FWIW - An Observation

[frankie5fingers]

Hello all.  A 40+ years player with arguably, a fair amount of success.  Retired from music into a full time family man.  A couple of years ago discovered the rewards of building and modding guitars, amps, and now, pedals.  I skipped a lot of mistakes by availing myself to the wisdom and experience on the various forums.  Of late, I've bowed out from all of those as they've turned into a parade of posing, trolling, bickering, and the "smartest guy in the room" syndrome.
Soooo, the point is.  I bought PCBs (BTW Brian, the board is top quality!) and parts from a few places and started building.  I joined Madbeans and another pedal forum for the help I knew I'd need.
Not gushing, but this Forum seems to be populated by some genuine folks sharing real expertise and doing it with what looks like zero negativity.  I've already gotten some great advice and assistance as I start in pedal building (for fun, not profit), so for that, I just wanna say...

Thanks...
Sorry for the epistle and like I said, FWIW.

[jubal81]

Welcome aboard! Glad to have you here.
How would you say your DIY builds compare to the equipment you've used in the past?

[nzCdog]

Hey Frankie... I agree, its so nice to be part of a positive helpful community like MBP
I learn stuff here all the time for so many different good guys... and its a great place to show off your builds and get ideas from so many talented builders too

[pryde]

Agreed. I never get or read any negativity on this forum and believe me I have asked a lot of silly newb questions (and still do  )

[frankie5fingers]

Well jubal, so far I've only modded a few, populated four boards and built one complete pedal so I won't pretend to be expert enough to compare mine tone-wise cause I'm not looking to clone others.  I like to tweak and while I may like the original sound of a something-or-other, I like to mod them into something different.  I don't typically match my tone to anyone's so I socket as many tone related components as I can and mix/match until I hear what I like.  The one I finally did complete is based on a Ge NPN Fuzz Face but did those "Roger Mayer" mods, swapped a bunch of caps around and knocked the 2.2 input cap down to lose a little bass and let a little more treble through - I'm using one CV4117 and something else (either a 5088 or 3904-I can't remember at the moment), but I still don't like Fuzz Faces so I'm trying a Whisker biscuit.  One thing I can say is my painting surely doesn't match the boutique ones - no talent there it seems.  I don't intend to become a better painter so I bought a couple of boxes from PPP - I'm hopin' they're nicely done.

[Mike @ Rawkworks]

+1 to this!

[madbean]

Thanks for the observation, F5F. I am glad that the tenor here has been very positive...almost to a fault. That's a testament to the good nature of the people who come here everyday and share. Personally, I have a long history of running with the 'other' crowd that sometimes can get a little....arrogant. My take on forums is that I try to use the same manners I would employ if speaking to someone in person. I'm not always 100% successful (who is, after all), but I think most people here are like that too.

[jkokura]

Welcome Frankie!

Jacob

[juansolo]

Have to admit, life's too short to get worked up on internet forums and that's reflected in the forums I frequent these days. I'm down to just a few now, but my main effects forums MBP & BYOC (though I favour here these days) and main guitar one is BKP. Purely because of the friendly atmosphere in them and a very good signal/noise ratio.

[raulduke]

Yep; the zero negativity here is very refreshing.

Its nice to look on a forum that is so open and accomodating.

I think the project developments area is also a really cool idea of Brians; he gets feedback and we get a say in the future projects. Its a win win.

I have also found that BYOC is a very friendly place.

I'll have to check out the BKP forum; their pickups are fantastic (have a set of mothers milk in my strat).

[juansolo]

Yep; the zero negativity here is very refreshing.

Its nice to look on a forum that is so open and accomodating.

I think the project developments area is also a really cool idea of Brians; he gets feedback and we get a say in the future projects. Its a win win.

I have also found that BYOC is a very friendly place.

I'll have to check out the BKP forum; their pickups are fantastic (have a set of mothers milk in my strat).

Good group of peeps. Worth trailing yourself over to the meets if you're in the UK. Usually a good giggle and lots of nice kit to play with.

Oh and if you mention Teles or the Beatles, one of the members might go off on one. He's a little odd and has a pathalogical hatred for both... It's quite normal and we all help to look after him.