diy pedals
- Thread starter ACE 4080
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AudioWonderland
New member
Re: diy pedals
No pics right now but I just finished 3 loop/bypass pedals and a GGG MGV Guv'nor clone in the past few months
No pics right now but I just finished 3 loop/bypass pedals and a GGG MGV Guv'nor clone in the past few months
Rich_S
HomeGrownToneBrewologist
Re: diy pedals
Lovepedal Eternity clone (bufferless tube screamer with wildly modified component values)
My LM308 Rat clone (just finished this week)
My EP-3 booster, based on the front end of a Maestro Echoplex (just finished two days ago)
Green Eternity clone I built for a friend in St. Louis
Yet another Eternity clone I built for a charity auction at the school my daughters attend. So far, it's been owned by two forum brothers that I know of.
Channel switcher I built for a friend's Bad Cat amps. Allows him to switch between clean & dirty channels under the control of his Boss GT-10 multiFX board.
All pedals (except the channel switcher) are built on PC boards by MadBean Electronics. Parts sourced from Small Bear and/or Mouser Electronics.
Lovepedal Eternity clone (bufferless tube screamer with wildly modified component values)
My LM308 Rat clone (just finished this week)
My EP-3 booster, based on the front end of a Maestro Echoplex (just finished two days ago)
Green Eternity clone I built for a friend in St. Louis
Yet another Eternity clone I built for a charity auction at the school my daughters attend. So far, it's been owned by two forum brothers that I know of.
Channel switcher I built for a friend's Bad Cat amps. Allows him to switch between clean & dirty channels under the control of his Boss GT-10 multiFX board.
All pedals (except the channel switcher) are built on PC boards by MadBean Electronics. Parts sourced from Small Bear and/or Mouser Electronics.
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Rich_S
HomeGrownToneBrewologist
Re: diy pedals
The Rat and the green and yellow Eternities are powder-coated boxes from Small Bear. The graphics are water slide decals I printed on an inkjet, then sealed with a couple coats of Krylon crystal clear acrylic (use matte/satin finish, not gloss, trust me) before applying them to the enclosure. After the decals dry, I put on about six more coats of the Krylon, three the first day, and three the second day, wet sanding the 4th and 5th.
I recommend avoiding the green powdercoat - it's very hard and chips out when you drill it. The yellow and red didn't have that problem.
The blue and silver pedals are the same, except I painted the color coat with Duplicolor.
The Rat and the green and yellow Eternities are powder-coated boxes from Small Bear. The graphics are water slide decals I printed on an inkjet, then sealed with a couple coats of Krylon crystal clear acrylic (use matte/satin finish, not gloss, trust me) before applying them to the enclosure. After the decals dry, I put on about six more coats of the Krylon, three the first day, and three the second day, wet sanding the 4th and 5th.
I recommend avoiding the green powdercoat - it's very hard and chips out when you drill it. The yellow and red didn't have that problem.
The blue and silver pedals are the same, except I painted the color coat with Duplicolor.
idsnowdog
Imperator of Indignation
Re: diy pedals
That driver based on the front end of the echoplex is an interesting idea. I used to have an old Korg Space Echo tape delay. What was interesting is they bumped up the gain a bit and gave the signal a funky square wave distortion that really accentuate pick attack. Does this pedal do the same thing?
That driver based on the front end of the echoplex is an interesting idea. I used to have an old Korg Space Echo tape delay. What was interesting is they bumped up the gain a bit and gave the signal a funky square wave distortion that really accentuate pick attack. Does this pedal do the same thing?
Rich_S
HomeGrownToneBrewologist
Re: diy pedals
It's a moderate gain boost and fattens the sound. It give that extra bit of something that guys who used EP-3s back in day got from their Marshalls; guys like Pagey. Playing around with it and my 18 Watter today, I find I agree with the folks who use it as an on-all-the-time pedal. It doesn't really have enough gain (not dirt, gain) to be used as a solo boost, which is what I had hoped for.
So, it's not going to knock my modded SD-1 off the pedalboard. However, I might build a 9-volt power jack into the back of my amp, and park the pedal on top. Especially with the 3-way tone switch I put in, it's great for adding some extra whap! or for equalizing different guitars. It would make a good line driver, too.
It's a moderate gain boost and fattens the sound. It give that extra bit of something that guys who used EP-3s back in day got from their Marshalls; guys like Pagey. Playing around with it and my 18 Watter today, I find I agree with the folks who use it as an on-all-the-time pedal. It doesn't really have enough gain (not dirt, gain) to be used as a solo boost, which is what I had hoped for.
So, it's not going to knock my modded SD-1 off the pedalboard. However, I might build a 9-volt power jack into the back of my amp, and park the pedal on top. Especially with the 3-way tone switch I put in, it's great for adding some extra whap! or for equalizing different guitars. It would make a good line driver, too.
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guitarkid
New member
Re: diy pedals
Just today I was at my local guitar shop, the owner is also a really good friend of mine. We were messing around with some pedals and talking about delays when he goes into the back room and comes back out with a 1960's Echoplex tube Tape Echo, I guess he's had it for over 30 years and I never even knew about it. So I played through one for the first time with his all original, vintage 71' Telecaster, those things sound so awesome!!! Sorry, didn't mean to go off subject but since you were talking about an echoplex I had to share.
Just today I was at my local guitar shop, the owner is also a really good friend of mine. We were messing around with some pedals and talking about delays when he goes into the back room and comes back out with a 1960's Echoplex tube Tape Echo, I guess he's had it for over 30 years and I never even knew about it. So I played through one for the first time with his all original, vintage 71' Telecaster, those things sound so awesome!!! Sorry, didn't mean to go off subject but since you were talking about an echoplex I had to share.
Bass_Medic_05
Purveyor of Low End
Re: diy pedals
Rich_S nice work!
Rich_S nice work!
Bass_Medic_05
Purveyor of Low End
Nightburst
New member
Re: diy pedals
I've build this Klone and it's an awesome pedal. I use it as a 'clean' boost with the gain down and treble up (not how the knobs are set on the pics, that was just during the test stage). Fattens up my drive channels and gives the clean channel a nice boost as well. I'd like to add some graphics too but from what I can see with most water-slide decals is that you still see the cut outlines after spraying the clear-coats. It would probably be best to make one big decal to cover the entire pedal top and then spray?
I've build this Klone and it's an awesome pedal. I use it as a 'clean' boost with the gain down and treble up (not how the knobs are set on the pics, that was just during the test stage). Fattens up my drive channels and gives the clean channel a nice boost as well. I'd like to add some graphics too but from what I can see with most water-slide decals is that you still see the cut outlines after spraying the clear-coats. It would probably be best to make one big decal to cover the entire pedal top and then spray?
Rich_S
HomeGrownToneBrewologist
Re: diy pedals
Lotsa guys do whole-face decals. I have enough trouble getting the little ones to stay in place; gives me doubts about the durability of a whole-face decal. The decal outlines are only visible from ceratin angles, and I can't see them at all when I'm stompng on the pedal with my red size 10 1/2 converse high-tops.
Lotsa guys do whole-face decals. I have enough trouble getting the little ones to stay in place; gives me doubts about the durability of a whole-face decal. The decal outlines are only visible from ceratin angles, and I can't see them at all when I'm stompng on the pedal with my red size 10 1/2 converse high-tops.
woemoejack
New member
Re: diy pedals
sorry for crappy pic. Top left is a King of Tone clone, not built by me though. Top middle is a "brown sound in a box" Marshall type distortion, and the bottom second from left is a clone of an EH LPB-1 clean boost. I built both of those from generalguitargadgets.com kits. I highly recommend them, easy instructions. You dont have to know how to read a schematic, just have good soldering technique and lots of patience.
sorry for crappy pic. Top left is a King of Tone clone, not built by me though. Top middle is a "brown sound in a box" Marshall type distortion, and the bottom second from left is a clone of an EH LPB-1 clean boost. I built both of those from generalguitargadgets.com kits. I highly recommend them, easy instructions. You dont have to know how to read a schematic, just have good soldering technique and lots of patience.
Rich_S
HomeGrownToneBrewologist
Re: diy pedals
Custom powdercoat for a single piece is expensive - it's a production process that's only economically feasible in large lots. Small Bear sells several colors of pre-powdercoated boxes.
Pedal Part Plus has a selection of fancier colors at higher cost. http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/
Custom powdercoat for a single piece is expensive - it's a production process that's only economically feasible in large lots. Small Bear sells several colors of pre-powdercoated boxes.
Pedal Part Plus has a selection of fancier colors at higher cost. http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/
Re: diy pedals
Yeah I've seen the pedal parts plus stuff, I figured it would be alot to powder coat just one piece. Bummer, I guess I can just paint
Yeah I've seen the pedal parts plus stuff, I figured it would be alot to powder coat just one piece. Bummer, I guess I can just paint
Rich_S
HomeGrownToneBrewologist
Re: diy pedals
Painting's not hard and can look pretty good. Just use good surface prep and prime the metal (I use Duplicolor or Rustoleum Self-Etching). THere are lots of cool colors out there - all the Duplicolor stuff for metalics, Rustoleum has hammertone in various colors available at Home Depot, plenty of choices.
It's the graphics that are a pain.
Painting's not hard and can look pretty good. Just use good surface prep and prime the metal (I use Duplicolor or Rustoleum Self-Etching). THere are lots of cool colors out there - all the Duplicolor stuff for metalics, Rustoleum has hammertone in various colors available at Home Depot, plenty of choices.
It's the graphics that are a pain.
