Show your pedal guts!

[Beaker]

Bogey, it's all about the planning and the repeated practice.

I, like many of us on here are in awe of the build skills of Travis, John K and others - I wish mine were as good, but I just keep bashing away trying to improve every time. Often it's the little things, like recognising before I start drilling (instead of after - Doh!), that my switch location is wrong, because it won't allow the board to sit flat. Move it by a just a couple of mm and everything looks much better.

Ultimately, if I was reluctant to build anything unless it looks as good as some on here, I would not build anything at all!

EDIT: It's also worth bearing in mind that the build quality shown by some of the guys on here is far higher than many comercially available boutique pedals, that have a fantastic reputation for their sound quality, and which cost a small fortune.

Some of these pedals have a build quality that is downright shocking - I would be utterly embarrassed to ask $30, let alone $300 for them, but these guys manage to get away with it. Honestly some of them look like they were put together in a real hurry, by a half blind six year old.

[Ed Nice]

I'm a bit reluctant to post these with all the stunning examples from Travis, JohnK, Geiri etc but for a mere mortal, I think they are getting better :)

Top view....



Gut shot...

 

Why I struggle in small boxes :(



I think the fact that a number of guys on here do work that is far superior in finish to most commercial stuff is not only tribute to their skills but also to their art. It's probably unfair to compare most of these pedals with off the shelf stuff. It's almost like comparing an Ikea print to the Mona Lisa :)    

I see so many pedals that are simply beautiful in their finish and in the attention to detail. I suppose the 'art' starts with the beauty of the layout from the guys that do them [and I can't thank you enough] right through to the finish from the guy that decides to build it and all stops in between?

[rocket88]

Ed man, don't kid yourself that looks great. Even if you don't think so, remember we all started off at the same point. My first builds, I won't even open the back up because of the rats nest hidden inside, I don't even know how I get everything to fit to be honest. Not to mention the finishing. Only recently have I actually done anything the looks professional in the enclosure finishing.

[Beaker]

Ed, just a +1 on everything that Rocket has just said. Your build looks great to me.

One small tip for you - every few components soldered in place, stop and look at look at the board. If any components are wonky or canted over, use a pair of fine needle nosed pliers to gently tease them upright, and as straight and vertical as possible.

Link wires and resistors particulary benefit fronm this - makes the board look much neater, and more importantly, reduces the risk of accidental short circuits.

Just keep building, the more you build the better you get.

Just for the record, I've just ripped out the wiring from the last pedal I built (I did it in a hurry just in time for a gig my son did), and started again. It looked horrible!

[rocket88]

gee thanks beaker. so you agree that all my builds up until now have look like shit?  i see how it is.....

[Beaker]

I meant in reference to Ed's build... I'm just digging myself a deeper hole aren't I...

[Ed Nice]

Thanks guys :) I really appreciate the comments, both positive and critical.

From a n00b perspective, it's been a journey of milestones; can I do this, find kits, build stuff that works, build more stuff that works, finish, make it neater, use less wire and so on... (next part I guess is modding and playing with my Ge stuff!)

I'm messing tons up but I'm now seeing more of it it and figuring what I can do better and how I can avoid it next time. It's a huge learning curve. I suppose I've kinda taken the components on the board and the soldering bit for granted, as I was ok at soldering before I started and got the hand of it pretty quickly but I now see how it can be so much better.

This is still crammed in under the board, but I was trying to get the wires neater and shorter, which I've done, so that's cool.

I will tidy up my components next time Mr Beaker, sir :) You are dead right though. Now I look at it, the wood of the components was missed by the trees of the [reasonable] wiring....

In an earlier post, you mentioned planning ahead, which is really important as I've managed to do dumb things like having the board sat so the wires are as far away from the pots as they can be, which is crazy, but it's just down to a bit of inexperience, impetuosity and not planning things out better.

...right, sockets to solder. I like soldering sockets. I am wierd.

[rocket88]

haha beaker, i'm just messing with you buddy.

ed, having the wires hidden under the board is perfect. and you always want them to still be long enough that if you needed to you can remove components from the board and such., so you never want them to be too short. i get real OCD now a days about having just enough, no more, no less. it's rather maddening.

[Travis]

Ed! You're doing great!!

Beaker! I love your work too dude!



I finally boxed up my Sabbra Cadabra (alex80's layout). I've got MPF4393 and a BC108 in there right meow. May try replacing the BC108 but it sounds really sweet!

[bogey]

MORE GREAT BUILDS!!!!!
And thanks for the tips and advice everybody. I'm inspired and can't wait to 'fire up the iron'.
Unfortunately life is getting in the way of my progress(work,school holidays,diy,decorating,blah,blah,blah).

But on the plus side I've got a night out tomorrow going to see The Fall playing in Manchester Cathedral....Yes you heard me right ....The Fall....in a fuckin' cathedral...How cool is that?

Anyway after the inevitable hangover I've promised myself i'll make some time for pedal building(the wife's away on Saturday so no excuses).

SO HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND COMRADES

 

[rocket88]

you lucky SOB you're going to see the fall? i missed them when they were in NYC last time, and still have them on my list of bands i have to see.

[Beaker]

Been a long time since I last saw the Fall. I hope it's a great one.

Zach, my friend Damien Taylor's band (The Sounds Of) Kaleidoscope from Philly supported The Fall a couple of years ago. They had a great time.

[Skydiver8]

haha mine too! I always say as long as it sounds good it's all good lol.

[Sensei Tim]

long time lurker, first time poster ;)

gut shots coming tomorrow. I just finished putting the innards together tonight.

[Travis]

Woah Tim that is sweet! Did you screen print the graphics? Gotta see the guts!


I just finished this Big Muff for my friend. It's Mark's green Russian layout but I used ceramic discs instead of film. It sounds amazing! The black Russian muff was the first pedal I ever bought. This takes me back to all that happy overkill but even better

Definitely building one for myself!

[Sensei Tim]

Thanks, Travis.  Believe it or not, that is a waterslide decal !

And I don't feel like posting my gut shot after you posted the one above lol... Mine are average at best, but a diefet is a nasty nest of wires on a good day ;)

[Travis]

It looks great. I can't see any edge on it

7 pots is no joke for a stripboard build lol. The muff is so easy in comparison. If it makes you feel any better, there was a fatal error on the board in this pic and I had to go back and take it apart to fix it. I can hardly get these things working sometimes lol

[Sensei Tim]

It took a lot of trial and error for me to get to the point where i'm happy with my waterslides.  

here's a gut shot.

[rocket88]

tim, awesome work. i've seen a few of the pedals you build and they all look fantastic.

btw, figured i would post my latest. it's a Ge Fuzzface with an inverter, and a few special changes. i present to you the burning beard





it's hard to see, but the paint is fairly unique. it's sort of a black cherry metallic, that i came up with mixing a few paints and using a tinted clear. i sanded away some of the tinted clear around the tips of the flames on the beard to give it that on fire look when the light hits it.

i took some pictures of the whole process for the etching tutorial, so if i get a chance i'll write it up.

[Ed Nice]

Rocket, that's really nice. I love the dark flames.

The thing I really like about this thread is that in the last 10 posts, all the styyles of the finishes have been quite drastically different and apart from my boring efforts, really creative. It does go to show that, for example using waterslides and acrylic paint like me and several others have, the possibilities are pretty endless and the only limit really is your patience and imagination.

I have 5 pedals, all working, waiting to be boxed but it's been too cold here to paint :(

...on the plus side, it's given me time to start looking at my 'From Russia with Love' Ge parcels... :p