DIY pedals: what's your thought?

NickInMesa · #1 07-10-2009, 09:44 AM

I can solder some and still have some electronics knowledge left from school (I went into software, so not much practice).

I would like to build some pedals from scratch, sometimes by etching my own PCBs if I need to.

Any good kits, schematics, links out there?

Also what are the guitar pedals that can be adapted for bass and how? (I suppose by changing a cap here and there).

I'd love to show up at practice one day with my own homemade delay (I know, not a beginner's project), and impress the band

Thanks!

groooooove · #2 07-10-2009, 09:47 AM

i'm pretty sure the only thing a first-timer can get through is building a fuzz. a lot of them are real simple to make a clone of..

hopefully someone will chime in with some schematics for you.

jimmy rocket · #3 07-10-2009, 09:54 AM

http://www.diystompboxes.com/wpress/ is a good place to get started

I've found a lot of helpful information on

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com

there are a ton of sites in the DIY stompbox community that a quick google search will uncover.

HogieWan · #4 07-10-2009, 09:57 AM

runoffgroove.com makes some good stuff (mostly guitar) but they have an Ampeg B-15 as a pedal that sounds really good

Din Of Win · #5 07-10-2009, 09:57 AM

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/

Good stuff!

+1 for GGG as well!

bigchiefbc · #6 07-10-2009, 10:03 AM

I can also vouch that BYOC (buildyourownclone.com) is fantastic for people starting out, and they give out their schematics and parts list in the instructions for each kit. So you don't even need to buy their kit, you can just use their schems and make your own PCBs if you wanted to.

karter2000 · #7 07-10-2009, 10:04 AM

I did that for quite a while, as I originally wanted to build a Jumbo Tonebender clone (which I did, worked great). I even amassed a good collection of parts and tools. I've built kits mostly from GGG and OL Circuit's Flipster.

Recently, I've kinda moved away from doing that, as most of the pedals I use now are commercially made. Be forewarned, it's very time-consuming (something I don't have), especially the off-board wiring. That and your soldering has to be perfect, or expect to do some troubleshooting. It was getting to the point where I had a soldering iron in my hand as opposed to my bass!

If you want to build something, I would start with a fuzz or overdrive. Kits from GGG are great, and the Big Muff or IT8 (tubescreamer) are probably good ones to start with.

Hope that helps,

NickInMesa · #8 07-10-2009, 10:05 AM

Thanks, all. I knew of these sites, but I'll know where to look for the URLs again

Who has done any of those and what could be a good started project, besides a loop selector of course.

Thanks!

bigchiefbc · #9 07-10-2009, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickInMesa

Thanks, all. I knew of these sites, but I'll know where to look for the URLs again

Who has done any of those and what could be a good started project, besides a loop selector of course.

Thanks!

I did the BYOC envelope filter. They give you the extra caps for the bass mod with the kit, and it was very easy. It worked the first time through, no troubleshooting needed. Very positive experience.

Din Of Win · #10 07-10-2009, 10:14 AM

I've only done BYOC pedals at the moment, but here's what i've done: (NOTE: i had NO building experience what so ever prior to this)

Leeds Fuzz: First build and i built it for my roomate. It was pretty easy for a first time. BYOC is rad in that they include a "practice" build (which is currently out of stock untill the 15th) which i was able to practice my soldering. It looked ugly but sounded great!

Analog Delay: This... was WAY too ambitious for a second build. I messed it up pretty bad. To the point that my roomate bought it from me. He cleaned it up and built it and it sounds GREAT now.

Phase: This was in that "difficult enough to be interesting, but not so bad it was annoying". Loved the end result to. It's the one i put a stencil of Patrick Swayze on it and it was dubbed the Patrick Phayze.

Overdrive 2: This was very difficult as well for my untrained self. I suppose i got cocky with the result of the Phase. I got it built but it sounded bad. Again, i sold it to my roomate who cleaned it up and it works... okay... now. We can't really figgure it out honestly. He thinks i built it fine, some of the components were just rotten (possibly.. er.. probably through my fault somehow though).

I plan on doing the Mouse and Lazy Sprocket in the near future as well...

jimmy rocket · #11 07-10-2009, 10:26 AM

I just bought the Lazy Sprocket clone off of BYOC, but everything I've built up to this point has been GGG or on my own. (A/B selectors and loop switchers are pretty easy wiring so I didn't need a kit)

My very first PCB build was the GGG ITS8 kit and it was a breeze. Sounds great on bass with the suggested mods.
I've also built their EA Tremolo (with mods), their LBP clone, their Delay (which was a beast, but sounds fantastic) and their Reverb.

James Hart · #12 07-10-2009, 10:32 AM

www.tonepad.com

jimmy rocket · #13 07-10-2009, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Hart

www.tonepad.com

+1

Kooldac · #14 07-10-2009, 11:27 AM

If you decide to graduate out of pre-made kits, feel free to look at the Beavis Audio board. It is pretty large and comes with a lot of projects, but it has a nice fat breadboard for experimentation of said projects and anything else for guitar pedals

NickInMesa · #15 07-10-2009, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kooldac

If you decide to graduate out of pre-made kits, feel free to look at the Beavis Audio board. It is pretty large and comes with a lot of projects, but it has a nice fat breadboard for experimentation of said projects and anything else for guitar pedals

That is impressive... A breadboard, with all the components and a test platform for effect pedals?

Pretty nice!

Now what software do you guys recommend to go from schematic to PCB layout?

I don't mind paying a few bucks.

Thanks!

NickInMesa · #16 07-20-2009, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Din Of Win

Analog Delay: This... was WAY too ambitious for a second build. I messed it up pretty bad. To the point that my roomate bought it from me. He cleaned it up and built it and it sounds GREAT now.

Sincerely, I see how this one could be a recipe for disaster.

ICs can be a pain, with all the little DIPs to test, but also this BYOC kit has 10 ICs (compared to the DM-2 which had 4).

I am a bit baffled by their approach. This is obviously not a beginner's project.

But kudos for you and your buddy to finish it.

My first big project was a guitar amp and it was a total fail. I sold it out of frustration to a good buddy of mine who fix it and flipped it in a week. Turns out my soldering iron was too hot and fried a few components, mostly resistors and caps, which were a few cents to replace.

gnasher1993 · #17 07-20-2009, 02:03 PM

I don't think there's any software that can automatically convert schematics to PCB layouts. But, ExpressSCH and ExpressPCB can be used in conjunction with one another. That's what I use and they are great individually and work very well together (you can link schematic to PCB). The biggest plus point...they're both free!

NickInMesa · #18 07-20-2009, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnasher1993

I don't think there's any software that can automatically convert schematics to PCB layouts. But, ExpressSCH and ExpressPCB can be used in conjunction with one another. That's what I use and they are great individually and work very well together (you can link schematic to PCB). The biggest plus point...they're both free!

Of course there are plenty of CAD applications that convert a schematic into a PCB layout.

Eagle CAD is one that is trusted in the hobby world but there are tons.

There are even some that convert into a breadboard.

Kooldac · #19 07-20-2009, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickInMesa

Sincerely, I see how this one could be a recipe for disaster.

ICs can be a pain, with all the little DIPs to test, but also this BYOC kit has 10 ICs (compared to the DM-2 which had 4).

I am a bit baffled by their approach. This is obviously not a beginner's project.

But kudos for you and your buddy to finish it.

My first big project was a guitar amp and it was a total fail. I sold it out of frustration to a good buddy of mine who fix it and flipped it in a week. Turns out my soldering iron was too hot and fried a few components, mostly resistors and caps, which were a few cents to replace.

You fried a... resistor? Wth? Seriously either get a lower wattage iron or dont hold it on the component for 5 mins at a time

Ric5 · #20 07-20-2009, 02:51 PM

DIY pedals: what's your thought?

hmmm ... I never really considered that ...