Any DIY pedal builders on TB? Strut your stuff!

[JoeDaddio]

I finished up this PedalPCB Aft this past weekend, a nice and simple one. Haven't had much time to play with it yet. The no film waterslide looked nice and crisp before baking but came out snowy. Oh well, it kind of fits the theme I was going for anyway (The Terror tv show).

joe

 

[cosmicevan]

Question for the DIY'ers - what's the best way to protect your finish or stickers on a pedal?

3Leaf Audio just sold their remaining stock of pedals that had finish issues. The letters seem to eventually fall off the pedal. I snagged these B-Stocks and when they arrive, I'd love to put some sort of protective coating on the pedal to try to preserve whatever lettering is on the pedal when I get it. Any ideas/recommendations?

 

[G.Bisson]

Question for the DIY'ers - what's the best way to protect your finish or stickers on a pedal?

3Leaf Audio just sold their remaining stock of pedals that had finish issues. The letters seem to eventually fall off the pedal. I snagged these B-Stocks and when they arrive, I'd love to put some sort of protective coating on the pedal to try to preserve whatever lettering is on the pedal when I get it. Any ideas/recommendations?

Spraycan clear gloss enamel.

 

[disssa]

Music Man HD130 Preamp:

I used the factory schematics for creating the pcb.

 

[cosmicevan]

Somewhat recently, someone mentioned using nail polish to paint a pedal. Still thinking on protecting the stickers on a 3Leaf pedal...thinking what's the easiest least invasive way to do it and I'm thinking about a clear coat of nail polish. Any thoughts or reasons why this would be dumb or smart? I have no experience with pedal finishing so I don't know and although a clear coat seems best, it also requires me to empty out the pedal guts and I don't know if anything is soldered in place and I've also watched a bunch of videos about clear coating and seems like if you do it wrong, it will never dry right.

 

[cheapbasslovin]

Somewhat recently, someone mentioned using nail polish to paint a pedal. Still thinking on protecting the stickers on a 3Leaf pedal...thinking what's the easiest least invasive way to do it and I'm thinking about a clear coat of nail polish. Any thoughts or reasons why this would be dumb or smart? I have no experience with pedal finishing so I don't know and although a clear coat seems best, it also requires me to empty out the pedal guts and I don't know if anything is soldered in place and I've also watched a bunch of videos about clear coating and seems like if you do it wrong, it will never dry right.

Nail polish goes on funky. It might work ok if you are doing a single coat for protection, but it separates weird if you are looking for any detail. I've only done it once, so a more skilled artist or better quality polish might yield better results, but I would not recommend based on my experience.

This Russian Bassballs rehouse is my effort.

 

[johnk_10]

Somewhat recently, someone mentioned using nail polish to paint a pedal. Still thinking on protecting the stickers on a 3Leaf pedal...thinking what's the easiest least invasive way to do it and I'm thinking about a clear coat of nail polish. Any thoughts or reasons why this would be dumb or smart? I have no experience with pedal finishing so I don't know and although a clear coat seems best, it also requires me to empty out the pedal guts and I don't know if anything is soldered in place and I've also watched a bunch of videos about clear coating and seems like if you do it wrong, it will never dry right.

the only think that i would be concerned about is that if you brush on the nail polish, it might dissolve the lettering that you're trying to protect. if you removed the knobs, masked the pot and stomp switch nuts and used an airbrush you could probably get away without having to disassembling the pedal.

 

[cosmicevan]

They both arrived today

Hard to tell in the photo but the Doom is already losing letters. Part of the "F" on leaf and the "A" from Audio is already gone and around the stomp switch there is some fading in a circle as if tightening the bolt affected the lettering.

The Octabvre looks mint.

There is definitely some oiliness to the pedals. What do you think it the best and easiest? Clear coat lacquer spray paint and covering the pots/switches and stomp? I could always try nail polish on a small corner and see if it dissolves? Just not sure what route to take.

 

[bellebasaur]

Hard to tell in the photo but the Doom is already losing letters. Part of the "F" on leaf and the "A" from Audio is already gone and around the stomp switch there is some fading in a circle as if tightening the bolt affected the lettering.

The Octabvre looks mint.

There is definitely some oiliness to the pedals. What do you think it the best and easiest? Clear coat lacquer spray paint and covering the pots/switches and stomp? I could always try nail polish on a small corner and see if it dissolves? Just not sure what route to take.

You could try using those thin self adhesive clear vinyl sheets.
I'd remove the hardware, apply, cut holes, spray with clear lacquer. Or at least brush some lacquer at the edges to prevent peeling off.

and also to blend the edges in.

 

[bellebasaur]

nail polish is terrible gunk, most stock ones can't even go on evenly on my nails, much less such a large surface.
if you use it, you'd have to thin it down with acetone, to get some semblance of self levelling, that solvent could eat up your existing paints like JohnK mentioned.

 

[T-34]

Nail polish includes chemicals preventing it from drying completely so it doesn't chip away too easily. Can't imagine this being useful for enclosure finishes.

 

[Fuzzonaut]

They both arrived today

View attachment 4512019

Hard to tell in the photo but the Doom is already losing letters. Part of the "F" on leaf and the "A" from Audio is already gone and around the stomp switch there is some fading in a circle as if tightening the bolt affected the lettering.

The Octabvre looks mint.

There is definitely some oiliness to the pedals. What do you think it the best and easiest? Clear coat lacquer spray paint and covering the pots/switches and stomp? I could always try nail polish on a small corner and see if it dissolves? Just not sure what route to take.

You could try something that's designed to seal oil paintings.

 

[mdalamond]

I'm with John on this one. I have seen to many adverse chemical reactions. My question would be whay did they use for the lettering.

 

[G.Bisson]

You could try using those thin self adhesive clear vinyl sheets.
I'd remove the hardware, apply, cut holes, spray with clear lacquer. Or at least brush some lacquer at the edges to prevent peeling off.

and also to blend the edges in.

^ similar to what has already been said. If the letters are already lifting, curling, or peeling than use a brush to gently flatten them and glue them down. Then spray the whole then in a glassy candy coating of enamel for protection. Dissembling the pedal enclosure will make it easier to get an even finish.

 

[Bloozestringer]

Another one done. Another terrible doodle, but I've done the waterslide, fancy top thing and it's just not as fun. Silicon fuzzface using 2N2222A's. I tried BC108, BC109, 2N3904, and 2N3565 transistors and settled on the 2N2222A's. Wiring is a bit messy, but it works.

 

[cosmicevan]

Appreciate all the advice. My hope was to not have to disassemble the pedal and find a quick and easy solution. At this point, I put a bit of nail polish on it, so we'll see what happens to that area over the next few days. I know the answer is to spray it, but that's more work than I was hoping for and also the chance I can screw things up with the disassembly/reassembly. I also keep scratching my head as to why the builder wouldn't just do that and then not have to sell them as B-Stocks?

 

[jbybj]

I also keep scratching my head as to why the builder wouldn't just do that and th

Probably because he knows it won’t work.

 

[bellebasaur]

Appreciate all the advice. My hope was to not have to disassemble the pedal and find a quick and easy solution. At this point, I put a bit of nail polish on it, so we'll see what happens to that area over the next few days. I know the answer is to spray it, but that's more work than I was hoping for and also the chance I can screw things up with the disassembly/reassembly. I also keep scratching my head as to why the builder wouldn't just do that and then not have to sell them as B-Stocks?

They look like they're going for the brushed metal look. Clear coat would detract

 

[mdalamond]

Finally finished this one up.VT with a clean blend. I had my own pcbs made and had errors that had to be worked out. Forgot a trace. The decals is clear vinyl but it’s not crystal clear unfortunately. Relay bypass. It was inspired by another member on here. It was actually his idea , I just brought it to life. Great idea, it sounds FI nominal. This one might find a place on my board permanently. I really like the blend.

 

[cosmicevan]

Finally finished this one up.VT with a clean blend. I had my own pcbs made and had errors that had to be worked out. Forgot a trace. The decals is clear vinyl but it’s not crystal clear unfortunately. Relay bypass. It was inspired by another member on here. It was actually his idea , I just brought it to life. Great idea, it sounds FI nominal. This one might find a place on my board permanently. I really like the blend.
View attachment 4515417

Looks incredible!!! I do believe they call those SUPER volt throwers! How hard was the build?