Parts sourcing

[flanagan0718]

Hey Guys,
     Kind of a newb and I have a few questions for you regarding parts sourcing. I've been using Tayda and Pedal Parts Plus for most stuff but I wanted to get some of your perspectives. I've noticed some of the parts I got form Tayda were junk and of lesser quality. I want to try and get away from using them but don't have a ton of money to throw around. Pedal Parts Plus I had no problems with they were just a bit expensive. So, here are some questions...

1. Who do you use for 3PDT and other switches?
2. Who do you use for passives, ICs,and transistors?
3. Who is the best quality with the lowest price?
4. Who gives the best hugs around here? (LOLZ just kidding)

Thanks for the feedback guys! Always helpful!

-Mike-

[Droogie]

3PDT, DPDT, jacks and unfinished enclosures: Bitches Love My Switches; good price and the switches take solder well; good service to boot.
Passives: Not had problems with Tayda for Rs and Cs so far.
ICs, Diodes  and trannies: Small Bear or Mouser; been disappointed with Tayda for these I'm afraid. Neither is the cheapest, but the quality is top notch.
Finished enclosures: PPP

Hugs? Rumor has it the Bear gives the best hugs. 

[rullywowr]

Welcome to the forum!

You ask a loaded question, and if you ask 10 people you probably will get differing 10 answers.  With that preface, I will give you my opinion on Tayda and try your questions:

1. Who do you use for 3PDT and other switches?
I personally use Tayda for 3PDT and have had great luck with them.  Others report problems.  The tayda toggle lever switches are kind of cheap but they work - not the best.  Better options are Smallbear, bitcheslovemyswitches.com (BLMS), mammoth and others.  BLMS and others have the short bat handles which are nice as they don't stick up too far.

2. Who do you use for passives, ICs,and transistors?
Tayda ICs are pretty hard to beat for the most part.  4558, TC1044SCPA, TL071, TL072, TL074 etc are all legit and good prices.  Passives like resistors from Tayda work just fine but they have small thin leads which bother some.  If that is bothersome you can get packs of resistors from the "big guys" like Digikey, Mouser, Newark etc.  Transistors are typically pretty legit from Tayda with the exception of J201 (which are fakes and not the same).  For strange value transistors, you will have a better time ordering from Mouser/Newark/Digikey.  The Tayda box caps are a pretty good value and work well.  Although, if you are placing an order with Mouser/Newark/Digikey...check out the pricing if you intend to order qtys of 100+ as sometimes they beat Tayda.   Tayda's elecro caps "work" but are pretty cheap no-name stuff.  I like to pony up the extra coin and get some legit name brand (Kemet/Panasonic/Nichicon/Lelon) caps from one of the big houses.  The advantage is that you can get them in shorter heights (like 5mm or 7mm) instead of 11mm and they are name brand.  I have assembled a good selection of electros in various voltages (16v and 25v) in differing heights for 1uf, 4u7, 15uF, 22uF, 47uF, 100uF.  It's nice if you can get the shorter ones (5mm or 7mm) so they fit in your enclosure nicely.

3. Who is the best quality with the lowest price?
A loaded question for sure.  It's a matter of pick and choose for the application at hand.  Building for yourself?  For sale to others?  Just to see if the circuit works?  Tayda's stuff "works" but is not all the best quality.  However I do enjoy their film caps, 3PDT, resistors, diodes, enclosures, ICs and other random stuff.   I would stay away from the J201s, 1/4" jacks (garbage).

4. Who gives the best hugs around here? (LOLZ just kidding) 
That would be "haveyouseenhim" especially when he is unloading a rifle into a block of explosive on his private range.   

[flanagan0718]

Nice good info. I came across a site 3pdt.com. Had any transactions with them?


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[jkokura]

I haven't, but they are a supplier that people use for DIY stuff.

Jacob

[DutchMF]

I think we should have a poll for the answer to nr. 4, so here is my top 3:

-The Bean himself
-juansolo
-Rej (GrindCustoms)

Any other suggestions? 

Paul

[selfdestroyer]

1. Who do you use for 3PDT and other switches?
Bitches love my switches
2. Who do you use for passives, ICs,and transistors?
Mouser, Tayda & Small Bear for a few items like Belton bricks etc..
3. Who is the best quality with the lowest price?
Thats a hard one.. I just source all my stuff from Mouser and Tayda. If I get something that is cheap quality from Tayda then I simply avoid it next time.

Customer Service:
I have had some many issues with Mammoth Electronics that I no longer use them at all.
I have only had 2 issues with Tayda and they fixed it next day and had the items shipped out.
Mouser, I have never had one issue with. Always fast processing and shipping and never missing parts.
I absolutely hate navigating Small Bear's website and wish they would get a better search script.

[flanagan0718]

Thanks selfdestroyer. Good info here. I also 100% agree with you on small bears website. I'll have to check out BLMS. They sound pretty reputable.


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[blackedition]

I was planning on buying the vast majority of my components for an upcoming build at mammoth electronics.  Do they really need to be avoided? 

[jkokura]

Depends on your acceptable level of risk.

Jacob

[blackedition]

Depends on your acceptable level of risk.

Jacob

well that doesn't instill a lot of confidence!  care to elaborate?

[jimilee]

Depends on your acceptable level of risk.

Jacob

well that doesn't instill a lot of confidence!  care to elaborate?

Quality is good, shipping is a gamble. Not always the most timely, and the replies of we will get it shipped to you answers are sometimes cookie cutter. I do order from them and will continue to. Just don't be in a hurry.

[blackedition]

ah i see...  waiting for shipments can be really frustrating...  i've ordered stuff from small bear before, and was happy with the product i received (ordered a bunch of solder lug pots for circuit bending)...  mammoth's site is just so much cleaner and easier to navigate...  now i'm in a pickle as well as the OP!

small bear, pedal parts plus, and mammoth seem to be the leading contenders (though i must admit, i'm now very leery of ordering from mammoth...)...  i've ordered stuff many times from mouser for various electronics projects, but, unless you know exactly what you want, navigating their site can be frustrating as well...  also, i find that it is often expensive to order from them unless you're ordering in huge quantities...

heavy sigh...  i'll be glued to this thread!  i'm prepping for sending off the orders this weekend...  hopefully i come to a confident conclusion about from where to order...

apologies to the OP...  i don't mean to hi jack the thread... 

[das234]

I buy stomp switches, jacks and enclosures from BLMS.  Good Prices, good quality and so far good service.

Other than that stuff, I get pretty much everything I can from tayda.  They're easily the cheapest, my last shipment (to Wisconsin) took less than a week to arrive and with the thousands of parts I've ordered from them, every order was exactly correct.  I've built about a dozen pedals now and have not had a single bad part from tayda (knock on wood).

Stuff I can't get from tayda I usually get from Smallbear. 

I got some ca3080e's from ebay once and they seemed to be fine.

[jkokura]

Depends on your acceptable level of risk.

Jacob

well that doesn't instill a lot of confidence!  care to elaborate?

They send out a percentage of their orders incorrect or with parts missing as well as having issues with quality control and customer experience.

One positive I can say is that they work hard at trying to make up for the issues. Mammoth often has great prices, so if you want to try them, you can often find really good deals on mostly good products. If you don't need to order from them, Smallbear rarely get's anything wrong and they often ship quickly.

Jacob