Why do we build?

[Dave]

Whats your reason for building pedals? Just thought it'd be interesting to compare reasons.
Initially I started because I wanted things I couldn't possibly afford, in effect it was greedy, however, now I feel more justified doing it. The reason for this is such: for around £200 you can get a squire guitar which are now at a level that makes you wonder why people buy fenders, if you can get a really decent guitar for that much, it does seem weird to me that anyone would pay more than £100 for a pedal, I mean if you think about it, its the least important part of the chain.....
Thanks
Dave

[Surgeon]

I don't use pedals live... like at all. I started for the challenge. I'm a biochemist so starting from zero in the electronics field was quite interesting. I've learned a lot, not only on how to build but what makes pedals tick, what makes them what they are.

Now it's turned into curiosity... how different pedals sound (both by themselves and together). I still wouldn't buy any pedal for myself but building them makes sense: cheaper, faster and a lot of fun.

The only pedal I would really use live would be the SHO. I'm still contemplating buying the real thing for ethical reasons.

I wouldn't say the fact that it's a cheaper way to own them is the main factor here but for sure, if it'd cost me as much to build as to buy, I wouldn't do it so it's not negligible either...

All in all, I've spent quite a fortune on parts for pedals I very seldom use...

[Vince]

I started building out of interest and the desire to create things that come 'alive'. I still get that same buzz when I stomp on it and it starts up and works flawlessly, Even when building the same circuit over and over. I don't use pedals either, I'm a guitar - cable - amp guy. No pedal has and will ever beat that imo.

And I agree, I'd never spend over £30 for a pedal these days, mainly because they all pretty much sound the same.

[crw414]

I started out by  building electric guitars , with the challenge of doing something I had never done before and the buzz  from creating "something from nothing " as it were. I don't play live and am only a hobby guitarist so buying boutique pedals for me is not justified , so building them myself provides enjoyment/learning and helps with the cost factor as well.

[Dave]

Interesting replies so far, thanks everyone, keep your thoughts coming.
Surgeon, you mentioned you are a biochemist, where did you do your degree? I'm currently doing a phd in microbiology at Essex Uni.
Cheers
Dave

[Silver Blues]

I just do it because it's fun. I like building all kinds of things and I love music so these two things just go together.

[alltrax74]

I started by curiosity.
I also build my own guitars, I play with an amp I built, so now all my gear is homemade :)
Now I'm starting to sell more and more pedals,  I sold about 12-15 last month.
I don't do this for a living of course as I have a fulltime job, but it allows me to self-finance my hobbies, and I find it to be a lot of fun.
A really enjoy to have to deal with all the aspects of a small business : purchasing parts, building, packaging, dealing with customers...all the chain from A to Z

[Surgeon]

Hi Dave,

I did both my degree and my master's at Laval University in Quebec.
Good luck with the PhD!

[JaviCAP]

I started building in a funny way:

1. I ordered a Fuzz Face clone kit,  including pcb and decorated  enclosure, to a well known builder in Spain. This guy is a bit stupid, and after a promised delivery of ten days and many "yeah, yeah, the enclosure is dried, will send the kit tomorrow", ended up taking  5 weeks to ship  it. So when it finally came, I rejected the COD parcel. I had lost nearly 7 weeks but had the money, so... why not  tryin' to build it myself?

2. I  had a non working Metal Muff. Was asked 75 euros to get it fixed.... "Maybe is not so difficult....."

And so I started building more and more pedals, and the time arrived that I was spending too much in components, so had to sell some effects, to get  money to invest in.... more components, enclosures, and so on :P. This hobby is adictive, and to be able to build and try pedals that I could not even just see in a store, is amazing.

Now I've reduced drastically my production. Just build what I want, and sell it, but take no custom orders any more. So I build about 4- 8 pedals a month, sell many of them, and just keep the ones I like the most. I just do it (sell) to recover money spent and pay the extremely expensive bimonthly bill of my  olders's son glasses.

BR

[IvIark]

I started because I have OCD about understanding things, I hate just taking something for granted or someone elses word for it.  Don't get me wrong I'm still far from an electronics expert but I do think I have a good knowledge of what is happening in the effects and it's also nice to be able to look at something and because of the amount of schematics I've had to scrutinize over the past few years, know what its influences are.

Being able to build £300 effects for a fiver was also a nice bonus

[Dulouz]

*WARNING: Potential Thread Hijack*

Javi - What ended up being the problem with your broken Metal Muff. I received a broken Metal Muff a few months ago.

[JaviCAP]

The Metal Muff showed extremely low output when bypassed, and just clean sound when engaged, so it pointed directly to the input buffer.

Finally, the problem  was the Q7, as supposed, the fet switching trannie in the buffer. Desoldered it, and used a regular siza 2N3819 instead of the original smd MMBF4393. It was a really hard solder time, but he Metal Muff works like a dream since :P

Hope it's of help to you!

[Freppo]

I started building because I'm a sound engineer with my own studio and I wanted to be able to go the DIY route for stuff like preamps, compressors ect to save some cash..

I thought that starting with pedals would be "good practice", nothing else.
Yeah right.. I got stuck and it has become one of my biggest hobby since. I love it!
I play guitar myself, but rarley use pedals except a boost sometimes,
but it's great to have a good selection of stompboxes at the studio
I've been trying to create my own circuits latley, and it's super fun.

Of course, i've also built a few preamps, a compressor and a small mixer for the studio.. :)

/ Fredrik

[mojo321]

I really just wanted to get my own pedalboard put together and building would let me try several pedals without shelling out the bucks for the real ones.  Plus, some things you just can't buy.  Or if you can, you pay BIG bucks.  Goto loop-master and you'll see what I'm talking about with price!   Or go to ebay and try to find a 3 channel EQ on an LPB-1 with a switchable buffer.   It doesn't exist!  Hahaha!

It started for me when I stumbled onto Fromel's website and saw that you could modify a Boss Bass Chorus to turn it into a CE-2 guitar chorus with lots of enhancements.  So I bought one used on ebay for $45.00 and the Fromel mod for $20.   I already had a soldering iron from YEARS ago when I was 19 and I had built a distortion out of the Anderton book I borrowed from the music store I was teaching at.  

So, now 40 years old, I did that CE-2B-->CE-2mod and the possibilities opened in my mind.  Then I found this nice site.  Awesome!