Worried about noisy pedals.

[guitarguy93]

I've heard from various people that it's very difficult to build a pedal yourself without it being noisy. Is it really all that hard? Also, if this is the case, what should I be careful of when building one? I'm specifically looking at building this: http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2012/10/analog-bit-crusher.html

If there's any tips or things I should watch out for, please let me know. I haven't read through the comments yet, so if there's something there that I missed, forgive me.

Thanks in advanced!

[Geiri]

I've made loads of pedals, most from the layouts on this site, and they're never noisier than I expect from them. Lots of decent overdrives are pretty much quiet and the higher gain stuff just produces the amount of noise you'd expect from it.

That particular bit crusher does leak a high-pitched sound even when bypassed. There might be a cure for it but I haven't tried it. When the pedal is on, you will have that same sound squealing. I'm sure you can hear it in the video I made that's in the post.

Good luck!

[JaviCAP]

There are pedals noisy by nature, no matter if built by yourself or by any factory.

Example: few pedals I know less noisy than my handmade Dr. Boggie (extremely high gain) and few  MORE noisy than my original Boss DS-1 or Red&Black Big Muff.

Anyway, as simple advice:

1. Always try to use the shorter  wire you're able to
2. Make good solders.
3. Avoid to place the DC Jack very close to effect input
4. Use good pots (alpha are good enough)
5. Use aluminum enclosures, never plastic ones.

I would say that many of my pedals are less noisy than the original ones

[Rolf Poti]

you could wire the switch so it grounds the output of the circuit instead of the usual (input ground when pedal is off/bypassed)

 : )

[guitarguy93]

Thanks so much, guys. I suppose the people I heard all this from must not have known what they were talking about. I'll keep my soldering skills in mind and all. One last question, though:

What should I use for jumpers? I noticed that most of the pedals require some sort of jumping from on point in the circuit to another, but I don't know what to use. Would regular copper wire suffice?

[dodido]

CONTENTS DELETED

The author has deleted this message.

[Rolf Poti]

stripped solidcore wire if the jumper goes under an IC, you could use either striped or non striped "outside" ICs

[Vince]

You can use the leads you snip off or resistors/caps etc for small links... nice and skinny, good for running underneath IC's etc....

[GoranP]

That's what I do, use snipped bits from previous projects. Excellent source of stripping-free jumpers.

[Madferret]

One thing worth considering is how much noise your guitar and amp are producing, I use a single coil tele which are notorious for producing a lot of hum and a Fender Blues Junior which again have an unenviable reputation for producing 60hz hum when the tubes need changing.  If I throw a high gain pedal into the mix it's going to make that hum a whole lot worse because, you know, that's what it's designed to do, amp the signal and distort it.  Obviously some pedals are worse than others and if I ever have any problems it's usually due to grounding problems like a bad solder joint which is easy to fix.

[Geiri]

Also keep in mind that what we're dealing with are very low output pickups which are amplified. They're being amplified A LOT. Noise is normal. People shouldn't worry too much about a little noise here and there, as long as it isn't excessive.