Sonic Stomp - First MB build

[Clayford]

I've always repaired stuff and fixed busted pedals with new caps or removed buffers - So I gathered it was time to try building one.

I started simple with a Bloviator build. I have other boards from Madbean and some Vero layouts I'd like to try.

First I came up with a layout - kinda basic MXR style - it's a 125B enclosure.


I got busy with the drill and some sandpaper,


A little krylon love


Then off to the toaster oven @ 250°F for an hour.


While that was going on - I added the components and soldered them.


Naturally you must rock it before you box it.


Now the snag started - and it's not the circuit. That's fine.

That was a reuse store toaster oven for $5 - and it's a little hot. The first coat was fine, when I sanded and went for the second coat - after an hour in the toaster oven it had bubbled around the edges. I tossed a thermometer in there and @ 250°F on the dial it was reading 325°F.  Not gonna sand out, without getting all the way back to metal. Point of baking them is the hardening. Oops. Phone died at this point, so there's no pictures of this step. I do have a plan, more to come.

Oh and Hi. I'm Clay and I'm a guitar freak.

[jimilee]

Welcome aboard the board! I've never thought about baking after Krylon, I usually just wait 10 minutes between coats and then after 3 coats let it dry. I really dig the layout on the artwork, can't wait to see the finished pedal!

[Clayford]

Thank you for the kind words!

It's the same basic principle - Spray - wait - spray - wait - spray - wait - bake. Baking makes the paint hard, so it will stand up to abuse.

Sorry there's nothing in between - but like I said the phone died. Since the paint was heat hardened, sanding it down wasn't an option. So I distressed it and the graphics. The bubbles aren't from the decal paper, save the footswitch bubble which will push right through when I add the stomp in.



I kinda like it now, but I'll see how I feel about it in a few days, I don't have an extra enclosure at the moment. I may just call that one a loss and use it for a test bed box, and run the power, jacks, and switch to a terminal strip, use a road rage inside and add a 9v sag and a the extra power output options, we will see.

[jimilee]

Cool man,I was just interested If there was a method I need to try. How's it sound? I use a bbe sonic stomp now as an always on pedal. I bought a bloviator board, but sold it because I have a hard time seeing tiny 1/8 watt resistors well enough to solder them. I can, is just rather not.:-)

[GrindCustoms]

Looks great

I've baked my paints since i started building pedals, by experience Krylon tends to bubble more than any other brand...

I've always get the best results with Rustoleum products, i spray the primer coat (primer grey or matte black) and i don't let dry, directly in the oven at 250F for 20 minutes, while it's still hot i spray the second coat which is the pedal color......Depending if it's a sparkle, trans or full color i change the heat from 150F to 300F for a baking time of 20 minutes...and it's hard as rock....All in all it takes 40 minutes to get an enclosure from raw to finished.

[Clayford]

Grind - Valspar is Lowe's brand -I dunno if it's actually krylon - I'll take the heat down next time( I marked the actual temps on the dial) and try a matte black primer along with your method of spraying hot. I have a Cave Dweller that's coming next in a 125B again (I like the size). Haven't decided if I'll etch it or if I'll be using the gloss purple the wife picked up at Lowes. Maybe both. Thanks for the tips.


Jimilee - How does it sound? Well, it sounds great. It sounds like I remember, and it adds a very nice tightness to my LP, and my strat gets well strat-ier. Lots of quack in the notches. I intended on getting this built and as an always on just like you mentioned. I didn't mind the soldering but yeah they're tiny. Thank goodness for the fine conical point on my iron.

[midwayfair]

Welcome, Clay!

[pickdropper]

Welcome, Clay!

I  probably the last person who should give painting advice, but I'll share my suffering.  :-)

I've had a lot of trouble with Krylon.  I  guessing it has to so with the weather, but I've had sever wrinkling issues, even when I wait well past the recoat window.

I've had much better luck with Acrylic paint.  It dries fast and it can be revolted at any time.  I just need to hunt down more colors now.

[jkokura]

Yeah, I have never succeeded with hand painting, but that's not to say you can't.

Jacob

[stevie1556]

I've had good results with spray painting in the past, apart from the clear coat, but they always chipped really badly really quickly.

Welcome to the forum Clay! I've built the Cave Dweller. Haven't fully tested it yet, but from a couple of quick goes it's brilliant! Love the graphics on your Sonic Stomp!

Sent from my thumbs using Tapatalk!

[Rip57]

Hey man, nothing wrong with the distressed look! Think Rat Rods. As long as you like what's inside and it gives you the sound you want, it's all good.

[gordo]

Clay, welcome aboard.  Bite the bullet and sand the sucker clean.  Even baked on it's a bit of elbow grease but you have such a nice layout there that you'll do fine and you'll have a nice hard base for the next coat.  Nice touch with the markings on the oven too.  I'm going to steal that one.  I haven't used my garage sale toaster oven for anything other than powder coating and that's a REAL bitch to sand off.  I'll take your lead though, I think my temp settings are way out of whack.  Hadn't thought of calibrating it.

[Clayford]

Wow. So two things contributed to this, but hey it's a first build and mistakes are made. First I wiped the box down after sanding with a rag that was damp from LACQUER thinner(oops alcohol would have been fine) and then the oven being over temp compounded the problem. I noticed the lacquer thinner issue when I was moving the rag from the bench to the laundry bin I keep in the workshop. Yellow paint all over it.

Now it sounds just fine - and yeah it looks like a rat rod. So for now it will go in this box. Next order from Tayda will include an extra box that will get the right treatment, and I'll relegate this one to the test bed. Blem boxes are best for that anyways