Anybody else in a slump right now?

[the3secondrule]

yup, built maybe 2 pedals in the last 10 months. getting back into it slowly.

[raulduke]

I was in a slump for a long while builds wise. My DIY time over the past year was put into building stuff for my modular synth. Plus the weather in the UK has been horrendous, and my DIY bench is in the garage.

There are a few things that are getting me back into it though; the new XVive chips (never built an analogue delay as I couldn't be doing with the hassle of sourcing chips) and the FV-1.

I rigged up a simple FV-1 demo board over the weekend and have already made some nice delay patches (using SpinCAD).

That is really addictive, and fun, so I can see that being where I put my free time builds wise in the future.


Building to order is very very slow. I don't build clones for people anymore (it doesn't interest me and there is little money to be made).

You are already at a loss (IMO) making clones of stuff, as people instantly expect it to be cheaper than the real deal (which are usually manufactured in the 100's, if not 1000's).

When you consider the amount of labour involved with building pedals, the majority of boutique/fancy brands actually charge a fair amount.

[solderfumes]

I've been in a mini-slump because the circuit I've working on is complicated enough that it feels like a real chore to disrupt the breadboard to test out mods, and I don't want to get to the PCB drafting stage until I do that.  I finally bit the bullet last night though so we'll see if I can tear myself away from the unusually nice weather here in Vancouver for long enough to draft up the schematic and PCB.  Oh yeah, and the circuit is complicated enough that drafting the schematic seems like a real chore too.

After this I think I'll stick to some nice simple circuits for a little bit.

[jtn191]

Been in a slump for a while, mixture of unemployment, lack of interest in music--but it's fading.

[Willybomb]

Now that I've got some smd j201 on adapters (thanks Chromo!), I've been building some of the more interesting amp type pedals.  Doing the Goosonique 7th Heaven, done the Wampler Cranked AC, the Simple Cabsim.  Done a few other random effects such as Valvewizard's "Small Time" delay as I have a number of working pt3299 lying around.

Going to do a refined version of Terminus, and a couple of multis...

[wgc]

Slumped too, just had way too many things going on in the last year, a move to a different state, new job, kids have stuff, taking some classes, starting a biz, etc.  Slowly unpacking things and need to get a workbench, can't wait to get building again.

[Leevibe]

I cleaned my workbench today. Could this be the beginning of the end of my dry spell?

[flanagan0718]

Slumping it HARD right now. 3-4 failed builds sitting on my bench that are pulling me down. No ambition for enclosure design or to even play guitar. I even tried brainstorming ideas for a "build contest" pedal, if there is a contest this year. Came up with a whole lot of nothing.

[jimilee]

Slumping it HARD right now. 3-4 failed builds sitting on my bench that are pulling me down. No ambition for enclosure design or to even play guitar. I even tried brainstorming ideas for a "build contest" pedal, if there is a contest this year. Came up with a whole lot of nothing.

Go outside, enjoy the fresh air. Hobbies are supposed to be fun, don't stress it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[juansolo]

Well I'm back on it. I'll have made 15+ pedals in the space of a couple of weeks... I'll post the rest of them up when the batch is done... But REALLY pleased with them.

[alparent]

I'm in a clean-up slump, kinda!

Decided to clean up the workshop (

I'm at the last stages ..... you know that box of a gazillion little things you don't have place for, you don't really need but you can't get yourself to trash that crap because you know that as soon as you do you will need it in 2 weeks!

So I spend my evening agonizing over this crap!

[brucer]

I have 4 in process.  Two need serious troubleshooting ...

Yep.  That's me.  Worse yet, my serious troubleshooting builds are a Total Recall and Current Lover.  Not sure where to go next with troubleshooting.  Collected data, pictures, etc. for Current Lover, posted plea for help, no joy.   

[flanagan0718]

I have 4 in process.  Two need serious troubleshooting ...

Yep.  That's me.  Worse yet, my serious troubleshooting builds are a Total Recall and Current Lover.  Not sure where to go next with troubleshooting.  Collected data, pictures, etc. for Current Lover, posted plea for help, no joy.   

Yeah troubleshooting has been an issue lately for me too. Looking on the bright side I found that the LDRs on my twin peaks were backwards and my FV1 was backwards too. On the gloomy side I now have to desolder 2 FV1 chips. 

Maybe I'll try cleaning my work bench and try setting up that benchtop cnc...

[icecycle66]

Man, i haven't built in months. Maybe longer.  I've been focusing on getting a few albums out.  Now that I'm done with the third one in two yeasrs (one is unreleased garbage) I'm back into building.

To get my ass back in gear there is a new bar opening in town this weekend.  A few of the band playing are my buddies.  So, I'm gonna make a pedal basket grab-bag for them to take from.

[cajone5]

I didn't build anything for about 3 years due to a combination of multiple moves, selling most of my electric gear (no amps or electric guitar) and lack of funds and time.   I got back to it a few months ago and have built quite a bit.  However, daleykd perfectly summarized my issue... I want to do too many things and it can be overwhelming.

Sometimes, I have so much I want to do, that it's overwhelming, and I start to shut down.

I will also agree with the several that have mentioned that it's discouraging that people expect such low prices on DIY stuff that it's often hard to even break even on parts cost for a sale let alone get reasonable money for your time.  I have SO MANY things to build but fear trying to sell what I don't bond with because it's just not worth it most of the time.  That feeling of not being able to sell (or not getting a reasonable price for) a build is very discouraging.