Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: avdekan on August 28, 2009, 12:30:55 PM
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Hi
after building several guitars I decided that I want to try building effect pedals as well (mainly OD and distortion for the moment).
I have the soldering technique and equipment covered, but I know close to nothing about designing circuits and selecting the right components and values. I am also more interested in coming up with my own designs or modified known designs than building replicas or kits.
Can someone direct me to a good online database or good books that cover the basics of effect circuit d
thanks
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There are plenty of DIY websites. Geofex web-site is a good place to start:
www.geofex.com
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A someone who's got into this recently there's:
The BYOC forum (http://www.buildyourownclone.com/board). Probably the friendliest of the lot. Helpful and not limited to BYOC's own kits (which are excellent by the way and are marketed here by Vibe-o-tronic (http://www.vibe-o-tronic.co.uk/)).
For a vast collection of circuits look at Freestompboxes (http://www.freestompboxes.org/). Another invaluble resource.
Finally (for me) there's DIY Stompboxes (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/). Which can be a bit unwieldy to navigate but is another vast resource.
I started with an all inclusive BYOC kit, did a couple of them and went from there. It's worth it just to get your head around things. Then when you start getting more adventurous look at perf and vero board or just getting the boards from BYOC, GGG and the like and populating them yourself (you can save lots doing this). Get your bits from Rapid (http://www.rapidonline.com/) and Farnell (http://www.rapidonline.com/).
...and it all goes on from there. It is a VERY addictive hobby. I've currently got 1 build on the go and 4 more planned. You'll end up with a vast collection of components over time and the further on you get the cheaper they become. I've just assembled for example, an effect for about £1 and it's brilliant (useless, but brilliant). Once I house it and add a stomp it'll be about £8 all in.
I'm already thinking about having a go at an amp soon...
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I found the Guitar and bass magazine compressor quite easy to build. Might be a good start point.
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I've made a few pedals from DIY books, the first was the ubiquitous fuzz pedal and it's a real hotch-potch but I like it a lot (it sounds awesome with bass too!), and I'd recommend starting with something like that.
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after a suggestion from the ceriatone thread... i think i want to try building an effect pedal to get my feet into the whole electronics thing. i took a look at those BYOC pedals... they're still pretty expensive considering you're only buying the components. are they supposedly really nice pedals once assembled? or why are they still so expensive? and does anyone know of any similar type companies located in the US?
by the way, what kind of work is involved with these? do you think it could be a dorm-room project? i wonder if i could have my parents ship up my soldering iron and try to get some of these done up here while i've got nothing else to do.
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there is also these a bit cheaper
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/
although the ones i have had have not been as good as the BYOC's i think i may have learned more from them.
doing a BYOC is a bit like painting by numbers - it doesnt make you understand the art behind it. but if you follow the instructions you will have a very nice pedel at the end of it.
although there is plenty of room for modding them and that increases understanding
and pedals are great projects to do at a desk
my first work on pedals was with vox and crybaby wah's. there are a few really easy and cheap mods you can do to get a lot more from them so a little experimentation can give great results. just changinh the odd resistor here and there
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there is also these a bit cheaper
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/
although the ones i have had have not been as good as the BYOC's i think i may have learned more from them.
doing a BYOC is a bit like painting by numbers - it doesnt make you understand the art behind it. but if you follow the instructions you will have a very nice pedel at the end of it.
although there is plenty of room for modding them and that increases understanding
and pedals are great projects to do at a desk
my first work on pedals was with vox and crybaby wah's. there are a few really easy and cheap mods you can do to get a lot more from them so a little experimentation can give great results. just changinh the odd resistor here and there
thanks a lot for that site Wez. the prices are a bit cheaper, and they're pretty close to me so shipping should be much better. do you have any recommendations on which pedal to get? i'd like to get a distortion pedal of some sort. i want something to run into the clean channel of my microcube so i can get footswitchable distortion rather than using the amp's distortion. ...and are distortion pedals a good place to start anyway?
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also, from the guys who have done these before... what will i need to make these? i'd like to give my parents a list so they can send everything to me asap.
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Hmm this could be a fun little project.
I've got a tubescreamer but want a bit more juice out of it, dont really want to mod the one ive got.
I had a look at the GGG site and was thinking one of their TS projects with mods could be cool
Anyone know if they sound decent? (if put together well)
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Hmmm, a minimum tool kit:
A good soldering iron and stand (which is a little hypocritical of me seeing as I use an ancient 15w jobbie that I've had for eons)
Multimeter
Some small pliers, cutters and wire strippers
A good desk lamp
You'll accumulate a decent tool kit and collection of parts over time.
Wez is nailed on that BYOC kits are a bit painting by numbers. However they're good for getting your confidence up and if you screw up, they usually have a decent trouble shooting section in the back of the instructions to follow. Also, you will end up with a decent pedal at the end of it. The BYOC kits are excellent (though pricey) in that regard. When you're feeling more confident, start looking at the schematic vaults on the above sites. Things like the Super Hard On are a piece of piss to make, take it from there.
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thanks guys. has anyone here built, or used similar, either the big muff or the Rat distortion? i think i'm going to try one of those two out. i'd prefer to get whichever can get me a heavier, metal type tone. the big muff seems more like what i want, but it's hard to tell from the clips seeing as they don't really play much of that type of music in them.
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i have the byoc large beaver and that was a nice simple build
i woudlnt class either of those as metal pedals though
Big muff's are a great big grungy filthy sound. very grinding and sustains forever when on full. not really enough clarity for metal
I tend to think of rat's as being more punky attitude although in fairness its more versatile than that - but not quite reaching metal territory really
much better to go with a tubescreamer clone i reckon
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In searching for things to build next, I found a couple of pages full of clips of various pedals. From the sounds of it, a Dr Boogie is probably right up your street though I suspect it might be a little advanced for your first pedal.
http://mrdwab.com/john/soundclipspage.html (http://mrdwab.com/john/soundclipspage.html)
http://www.home-wrecker.com/salvo.html (http://www.home-wrecker.com/salvo.html)
I got too many ideas from those pages...
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Wez, isn't a tube screamer only good through a distortion channel in the first place? i thought it was basically just a booster. i know i'm not going to get a real "metal" pedal from GGG, but i want something that can get me close. i want whichever pedal can get me the most gain going through a clean channel.
and thanks juan, i'll check those sites out. but seeing as this is my first pedal, i want to start with something from GGG so i have plenty of help building and troubleshooting.
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i ended up going with the Big muff after a recommendation from the GGG site. they said their GGG tuned BMP kit should be what i'm looking for.
i'll probably be back here with some questions once everything arrives. :)
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THere are also these great pedals here too. http://olcircuits.com/
The Thor and shredmeister caught my eye. As well as the Orange Peel
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Love the Shredmaster. Great distortion pedal. Do the bright mod on it, as standard it's sweet with single coils but goes a bit over dark with HBs. Flick a switch and you're rockin'.
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THere are also these great pedals here too. http://olcircuits.com/
The Thor and shredmeister caught my eye. As well as the Orange Peel
The OLC kits are much trickier than the others. I have two that i haven't managed to get working yet and i'm pretty good at the pedal building thing (well the rest of my pedal board is home made and still standing)
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Hmmm, a minimum tool kit:
A good soldering iron and stand (which is a little hypocritical of me seeing as I use an ancient 15w jobbie that I've had for eons)
Multimeter
Some small pliers, cutters and wire strippers
A good desk lamp
Hey Juan whats a good tool kit as opposed to minimum Ive got all that stuff
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The OLC kits are much trickier than the others. I have two that i haven't managed to get working yet and i'm pretty good at the pedal building thing (well the rest of my pedal board is home made and still standing)
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Wow really. Are the directions incomplete? Oh and juansolo the shredmaster that you referred to is it the BYOC one or the OLC??
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The OLC kits are much trickier than the others. I have two that i haven't managed to get working yet and i'm pretty good at the pedal building thing (well the rest of my pedal board is home made and still standing)
Wow really. Are the directions incomplete? Oh and juansolo the shredmaster that you referred to is it the BYOC one or the OLC??
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I've built the BYOC one both as a full kit and from their board (you can just buy the boards if you want to source your own bits). But they're all based on the same circuit so should be similar. All the bright mod does is switch a cap (detailed here (http://www.buildyourownclone.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=12297) and this is what it looks like installed:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3385/3660169152_046bdf36c4_o.jpg)
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Hey Juan whats a good tool kit as opposed to minimum Ive got all that stuff
Ok, for case finishing get a pillar drill or a drill press that you can fix your drill to. Then get yourself a cone cutter. The time saved with one of these and the holes it can cut are worth it's weight in gold. I use automotive primer/paint/lacquer, it seems tougher and dries quicker.
As for the assembly. I use fairly pikey stuff to be honest and you could get a good regulated soldering iron and a proper heated solder sucker (another essential tool, especially if you plan to scavenge parts or make a mistake). As I say I use an old 15w iron and a manual solder sucker. Flasher stuff would make it easier, but as long as it works, I struggle to see why I would change.
Other bits would be a hacksaw and file for cutting down pot shafts and cutting up vero. Some sort of tool as a track cutter if you are going to use vero (what I use is pretty much a drill bit with a handle on it). A really good pair of glasses or a magnifying glass if you're going blind like me. Get a good multimeter, they're invaluable. Make a signal tester (out of an old guitar lead and a cap), awesome for fault finding. If you're being tarty get some heatshrink and a little blow torch type thing to shrink it. Bag a reel of solid core cable, you won't believe how much easier it will make your life. Otherwise, honestly, there's not much more to it.
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Awesome thanks guys