Parts stockpile?

[CK1]

Hi all,
       So, I'm ready to jump head-long into this pedal building thing, but I have a practical question about getting started.  Since I don't have a good electronics store near me, should I stockpile a bunch of different components so I don't need to order pieces each time I want to try a new project (seems silly to do that)?  Perhaps there are kits sold by a supplier that would appropriate for this.  Recommendations?  Thanks in advance.


CK

[jkokura]

Depends on two things:

Do you plan on building lots of pedals in the future? If yes, then getting bulk parts is a good idea. If no, then it isn't.

How much money do you have to spend? If you have Los, then you could get a good stash together. If not, then you might not really want to get into it.

To put it in perspective, I probably have 7-800 (maybe more) in my parts stash, and I still order fresh parts on a regular basis. You cannot stock for everything, and it's very rare for me to have all the parts I need. You will always need boards, enclosures, switches, jacks, and knobs. Those parts don't change. The other parts are very hard to stock so you don't need to make an order.

Jacob

[CK1]

Thanks for the info.  I'm hoping that I can really get into pedal building, but not knowing how it's going to go right away makes me think that I should not over-buy just for the sake of stockpiling.  I guess I'll try to buy a few extra things for my first build or two, and then reevaluate. 


Anyone else have a suggestion?

[eniacmike]

when you are starting out just order extra of the things you need to make the pedals you want. usually you can get a price break on items if you order more than 10 or more than 25.

it can't hurt to stock up on resistors and capacitors especially because 1 resistor is $.25 and if you get two hundred resistors they are $.02. if you are going to use carbon resistors you can get a decent grab bag at radio shack or suppliers like jameco sell good grab bags too. I use metal film and I haven't found a good deal on an assortment for metal film though so I just order bags of 200 for popular values and then 10 or 25 each of the ones that I rarely use.

I think pots, enclosures, switches, jacks, 9v snaps, dc jacks, and knobs are too expensive to tie up money in keeping stock. I usually order 10 of each every other week or so, and then order enclosures, pots, and knobs for the pedals I plan on making.

ordering parts can get really expensive especially when you are first starting out but if you just order a little extra each time eventually you will have a nice bench stock.

[maysink]

You might consider a kit from BYOC or GGG as a gateway drug to complete pedal building. But you'll just be postponing the inevitable contribution to madbean's retirement fund!

[gtr2]

+1 on the buy as you go when starting out, especially if your new to parts ordering.  You wouldn't want to order bulk amounts until your comfortable with knowing exactly what you need.  That way you won't end up with 100 surface mount resistors that you can't use.   

[CK1]

Thanks, guys!  I'm going to try to source some bulk orders (resistors, caps, etc.) and see what I find.  I'll post again if I run into trouble.

[CRBMoA]

You also want to frequent that various builder forums, because there a group buys that occur from time to time (multiple buyers pooling $$ for price breaks) and the occasional "I quit, here's all my junk" thread.

For resistors and capacitors, I usually buy two or three times what I need, and after a year or so, I have enough stock to build most circuits without ordering anything. The ICs and Trannies are a little more expensive and complex, so I didn't start buying long on those until I realized what the common ones are. Now I have a fair supply of the common OpAmps and most of the trannies needed to build any dirt pedal.

Modulation gets trickier. The ICs are more expensive. I buy those as needed.

I have organized group buys for 3PDTs in the past, and I am always on the look out for enclosure deals.

[jkokura]

Take a look through this forum even. It's a fairly young forum, but we've already seen a half dozen people ask the same or a similar question. You'll see in those posts a lot of good advice about how much to get, what values to get, and where to get parts.

In general, I would recommend buying only enough to build your first, cause you don't know if you'll like it or how much you'll have to spend in the future. Once that first build is off the ground, then look at getting parts in bulk, but analyze it for a while to see where to spend your money to get the best bang for your buck.

Jacob