Building a pedal?

www.diystompboxes.com

Starting on something like a flanger is something I would recommend against. I've done a few custom overdrives, but flangers are a bit out of my league.

 

Flanger is not really hard, but not the simpliest, for sure. Starting with overdrive/distortion is a good idea, it's simple and yet every component matters, and changing it changes your sound.*

Diystompboxes is a great forum, and Aron has the cheapest 3pdt switchs available on earth !

 

This is a pretty good site too.

http://www.smallbearelec.com/home.html

 

ive modified a good amount of effects, and im gonna start building a distortion pedal in the very near future.

www.generalguitargadgets.com has a really good selection of pedal projects and also you can buy the pre printed circuit boards, which is very nice.. cause the layouts are done for them too

 

You can get kits for building effects here as well:

http://www.commonsound.com/kits/doku.php

 

I hate to rain on your parade, but why would you want to build a flanger? For the cost of parts, you could buy a new one or at least good used one.

Usually the best reason to DIY is if commercially available units don't do what you want.

Keep in mind that a commercially built Flanger would WORK, if new would have a warranty, would have resale value, etc. No guarantees when you roll your own (so to speak).

A Flanger is a lot more complex than an overdrive pedal. It uses an electronic clock to cause the delay chip to work and you run a huge risk of having clock noise in your audio signal.

Packaging is always an issue. A DIY Flanger would probably be pretty big, etc.

I agree with those that suggested to start with an overdrive. There was a pretty cool looking circuit posted by another TBer not that long ago...

 

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/index.html

has anyone built one of these kits?

 

ive heard nothing but good things about his kits

 

I've built some stuff. Because I like to build things. There isn't (much) money to save in DIY, and it can be difficult and frustrating at times. But if you really want to, please do start with the simplest things. If you don't know how the basic circuits work, it'll be very frustrating when something doesn't work. And, sooner or later, that will happen.

 

WOW, you sure have, elros! Nice work! Very impressive, indeed. Great sound clips, too.

Would you be willing to share your PCB layouts for the Quadra, and maybe the FS-1, too?

Thanks!
~ Charlie

 

elros that mu synth clone sounds very nice, looks pretty intense to build also!

 

I've built a bunch of pedals [put them in old army surplus ammo cans just for the hell of it]. Follow my sig and scroll down near the bottom of the Music section. Got lots of pedals working but the flangers never did come out right - they are a strange beast to say the least.

If you're already into electronics and have a bunch of parts, DIY is a fun way to go. If you're coming at this from scratch and have alot of money to blow stocking up on resistors, caps, etc. and nothing better to do with your time then go for it.

If you're a player looking for a cheap way to get some pedals you're better off trolling eBay. A Boss will cost you under $50 and will be far better than any circuits I've run across to date. You'll easily blow a few hundred bucks just getting stocked up to start experimenting.

 

Hi, and thanks,

There is a nice PCB layout (Eurocard size) at Jürgen Haible's site more presicely here, a bit down on the page.
The FS-1 is completely veroboard built, schematics also on Jürgen's site. He's working on a new version these days, which is a bit different (stereo, and a huge dome filter instead of the quadrature LFO) which has some PCB layouts.

 

Cool! Thanks for those extra links.

~ Charlie

 

Ehi guys, do you know any site hat makes some noob schematics like THIS?

 

I wouldn't even call this a schematic

And no, I've never seen another place to do this. Trust me, you're better off learning how to read an actual schematic and wire it up yourself, there's so much more you can do.

Definately recommend checking out some kits from www.smallbearelec.com

 

I see...
Uh, don't you know any site where I could learn how to read them?
Bye!