Any DIY pedal builders on TB? Strut your stuff!

[disssa]

This pedal is based on the classic 300 watt Ampeg SVT bass amplifier:

 

[bitzie]

This is the third Parentheses that I've built. Actually I just remembered, it's kinda the fourth since I first did a Parentheses Mini. The first one... Well, the less said about it the better. It was such a headache and I gave up on troubleshooting it. The second one went a whole lot smoother and with some minor troubleshooting works great. As I had an extra drilled enclosure from the first build (a kit from Musikding), I figured why not do another one? Since my last one was super clean and slick looking with a UV printed enclosure by Tayda, I decided to go in the opposite direction for this build.

I copper sulphate etched the enclosure then went at it with Tremclad Rust Matte black paint, isopropyl alcohol, sandpaper, a couple different files, and a stiff wire brush. The same process was inflicted upon all the hardware. The leds started life as water clear, ultra bright purples, but some 800 grit sandpaper diffused them rather nicely. I was so incredibly nervous firing it up for the first time given my track record so far, but it's sounding utterly amazing. I do have a ceramic disc instead of a box for C10 as of course, that was the one thing I forgot to add in my last Tayda order, but without directly a/b'ing this one versus my other Parentheses, to my ears it sounds just as good.

Next up will actually be an Anubis from Dead End FX which is another Life Pedal clone, but in a slightly smaller form factor which since I use a Pedal Train Nano+ will just fit a bit better. Yes. I have a problem. No, I'm not going to do anything about it. Well... Except make more.

 

[G.Bisson]

That is a beautiful pedal! Especially like the rustic knob flying saucer formation.

The leds started life as water clear, ultra bright purples, but some 800 grit sandpaper diffused them rather nicely.

^ This is a good tip

 

[bitzie]

Thanks!

I originally got a bunch of purple diffused leds from Musikding, but could not for the life of me find them anywhere else. Purple leds are tough enough to find at a good price, but diffused ones are pretty much impossible. Since I didn't need to get anything else from Musikding I started scouring the interwebs for either the proper led or some other solution. Then I found on some random site, someone posted about diffusing stupidly bright, piercing leds with some sandpaper. Score!

 

[G.Bisson]

PaulintheLab Nintendetar bitcrusher, on stripboard into a 1590A.
Simple crusher with single control for pulse width. Lowering bass guitar volume adjusts sensitivity. Its loud and raw. Needs volume and tone controls to tame brittle highs. Paired well with the tilt EQ on a DOD BiFET preamp clone.




***** PUSH START *****

 

[Passinwind]

Thanks!

I originally got a bunch of purple diffused leds from Musikding, but could not for the life of me find them anywhere else. Purple leds are tough enough to find at a good price, but diffused ones are pretty much impossible. Since I didn't need to get anything else from Musikding I started scouring the interwebs for either the proper led or some other solution. Then I found on some random site, someone posted about diffusing stupidly bright, piercing leds with some sandpaper. Score!

I've been happy with the various pink and purple diffused ones available here: Search results for: 'diffused LED'

5mm Diffused Flat Top Wide Angle UV / Purple LED - Wide Angle

 

[bitzie]

I've been happy with the various pink and purple diffused ones available here: Search results for: 'diffused LED'

5mm Diffused Flat Top Wide Angle UV / Purple LED - Wide Angle

Bookmarked! Thanks!

 

[Passinwind]

Bookmarked! Thanks!

I especially dig this style: 5mm / 4.8mm Diffused Straw Hat Wide Angle Pink LED - Wide Angle

 

[disssa]

BJFE BlueBerry Bass OverDrive 3BOD:

 

[johnk_10]

Fender tweed deluxe pedal build:

 

[cosmicevan]

Fender tweed deluxe pedal build:
View attachment 4355598

sexy

 

[johnk_10]

i just finished this one last night. it's a Beetronics Fat Bee circuit in a polished & etched 1590B with all top jacks with a relayed true bypass. there are NO clipping diodes in it and uses Jfets and one BJT for the drive and it sounds great with guitar or bass.

 

[bitzie]

Here’s my latest build, an Anubis (Life Pedal clone) from Dead End FX. As much as I love my Parentheses builds, they’re somewhat on the big side, especially since I use a Pedal Train Nano⁺. Then I heard about the Anubis which is a fair bit smaller (1590BBS or 1590C vs 1590XX) so I had to go for it. But… When I ordered the UV printed enclosure from Tayda, I ended up ordering the 1590BB instead so things got a bit more interesting.

As you can see from the gut shot, it’s really tight to begin with. Very little wiggle room. Since I ordered the wrong enclosure, the jacks are about a millimeter off the board and I had to route out part of the lid’s inner rim to fully close it. I would have also much rather placed the jacks on top, but that just wasn’t possible. I also had a bit of fun with the leds since the pcb is marked opposite to what I’m used to. Due to the tightness of the build I could only really test it once it was all installed, so when I found out the leds weren’t working, I had to desolder them, pull the wires out to the top of the board, insert cut off leads into the holes, and resolder the wires to the leads.

Overall I’m very happy with the pedal. It sounds great; very, very close to the Parentheses. It also fits way better on my tiny board.

 

[Roxbororob]

Fender tweed deluxe pedal build:
View attachment 4355598

Wow!

 

[Passinwind]

Here’s my latest build, an Anubis (Life Pedal clone) from Dead End FX. As much as I love my Parentheses builds, they’re somewhat on the big side, especially since I use a Pedal Train Nano⁺. Then I heard about the Anubis which is a fair bit smaller (1590BBS or 1590C vs 1590XX) so I had to go for it. But… When I ordered the UV printed enclosure from Tayda, I ended up ordering the 1590BB instead so things got a bit more interesting.

As you can see from the gut shot, it’s really tight to begin with. Very little wiggle room. Since I ordered the wrong enclosure, the jacks are about a millimeter off the board and I had to route out part of the lid’s inner rim to fully close it. I would have also much rather placed the jacks on top, but that just wasn’t possible. I also had a bit of fun with the leds since the pcb is marked opposite to what I’m used to. Due to the tightness of the build I could only really test it once it was all installed, so when I found out the leds weren’t working, I had to desolder them, pull the wires out to the top of the board, insert cut off leads into the holes, and resolder the wires to the leads.

Overall I’m very happy with the pedal. It sounds great; very, very close to the Parentheses. It also fits way better on my tiny board.

View attachment 4359894
View attachment 4359895

Any tips or tricks with the UV print file format for Tayda?

 

[bitzie]

Any tips or tricks with the UV print file format for Tayda?

Since I was ordering six enclosures with various prints, I ended up buying access to Illustrator for a month. I tried using Affinity Designer, but since I have only barely dabbled in vector graphics in the past, it was a bit of a nightmare and I just gave up on it out of frustration and not having the time to really learn it properly. Illustrator was way more straightforward and there's tons of up to date tutorials so I was able to get it done. My prints are quite simple; just one layer for the black image and one duplicate of that layer for the gloss varnish. So I guess at least for me, my main tip would be to use Illustrator.

 

[Passinwind]

Since I was ordering six enclosures with various prints, I ended up buying access to Illustrator for a month. I tried using Affinity Designer, but since I have only barely dabbled in vector graphics in the past, it was a bit of a nightmare and I just gave up on it out of frustration and not having the time to really learn it properly. Illustrator was way more straightforward and there's tons of up to date tutorials so I was able to get it done. My prints are quite simple; just one layer for the black image and one duplicate of that layer for the gloss varnish. So I guess at least for me, my main tip would be to use Illustrator.

Thanks. I did the same on my DIY amp project a few years ago when there was a free spell for 30 day Adobe trials, but this time around I am very committed to not using Illustrator. Pedal Parts Plus had no problem working with my Inkscape derived PDF when they were still doing one-offs, but they didn’t require multiple layers as Tayda does. I have Designer loaded up and had no trouble getting the required color profile going, but time will tell on whether things actually work out.

 

[RJ]

This might not be of much use but if anyone needs graphic help, like you’re mentioning, feel free to hit me up. Happy to provide pointers or provide any insight I can. Also more than happy to do a work trade if you needed something more involved.

Im a graphic designer by trade, though I primarily bill myself as an illustrator.

I’m no builder I just come here to lurk and admire the incredible work you all do.

 

[johnk_10]

 

[RJ]

Gasp