Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

Agileguy_101

Agileguy_101

Master of his Domain
So I visited my friend, a local pedal guru who shall remain nameless, last week for a hangout-and-get-drunk session. We had a great time, we played each other's gear, and talked about all kinds of stuff. But one thing he said was really interesting. Apparently nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore - that means resistors, capacitors, transistors - all of the stuff you need to make pedals. He said it's all gone SMT these days. He told me that he has been collecting parts for the last 10 years so that he has enough to last him a lifetime of pedal building, and has even split it up between other facilities so that if his home is robbed or burns down, he can still build pedals.Anybody know if it's true?
 
Re: Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

I doubt it, just harder to get since radio shack closed down - but I wouldn't be surprised
 
Re: Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

Well....it is ancient tech.
As in fossils in a modern world, besides modern components are made to be used with leadless solder and so on!

If one wants to keep up, it is time for new tools and getting used to utilise a magnifying glass;)

My old workplace is already using more and more SMD parts.....
Stuff like that has been used in ages in computers and alike.
 
Re: Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

I take that you mean 'US made', right? Cause the made in China stuff is still being made for sure... So if you want constant high quality that may be true, yet some of the Chinese may get their act together and raise the quality someday.
 
Re: Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

MrTondo said:
yet some of the Chinese may get their act together and raise the quality someday.
Click to expand...

Only if there is money in doing so at this point there would be no money in it.
 
Re: Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

Some aren't being manufactures anymore, such as certain jfet transistors foe example (j201 is a very popular one in tube emulation circuits) but as far as all through-hole components being discontinued that would be the first I hear of it.

Smd transistors are easily converted with timy boards and pin headers (that's what I do with j201 now and use less of my through-hole j201 stock) but I have a feeling that converting smd resistors and caps would be tedious work while solderin them manually would be excruciating for most people (such as myself).
 
Re: Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

Allied Electric has tons of this stuff
Literally
Manufacturing does use them

But my EE and I use them daily

For project builds and proof of concepts

*(Sent from my durned phone!)*
 
Re: Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

That's just the kind of rumor I'd start if I built pedals and wanted them to stay or go up in value.
 
Re: Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

I don't believe it. I would call DigiKey or Mouser to verify that your friend is FOS.
 
Re: Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

Not true. Through hole components are sold all over the place. Thru-hole stuff is commonly preferred for prototyping electronics, there would me a minor scale uprising from engineers if the supply of this stuff was cut off.
 
Re: Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

No idea what he's talking about. Sure there's some oddball diodes, metal can ICs and things like that that are long since out of production and perhaps some other "mojo" parts but as far as typical stuff used in pedal building it's very plentiful. You can even buy high end high precision (lower than 1% tolerance) audio grade (low noise, flat response) USA made through hole resistors if you want. I just used a bunch on some pedal builds and mods for the heck of it, not sure that they made a huge difference other than costing a WHOLE lot more, but they're pretty and red LOL.
 
Re: Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

And nothing using high voltage can use SMD.
But still the whole low voltage parts thing will become surface mounted sooner than many will expect.

Lots of stuff is being converted into SMD.
Personally I still get the normal old stuff, and use that!
 
Re: Is this true - nobody's manufacturing thru hole components anymore?

It is true but it's not like it's just gonna disappear over night.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top