Hi guys,
I'm a complete noob but I'm looking forward to endeavoring into DIY Pedal building, seems like a very rewarding hobby :)
What i was hoping for is some tips on what equipment i will need before i even start, like i said I'm completely new to this so any help will me much appreciated
Thanks,
Dan
Man, that's such a big question! Welcome to the forum, here are my general tips:
1. Get a decent soldering iron. Depending on how deep you want to go into the hobby, you should consider carefully what soldering iron you get. Usually you can use an inexpensive one, but the maintenance and use of that soldering iron will take its tole the more you use it. Spend a bit more, like 50-100 US dollars and you can generally get a very usable iron that will last.
2. Have to hand some basic hand tools. Screwdrivers, sockets or nut drivers, side cutters, pliers, wire strippers - these sorts of tools. You really should have a decent set available. You can borrow these, or buy them second hand, and while quality is usually helpful, it's not as necessary. In particular, having a good philips head screwdriver, a 1/4"-3/4" set of sockets/nutdrivers, and a set of needle nose pliers, side cutters, and a good wire stripper are the most important.
3. Don't buy stuff you don't need. It's tempting to spend money and just load up on all sorts of stuff. However, I've known people to spend lots of money, and then get bored or frustrated with building and then feel they've wasted money.
4. Try it out with a kit or two before you really dive in/build a simple project first. There are great kit options available out there, and there are lots of great starter projects available from all the PCB suppliers that partner here in on Madbean. These easy builds are a great way to get your feet wet. They're usually more successfully built, and they're usually less expensive. As you get better with your skills, you'll be rewarded with being able to handle larger and more complicated builds.
5. Plan, plan, plan. Planning is by far the most important skill. The adage 'measure twice, cut once' totally applies here, but it's more like, "double check you plan six or seven times, then execute the plan."
Jacob
Thanks man :)
i do have most of the stuff listed, i just didn't want to be missing something that could potentially hinder a build, I'm going to order a couple of kits and see how i get a long with them,
I can't wait to fail miserably and spend most of my time cursing at my work bench :D
Thanks for replying though dude, really appreciate it :)
Quote from: jkokura on May 19, 2015, 10:29:31 PM
Man, that's such a big question! Welcome to the forum, here are my general tips:
1. Get a decent soldering iron. Depending on how deep you want to go into the hobby, you should consider carefully what soldering iron you get. Usually you can use an inexpensive one, but the maintenance and use of that soldering iron will take its tole the more you use it. Spend a bit more, like 50-100 US dollars and you can generally get a very usable iron that will last.
2. Have to hand some basic hand tools. Screwdrivers, sockets or nut drivers, side cutters, pliers, wire strippers - these sorts of tools. You really should have a decent set available. You can borrow these, or buy them second hand, and while quality is usually helpful, it's not as necessary. In particular, having a good philips head screwdriver, a 1/4"-3/4" set of sockets/nutdrivers, and a set of needle nose pliers, side cutters, and a good wire stripper are the most important.
3. Don't buy stuff you don't need. It's tempting to spend money and just load up on all sorts of stuff. However, I've known people to spend lots of money, and then get bored or frustrated with building and then feel they've wasted money.
4. Try it out with a kit or two before you really dive in/build a simple project first. There are great kit options available out there, and there are lots of great starter projects available from all the PCB suppliers that partner here in on Madbean. These easy builds are a great way to get your feet wet. They're usually more successfully built, and they're usually less expensive. As you get better with your skills, you'll be rewarded with being able to handle larger and more complicated builds.
5. Plan, plan, plan. Planning is by far the most important skill. The adage 'measure twice, cut once' totally applies here, but it's more like, "double check you plan six or seven times, then execute the plan."
Jacob
Good advice here. Welcome! Looking forward to seeing your first build!
Welcome to the forum Dan
Jacob brought up some great points.
-If I were to do it all over again I would build a testing rig right off the bat. This way you can test a pedal before mounting it in an enclosure. (Rock it before you box it)
-Kits can be a bit expensive but they come with everything you need. So there is no need to source all the parts yourself and it will take a lot of the learning curve away. Do a couple and get yourself familiar with the different parts.
When I first started I bought some of the giant bags of metal film resistors from a China eBay seller. That covered all my resistors needs for quite some time. Sure, the leads were thin but they worked just fine for my venture into the DIY madness.
Read, read, read! And do not be afraid to ask questions. We all started somewhere and I constantly learning from members new and old one this great forum. Just remember, when you run into an issues its a guaranteed fact that your not the first to face it.
I look forward to see what you get together.
Cody
I did one byoc kit as my first. It didn't work initially, but was a perfect way to learn as it had step by step instructions that would have been really hard to figure out on my own. Once you get the basic mechanics of it, it's pretty easy
Quote from: jkokura on May 19, 2015, 10:29:31 PM
4. Try it out with a kit or two before you really dive in/build a simple project first. There are great kit options available out there, and there are lots of great starter projects available from all the PCB suppliers that partner here in on Madbean. These easy builds are a great way to get your feet wet. They're usually more successfully built, and they're usually less expensive. As you get better with your skills, you'll be rewarded with being able to handle larger and more complicated builds.
As a noob from last year: buying a complete pedal kit is a perfect way to start. A complete kit will save you some frustration. Start easy. Don't get the most complicated kit on sale. A fuzz or overdrive is a great first build.
Thanks guys, i feel like this group is going to be very helpful along the way :D
Is MammothElectronics.com the best place to start for kits? Thinking of starting with the 'MothMan"
again, all answers are much appreciated :)
This doesn't really do anything, but is good practice
http://buildyourownclone.com/products/confidence-booster
And companies like velleman and elenco make solder practice kits. Theyre basically circuit boards that just have holes in them and do nothing, but you can practice soldering resistors and capacitors
Perfect, thanks man,
I should probably let you all know that I'm in the UK, i have a feeling a lot of these sites won't ship to me, are there any sites that do 100% ship to UK and some that 100% don't
Thanks,
Dan
Quote from: KidBrother_Dan on May 19, 2015, 11:16:21 PM
Is MammothElectronics.com the best place to start for kits? Thinking of starting with the 'MothMan"
They are OK. I built three kits from there. They baggie and label every part which makes it easy. Once they missed a part (a PCB :o) and substituted on another (two 5mm LED instead of one bicolor LED) so I would double check everything against the parts list when you receive it. They will fix mistakes, usually quickly.
Quote from: KidBrother_Dan on May 19, 2015, 11:32:20 PMare there any sites that do 100% ship to UK
If you check the International link at BYOC it has stocking distributors in EU and UK. Good luck.
I think there are places in Europe, I forget what they're called though. Someone here will know
Don't get frustrated if a build doesn't work the first time. Make an audio probe (http://www.diystompboxes.com/pedals/debug.html) so that you can figure out how far your guitar signal is getting through the circuit. It not only helps you debug, but also lets you hear what the different parts of your circuit are doing. I actually quit building after getting frustrated at first. Then I built a decent test rig and audio probe.
Especially at first consider debugging to be half of your build. Part of the fun is refining the way you do things to get rid of the mistakes. There's a ton to learn, but that is why I like it :D
And you've found a great forum to help along the way.
Marty
Fuzzdog is in the UK. Seems like they are spoken well of if I remember correctly... Not sure though as I'm in the US and haven't tried them. Might be something to look into for you though.
I don't know about shipping the UK, but Build Your Own Clone (BYOC) is pretty much the gold standard for kits here in the US. I think a great deal of builders started with BYOC kits. I certainly did!
I built reverb kit from modkitsdiy.com as a first build. Amazed it worked first shot, but I psent two days doing it sloooowly. Paul from DIYGP (his link is at the top of the page here) has some great kits as well. His 7 minute fuzz pedal is a great one. The crew in here is super supportive and helpful. Their advice on the audio probe and solder iron and everything is golden. Have fun man!
Welcome the forum! In addition to all the great advice, I would definitely recommend watching a few videos on soldering technique for through hole components on PCBs. One of the most common issues for beginners is overheating pads which is the result of bad technique and/or running a soldering iron at an excessive temperature. My first build was a BYOC Overdrive 2 and it was way too ambitious. I melted a bunch of pads and components and wished I started with an easier project. It still kind of worked so I was pretty stoked! :) In addition to watching videos on technique I would recommend practicing that technique before you attempt to solder to the PCB. Those kits are not cheap and you only have one shot!
Send me a PM with your address and I'd be more than happy to send you a PCB with a few components for practice.
Jon
Welcome, Dan!
I would recommend a full kit to get started. BYOC makes the best kits, and while they don't ship internationally (last I checked), they do have affiliates that will. Once such company is Axe and You Shall Receive, based in Canada:
https://www.axeandyoushallreceive.com/brands/byoc-kits
Great company, so order with confidence.
Quote from: Stomptown on May 20, 2015, 03:46:30 AM
Send me a PM with your address and I'd be more than happy to send you a PCB with a few components for practice.
Jon
Jon, your awesome!
Perfect example of the awesomeness of this forum.
Cody
I'm in the UK - my first build was from a tube screamer kit bought from shop.pedalparts.co.uk - i'd definitely recommend them.
Back then it was called poodle pedal parts or something, now it's called fuzzdog. Same link though, they just rebranded themselves.
To save me typing, this was my response to the same question: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/532456
Lee from Fuzzdog is a good lad. His PCBs are really good.
Build Your Own Clone also have a UK distributor:
http://www.vibe-o-tronic.co.uk/products.php?brand=1&type=1 (http://www.vibe-o-tronic.co.uk/products.php?brand=1&type=1)
I've bought all the BYOC kits I've built from them and they always ship promptly etc.
I'd recommend starting with something like the 250+ kit.
@juansolo thanks for sharing, there's some really interesting info there :)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The kits from das Musikding (in Germany) are also quite good, and they are also relative cheap. Shipping to the UK is cost effective and it usually takes about 1 week.
http://www.musikding.de/guitar-effect-kits
In any case, take a read through the build documents for anything that you are considering buying. If you can follow these, then you will probably be ok.
Quote from: KidBrother_Dan on May 19, 2015, 11:32:20 PM
Perfect, thanks man,
I should probably let you all know that I'm in the UK, i have a feeling a lot of these sites won't ship to me, are there any sites that do 100% ship to UK and some that 100% don't
Thanks,
Dan
If you're going to order online do keep in mind that anything ordered from outside the EU can and will be subjected to a customs check. Which means you can be hit with a hefty surcharge in customs duties and taxes once you get above a certain amount. Especially from American webshops. Anything you buy in the Far East not so much, as unlike their American counterparts they will have no problems whatsoever listing a lower total amount that will help you keep it below the limit that you can legally import without customs/tax duties. Or they'll just label it as a gift. American web stores are very reluctant to do so. Plus American shipping costs are exorbitantly high as well. Certainly compared to that of their Far Eastern counterparts, who sometimes offer free shipping as well. Also keep in mind that when you import stuff from outside the EU, your customs office will cheerfully charge you with customs duties and taxes both over what you bought
and shipping costs
combined.
Quote from: raulduke on May 20, 2015, 08:38:01 AM
Build Your Own Clone also have a UK distributor:
http://www.vibe-o-tronic.co.uk/products.php?brand=1&type=1 (http://www.vibe-o-tronic.co.uk/products.php?brand=1&type=1)
I've bought all the BYOC kits I've built from them and they always ship promptly etc.
I'd recommend starting with something like the 250+ kit.
+1 on vibe-o-tronic. I bought most of my BYOC kits from them as well. For some odd reason they were on average €10 cheaper then the BYOC distributor in the Netherlands.
Quote from: samhay on May 20, 2015, 08:42:27 AM
The kits from das Musikding (in Germany) are also quite good, and they are also relative cheap. Shipping to the UK is cost effective and it usually takes about 1 week.
http://www.musikding.de/guitar-effect-kits
In any case, take a read through the build documents for anything that you are considering buying. If you can follow these, then you will probably be ok.
+1 on Musikding kits as well. Another plus on Musikding is that they are one of the few sellers in Europe that sell 125B enclosures as well, which in my opinion are the best and most versatile enclosures you could have for most effects. Only Banzai sells them as well in Europe, but they don't do full kits. Two thing about Musikding kits that you have to keep in mind though is that their build documents are not as good as BYOC, which are pretty much tailored for beginners and basically idiot proof. The other thing is that when you buy a Musikding kit you have to buy the enclosure and knobs separately. With BYOC you pretty much get everything.
Another seller of good pedal kits is General Guitar Gadgets.
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/
Like BYOC they're from America, but unlike BYOC they do ship to everywhere in the world directly. You might run the risk of getting hit with import duties, but so far I've had good luck not getting hit with them up till now. They also offer a lot of PCB's for projects/pedals beside their kits. Only strange quirk with GGG is that their website basically goes offline on saturdays, for religious reasons. Beware with GGG though, they are responsible for my current OCD that all jacks have to be topmounted.
One final word of advice, be sure to regularly check the Buy/Sell/Trade, Groupbuy and Member Projects & Tutorial subforums here, as a lot of interesting projects and PCB's get offered there by board members, often in limited runs only. You snooze, you lose.
Hi, I'm also from the UK. My first couple of builds were kits from Bitsbox, they're a good price and only £1.75 shipping, no matter how big the order. The kits are linked with tagboard effects layouts which is really helpful, although this does mean they're on stripboard rather than specialist PCB's. If you'd prefer working on a PCB then I'd recommend fuzzdog. For parts in general, Bitsbox, ESR electronics and Rapid electronics are all good.