To hell with decline!! Let's talk about our personal projects happening now!

[BryGuy]

 ;-)

[peterc]

Philtre

Thanks, inkjet clear sticker film with an extra sheet stuck over the printing for protection.

Interesting. How durable is the sticker film using this approach?

It seems fine as there are hex bolts holding down the brass as well as the pots keeping everything together. I know that Devi Ever also used this method (with Papillo paper) on her pedals

[Philtre]

Philtre

Thanks, inkjet clear sticker film with an extra sheet stuck over the printing for protection.

Interesting. How durable is the sticker film using this approach?

It seems fine as there are hex bolts holding down the brass as well as the pots keeping everything together. I know that Devi Ever also used this method (with Papillo paper) on her pedals

I tried it today, and it works great. Goodbye Envirotex! :-)

[BuGG]

Some of you know that I had to virtually stop building about two years ago due to lack of space / work area....   I did some building in the corner of an un-airconditioned laundry room, but during the summertime this is just unreasonable.

So... I've recently acquired a cargo trailer that I'm converting into a workshop.    This will be ideal because when we move I can take my workshop with me, fully intact.   

It's a bit cluttered at the moment, but I'm just getting everything moved in.  Plenty of work ahead.

Decline?  Hell I'm just getting warmed back up.   

[cooder]

That looks like an awesome workspace and what a great idea to have it moveable!
Great to see where all those pcbs are getting pumped out...! Certainly no shortage of projects on your site.

[vizcities]

Just thought I'd throw in: I'm off pedal building at the moment, barring maybe another run at the Aquaboy or one of those crazy DeadendFX projects if they ever return. Instead, I'm more in a studio equipment place. My Fall building plan involves a 1U rack of API 312s, 2 MXL 990 mods (into Neumann-y K84 things w/K47 capsules), an Apex 460 mod (I'm basically tearing out the guts and making an AKG C-12), an Alesis 3630 mod (into a stereo dbx160-type comp - not a huge leap, but the 3630 cost me $30, so the mod basically gets me a $250-300 EQ for $50), MAYBE a John Hardy 990 clone, MAYBE a 2 channels of Jon Patton's Tape Op/Hamptone-inspired color pres,  and - freelance funds permitting - either a pair of Pultec EQ, Neve 1073, or Hairball 1176 500-series clones. (Likely all three by the end of 2019. I keep eyeballing Hairball's Lolas, too, but I kinda suspect I won't need them if I have the 312s and 1073s.) Pedals are still great and satisfying, but I'm admittedly running out of stuff to build that feels indispensable... I have a few rebuilds in mind (Devi Ever Hyperion, Klone & Timmy revs w/better parts), but most of the effects that I'd like to add to my collection aren't terribly DIY-friendly - reverb, digital delay, Whammy, etc.

TL;DR: Still building like a crazy person! But I'm on a pedal hiatus.

[brucer]

I'm rubbish at pictures, but a couple of recent builds:

 

VFE boards from Madbean.  Faceplates from Haberdasher.  Love them both.  They'll replace the Cardinal tremolo and CAYA chorus on my pedalboard before band starts back up in the fall.

Also rehoused a Classic Tremolo from JMK PCBs. 

 

Nice sounds, but a little switch click that I can't get rid of.  Offering it up as-is for $25 USD (tracked shipping cost more-or-less) along with a populated, JMK Super Phaser PCB.  PM if interested.

 

[reddesert]

This is a great thread.

I have become interested in synths and modules. In part this is because I like building circuits but am slow to box and use them, and don't need a 20-pedal board. Clearly modular synthesis is potentially a big expensive rabbit hole. But my thinking is that it shouldn't need to have a huge and expensive entry price tag. So I'm trying to DIY as much as possible. This is going a little slowly because information is scattered about: there's no central source of layouts like tagboardeffects is for guitar pedals, for example. Also I have some layout/PCB desires, like board-mounted pots if possible, which means doing some of my own layouts.



The only thing that's complete and tested here is the power supply, but at least that's progress. It's my intention to document this in a thread and post layouts as I verify them, and get feedback and suggestions.

[bsoncini]

This is a great thread.

I have become interested in synths and modules. In part this is because I like building circuits but am slow to box and use them, and don't need a 20-pedal board. Clearly modular synthesis is potentially a big expensive rabbit hole. But my thinking is that it shouldn't need to have a huge and expensive entry price tag. So I'm trying to DIY as much as possible. This is going a little slowly because information is scattered about: there's no central source of layouts like tagboardeffects is for guitar pedals, for example. Also I have some layout/PCB desires, like board-mounted pots if possible, which means doing some of my own layouts.



The only thing that's complete and tested here is the power supply, but at least that's progress. It's my intention to document this in a thread and post layouts as I verify them, and get feedback and suggestions.

Sounds like a great idea. Keep us informed!

[oip]

i am definitely interested in that!

been building some kit modules and open source PCBs.. and cases.. and power supply.. also have a (hopefully) very similar looking set of aluminium panels to pick up from local metal shop tomorrow

[stringsthings]

DIY modular synths are fun!  If you can etch your own boards, there's lots of layouts around.
I've seen a few vero's.  If I come across them again, I'll post a link.  Check out the Misc DIY Stuff section for more synth stuff.
Alanp has gone bananas in this area.  He's designing his own pcb's.  I've built of few of his and they're nice.

I get blank panels form online metals.  They're inexpensive and really accurate.  They're in the U.S. but they'll probably ship overseas.
Also check out Music From Outer Space (MFOS).  Ray Wilson has left us a goldmine of stuff.  I've built a lot of his stuff.  ( I'll post some pics either here
or in the other section ... or both! )

You'll need a case/enclosure if you haven't got one.  You can use wood rails or go expensive and get metal ones.
Are you using the eurorack format?

[reddesert]

Thanks - I've been doing some research on this, and more pointers are always welcome. There is a lot of material in MFOS, at muffwiggler and electro-music, Alanp's thread, etc, but navigating it can be hard.

I will eventually start another thread in the Misc DIY section to discuss this in detail - had been waiting to get a couple of modules working first. Yes, I'm planning to make it Eurorack compatible. It seems like often people start down this road and find a high entry cost of buying a case and rails and power supply, and generally that you can make it expensive really fast. My goal is to avoid that, so I want to start by building some basic modules and a wood framed skiff into a briefcase.

The power board pictured above is the MFOS +/-12V regulated supply powered from a 12 VAC wallwart, for which I made a perfboard layout. I've been browsing the MFOS website a lot and reading schematics to learn things - tons of useful information. I haven't got any of the MFOS PCBs yet, in part because they have a lot of offboard wiring.

[bamslam69]

Just ordered parts from Tayda for a Valve Caster and Dead Astronaut's Tremshifter.
I know the Valvecaster isn't exactly the best pedal around, but a tube sticking out of a pedal looks cool. More of a work of art than anything, and ideas are constantly forming in my head on how to make this look pretty swish.

After this, it'll be a matter of trying to build stuff from my boxes of crap, and not order anything else for a while.

[stringsthings]

...  but a tube sticking out of a pedal looks cool....

+1

After this, it'll be a matter of trying to build stuff from my boxes of crap, and not order anything else for a while.

I'm doing that too! 

[tone seeker]

 

Well the bass player, in my band, wanted a nasty distortion
with reverb. So I went with a Peppers Pedals Hm-2 board, and a 1776
Reverb. I thought it was a little too much after the build, but the Bass
player loves it! He also wanted Godzilla painted on it, so It all came
together pretty well