Lastly, I have a Way Huge Supa Puss and Blue Hippo - would there be any desire for gut shots and component values?

Apols for the long winded post.

Cheers,
Adam

[IvIark]

Hi Adam

For printing off unfortunately we're left with what Blogger gives you and that isn't much in terms of exporting comments.  Personally if I wanted to print them off I'd highlight them all and copy and paste them into Word to print.

I would always rate a build difficult for a couple of reasons.  Number of parts is the most obvious one.  If you're building an Openhaus there is a lot more potential for placement error than if you're building a Fuzz Face.  And placement error is the most common cause of build failures on here by far.  

The other obvious one is the builds that require critical biasing to get them to sound as intended.  You could build one of the JFET builds for instance and the effect could work fine, but if the JFETs aren't biased correctly you could easily end up with a poor sounding effect and think it's not for you.  A few tweaks and you could love it.  But I think experience and confidence helps a lot there.  As you say the comments are important to give people a heads up as to what sounds good in terms of bias measurements and confidence allows you to tweak the builds to try to get them to sound better rather than just sticking with the first attempt that actually works.

A spreadsheet would probably be very useful to a lot of people so if you have any ideas they would always be welcome.  As would gut shots and values of your pedals, so if you're happy to do it we can see what they are and hopefully get a scheme put together

Cheers
Mark

[Kalimna]

Hi Mark,
Thanks for the reply. That's pretty much what I thought, regarding the comments and the difficulty rating.

I'll have a shot at coming up with a spreadsheet (can't guarantee how long it will take though!), once I get my night shifts out of the way.

Similarly, I'll take the back off the pedals and see what I can find.

Cheers,
Adam

[Marbles]

Hi there,

There have been a few people with a wish to come up with a way to have some search options. Like, registering what transistors are used in a pedal or what IC's. Maybe be able to search for some other tags, like difficulty, germanium/silicon, pots to name a few.

Big problem is ofcourse registering the full history. People (including me) have offered to do that and gladly will. If there is a format known how to offer it. To us something like that would be a way to be giving back to the community, since it has offered us so much.

I don't know what exactly you have in mind, but keep in mind that a lot of the mindless work can be done by some volunteers who would gladly do it.


Edit: I see now that you might have been the one that offered it before? I can't find the post, but yeah, the above offer still stands haha

[Emil]

I think it's a great idea, and I would gladly help! I tend to be quite good at huge mindless tasks if I'm excited about it.  Which I am about giving back to the community