in decline

[matmosphere]

Even the output at tagboard and the associated forums has slowed down.

Mirosol slowed the pace (almost completely stopped) a few years back because of health issues. Even then there were close to a thousand layouts on there, with that much done the work of finding schematics for pedals that are worth doing that anyone would build probably takes longer than the layouts themselves.

[jkokura]

In terms of sales, I'm certain many of the PCB guys around here would confirm that there are fewer sales now than 3-4 years ago, but I can't tell if that's because of a slow down or because of a larger variety of sellers and options available. When I started, it was Tonepad, or BYOC, and maybe one or two other options. I remember as the tap-tempo tremolo was developed, and then the Echobase, and I know CJ put out a Muff, and Brian had his Aquaboy layout.

A lot of things changed when Brian started Madbean, and then it got even better when he switched from Etched single side PCBs to manufactured ones. I think Barry did the etched boards as well, and also switched to manufactured boards eventually as well (they were terrible because of the pad sizes). I joined in making boards of my own shortly after, because Brian had coached me quite a bit in PCB design. Then slowly more and more manufacturers joined us here, like Josh and Thomas, etc. That was the golden era right there, with the most involvement and new builders. Lots of us were building at a frenetic pace. It began to slow down, and now, there are a bunch of PCB sellers that are only loosely associated here, and now there are tonnes more options of PCBs, and several designs for the same circuit out there, and most of the places to buy stuff also now sell kits for PCBs from a variety of sources. When I started 10ish years ago, the only manufactured Tubescreamer you could buy was from Tonepad, unless you wanted the kit version from BYOC. Now, I bet you there's dozens of them out there.

I did my youtube series on using Eagle, and someone told me it was a huge mistake because now anyone can do what the PCB guys do with a little time an effort. I say the more the merrier, but it has made it so that there are guys out there who are likely completely solo now, and don't utilize any forum, because they are building their own layouts and using Laen's old service (now called OshPark) and choose to interact on the more convenient social media sites to show and promote what they're doing.

I suspect Pedal building will always be a thing, but we went through a boom a number of years ago, and now we're in a plateau era. It's alright, and I still build the occasional pedal. I just wish I had more time to devote to developing new circuits and release more layouts.

Jacob

[midwayfair]

Here's something that did change:

FSB stopped buying and tracing the latest and greatest and chasiest pedals, because builders stopped caring about YATS. A lot of pedal companies started being more open about their product as a result of FSB, so there are probably different reasons people get into the hobby: fewer people are getting in just to learn how to build a pedal they don't want to pay for, and more people doing it because it's a fun hobby. There's also less smugness that goes into the hobby. It's hard to be smug about knowing what's in the box when the company is already telling everyone. (FTR, I think this is a good thing.)

This might give the appearance that there's less excitement, or something. Overall I think the hobby is definitely more populous now than it was when I started. There are fewer build reports of late, but that might just be that the current crop of people here are less inclined to post. Meanwhile some of us either don't have the time or money to build right now, or don't have anything we really want to make. Until the last couple weeks I hadn't even stepped on a pedal in quite some time.

[thesmokingman]

the stuff I build for myself ... you're lucky if you get any indication of what the knobs/switches do. not exactly a lot to look at externally. I guess you could marvel at the wiring that I keep short but not routed or that I'm that guy that still doesn't use 3PDT boards. I went all out the other day and bought lettering stickers from the scrapbook section of walmart so I could keep the knobs straight on my vertical layout fuzz factory ... fancy. that said, I enjoy seeing a cool etched enclosure, someone's tidy routed wiring, resistor/cap orientation OCD on full display, etc. I'll make more of an effort to put something on the build reports ... gives me a goal I guess.

[trailer]

As someone who is still really new to all of this I would say this DIY community is booming. Social media is littered with builders and players. I'm the only person I know who build though.

[Muadzin]

I got into the hobby for the reason that Midwayfair said, because I wanted to build pedals that I didn't want to pay for. Or in my personal case, that I just could never afford because I was unemployed at the time. It then got completely out of hand as I got a little more money thanks to a job and then I discovered places like Tayda and I was building 4 to 5 pedals a month. For a while I could justify it because while I had already plenty of pedals, this new build might kick an old build off my pedal board. Even if I already had a gazillion overdrives, distortions or fuzzes. And then I got an Axe-FX and I didn't really need a pedal board full of DIY pedals any more. Or a pedal board. Or an amp. And then you realize, why build any pedals any more? I still check Madbean and Tagboard regularly, as I like the community, I still see plenty of interesting designs coming out, I reckon without my Axe-FX I would have jumped on the FV-1 bandwagon with gusto. But I have an Axe-FX, it can do all those things. Why bother?

And now I switched to building guitars instead.

[playpunk]

Another big thing is that digital is just so good now. I have a Kemper and it is really an unbelievable piece of gear. The Helix is an even more economical option and it is superb as well. If you can spend $1500 on a Helix and have everything you could ever want there is really no driving force to build. Shoot I probably have $1500 of pedal junk (at retail) in my basement right now.

Right now i build when I can because I enjoy it, but there's no urgency.

[EBRAddict]

I can only speak for myself, but I lost interest in building more tube screamers, klones, muffs, fuzzes. The last few I built were based on CMOS logic inverters. I think we all got into this initially to build klones

My interests moved into maker/DIY stuff with microcontrollers and Pis, sensor networks with a smattering of machine learning. I'm a much better programmer than I am a musician so I tend to gravitate in that direction if I don't put my foot down.

[somnif]

I've slowed down my building, but that is largely because I only get payed during the school year. Its a frugal summer for me (especially with my power bill doubling in the summer months, hooray 115F outside temperatures).

That said, I've been trying to teach myself board layout and design to pass the time. So far I have learned I am not very good at it 

(and for some reason I keep trying to make SMD versions of things, why do I torture myself like this...)

[Muadzin]

Another big thing is that digital is just so good now. I have a Kemper and it is really an unbelievable piece of gear. The Helix is an even more economical option and it is superb as well. If you can spend $1500 on a Helix and have everything you could ever want there is really no driving force to build. Shoot I probably have $1500 of pedal junk (at retail) in my basement right now.

Right now i build when I can because I enjoy it, but there's no urgency.

Digital gets better and better, almost exponentially. The Helix is already lightyears ahead of the original Red Bean, and for the first time a serious competition to Fractal's Axe-FX II. And they have recently released the Axe-FX III, which has ungodly amounts of DSP, 4 times as much. No more running out of CPU errors. Analog meanwhile can only improve incrementally. Even if we exclude the clones of existing classic pedals, which is basically most analog pedals, there's only so much you can do with analog electronics. And it doesn't help that more and more analog through hole components are disappearing. Making it harder for self sourcing newbies to get into the hobby. Most people I know already find classic through hole electronic soldering daunting, I can imagine they would be scared shitless by the idea of SMD electronic soldering.

[reddesert]

I would expect pedal building, tagboard layouts, and everything else to be slow in the world outside the US for about the next month.

I don't know the history of DIY PCB suppliers that well. But if you look through the archives at tagboardeffects from early to recent, it is amazing how the layout designers' skill and sophistication evolved in just a few years, to the point where they've done most of the circuits that are practical to put on a modest sized stripboard.

I suspect common through hole components will be available for a long time, but in a SMT and digital world, music DIY may move more into the realm of software / algorithms for pre-fabbed hardware that provides a development environment (like FV-1 or Axoloti). However, music and musicians have strong vintage/nostalgia/mojo sympathies that will keep analog alive. Not just guitarists - I mean, people play 400 year old violins.

[culturejam]

compared to things like belton brick and PT2399.

Tell me about it. I have two ideas for a PT2399 circuit that, as far as I know, have never been done. I'll be posting schematics over the next couple months. Now, they may not be especially practical, but they've never been done. That's kinda where we're at. 

[ahiddentableau]

I don't know the history of DIY PCB suppliers that well. But if you look through the archives at tagboardeffects from early to recent, it is amazing how the layout designers' skill and sophistication evolved in just a few years, to the point where they've done most of the circuits that are practical to put on a modest sized stripboard.

+1 to this.  It was impressive what that community managed to become in a very short period of time.  And it's worth saying that this one isn't too shabby either.

There are more options now, and I think that's diffused the group a fair bit.  When I started building it was basically tonepad and GGG.  Now it's a neverending list of options, and almost all of them are good.  Aion.  PedalPCB.  Etc.

Back in the day the community was concentrated in a handful of places, and that gave it more of a community feel.  Now it's more spread out. 

Also, to follow up on jkokura's post, the door really has opened to PCB design and manufacture, but for me at least, the spur wasn't the availability of videos or resources per se (although I sure appreciated your series!).  It was more a matter of seeing other people in the group do it.  That took the mystery away.  It was a matter of thinking "Hey, if all of these other people are doing it, maybe it isn't as hard as I thought."  That's what got me into learning how to use EAGLE and DIY boards.  And with OSHpark, that is a major change from the way the community operated even just a few years ago.  We used to be limited to what a few leaders built and put out there (and as Jon said, that was a boatload of YATS).  But now with the rise of stripboard builds and PCB making, there are a lot more builders who doing their own thing.  And I think that's probably healthy.

[atreidesheir]

I enjoyed it myself when I could understand the circuit blocks and was bouncing around ideas for tweaks. 

Part of the reason the Beatles broke up was so they could do what they wanted when they wanted.  Without coordinating with three other people, and to leave behind Paul's insistence they work hard at Beatles music.  Personal priorities change.  I have 15 builds ready to box and I have no self momentum to get it done right now.  I am doing a lot of work on my house and my father's house also.  I work with children's charities, volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, mow my yard, coach baseball and basketball, blah, blah, blah.  I am a single parent.  I don't do many things for pleasure, and when I do find an hour of me time, I play music instead of solder, drill, or paint.

When I got into this @7-8 yrs ago,FSB was dynamic and a community, my son was little and had few external activities and I was able to do this often and heavy.  Now I just come to the forum to see what my friends are doing.

[Rockhorst]

I see two things:
- Brian's unbelievable kindness, openess and generosity in sharing his library paired with Jakob's tutorials (got me started)
- The analog 'boutique' builders have upped their game to beyond simple DIY limits. 5 years ago a DIY pedal had better guts and build quality than a JHS pedal. With the Bonsai and Muffaletta they did something that is basically a DIY killer. There's more examples.

I've been noticing a decline in forum activity on MBP for a while (I for one don't post that much anymore). But, I'm dedicated to keeping this place alive.