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Building Pedals.

Hey guys...I was wondering if any of you built/modded/pieced together your own pedals. Between me and my Gu*****st i have a decent amount of busted FX pedals. I know Timmy C made some of his own pedals, but I have no idea where to start. Can anyone throw some links/tips or any other relavant info my way?
 
buildyourownclone.com


paint by numbers pedal kits that kick @$$!! plus, uber mods to be found in the forum, and the courage to try just about anything with any pedal.

I don't like the idea of the "paint by numbers pedal kits", I like to work from a schematic and design everything myself.

I'm getting to a point now where I can design my own simple circuits without working from a schematic, if you want original and inventive tones, you aren't most likely wont get it from a build your own... kit...

Well thats my way of doing it anyways, not saying the paint by numbers is bad, just that I like it my way better.
 
Yeah... +1 to GGG. I'm in the middle of some phenomenal service from them, and I'd be inclined to pay more from them over BYOC as general guitar gadgets keeps so much usefull info on their site and such.

edit... yeah, I agree with SEV about most of that, but I just don't have the facilities to box up anything I build... $11 for a custom drilled enclosure from GGG is pretty worthwhile. Plus... the next few builds I've been thinking (got a muff kit in the mail) are small mods from classic designs
 
For sure, thanks to all of you. I have an intermediate understanding of circuits, and all that great electramicity stuff. I found some (somewhat)simple ones to begin with, but thanks for the help/. If I figure out anything that sounds sweet, I'll let you all know.
 
edit... yeah, I agree with SEV about most of that, but I just don't have the facilities to box up anything I build... $11 for a custom drilled enclosure from GGG is pretty worthwhile. Plus... the next few builds I've been thinking (got a muff kit in the mail) are small mods from classic designs

hmmm, custom drilled enclosures you say...

doing the drilling myself was no problem when I was at home with all my dad's tools at my disclosure... but now that I am in college and without a drill... I might have to look into that...

of course I already need to drill 2 new holes in two of my custom pedals because I modded them further, so that doesn't help me in this case... and the next thing I want to do is to mod my LBM... but for the future! haha

but you know, I've been far too busy with school work to even play bass let alone build pedals :hmm: stupid engineering interfering with everything else that interests me...
 
The funny thing is, the "drilling holes in an aluminum box" part of DIY has held me up the most in terms of getting projects completed. Until very recently I spent years living in tiny urban apartments with roommates and cats or a girlfriend and cats, so I had no place in which to "pollute" with noise and metal shavings. It's only now that I have a house with a basement that I can actually complete the most basic and primitive part of the DIY process!
 
The funny thing is, the "drilling holes in an aluminum box" part of DIY has held me up the most in terms of getting projects completed. Until very recently I spent years living in tiny urban apartments with roommates and cats or a girlfriend and cats, so I had no place in which to "pollute" with noise and metal shavings. It's only now that I have a house with a basement that I can actually complete the most basic and primitive part of the DIY process!

Homeowner now are we? Congratulations, I'm sure it feels good.

My dad's workspace is in the garage :ninja:

that last sentence of mine reminds me of "In My Garage" by Weezer :D
 
Ooh, I must say those BYOCs look enticing. I might pick up an octafuzz or chorus or something. Any idea which one is the simplest circuit out of the ones they offer?

I wouldn't worry about which one is easiest. If you can solder and read well enough to follow instructions, they're all easy. Some take longer than others that's all. I built the dod 440 clone from BYOC and it is very good. I can solder ok, but I'm not an electronics whizz, so unlike some genii (geniuses??) I can't design my own pedals. But BYOC is a relatively cheap way of making a classic design, and gives a great start point for the beginner. do it!!!
 
I found a fairly simple bass fuzz that I'm pretty sure I can figure out. It is the Deluxe Bazz Fuss from www.home-wrecker.com Has anyone built it? I too, am kind of against BYOC, mainly because I love the "novelty" of being able to say "i made that myself." actually looking at a circiut schematic and making a list of what I need, getting it, and assembling. spending long hard frustrating hours going in circles in my head figuring something out is just how I get off I guess.....Not to mention, I was raised by an engineer....:help:
 
I found a fairly simple bass fuzz that I'm pretty sure I can figure out. It is the Deluxe Bazz Fuss from www.home-wrecker.com Has anyone built it? I too, am kind of against BYOC, mainly because I love the "novelty" of being able to say "i made that myself." actually looking at a circiut schematic and making a list of what I need, getting it, and assembling. spending long hard frustrating hours going in circles in my head figuring something out is just how I get off I guess.....Not to mention, I was raised by an engineer....:help:

i wasnt raised by an engineer, but i was raised by a guy who added a few extensions to his house by himself, not to mention completely refinishing his entire house... he is an inspiration to me! haha
 
I don't like the idea of the "paint by numbers pedal kits", I like to work from a schematic and design everything myself.

I'm getting to a point now where I can design my own simple circuits without working from a schematic, if you want original and inventive tones, you aren't most likely wont get it from a build your own... kit...

Well thats my way of doing it anyways, not saying the paint by numbers is bad, just that I like it my way better.

Theres nothing wrong with designing & making your own pedals. But by the time you order all the parts separately & the cost of shipping you can start paying a hefty price to build just one. Since a lot of the pedal kits buy parts by volume, it is cheaper for them to put into kit form at a lower price to you the consumer. So far I never went exactly by the instructions for building it, modifying it to my own specifications & switching out with higher quality parts.
 
My small multieffects stomp box. Currently has chorus, flanger, delay and fuzz. I'll be adding overdrive and a phaser once I work the kinks out of the fuzz. Maybe a parametric EQ? I still need to drill the enclosure as well.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
Theres nothing wrong with designing & making your own pedals. But by the time you order all the parts separately & the cost of shipping you can start paying a hefty price to build just one. Since a lot of the pedal kits buy parts by volume, it is cheaper for them to put into kit form at a lower price to you the consumer. So far I never went exactly by the instructions for building it, modifying it to my own specifications & switching out with higher quality parts.

Well as they buy in bulk, so have I. I have tons of spare parts lying around now. My next build will probably cost me nothing more than I have already paid. I built a A/B type switcher for $20, three boosters for $75 total. And a blender for... hell I don't even know, I used a bunch of leftover parts and bought a pot or two, so not much.

It's not as expensive as you might think anyways... :D
 
Oh Yeah:

> This is an enquiry e-mail via http://www.generalguitargadgets.com from:
> Nathan Loyer <[email protected]>
>
> Hello, I heard about your custom enclosure drilling from a website
> called talkbass.com. So what is the deal on this? I am not looking
> to order one currently, but this is interesting for me, because I
> do not have access to a drill anymore... More specific questions:
> Is the price $11 for any enclosure, any amount of holes? Are they
> only available if I buy a kit from you? Any more specifics you
> could give me would be great.
>
> Thanks for your time, I am sure you are busy.
> Nathan Loyer
>

Hi Nathan,

<feel free to pst this response on the forum if you think it is of interest>

I hastily posted that product for a customer and have only sold a
couple so far. I need to post some photos and details. We currently
have two boxes available, a 1590NS (1590BB) and something called a
125B which you can see some pretty good photos of in this file.

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_its8_instruct.pdf

You can get any standard configuration, it would have to be something
you could describe in an email, like:

125B, Input/ouput jacks on the side DC jack in front, 3 knobs across
the top front, two switches on either side of the LED

Somehting like that. No returns accepted on these, so it needs to be
very clear and I'm hoping its mostly stuff very similar to somthing we
already do for one of the kits. As in: just like the Tube screamer
kit box with an extra hole for another toggle switch on the other side
of the LED.

Hope that helps, I'll add more to the product details very soon. I
hope to focus on some bass projects soon too ;-)

Thanks,
JD Sleep
General Guitar Gadgets
 

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