Civic Crown OD

[Bufferz]

This was a very rewarding prototype build - OD circuit with 3 band tone control. The first set of PCBs suffered from the tone controls being backwards and too close to the gain and lvl controls. Regrets on the revision: wish I would have aligned my drilling so the footswitch pcb was not crooked, wish I would have socket-ed the IC.

[pickdropper]

That's a nice, clean build.  Good job.

I'd ditch the Tayda "chong" electrolytics, though.  Good quality electros aren't much more and will potentially save you a headache down the road.  Plus, if you are selling these, it gives the impression low quality parts are used.  Just IMHO.

[Bufferz]

That's a nice, clean build.  Good job.

I'd ditch the Tayda "chong" electrolytics, though.  Good quality electros aren't much more and will potentially save you a headache down the road.  Plus, if you are selling these, it gives the impression low quality parts are used.  Just IMHO.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. In your experience which ones do you recommend as far a value is concerned?

[pickdropper]

That's a nice, clean build.  Good job.

I'd ditch the Tayda "chong" electrolytics, though.  Good quality electros aren't much more and will potentially save you a headache down the road.  Plus, if you are selling these, it gives the impression low quality parts are used.  Just IMHO.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. In your experience which ones do you recommend as far a value is concerned?

By value, I assume you mean dollar value and non capacitance value.

Panasonic has some very nice and reasonably priced caps at Mouser.  Nichicons are popular as well, but often a bit more expensive.  If you are doing this for production, the prices come down pretty fast in reasonable quantities.  I suspect you could find a better solution for less than 10 cents a cap.

There are very few passive components that are worth getting from Tayda, especially for a production pedal.  On a board like this, I'd bet that the cost savings for all of the components combined would be less than a dollar per populated board.

But, I will admit that I have fairly strong opinions on this.  I actually feel even stronger about their hardware which is very low grade.  I find most customers would rather pay a little bit more for high quality parts and not have to deal with issues down the road.

[muddyfox]

I hear ya and it's a very valid point but in my particular case (I apologize for threadjack but I just feel like venting a bit  ) and since Mouser charges a flat 90eur (that's 120 us buckaroos) to ship anything to my neck of woods, I'm gonna be sticking with China for my electros. Grabbed some low profile ones from Paul but it's hard to get a stash going that way.
Luckily I don't sell any pedals and I'm not a very discerning crowd for the stuff I make. 

[selfdestroyer]

If you are wanting some small batches you can always get them from Mklec http://mklec.com/

I buy them when I need small quantity of audio grade elec caps. Mklec are really cool people to deal with.

Cody

[Bufferz]

I will say I am very happy with the sound of the unit - I understand the concerns re: the electrolytic's life span - but the other passives I personally can't tell the difference. I do think it would be worth my consideration to change the caps though due to market perceptions. I have a full time job and I just sell pedals to raise money for our adoption from Haiti. I'm glad to be getting this feedback at this stage though. Thanks.

[pickdropper]

I hear ya and it's a very valid point but in my particular case (I apologize for threadjack but I just feel like venting a bit  ) and since Mouser charges a flat 90eur (that's 120 us buckaroos) to ship anything to my neck of woods, I'm gonna be sticking with China for my electros. Grabbed some low profile ones from Paul but it's hard to get a stash going that way.
Luckily I don't sell any pedals and I'm not a very discerning crowd for the stuff I make. 

If you aren't selling them, it doesn't really matter.  I've prototyped with just about everything.

That said, there has to be other options.  What about Farnell or other UK based vendors?  I'd ask some of the other UK guys.  Electro caps aren't exactly a rare commodity; there should be a place to get decent parts.  eBay is also an option.

For film caps, it probably doesn't really matter, but cheap electros are fairly famous for failing.

[pickdropper]

I will say I am very happy with the sound of the unit - I understand the concerns re: the electrolytic's life span - but the other passives I personally can't tell the difference. I do think it would be worth my consideration to change the caps though due to market perceptions. I have a full time job and I just sell pedals to raise money for our adoption from Haiti. I'm glad to be getting this feedback at this stage though. Thanks.

Yeah, I am probably coming off a bit more preachy than I mean to.  I really am just throwing it out as one person's biased advice.  I am probably a bit more sensitive since I deal with manufacturing issues as part of my day job and have become sensitive over the years to poorly performing off-brand parts. I've gotten so annoyed with Tayda's quality that I use very little from them anymore.  There are still a few things I use for my own personal builds, though.

Best of luck with your adoption.  I knew somebody a number of years ago who adopted a Guatemalan baby and the politics were frustrating at times.  In the end it did work out.  I hope yours goes very smoothly.

[muddyfox]

If you are wanting some small batches you can always get them from Mklec http://mklec.com/

I buy them when I need small quantity of audio grade elec caps. Mklec are really cool people to deal with.

Cody

Hah! I learn a new thing every day... never heard of these guys before!

On the flip side, their shipping is killer too. Their lowest rate for a 100 1u electros is $10. Kinda steep... good to know it's out there, though! Thanks!

[Bufferz]

Hey thanks! I hope so as well

[muddyfox]

That said, there has to be other options.  What about Farnell or other UK based vendors?  I'd ask some of the other UK guys.  Electro caps aren't exactly a rare commodity; there should be a place to get decent parts.  eBay is also an option.

UK stuff is notoriously expensive to ship to my neck of Europe, always has been. I've spent some money with bitsbox when I was starting out but that's about it. I have better luck with shipping prices from Banzai or Musikding on larger orders but I have no information on the quality of the electros they sell (never heard of most of the manufacturers). Their prices on Nichicons start at half a dollar and go upwards and it's hard to justify for a hobby.

If I were selling this stuff, sure. I'd like everything to be of high enough quality to ensure minimal chances of needing to fix things that could have been avoided by spending an extra couple bucks.

I didn't get the preachy vibe at all, I like reading recommendations from people who know the biz inside and out. Always makes for an interesting read and some useful tips to pick up. Thanks!

[sonarchotic]

I've been wondering about this topic lately. For comparison I bought some of the Nichicon hi-fi electros and have used them in some boards. I can tell no sound difference between them and Chongs. Has anyone here actually had a Chong cap fail on them? I wonder if the issue is a real concern? If you run a Chong beside a Nichicon until one dies do we know that the Nichicon will outperform? What makes a Panasonic better? They look like Chongs with different labels. I'm not arguing that Tayda doesn't sell some crap but I wonder what the basis is against things like cheap electros. I know some of you feel strongly about this but what have we seen in effects pedals to back these concerns?

[LaceSensor]

Ive never had any electrolytics fail on me yet
Ive bueen building for about 3 or 4 years
collecting pedals for nearly 20

FWIW Ive taken lovetones apart and seen some caps that arent named nichicon or panasonic (IRRC they were HITANO) . They are going strong after 20 years.

[pickdropper]

i haven't had cheap electros fail in pedals, but I haven't used many there.

I have experienced and seen more than a few failed consumer electronics where cheap electros failed.

Electrolytics in general aren't the most robust part, but there are differences between the better ones and the cheaper ones.  Can a cheap one be reliable?  Sure, of course they can.  But I tend to use elecros from proven manufacturers as a way of hedging my bets.

Others may choose differently and that is cool.  Everybody can choose for themselves what the acceptable level of risk is.