Homemade distortion pedal?

[CaptObvious]

I saw an ad from a local guitar shop that said we could attend a two day workshop and build our own distortion pedal. When I asked if this includes bass players, they said absolutely. All parts provided, and no experience necessary. So I signed up.

I'm excited and nervous to be honest. I have some soldering experience, but that's not the part I'm worried about. I'm a beginner bass player, only having been at this for six months. I'm not even sure what to look for in a distortion pedal. I know what sort of sounds I like (the "Geddy" tone comes to mind) but wouldn't know how find it if it kicked me in the face.

Also, I think I should come up with a clever name, too. Ideas? Thanks in advance, TB'ers!

 

[bassbrad]

Go for it! It is a starting place for a unique hobby, whether just to garner an insight into electronics, to be able to tinker and kluge your own designs or even spin it into a career. Distortion pedals can be very simple to very complex circuits all depending on your goals, but best to start simple and go with what the local guy has planned.

 

[DDXdesign]

I saw an ad from a local guitar shop that said we could attend a two day workshop and build our own distortion pedal. When I asked if this includes bass players, they said absolutely. All parts provided, and no experience necessary. So I signed up.

I'm excited and nervous to be honest. I have some soldering experience, but that's not the part I'm worried about. I'm a beginner bass player, only having been at this for six months. I'm not even sure what to look for in a distortion pedal. I know what sort of sounds I like (the "Geddy" tone comes to mind) but wouldn't know how find it if it kicked me in the face.

Also, I think I should come up with a clever name, too. Ideas? Thanks in advance, TB'ers!

See if there is a way to have a blend pot added to your build since it's for bass =0)

And ofc let us know how it turns out!!

Having never even attempted to solder before - because my meathooks tend to fumble on tiny tiny detail - it's still something I would like to pick up. I have the stuff, just not the right mindset.

 

[CaptObvious]

Great advice. Along the same lines as the Geddy YYZ pedal, it might be cool to have a "clean" channel and a "dirty" channel and be able to mix each separately. Again, this is based on my limited knowledge of pedals. Right now my effects loop is "Power on -> Power off"

 

[DDXdesign]

I will say I was not a believer in the blend for a long time, because the first examples of it I heard just sounded like two signals sitting side by side, but so many pedals get it right nowadays.

I see you asked for pedal names. How about something like "Obvious Noob" or "Cherry Popper" or something since it'll be your first time?

 

[Cat-o-matic]

Don't worry too much, it's not rocket science you'll do good and have a lot of fun!

Dirt circuits are usually pretty easy and have only few components. However, adding a clean blend to a circuit may be tricky (simply put, in most cases it requires you to build a separate channel and then blend it with the distorted one) so I wouldn't do it for the first pedal. Plus, I am not convinced that every bass pedal needs a blend anyway
What I definitely would do, however, is to check the values of input and output capacitors. See, they control the amount of bass that enters and leaves the circuit. When people say that a certain guitar pedal loses low end with bass, it is usually the cap value problem. So, make sure you ask the guy which caps are input and output, and check their value. The standard bass-oriented value for them is 100 nanofarad.

Please tell us about your experience about your workshop!

 

[CaptObvious]

Excellent information. Thanks for sharing the knowledge! I will report back.