Advice Building my First Pedal

asimmd · February 2015

I would like to have a go at this and I have a couple of questions. What size tip on the soldering iron? What wattage iron? What diameter solder? Any pointers appreciated. Alan

meltedbuzzbox · February 2015

Some kind of 40watt jobbie starter kit off of Amazon would make a good start and some copper wire for mistakes.

TinLip · February 2015

meltedbuzzbox said:

Some kind of 40watt jobbie starter kit off of Amazon would make a good start and some copper wire for mistakes.

If I may offer you some advice before you start soldering, if you haven't done this before then take a moment to YouTube or read up about how to solder correctly (i.e. heat the wire, tin it when the solder melts on to it, etc). Soldering used to be a pain in the @rse for me until I learnt how to do it properly. A bit of patience and proper tinning goes a long way to ensuring proper joins and less rework.

Maybe you know this already, but if not I hope it helps!

joeyowen · February 2015

TinLip said:
If I may offer you some advice before you start soldering, if you haven't done this before then take a moment to YouTube or read up about how to solder correctly (i.e. heat the wire, tin it when the solder melts on to it, etc). Soldering used to be a pain in the @rse for me until I learnt how to do it properly. A bit of patience and proper tinning goes a long way to ensuring proper joins and less rework.

Maybe you know this already, but if not I hope it helps!

A lot of sense spoken by those tin lips

juansolo · February 2015

I'll have to respond to this later (going out now). But I wouldn't go as high as 40w for pedals electronics. Great for guitar, but somewhat excessive for pedals. There are a lot of tips I can give you. You don't need a lot of kit and you don't need the latest and greatest solder station to get started. I'll post in detail tonight.

meltedbuzzbox · February 2015

juansolo said:

I'll have to respond to this later (going out now). But I wouldn't go as high as 40w for pedals electronics. Great for guitar, but somewhat excessive for pedals. There are a lot of tips I can give you. You don't need a lot of kit and you don't need the latest and greatest solder station to get started. I'll post in detail tonight.

I would take this man's advice over mine

juansolo · February 2015

Ok, disclaimer first: There is no right or wrong way of building pedals, do what works for you and that’s the right way for you. Right that out of the way…

Solder

If you’re not planning to sell your pedals commercially, use leaded solder. Unleaded is an utter pain in the arse and is horrible stuff. You WILL need a 40W iron just to melt the stuff. It’s horrid. If you are planning to sell, bite the bullet and get used to it, because legally, you’re stuck with it (indeed, you cannot use non-ROHS items in your pedals like LDRs or Vactrols also).

However, if you’re doing it for you, there’s nothing stopping you buying and using these things perfectly legally. Bizarre but true. So, the solder I use is this: http://www.rapidonline.com/tools-equipment/autosol-bit-saving-solder-flux-ra-22swg-500g-85-6242

Iron

For an iron I have a couple. A triggers broom 18W Antex with it’s standard bit. You can get all the parts (elements, bits, etc) from your favourite electronics retailer. I think the only original part on mine is the actual handle. I also have a 25W Antex with a chisel bit for doing guitar electronics. They take a bit more poke.

Get a stand for it. Ideally one with a sponge or the mesh style bit cleaning basin in it. Keeping your tip clean is key. I always wipe before and after use. Works also for your knob.

juansolo · February 2015

Basic Tools

Good small side cutters. Not the stuff you’ve got from your Halfords generic car set. You don’t have to go to town. I use these: http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-s-kit/pa-101/plier-micro-cutting-130mm/dp/TL08717

When they get blunt, bin 'em and get another set.

Small needle nosed pliers. Same applies as above. Small=good.

Wire strippers. Go with the type you’re comfortable with. I use manual ones. I’m just used to them.

Tweezers. Good for routing wires through those hard to get places.

A selection of small screwdrivers.

A selection of small sockets and a socket driver. I actually do use a Halfords Professional set of those. Possibly the most useful tools I’ve ever bought. This one, I’ve had it years: http://www.halfords.com/motoring/garage-equipment/socket-sets/halfords-advanced-professional-36-piece-socket-set-1-4

Helping hands. Even a pikey horrible set (which I have, I really need to replace those) is better than none. http://www.rapidonline.com/FFSearchResults.aspx?query=helping hands&filterSearchScope=3

Get a half decent multi-meter.

Drilling boxes

Get a drill press, it’ll save you a lot of time and ruined boxes, trust me on this, and a step drill bit (1mm increments). Something like this: http://www.rapidonline.com/Tools-Equipment/Step-Drill-4-12mm-89-4432?sourceRefKey=kduvA4cGx&filterSearchScope=3

Measure, mark, twat with a centre punch, pilot with 3mm bit, take out to size with the stepper.

juansolo · February 2015

Finishing boxes

How you do this depends a lot on what type of finish you want to achieve. Rattle cans are a pain in the arse in terms of mess, temperature (try spraying in the garage in winter…), and the fact that painted finishes chip and ding easily.

Powder coating is the best way to get a coloured finish that’s tough, but if you want to do that yourself that’s a compressor, kit and oven job. You can buy in Hammond enclosures pre-coated (the way I do it). Quality of finish is variable and it might want some wet flatting…

Waterslides/decals. I use the latter. Other options are paint, paint pens, etching, screen printing, acid/laser etching, yadda. For decals I get clear transparent adhesive decals from Crafty Computer Paper. If you get it on offer and get enough of it to get free delivery, it works out about a pound a sheet. But you will have to get about £35 worth to get it for that. Obviously don’t waste it. There’s a tutorial on my site anyhow for doing those.

Other finishes… IMO most suited to one offs and DIY is an epoxy finish called Envirotex Lite (get it from the states via Amazon 16oz set). It’s primarily designed for coating bar tops and it’s insanely tough. Perfect for jack booted excitable musicians It takes a bit of getting your head around using it. But it’s clean and easy and can be done indoors. Better still it’s removable, with a bit of effort. I’ve not found anything better for this sort of thing.

Advice

Finally some advice for those thinking about starting this insanely addictive hobby.

Start with a BYOC kit (Vibe-o-tronic sell them here). Do a couple to get your eye in, then get off them as soon as possible as all you’re doing is painting by numbers and you won’t learn anything more like that. They will however get you into some good habits.

Make a audio probe (google it, it’s simple) and go through something you’ve built whilst looking at a schematic. This WILL start to teach you stuff. a) how to read schematics, and b) how to fault find. Fault finding generally works thus: First you make sure you have all the right voltages where you expect them (multi-meter). Then you audio probe through the signal path of the circuit until it stops. Your problem is around there.

Do some vero. You can build all sorts on vero. It’s DIY at it’s most DIY. Great for prototyping when you come up with your own ideas.

Build a stash of parts.

There’s a set of DIY links on my site that contains all the main players for parts (UK centric), PCBs, some vero ninjas and forums. Get yourself on either BYOC or Madbean. They’re both really helpful newbie friendly places. It’s a community and the more you take part, the more you’ll get out of it.

austint01 · February 2015

Can you offer any advise on how to approach wiring the board to the jacks, pots and switches please?

Which order makes most sense?

juansolo · February 2015

Make yourself a 'wobble box'

http://juansolo.co.uk/stompage/images/wobble-o.jpg

Though that's now got connector strip on it as the spring clips broke through use. But always build it, then connect it to the wobbler and test it. Then box it. You essentially will have a board with 4 wires hanging off it (+/-/in/out) and all the knobs/switches attached. Once tested I'll drill up a box, fit all the switching and jacks (again, this is just the way I do it), then drop the board in.

I highly recommend not using 3PDT switches if you plan to use them in anger. They're the cheapest option, but not very robust. Either go with relay switching or optical switching. It'll cost more, but you'll have fewer to no failures.

Wiring comes down to what you're comfy with. I use a lot of solid core 0.6mm copper wire. Which takes a while to get used to as if you over work it, it can break. But I use it for all board mounted pots and on things that can't move. Otherwise I use some horrifically expensive SpectraStrip multi-strand ribbon. Same sort diameter.

Generally speaking, anything that can move wants to be on flexi wire. So stomps and jacks. Knobs also if you're not board mounting. I do use solid in some cases, but again, it's only where things have a very small likelihood of moving.

TheCount · February 2015

Keeping your tip clean is key. I always wipe before and after use. Works also for your knob.

Was that intentional? Made me laugh >:D<

juansolo · February 2015

Yeah, it was to see if anyone read it

One thing I'll add. Don't get into this thinking you're getting cheap pedals... It really won't work out that way

Also don't get into it thinking you're going to make a fortune building pedals because the parts are so cheap and there are so few of them... You'll find out quite quickly how much effort actually goes into making a simple pedal properly and that £20 margin somehow doesn't look quite as attractive when you can get paid more collecting the bins. Do it because it's genuinely interesting, satisfying and addictive.

Chalky · February 2015

@juansolo - Many thanks for generously sharing all your sage advice. Certainly got me started now! Have vero, will dabble!

joeyowen · February 2015

fair play @juansolo, takes a top quality gent to reply with such depth!

Really interestering read

d8m · February 2015

juansolo;531199" said:
Yeah, it was to see if anyone read it

One thing I'll add. Don't get into this thinking you're getting cheap pedals... It really won't work out that way

Also don't get into it thinking you're going to make a fortune building pedals because the parts are so cheap and there are so few of them... You'll find out quite quickly how much effort actually goes into making a simple pedal properly and that £20 margin somehow doesn't look quite as attractive when you can get paid more collecting the bins.

Do it because it's genuinely interesting, satisfying and addictive.

Wisdom.

I wish I was better at building pedals as the one i managed to just about get working was SO satisfying.

I always struggle with the switch wiring

I see poodleparts have some new daughter boards for the switches so I may be brave and try another.

Thing that put me off after last time was essentially the fact id paid nearly £40 buggered the kit up and ended up with nothing

juansolo · February 2015

Since I started keeping track (about a year into building pedals and probably about five years ago now) I've managed to almost make it self funding... Generally I run at around £300-£400 in deficit. Sometimes it breaks even, but never for long. If you see me actively pimping old pedals then I'm in the red as a rule

What I've got out of it, is a big stash of pedals and a knowledge of them and how they tick. Massive amounts of satisfaction and some skills to make some cool stuff should I wish to.

As of now I've made just about everything, so I'm not really building singles or the latest boutique fad any more. I've now got a core of pedals that suit me and I know what I like to do certain things. So I'm now concentrating on much more challenging/complex builds. Multis, refining circuits for guitar that might not have had that in mind in the first place, designing new stuff. That sort of thing. It's the next level of the hobby in a way.

If you want to make money out of it though, you've got to take a very different attitude. You've got to market, you've got to have a core of effects that people actually want to buy, and you've got to make yourself stand out. This is why I've got so much respect for Thorpy and co giving it a go, as I'm not sure I could do that without losing my mind.

I'm staying where I am. I've made a lot of friends in the DIY community and I collaborate with a lot of them throughout the world to build new stuff. It's all very 'pure' in that respect. The only sad thing that'll happen is that one day I'm going to need to go back to work to earn some money, as I'm convinced making pedals for an actual living isn't for me, as I can't do it here on my terms (I'd be ok in the US I reckon).

juansolo · February 2015

d8m said:

juansolo;531199" said:
Yeah, it was to see if anyone read it

One thing I'll add. Don't get into this thinking you're getting cheap pedals... It really won't work out that way

Also don't get into it thinking you're going to make a fortune building pedals because the parts are so cheap and there are so few of them... You'll find out quite quickly how much effort actually goes into making a simple pedal properly and that £20 margin somehow doesn't look quite as attractive when you can get paid more collecting the bins.

Do it because it's genuinely interesting, satisfying and addictive.
Wisdom.

I wish I was better at building pedals as the one i managed to just about get working was SO satisfying.

I always struggle with the switch wiring

I see poodleparts have some new daughter boards for the switches so I may be brave and try another.

Thing that put me off after last time was essentially the fact id paid nearly £40 buggered the kit up and ended up with nothing

Switch wiring is the first hurdle really. It's all very logical when you break it down.

They are a 3 pole (as in three switched elements) dual throw (as in two on positions on/on) switch.

- - -

or if you like

123

456

789

So looking at the pins above, the three columns are separate elements that all switch together. When they're in one position the top two rows are connected. So: 1&4, 2&5 and 3&6. All separate but switched at the same time. Switched in the second position 4&7, 5&8 and 6&9 will be connected.

You are switching 3 things (hence the need for three poles). Input, output and LED indicator. This diagram probably shows it the simplest way, but bear in mind, just to keep things awkward, it's sideways...

So what you can see here is that with the two bottom rows of pins switched (two left most in the pic) the in comes in, goes through the loop of wire at the bottom and goes straight out again. Classic true bypass. However what's happening on the middle pole? There is a ground run to the centre pin and that's connecting the wiggle wire to ground that goes to the effect input. That's to ground the effect when it's bypassed.

When switched the other way, the signal comes in then goes to the effect in, through the effect, from the effect via the effect out, then to the out jack. That wiggly wire is no longer connected to ground via the switch, so it does nothing. However the centre pin on the top row is now connected to ground in it's stead, It goes through a LED and a current limiting resistor to power. That's your indicator LED circuit made and your light comes on.

Tis simple stuff once you break it down to what the switch is connecting to what.

Good to understand then instantly throw away because 3PDT stomps are shite

TheCount · February 2015

juansolo said:

What I've got out of it, is a big stash of pedals and a knowledge of them and how they tick. Massive amounts of satisfaction and some skills to make some cool stuff should I wish to.

If you want to make money out of it though, you've got to take a very different attitude. You've got to market, you've got to have a core of effects that people actually want to buy, and you've got to make yourself stand out. This is why I've got so much respect for Thorpy and co giving it a go, as I'm not sure I could do that without losing my mind.

I'm staying where I am. I've made a lot of friends in the DIY community and I collaborate with a lot of them throughout the world to build new stuff. It's all very 'pure' in that respect. The only sad thing that'll happen is that one day I'm going to need to go back to work to earn some money, as I'm convinced making pedals for an actual living isn't for me, as I can't do it here on my terms (I'd be ok in the US I reckon).

It can be done, but building the odd one here and there for a bit of beer money is nicer;)

The amount of behind the scenes stuff is a huge part of it, ordering, marketing, administration, answering emails, chasing suppliers etc. The fun bit - developing new stuff and playing around with new ideas etc tends to take a back seat.

It's very different to banging out a custom box here and there, not necessarily in a good way, depends what you want/need out of life

juansolo · February 2015

With you on that. I think it depends how you're wired. Some people really get into the whole selling side of things. It's the worlds biggest turn off for me. I see selling the odd pedal as a necessity of the hobby and I really wouldn't do it if I didn't have to...

TheCount · February 2015

Exactly.

If you don't sell, you don't profit, then you don't really have a business. If you do sell, you have a business, which is great but you then have the same headaches as 90% of all other small business, it's just your product happens to be stompboxes.

Might look like a great way to make a living to many, but it ain't for everyone.

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