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Messages - BrianS

#481
I use yahoo as my main email and it's still doing a great job for some reason, I will knock on wood right now. It even spams stuff I don't want it to, lol. But I hear you. I must get, on average, 10 to 15 junk emails a day but they normally pass to my junk folder. And yes the enlarge emails have me curious. :o  Perhaps if I ordered some I could become a sexual tyrannosaurs (e.g. Jessie Ventura on Predator). But at my age I don't think there's any help. Lol.

What gets me is the level of junk I get in my mail box.  AMEXCO, Citi, MC, etc... etc... I get 3 or 4 of each sometimes every 2 weeks. Plus the other bunch of junk I get.  And to get off their mailing list is just a lost cause. I wish I had the postage they spend a year just on the people who immediately shred/throw it away.
#482
Both look really nice. The design on the chorus pedal is awesome.
#483
Like I told you on one of your other posts the only thing I've gotten bad from Tayda was some ICs and one cap. I think what the other guys have said is spot on. 

From what I have read on 1n34a's is that the majority of them come from Asia. This guy sells them for .49 a piece and he says he's tests some of them to make sure they are for real. I haven't bought any but he's been around a long time.
https://www.mikeselectronicparts.com/product/1n34a/

Paul DIYGP (link above in header) sells a lot of items and always has good prices. The only downside is it can take awhile to get things from Aussie land.  He's a really good guy and will go out of his way to help you out.  I trust everything he sells.

The only other thing I can say is buy in bulk. Diodes 5817's, 914's, 4001s and others in the 4000 series are in almost any pedal you build. 100 5817s from Mouser brings them down to .12 a piece.  I would also check Allied Electronics also. They sometimes have better prices.  100 5817s are .074 a piece. Just make sure you calculate postage when buying from multiple places. Buying the 5817s from Allied plus shipping (USPS cheapest) will almost be the same price as buying them from Mouser.
#485
And what Jon just said is what I guess I am getting at. I had some resistors (and this has only happened one time) that were colored coded correct but were not even close to being in tolerance (i think they were suppose to be 47k and were measuring over 56k). There were several on the build doc. Would the pedal have worked with them in there? I don't know but it would have been a complete fiasco trying to trouble shoot the board if it didn't. Now I believe I have had some builds that the doc recommended that certain resistors be spot on as far as tolerance but those have been very very few. 

I also purchased a capacitor meter after building about 30 pedals and measure each one of those also.  It saved me on one bad electrolytic cap. But I am not really measuring for tolerance on anything, just making sure the electrols are good and the box caps are true to their number.  Just added comfort for myself and another part taken out of the equation if the board doesn't work.
#486
What Dave said is probably very true.

I was at a very well know commercial pedal makers shop last year and was talking with one of the employees and asked where they got there 3pdt stomp switches. His reply, the cheapest we can find.  I was a little in awe because the b stock pedal I purchased cost $165. If you are looking to fine tune your parts I believe the audio path is where most put the high end caps and parts. I'm not an electronics expert but a 1 cent 10k metal resistor that measures 10k on your multi meter should be just as good as a 50 cent one. It may not have the longevity of the 50 cent one but In my case that resistor will probably last for as long as I need it to. Also take into consideration the amount of power going through the pedal. In most cases it's not very much. Not a tremendous amount of push on the components. Again, and I'm not being a smart a--, it's ultimately your money and if it puts you in the comfort zone then go for it.
#487
I would go to Tayda for your resistors and film box caps for just starting. It could be hit and miss with their ICs (I've gotten a couple of bad ones) and electrolytic caps.  Their resistors and box caps register just as good as the ones from Mouser (and someone will comment that the quality isn't as good and that could be very true) but for starting out it is by far the easiest and least expensive place to buy stuff. Sockets and potentiometers are good also. Once you get a handle on everything and what you want to stock up on then buying from Mouser, Allied, Newark, Arrow, etc....... Is the way to go when you can buy in bulk and get good pricing. One thing you have to watch out for is shipping costs. They will eat your rear end up.  Forgetting a part (and everyone does) can cost a lot or add time (waiting to order for another project) to building your pedal. If you get hooked on this (likelihood in the high 90 percentile) organization (spreadsheet) is extremely helpful.  Ordering from Mouser is pretty daunting for sure. But you will get the hang of it.

And Tyler the resistance filter at Mouser goes from ohms (which would be a 100r resistor on a build doc) to Kohms (100k resistor) to Mohms (1m resistor), etc... Hope this explains that for you.
#488
General Questions / Re: Rolling your own vactrol
May 07, 2016, 03:04:17 AM
I did the same thing and just squeezed the heat shrink with my fingers. I suppose you could also use a smaller piece of heat shrink at both ends and push it inside the bigger piece. Mine worked just fine though.
#489
Open Discussion / Re: Wood Plane Restoration
May 06, 2016, 10:22:12 PM
Man Paul when I first saw this I thought you had gone into model airplane building.  LOL.

Great job on the restore.
#490
Quote from: pryonisys on May 04, 2016, 03:47:30 PM
I love so many of these responses.
Thanks everyone I feel better to know I'm not alone in some silly mistakes.

Chalk it up to a learning experience. Not only is your effect working but you didn't burn up your board getting the switch out. That's a two for one. Taking your time is probably an understated trait for this hobby.  I've done some really dumb things by getting in hurry. Congrats on getting it working.
#491
Introductions / Re: Greetings from Scotland
May 05, 2016, 03:27:39 PM
Welcome. This is a great site with great people. And as mentioned above go slow and watch what you're doing. One misplaced component can throw you into a tizzy. Up front, you are going to encounter failure, so prepare for it. Some of the guys with a 1000 plus posts pop up on occasion with problems. It's just the nature of this great hobby.  You just have to (and I will date myself here) Keep Pushin (a favorite Reo Speedwagon song of mine). As with many people on here I have a box of burnt up boards and failed attempts.  It's all part of the learning experience.  So good success to you and just don't give up.  When the pedal fires up first or tenth time it is always a nice rush LOL.
#492
Have I done that? Uh.... Yes I believe so.  It will come out but just be careful when you desolder it so you don't lift the pads. I find getting the switches off the board a lot easier than most other components. You have room to get the solder sucker in there. 
#493
I built one also.  It has more options than the Bloviator does but the Bloviator is still on my board. I put it in the mix but can't remember why I took it off now.  I don't know if it was not playing well with other pedals, had/caused unwanted noise or I just didn't have the time to dial it in then it got lost in the shuffle. Now that you brought this up I will go back and see why it's not being used.
#494
Are the tuners chrome, gold or ivory? I could possibly have one, depending on color, if things don't go well when you return to the shop.
#495
Even when I run some of them off a good wall wart by themselves they still make noise.  I run everything off a OneSpot and I've been looking at getting a better power supply.  I just saw the the post on that particular forum and just wanted some advice from those of you that are way smarter than me if the bigger cap would make any difference at all.  I will do as you said on a couple of the high noise pedals and socket the cap and see if that does anything.