Messages

Thanks for the compliments, I'm pretty happy with both.

For the Honey Dripper, I had to flatten the terminals on the 9v jack to clear the board.  There is actually a tiny amount of wiggle room in that enclosure.  I originally planned to place the stomp switch a little tighter against the bottom edge to make room for the jacks, but then I thought I might have to twist it 90 degrees to give additional jack clearance.

If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to share my Inkscape layout, it has crosshairs for the hole locations.

Bob

I am definitely interested! thanks Bob!

I second that.  The Honeydripper is on my "to-build" list and yours looks great.  If you're willing to share, I could use your layout as a starting point.
Layton

Thanks, everyone, for the compliments.  I stumbled onto the diy pedal hobby (addiction) a couple months ago and started "stalking" the forums then.  I couldn't tell a resistor from a diode at the time but I was inspired by seeing and hearing all the great stuff people were building.  I watched youtube tutorials by chromeshpere Paul and some others and got pretty good at sniffing out answers to my questions on the forums. 

By the time I decided to take the plunge, I was confident I could do a decent job if I took my time and paid attention to the details.  I bought supplies for my first four pedals (the pfannkuchen, a Buzzaround, a Sea Urchin and a Doombutter) and got to work.  I wanted to start with a pretty simple pedal but make it my own.  The graphics might be my favorite part of building it (and I stalked the inkscape forums and videos for that).  I'm really pleased with build #1 and looking forward to doing more.  Next up... my take on the Buzzaround.   

I just finished my first ever build.  I decided to make the HotCake/Flapjack/Shortstack using the PCB from Jef (awesome board BTW) and dubbed mine "der pfannkuchen".  With the knowledge I've gained from all the helpful forum denizens, the project went together with only 2 very minor hiccups and IT WORKS!  The only complaints I have are cosmetic.  My wiring is sloppy but I'll improve.  There are some dust specks under the clearcoat on my decal (I'll pick a cleaner spot to spray next time).  And the Tayda pots I used are taller than the SB pot so the knobs sit higher.  I suspect I can get some extra pot nuts and washers and adjust the height from inside the enclosure.  Anyone done that?  So here she is... (sorry about the fuzzy gut photo)

Really nice.  I think I'll use the pictures for inspiration when I'm wiring mine up. 

Keep that fnord turned down.

And I will ALWAYS forget to put the opamp into the socket!

They should just make the sockets pink or orange or some colour other than black, it would reduce the opamp forgets something fierce, as it is also my number one blunder, followed closely by not plugging in my test rig.

Funny, I picked up an op amp today, plugged it in and still nothing.  I realized now it was not my board but my test rig that was to blame.  I built it into a wooden cigar box and hadn't added a jumper to ground the jacks.  Figured that out pretty quick too though.  Soldered in a jumper wire and (drumroll....) the pedal guts work!  So far so good.  Next on to boxing.  I plan to go slow so I don't botch anything. 

At least I figured it out right away.  I'd have felt like a real idiot if I'd scratched my head for an hour and stared at the darn thing under a microscope before I figured it out.

My personal (albeit minor) tragedy.  So I've been reading the forums and watching the tutorials and I've gotten hooked on pedal building even though I've never built a pedal.  I ordered up a few PCBs, some transistors from Paul, some parts from Small Bear and 455 parts from Tayda; miscellaneous diodes, resistors, knobs etc.  I finally got the stuff together, checked the orders (100% perfect accuracy!) and set down with great excitement to build my very first pedal.  I soldered up the PCB components, pots and leads for hookup and am feeling satisfied with my quick mastery of the soldering iron, reading the plans, and all that.  I hook my pedal guts into my test rig to rock it before I embark on boxing it.  No sound.  Oh, that's right... I socketed the op amp and didn't plug the bugger in yet.  No big deal, I'll just grab it and pop it in.  It's right here with the other.... uh.... it's right here... the LM741 must be here with the ??  Well, I'm sure I got everything I ordered.  Check the shipping papers - sure enough, I got every single part I ordered.  I didn't order any 741s!!  So now I have to track one down locally or else put the project on hold until I place another order.  I can't be the only dunderhead to do that, am I?

Thanks for letting me share.  It was therapeutic.  And thanks again for everyone's help here.  Whenever I track down that op amp and finish the build, I'll update on how the pedal works.

Good advice on masking for the stripes.  Also, remember that surface prep is at least half the battle.  Even if it's a pre-painted enclosure, make sure you clean it well to get rid of any contaminants before you spray over it and a light scuff can help the paint adhere.  And do beware of compatibility issues.  I'm new to pedal building but I learned from woodworking to ALWAYS make sample boards for my finishes from start to finish to ensure that everything goes well and looks how I want it to.  Better to run into problems on your sample part than on your precious project.

I was thinking of trying the Rustoleum hammered finish paint (either in a spray can or with HVLP sprayer) but haven't used it yet.  If anyone's tried it and has I review, I'd be curious how it worked.

EXCELLENT!  I knew something!

Ok.  I'm onto this project.  I drew up my own (crummy) little diagram for this so I can build it.  Am I correct that the enclosure provides the ground connection from one jack to the other so I need a conductive enclosure to make that happen?  I have an old cigar box laying around I was going to use but I don't think that will work.  Or can I just add a wire somewhere to fill in the missing link?

I just built one and it is way loud without the volume pot. I added the volume pot to my build. I built mine using the vero layout at tagboardeffects.com. It explains how to add the volume pot.

That's exactly the kind of voice of experience I was looking for.  So, having built one without the volume control and then adding one, would you say it's a necessity?  I will check out the site you mentioned too.

I got a tip from Paul (chromesphere) that I should add a volume control to the Buzzaround when I build it.  Has anyone done this with good results?  Maybe I can benefit from somebody's experience.

Thanks guys, there's quite a variety out there.  Could take me weeks to get through them.  I'm actually looking for something that looks like the logo from the TV show Fraggle Rock.  Wish me luck.

I was just wondering if anyone can suggest a good site to get some fresh fonts without spyware, trojan horse viruses or breaking the bank.   Anyone?

Thanks for posting up the diagram guybrush

ditto that.

Thread is sweet too.  It answered all my questions before I even asked.  I just ordered this board with the fuzz lift and I think she's gonna get a nice feedback mod too.  So, all I need to add to the parts list is a A1M pot and a SPDT mini toggle to hook into my stomp switch?  (Sorry, I guess I had one question left).