Part KIts-Are they woth it?

[PaxWorks]

I intend on building my own pedals from now on, would getting parts kits from Smallbear or even Radioshack be woth it? How can tell what are high quality parts from low quality? Also say you have to use a 47 uf  Cap-how much does voltage level play into it? I've seen some 47uf caps at differing voltages.

[CRBMoA]

You probably won't have an issue with overly cheap parts. Small Bear exists to serve pedal builders. Radio Shack has cheap jacks, and you will pay more, and the grab bags of caps are not stomp box specific, so you will wind up only being able to use half of the parts (until you get experienced enough to start experimenting).

I have heard good things about Futurlec grab bags.

[madbean]

SB offers some part kits which are valuable. I think you can't go wrong there. RS has a few useful things (IC's and transistors at huge markups) but I would not use them as a source for resistors and caps.

If you can set $40-$50 aside at some point, you can get 200 qty. @ $2.80  of carbon film resistors which would buy you 20+ values from Mouser. This will last you a long time. You can also get Panasonic ECQ-V's from  Mouser. I can help you with part #'s if needed.

[RJL]

Also say you have to use a 47 uf  Cap-how much does voltage level play into it? I've seen some 47uf caps at differing voltages.

The voltage level needed is determined by how much power you are putting into the pedal. So if you're using a 9 volt battery or power supply, you'd be fine with a 16v. However it's usually safer to go a bit higher in case you want to add more voltage for more headroom. I think the standard that most guys use for pedals are either 25v or 50v, but keep in mind that 50v caps are larger than 25v caps.

The Futurlec grabs bags are great for stocking your bench early on for cheap. I'd recommend getting the 1/4 watt resistor pack, the ceramic cap pack, the electrolytic cap pack, the mylar cap pack, the multilayer ceramic cap pack and the led pack. As for the other packs, you'd be better off ordering transistors, ICs and diodes as you need them because you don't get many useful parts for pedal building. Also, keep in mind that it takes a long time for your order to reach you (took about 3 weeks for an order I placed to reach Seattle) and that you get the same values in every pack, so ordering multiples of the same pack isn't really useful. Here's the link for the value packs: Futurlec Value Packs.