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The Degenerator is a fairly easy project and sounds really good. The others can be fairly complex if it's your first one. I would say the majority of people start off with a drive/boost pedal with a small parts count. The EpiPen would be a good one. If something goes wrong it's a lot easier to troubleshoot. Once you get that going you'll gain some confidence in your abilities and move forward. This is a fun hobby and can be very rewarding but can also be completely frustrating at the same time. There are a couple of guides in the Tutorial section that can help you. GuitarPCB has some also that are fairly in-depth. If you run into issues there are plenty of people on the forum who will help. Happy Thanksgiving and happy building.

Here's the link for GuitarPCB tutorials.  They're near the bottom of the page.

https://guitarpcb.com/community/topic/pedal-building-guides-mandatory-reading/

Nice.  Two yrs ago I had $500 bonus dollars from Sweetwater and I bought a Helix floor.  Although I miss some of the pedals I used for church the Helix has spoiled me with how easy it is to use.  And you're right, church audiences don't seem to notice. 

I don't have a board but I have a working pedal that I would part with if you cannot find a board.

Grew up listening to CS&N and CSN&Y.  What a bunch of fabulous musicians.  The harmonies those guys produced are just not heard very much now.  Just thinking of Suite: Judy Blue Eyes for one that really shows their playing and singing talents.  Brings back so many good memories. 

Your graphics are off the charts.  I wish I could do that.  Very nice pedal.

So here are a few things I've finished up this year.  Once I looked at the boards finished but not boxed I realized I had build more than I thought.  I purchased a Helix Floor last year and that's all I've been using to play at church.  And that in itself is a testimony to how this hobby just grabs you when you continually build these projects knowing you're probably not ever going to do much with them but watch the stack of pedals grow every year LOL.   I hope everyone has a great holidays and wish you all well.




VFE Tractor Beam.  I started this when it first came out I believe in 2018.  Didn't rock it and made the box.  It didn't work.  In the dud box. Over the summer I bought another board rebuilt it and failed again.  Really irritated at this point.  Put it back in the dud box.  Someone posted about using the wrong relay switch on his a couple of months ago so I checked mine and sure enough I had the wrong one (TQ2-L2-5V) in it. Replaced it and OMG it fired up.  Not sure how I missed this because I've build around 10 VFE projects.  Anyway it's a nice sounding pedal.





VFE Bumblebee.  This one went together ok and it worked when plugged in.  Sounds great.





VFE Mobius Strip.  This was another two board mistake but I didn't drill a box for this one.  Not sure what I did on the first board but it wouldn't go.  Second one worked when plugged in.  If you haven't built one of these you can get some real interesting sounds out of it.  It is really a worthwhile pedal but I am a sucker for a 2399 build. 





Degenerator.  Fun/easy 2399 project.  Nice sounding delay.





Charlatan.  This one really peaked my interest when it was released and got me building again.  Excellent sounding pedal.





Aion Redshift.  Much to my surprise this worked when plugged in (my success rate with Aion big builds has not always gone well).  It was a time consumer but worth it at the end.  Sounds beautiful.



And the ones that need to be boxed one day.


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Here's a video that explains how to check voltage on a board that may be of help if you want to watch it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idWhtCU7xw0

Just an observation but are your ELECTROLYTIC caps oriented correctly?  Most of my caps are negative on the striped side of the cap.  If they're like that then C2,5 and 6 are backwards.

Good eyes!  He's using a +9V supply rather than -9V, so those EL caps have correctly been reversed to accommodate that.

Certainly would have helped if I kept reading his post.  Just started looking at the pictures and pulled the board up on Tayda.  Sorry about that. 

Just an observation but are your ELECTROLYTIC caps oriented correctly?  Most of my caps are negative on the striped side of the cap.  If they're like that then C2,5 and 6 are backwards.

Reflow all your solder points.  It looks like you may have an arch on the bottom left. 

Both hum with or without the conditioner power strip.

No surprise there. I've never had a situation where plugging into a fancy "conditioner" power strip fixes anything. But the manufacturers really like you to think they will help.

Ain't that the truth.  Either that or Furman strips just amplify it lol.

The graphics on the box look amazing along with the insides.  A pedal to be proud of.

What kind of hold does this hobby have on you?  I all but gave it up after doing what most everyone did during COVID (build like a Mad Man) and just burnt out.  I had some big fails, one after another, that sort of drove me in the stop direction.  Bought a couple of boards last month (Charlatan and Degenerator) and I was expecting the same results as before but HOLY COW they worked.  First time fire ups get the iron burning and solder flowing in your blood 😆.  Bad news is I bought a Tourbus yesterday trying to overcome the Total Recall fail of several years ago so if this one goes south I would appreciate some help.  This is a great hobby that seems to just draw you back in but more than that it's the great people here.  Even though I wasn't building I always checked in to see the projects Brian was producing and look at the awesome builds you guys made. 

And Jimilee I checked in enough to see you haven't tamed that guitar buying addiction at all!!!

FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Looks great.

I would like to be included.