Wherein I catalog my attempts to build effects

[cnb]

...probably while burning my fingers many times.

My first projects: JohnH's JFET Buffer (source follower) as found here guitarnuts2.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=schem&action=display&thread=3150&page=1

and

Tim Escobedo's Tytewadd Fuzz
revolutiondeux.blogspot.com/2012/03/tim-escobedo-tytewadd-fuzz.html

The fuzz will be a bit off the beaten path. I am adding a gain control, which was suggested in the documentation, but I'm also using Schottkies as the clipping diodes and a 2n2926 as the transistor. No real mods, but component swaps.

I have tried building effects before, but usually they were too ambitious and I was too impatient. These circuits seem simple enough to be fairly easily done without major catastrophe. Any suggestions for the remedial pedalmaker?

Here's my shopping list. Let me know if you see anything obviously missing, I'll go over it again tomorrow and then place my order.



I'm considering using Radio Shack boards like these www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102845
instead of the pad per hole board up there, it seems like it would make things convenient, if a bit more expensive

[ashcatlt]

Buy at least five times as many of everything! If you get them from a real retailer, they cost almost nothing to begin with, but you could do well to pay to ship a pile of stuff at once rather than make several small orders. When these succeed you will want to make more.

Most importantly, if you buy exactly one of each component that you need, one of them is nearly guaranteed to fail. Especially if this is your first run at this, you may end up soldering, unsoldering, resoldering, and burn or wear something out. It really sucks to be short just one resistor!

[cnb]

That makes a lot of sense, I will get spares. I should also get a tackle box or something to store things in

[long813]

Any update with your plan of attack and pedal list for this?
Are you going to buy enough parts for say 4-5 pedals?

[ijustwannastrat]

While we're talking about purchasing parts online....

Does anybody else get confused when there are 300 options for a .15mf cap? I see all the options and large words I can't understand, and I tend to just go play guitar instead of buying the parts I need...

[sumgai]

wanner,

Just ask here, and you'll get all the guidance you could ever want. ;D

Seriously, a link to one or more pages of "multiple choices" would be necessary to get you over these kinds of hurdles, but along the way, I'm sure you'll get deeper explanations about the abbreviations and their meanings.... that'll constitute a short-and-sweet education right there, make no mistake.

---

To all and sundry,

Now that I've thought about it for a few moments..... The preferable way to go about this runs like so: when building something, start a new topic/thread about it, and ask questions about parts therein, just as cnb has done here. Ditto if you log in to ask some generic questions about parts - start a new thread.

Now, if you are reading someone's topic and it reminds you of a similar question, then go ahead and post it right there, a new thread isn't mandatory in that case. But please, try to not hijack a thread, that's so last century.

If we start getting more and more of these things, newey and/or I will start a separate sub-Forum, so we corrall all this good stuff, and make it easy to find for future Nutz. ;D

HTH




sumgai

[cnb]

Hey everybody! I've been a bit sidetracked lately with school. I have 2 finals tomorrow and them I'm free for almost a month, so I'll be ordering my parts today. I'm definitely building the Tytewadd fuzz, but I can't decide what else to build yet. I'll buy enough parts to make several fuzzes though.

[sumgai]

cnb,

As ashcatlt said, buy some spares, but that doesn't necessarily run to 5 or 10 of each item. (Unless that's by far a better deal, cost-wise, or unless that's the only way your source will sell 'em to you.) What I'm sayin' is, don't buy enough to make a production run until you see how things turn out. Sometimes you get everything just right on the first try, sometimes you need to modify, modify, and modify some more - and most/all of your initial parts order are no longer being used. Not a real bad thing, but it does grate a bit on the wallet, particularly for a student.

My suggestion would be to modify ash's suggestion - buy 2 or 3 of each, but also buy some of the surrounding values of those items. If you have a 100KΩ resistor, buy some 68KΩ, 82KΩ, 120KΩ and 150KΩ resistors as well, just in case. Ditto for caps, go over and under the stated value by one or two values (each way). That way you can experiment at will, in search of That Tone^®.

But it's a bit more expensive to do this kind of thing with potentiometers, so you might wanna hold back on that one - just a single spare is usually good enough for first efforts.

HTH




sumgai