Pedal kits

lincolnblue

I’m looking to get a diy pedal kit - possibly a compressor. Any advice on what to look for for someone who’s a relative beginner to this? I’m aware of fuzzdog kits but what else is worth considering?

ecc83

lincolnblue said:

I’m looking to get a diy pedal kit - possibly a compressor. Any advice on what to look for for someone who’s a relative beginner to this? I’m aware of fuzzdog kits but what else is worth considering?

I am sure many will give you plenty of suggestions. I cannot but can give you my suggestions on electronics DIY to avoid expensive mistakes.

First off, you MUST have a modest, circa 20 quid, digital multimeter, a few croc to croc leads are also invaluable.

Now, having built your circuit, if it uses an op amp and the kit provides a socket, do not plug in the chip yet. Instead use the DMM to do continuity checks from each pin of the holder to the point it goes to on the schematic. E.G. +power DOES go to battery +V and negative the same. Looking at the schematic you should be able to see any anomalies? An input for example should not read 3 Ohms to chassis! Double check that electrolytic caps are in the correct polarity, same for any diodes. If all seems well, power up and enjoy!

Dave.

ElectricXII

I've built a couple of Jeds Peds kits and am pretty happy with them. In fact, I think their Hot Cake "clone" sounds better than my real one for certain things.

Alex2678

I’ve always used fuzzdog and think they’re great, good friendly customer service too

lincolnblue

ElectricXII said:

I've built a couple of Jeds Peds kits and am pretty happy with them. In fact, I think their Hot Cake "clone" sounds better than my real one for certain things.

Thanks for that - I've not come across them before. Do they come with pretty fool-proof instructions or do you need to have some decent ideal of electronics to start?

TTony

lincolnblue said:

ElectricXII said:

I've built a couple of Jeds Peds kits and am pretty happy with them. In fact, I think their Hot Cake "clone" sounds better than my real one for certain things.

Thanks for that - I've not come across them before. Do they come with pretty fool-proof instructions or do you need to have some decent ideal of electronics to start?

Both fuzzdog and jeds come with idiot-proof instructions.

I know, because I am (still) an electronics idiot, and I've managed to put them together.

You'll need a decent soldering iron and an ability to solder pretty accurately.  We're talking small joints, not 1/2lb of solder blobbed on to the back of a pot.

Depending on how good your eyesight is, I also found a headloupe really useful for close up examination of what I was doing (and checking on resistor values, etc).

Start with a simple kit (ie a few components and no surface mounted chips!) and build up your understanding and confidence from there.

With the soldering iron/ability, decent vision and ability to read/follow instructions, you'll be fine.  

Flip

Fuzzdog every time for me but the caution about soldering skill is vital.

lincolnblue

Any kits you'd recommend? I have a Fuzzdog boost which I still need to do, but any suggestions of something else what would be suitable for a beginner? (would prefer not fuzz)

english_bob

lincolnblue said:

Any kits you'd recommend? I have a Fuzzdog boost which I still need to do, but any suggestions of something else what would be suitable for a beginner? (would prefer not fuzz)

I'd say to start with kits with a small number of components. The fewer solder joints you have to make, the fewer opportunities you have to get one wrong. Likewise, a smaller number of components are harder to mix up and put in to the wrong places. 

The cost of kits rises pretty much directly in line with the number of parts involved, so any of the cheapest ones will likely be suitable for a beginner. (If you want a compressor an Orange Squeezer type has a fairly low parts count).

Even if you're not buying from them, I would suggest looking at some instructions from https://buildyourownclone.com/ who are the gold standard in hand-holding guides for DIY n00bs, IMO. 

My top tips:

Check before you start that you have all the parts you need, and identify which is which (the instructions for your kit will come with a "bill of materials"). Check twice. I find it helpful to stick the parts to a piece of paper and write the values of each component next to it.

Solder one component at a time. Check twice that you've put the right component in the right place.

Check whether the component has a polarity (a right way round and a wrong way), and that you've placed it the right way round, BEFORE you solder. Check twice. Resistors can go in either way round but diodes, transistors and some capacitors can't. In some cases you won't like what happens when you put them in backwards and power up the circuit.

Start with the smallest components- the ones that will lie closest to the PCB when it's finished- usually diodes, then resistors. That way you can lay the PCB down on a mat and have the component sit neatly in place while you solder. If you put the taller ones in first, the smaller ones won't be forced to sit flush to the PCB, it'll look messy and if the bare component legs touch it won't work right.

Don't rush. Try to make sure you can stop and put the half-built kit aside somewhere safe if you need to.

All of which is in aid of the main point: it's much easier to not make a mistake in the first place than it is to try to fix it afterwards. Desoldering a component you've already placed is a fiddly job that can end up causing damage to the component and the PCB, so should be avoided if at all possible. Check twice.

TJT1979

Never tried Jed's, simply because I started off with Fuzzdog and never felt the need to change. 

Lots of good advice above. I watched some old NASA (I think??) training video on YouTube. It was really long (an hour maybe!) but there was so much good advice that it was well worth it. On my first order I asked Fuzzdog to throw in a crappy old PCB and a bunch of resistors to practise with before starting on the real pedal. 

Thing from Fuzzdog which have stood out in my rig:
Hot Snake
Boner
The Nuclear fuzz was good but I've given up on fuzz
Deuterium boost is excellent
I'm currently building 3 more which I have high hopes for. 

lincolnblue

Thanks for that @TJT1979 It's a shame on Fuzzdog website that you can't filter by build difficulty level

TJT1979

In my experience there's not much difference between the easy and medium kits. It just takes a bit longer. If you're organised with sorting out components before starting I'd say it's difficult to go wrong. 

What type of effects do you need in your setup?

lincolnblue

lincolnblue said:

Thanks for that @TJT1979 It's a shame on Fuzzdog website that you can't filter by build difficulty level

Turns out you can by typing "easy" into the search bar

lincolnblue

TJT1979 said:

In my experience there's not much difference between the easy and medium kits. It just takes a bit longer. If you're organised with sorting out components before starting I'd say it's difficult to go wrong. 

What type of effects do you need in your setup?

I'm not sure really. I want it more as an exercise rather because I need an effect. I'm tempted by a compressor though even though they aren't a particularly exciting effect

english_bob

TJT1979 said:

In my experience there's not much difference between the easy and medium kits. It just takes a bit longer. If you're organised with sorting out components before starting I'd say it's difficult to go wrong. 

In terms of what you have to do they're all much of a muchness. Some effects need to be calibrated after you've finished building, which I suspect is one reason you don't see many analogue delay kits.

In most cases the challenge is keeping all your parts organised, building in a way that allows you to keep track of what you've already done and what's left to do, and maintaining your own mental quality control on your soldering. The level of difficulty is in how many parts you're keeping track of and how many solder joints you need to make (and how many things you have to check over to figure out what you did wrong if it doesn't work first time).

lincolnblue

Thanks. That's all helpful. I think I'm still better starting with something with minimal components just to be sure. I don't want a fuzz but open to other suggestions

Yorkie

Fuzzdog is amazing. Other kit suppliers claim their docs are 'second to none', but to me Fuzzdog's are the absolute best. 
I've 'grown' beyond using kits and am now designing my own circuits, perfboard layouts and building them, but I still get components from Fuzzdog and study his docs from time to time. Lee is also quick to help whenever you have a query. 

matt_sefton

Yorkie said:

Fuzzdog is amazing. Other kit suppliers claim their docs are 'second to none', but to me Fuzzdog's are the absolute best. 
I've 'grown' beyond using kits and am now designing my own circuits, perfboard layouts and building them, but I still get components from Fuzzdog and study his docs from time to time. Lee is also quick to help whenever you have a query. 

It’s really nice to hear that - Lee’s a good friend and I’ve always been really impressed with how he’s grown Fuzzdog. Hope he won’t mind me saying but the reason the docs are so good is that we both worked for design agencies in Newcastle for years. 

Yorkie

lincolnblue said:

Thanks. That's all helpful. I think I'm still better starting with something with minimal components just to be sure. I don't want a fuzz but open to other suggestions

If you want a compressor then go for an Orange Squeezer. I know it's classed as 'medium' difficulty, but it's not difficult, at all. Incidentally, that was my first kit build. If an ignorant like myself was able to build it and get it to work on first try, then it's got to be very easy :-)

lincolnblue

Yorkie said:

lincolnblue said:

Thanks. That's all helpful. I think I'm still better starting with something with minimal components just to be sure. I don't want a fuzz but open to other suggestions

If you want a compressor then go for an Orange Squeezer. I know it's classed as 'medium' difficulty, but it's not difficult, at all. Incidentally, that was my first kit build. If an ignorant like myself was able to build it and get it to work on first try, then it's got to be very easy :-)

Thanks - I was considering that one. 

Yorkie

Happy to help if you get stuck.