just getting started....where to start

[bakelo]

This seems ridiculous to ask to those of you who have been building and boxing sweet sounding pedals, but since I am about to venture out on my first build and first parts order I am seeking help. I've been reading the forum for a while now and have found the courage to tackle an Echoplex boost, Honey Bee, and something slightly higher gain than the Honey Bee. So that in mind and help with the following questions would be super helpful. I sure I will come up with more questions but these are all I can come up with at the moment.


How do you tell which resisters, cap, diodes, etc to buy for a project? 
Resistance, Power Rating, Tolerance, Termination Style?
I'm guessing these are good link I've missed for this question


What are the best jacks to get ahold of?


What are some good projects to get started off with other than the ones listed?


Tips for someone just starting?


Thank in advance madbean community!

[sprayfe]

Start with a s.h.o. Clone and really study how it works.  Be familiar enough with it to build it without the pcb.  This will come in very handy in the future and you'll always have a killer boost that will commemorate your first build.   If you order from a pedal specific store- you won't have to worry about 90% of the ordering questions.   Small ear and mammoth are quite easy to pick parts from - but I would guess you're talking about mouser.  For resistors I would buy the popular ones in bags of 200, cause that's a great price break.   Also their carbon film value packs aren't bad either. 1/4 watt is fine.   Caps can be a whole different ballgame. I'd go mammoth until you get the hang of what you're looking for- or steal the parts or part numbers from a friend.  You'll generally want 5mm spacing for poly caps.  Electrolytic - just check the data sheet and make sure they're not an inch tall. At mouser to can search by price and get 100s for dirt cheap.  Tolerance?  That depends on if you're a gear page junkie. J/k. I wouldn't sweat it a whole lot- there have been 0 times where I have been able to tell a difference even between my carbon film and metal film resistors. Same with caps .  Jacks are super cheap at mammoth as well.

[sprayfe]

Or ask a friEnd to look over your order before you place it
Wink

[jkokura]

First off - welcome!

Great questions. There are probably lots of different opinions out there on your questions, but I hope my thoughts help you out.

Parts required are different for each effect, but many of the project docs contain links and recommendations on parts in them. You can buy everything you need at Smallbear. Use Metal or Carbon Film 1/4 watt resistors, topmay or Panasonic film caps for values between 100pF and 820nF, and sometimes 1nF (ask if you need help knowing when), any brand of electrolytic cap for values 1uF and higher, and then most other parts are specific and you can search them. Don't forget to get sockets for ICs and Transistors if you are new to soldering. I recommend Switchcraft or Neutrik jacks, available at Smallbear.

For projects, I recommend cutting your teeth on something easy and small. Think carefully and plan slowly. Don't rush, and ask lots of questions - no such thing as a bad one.

I think you should look at your pedalboard and see what you want to add to it. Build that effect, and look up options to compare using audio or video demos.

Try the Tilt if you want something higher gain but different. The Uproar is also a good option. The chunk chunk and Boneyard are great, but larger and more complicated.

Jacob

[Jamiroking]

mouser is tough to get started but you will get some of these basic things cheaper if you spend the time with it. I've found some good hardware (pots, jacks, enclosures, switches, leds) for cheap at tayda.com. Finally, everything else I get from small bear because I know that they will have the stuff specially for pedals. If you're hoping to get everything in one place, small bear is probably the only place its possible but you may end up spending way more on parts. Due to shipping though, it really depends on how many pedals you're making

As far as the technical specs for the parts, resistors will probably be 1/4 w with whatever value resistance it says in the parts list (eg 4k7 = 4,700ohms = 4.7kohms). Capacitors will usually give you the the voltage rating. Anything above 16v will be fine for what we build here usually.

As for which projects to build, I agree with Jacob. While it is good to do something simple for the very first project, don't be intimidated by the bigger boards, Brian lays out the projects so well that an increase in parts numbers does not mean an increase in difficulty. So build the pedals that you want to play!

[mgwhit]

Using Mouser can take forever, but it can really save you the heartache of accidentally buying parts that are the wrong size for your board(s).  Create an account and use their Project Manager application -- that way you can work on it whenever you have time and once you've found a part that works you can easily find it again for other projects.

For resistors, just go straight to the Xicon 271's.  1/4W 1% tolerance metal films. They're so much nicer than the Tayda cheapies.  I keep a grab bag of Radio Shack Carbon Film resistors for emergency backups, though.

For your picofarad value caps, you're going to need ceramic discs.  For most of your your nanofarad values, get box caps (WIMA and Kemet are good) with 5mm lead spacing and (for the most part) 2.5mm wide.  MadBean boards can be tight so really check those sizes.  1uF might be electrolytic or a fat film box cap -- check your board.  Values above 1uF are almost always electrolytics -- check for a circle with positive/negative pads on the board.  Lead spacing will be 2.5mm and watch those width and height measurements.  25v rating is more than enough for most applications, but I've done fine with 16v.  Remember: radial means both leads come out of the bottom, axial means leads come out of either end.  You almost always want radial for caps unless your board takes a big mojo part that lies on its side.

Always socket ICs.  They can be temperamental and are a bear to desolder.  I don't bother socketing transistors anymore unless I think I might want to experiment with them, but I do use copper alligator clips as heat sinks when I solder them.  Remember to get through-hole and not surface-mount.

Switchcraft jacks are great, but Neutriks are fine.  Don't cheap out on the footswitches.  Cliffs are probably as good as you can get without shelling out $12 at StewMac for the Fulltones.  If you want to get a finished enclosure, pedalpartsplus are the highest quality.

Good luck and have fun!

[bakelo]

Thanks so much guys. I ordered a few pcb's from Brian last Friday and I will going over orders with a good friend of mine. Thanks for the tips. I am really looking forward to getting started.