Stock

[rocket88]

i like the tayda mini-toggles. so far they have never let me down, and they're reasonably priced.

[Chris60601]

rocket88 wrote

i like the tayda mini-toggles. so far they have never let me down, and they're reasonably priced.

+1

[Beaker]

Thanks Zach, mini-toggles are one of the few things I've never thought to order from Tayda.

I get most of mine from the model train/plane shop five minutes walk from my house. They sell them in boxes of five, are top quality (Salecom), and are stupidly cheap. They sell everything except DPDT on/on/on and 3PDT. It's these buggers that I've bought from ebay that have been exploding on me - the threaded shafts are not properly swaged into the body!

[Travis]

What brand are the Tadya mini toggles? Alpha?

[rocket88]

not sure who really makes them, on their site they say the manufacturer is tayda. on the side they have a backwards R and the letter U, so it's made by someone else, i just don't know that manufacturer stamp. unfortunately, i don't have a good place around me to go and get parts, mostly because they charge an arm and a leg for everything, so i just ordered some from tayda once and been very happy with them. they're the ones that are red, not sure if the color means anything like stomp switches , but they seem to be sturdy, reliable, and fairly cheap. so far so good, so i have a nice stock of all the ones they sell, except 4pdt those are expensive as hell and i don't have much use for them. i have only one for a DLSIII build.

[Silver Blues]

The UR stamp is actually not a manufacturer at all but rather an Underwriter's Laboratories certification. It's to make sure your switch won't do anything to set your house on fire when you use it

[IvIark]

One of the reasons I have bought some common transistors in bulk is because I've always had great results with parts from Dan at dpi4parts on eBay and much of the parts I have bought from him over the years are authentic Fairchild.  With them now being obsolete I know it is only a matter of time before Fairchild stock is depleted and starts selling for stupid prices, as we have seen with other rare parts used in pedals again and again.  So I wasn't just buying enough to last me for what I intend to build over the next 6 months or a year, I wanted enough so I never run out and I always have good quality parts without having to gamble with anything else from a random far eastern eBay seller.

Possibly unnecessary but when we're talking about transistors which cost less than £5 per 100 it's definitely worth it for me.

I've also stocked up a lot on IC's which is probably more unnecessary because the common single and dual opamps we use will probably be available in their billions for a long time, but in those cases I did it so I paid £2 postage per 100 instead of £2 postage for just a few.

At the end of the day though, you stock up and spend what you are comfortable to for your hobby.  I'm not rich but gave up smoking nearly 2 years ago now which saved me maybe £200 a month and so for maybe 6 months after stopping I could afford to get lots of stuff in and not be affected by it financially at all.  And now I haven't bought any electronic components for maybe 4 or 5 months because I really don't need anything and maybe won't ever.

[Frank_NH]

What I appreciate about this hobby is that most all of my parts can stored away in a couple of modestly-sized boxes.  This is very unlike guitar building, where I have tonewood billets, boxes of hardware parts, finishing supplies, etc. on several shelves in my basement.

In terms of stock, I keep running out of certain value capacitors and resistors (e.g. 100 nF, 22 nF, 10K, 1M...).  I just need to bite the bullet and get the 10,000 piece resistor assortment and the 100 pieces per value collection of caps.  

I usually wait and order boxing supplies as I need them.  That works to my benefit as I have to really sure I like an effect before I go through the trouble (and expense) of boxing it up.

[mr-nad]

Well, My first Tayda order has just been completed and now the waiting game is on.

Got paid this morning and the value of the dollar against the pound has worked in my favour, just under $100 dollars including shipping. which was only about $10 itself.

I'm hoping what i have bought will last me for at least the next couple of months.
I bought 10 3PDT switches a few weeks back for a very good price
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281301390086?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&var=580343774267&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I've used one so far and it seems to be as good as the ones you pay upwards from £3 each for.

I will still be casting my eyes over ebay shops for components because as you say @beaker some things are a no-brainer when you can get them in bulk.

So i guess the addiction has begun........

[motterpaul]

IVIark said "With them now being obsolete I know it is only a matter of time before Fairchild stock is depleted and starts selling for stupid prices, as we have seen with other rare parts used in pedals again and again."

This is an excellent point. Of course when parts are cheap and tiny there is no reason NOT to have 100 and I should have said that. And if certain through hole parts are being discontinued then I suppose you might want to have a lot. That does bring up another issue which I wonder about, though "how well thru-hole pedals remain competitive with SMT?" I sometimes wonder if this "hobby" will be all but obsolete in five years, but only time will tell. But SMT has proven to be more reliable and this is a biz where size matters.

Anyway, congratulations Mr. Nad. I am sure $100 will get you a nice assortment to get you started on many projects. And as time goes by I am also sure you will find more things you want to order, which will give you ample reasons to replenish anything you may run out of.

By the way, though. You are going to learn a lot of things, (and if you do it my way, in many cases it will be the hard way) and one of them is that all of those plastic switches are all made cheaply. To be clear, ones you bought are probably as good as any brand and that is a great price - but all of them will literally melt down if you get them too hot with your soldering gun.  I am not dissing your order, this is just something we all see eventually.

What do you plan to build?

[IvIark]

In most things I think we'll be fine for a long time yet.  Through hole passives are likely to be available far into the future.  SMT parts are used for convenience of pick and place manufacture and reduced footprint, but are limited in their rating which will make them unsuitable for certain applications in a lot of industries, especially anything relating to power or heating.  SMT use will grow every year but through hole passives are still so widely used in so many industries that their demand will ensure they are still manufactured by a number of companies in large quantities.  As I mentioned before ICs are likely to also be available for a long time because even if SOIC versions become the most popular, our DIP type have been, and currently continue to be manufactured in such large quantities that they aren't going to disappear too quickly.  We can also use so many different types that we aren't as limited to buying one particular type.

The main area of concern to me is JFETs.  With bipolar transistors, even if the Fairchild ones are obsolete there are still a number of manufacturers making them including On Semi.  But with JFETs most of the through hole manufacturers seemed to discontinue them at the same time which is why we saw a ridiculous price explosion on eBay.  A couple of years ago I bought 200 x Fairchild J201's from a trustworthy US seller for $15 delivered, and there were lots of similar deals from other sellers including dpi4parts who I bought lots from while he still had them.  Now you see some Chinese sellers charging $2 each and you have no idea of their origin or how well they will work.

Fortunately the SOT23 type are now available cheaply and plentifully and if anything they seem to be a more consistent quality than the through hole ones we are used to.  I suspect a popular product with us all that will be seen at some time in the not too distant future will be a through hole "blank" that will allow you to clip a SOT23 transistor in the top.  That will ensure we can build any of these things for many decades.  The same is obviously true with the SOIC > DIP8 adapter you can buy now on eBay for ICs.

People building commercially may have more concerns because they need continuous supply, but there will always be a large market for analog electronics in certain industries, so even if we have to adapt our methods and product usage a little, our hobby is pretty safe I reckon.

[mr-nad]

Yeah i've been learning as i go with a lot of this. But the guys on this site have been more than helpful with my noobish questions.

Hopefully with not too many mistakes, I can make a couple of pedals varying in complexity.
The first one I am going to tackle with this order is DeadAstronauts Tremshifter pedal. I'm throwing ambition before experience with this one but it is such a great sounding pedal and something that i've wanted for a while. Just never been able to afford to buy one complete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxkQrS5tlpk

Learning the hard way is the only way to learn isn't it?

[motterpaul]

It's a nice sounding pedal and I see they sell a kit, so you with a little help here and there you should be fine. Good luck.

Is there are parts list for the pedal? I couldn't see it on the site.  It does sound pretty fun, though.
EDIT: just found a link for this pedal: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=108355.0

[mr-nad]

I've written out the parts list if you need it

[motterpaul]

I only wanted it out of curiosity. This is the kind of project that I have not personally tried yet only because mating up the LDRs with the right LEDs seems to be crucial - but as long as you buy what you need and follow directions you should be just fine.

Just be careful when hooking up any LEDs - don't get them backwards or forget the "current limiting resistor" because they can burn out. I am sure all of those tech details are already built into the circuit, though, so just follow the directions carefully. Warning - do not try to "test" the leds just by connecting them to a battery - LEDs will burn out. Most can't handle 9v.

We did not discuss tools. Do you have a voltmeter? I highly recommend testing each resistor before you place it (it only takes a second) - especially if you have some that look similar in color bands but are actually much different values.

[rocket88]

Mark, it's funny that you and I quite smoking around the same time, but I didn't spend as much as you, maybe aroun $200-250 a month. Definitely nice to have that cash in my pocket, and like you helped in my buying of parts.

There isn't a kid of the tremshifter, but rob(deadastronaut) sells pcb's for them, and if you're in the uk shipping is cheap. It's on my list too, and I was going to get the pcb to make it a little easier of a build, but it would have cost like $25-30 to get it shipped to me in the US. It's going to be a bear of build, but totally worth it. My 2nd build was a russian big muff, that had so many stupid issues, and was probably above where I was when I built it, but it taught me so much. Not only does it have we special place in my heart due to the grief it caused me, but is one of my favorite sounding fuzzes.

I've got to agree with Mark about most through hole parts being around for a long time, you even see them on boards that have SMD parts. I'm always concerned with the "mojo" parts, have you looked at the cost of the old common lm308? All because of the rat they can go for stupid money.

Silver, I thought it might have been a stamping for quality/inspection but it was the only marking on it. I've seen the same red switches for sale from other companies, so they have to be made by someone else, and labeled as tayda, which isn't uncommon.

Motter, there is actually a difference between the switches. Beleive it or not, the color can actually tell you. On the AMZ blog, there was actually a comparison between each one, and there can be a significant difference in quality.

[mr-nad]

The VTL5c3 vactrol, is that an LED and LDR combined? It's just that tayda doesnt stock them.

Can i just put together the two components with some heatshrink?

[mr-nad]

Yeah i've got a voltmeter.
I'm learning to use it as i go along.
just ordered a set of helping hands from ebay.

Tools have been the main focus before i started to buy components. Already had quite a few at my dads place from when he used to do his jack of all trades bit when i was a kid. Got an old weller adjustable soldering iron from my mum (she used to work for an electronics company in Oxford in the 80's around when she was pregnant with me) gave that a clean up and bought another one as a backup (Temperature doesnt go as high as the weller)

I just need to get some solder wick. I'm going to order that now. The pump i have is too large to fit around the veroboard.

[motterpaul]

A vactrol is a combined LED and LDR in an enclosed box. That is what I would prefer to use, but the question is whether you can find one to match the circuit you are putting them into. He is pretty specific about which LED / LDR combinations to use.

Yeah, I like solder wick over a solder-sucker (although they both have their applications).

[rocket88]

Yep. You just need to make sure you have the right components. If I remember rob said to use a diffused yellow led, and I forget the ldr. Just make sure you deal it completely so that no light effects it.