Homebrew pedals; less costly, sound great!

[Old BF Shred]

I am posting a pic of 2 pedals I've built. I am pleased how they turned out. And I think they look good, too, if I do say so myself (and I think I just did :lol: )

The first is a distortion pedal from General Guitar Gadgets. I call it the "Fuzz Foot" (kinda like Fuzz Face....)...based on the ever famous "brown sound in a box" circuit.

The second is a BYOC "5 knob compressor". I call it the "Sasquash", as it "squashes" the signal (Think we have a theme going here....see avatar..... :roll: )

Both work great, but I'm especially impressed with the compressor.
The BYOC is a more complete kit with detailed instructions; the General Guitar gadgets is more a bag of parts with schematic & layout diagram....brief directions.....requires a little more experience, IMO.

Neither was very difficult, if you have good basic soldering and electrical skills. Each took about 5 days, start to finish, as you see them, including paint drying time.

The big benefit is that both came with higher quality parts than most of the "mainstream" pedals out there, as the savings is in the labor. I think most folks would be surprised how good they sound (all my musician friends are).

Take care!

 

[iFreedom]

Very nice BF. I like the paint job. I just started my 5 knob last night, many more parts than I was expecting. I should be able to finish tonight as I just have to wire in the jack's and ac adaptor.

With so many parts, I hope it all works because trouble shooting could be a nightmare. I did multimeter all of the components so they shoud be in the right spot. Here's to hoping!

You were right about tiny holes-holy crap!

Hopefully I can post a success story as I plan to be "squashin" signal tonight!

I noticed that the pots don't sit flush on the inside as one side (of the pot) has kind of like a tab stand off. I guess they sit straight thru the hole once you stick the stad-offs onto the back of them to mount the board?

 

[Old BF Shred]

BYOC has some notes about this on their site...you have to use a diag. cutter to remove those tabs. I don't recall if this is mentioned/included in the primary set of instructions.
The organization of info on their site could be better. Look on EVERY page...you will come across some "updates" about this and other useful things.

Both my pedals worked right off, first time. Not braggin' here but if you take your time and be careful, you should get the same result.

Good luck

 

[Machine Gun]

Very cool BF! I wouldn't mind trying one of those 5 knob comps. I've been eyeing those BYOC kits for a while now. Is it totally necessary to have a multimeter, or can you get by without it?

 

[kiff]

"Sasquash" pure awesome

how would you rate/compare it to other popular comps? have you used many others prior?

 

[Old BF Shred]

Is it totally necessary to have a multimeter, or can you get by without it?

I would get one either way.....they start fairly cheap. Harbor Freight has them for under $5! And I know they are in Wis. now. Walmart and Target will likely have something, too....and then there's good 'ol Radio Schack....
If you need to troubleshoot, you will need it and it's great for many uses around the house. The cheap ones actually work fine for most things, too.

If you are really careful, the kits will usually work right off the start, but you just never know.....

Good luck!

 

[iFreedom]

BYOC has some notes about this on their site...you have to use a diag. cutter to remove those tabs. I don't recall if this is mentioned/included in the primary set of instructions.
The organization of info on their site could be better. Look on EVERY page...you will come across some "updates" about this and other useful things.

Both my pedals worked right off, first time. Not braggin' here but if you take your time and be careful, you should get the same result.

Good luck

Thanks! I found the updated instructions, my package pointed me to the original pdf. They show a pair of pliers to break it off, but I might just drummel it off. Either way.

Very cool BF! I wouldn't mind trying one of those 5 knob comps. I've been eyeing those BYOC kits for a while now. Is it totally necessary to have a multimeter, or can you get by without it?

For the 5knob there is 2 very similar resistors (4.7k and 470k - i think) and I just about solder the wrong one in, my eye barely caught the subtle difference between a green stripe and yellow stripe-they're so small.

I used the MM to check it and yip, I saved my self a world of hurt no doubt about it. I agree with BF, mm's are cheap and very useful for other things as well. I also had a cap that didn't have a label, so I check that too.

 

[Old BF Shred]

how would you rate/compare it to other popular comps? have you used many others prior?

This is the only one I've owned. However, friends own, or have owned: Boss cs3 (which I almost bought from him, but glad I didn't), Marshall 'Ed'(?), MXR, and the fancy, "not-cheap", Maxon 'real tube' comp.

I've heard them all, but not "side by side", but concensus says Maxon & Marshall were the best of these.

My friends say the '5 knob' sounds as transparent as any, though the guy with the Maxon isn't saying too much (maybe 'cuz he spent 2.5x as much? :roll: ).

So it's hard for me to say exactly, but I did not want to add any coloration or distortion, just sustain, and a maybe little "oomph" and it does this very well.
The 5 knob has the blend (mix) control which allows you to add the dry signal in which really helps keep it transparent. Also, they give you 2 different chips, one that will add some distortion when cranked and the other, that stays pretty clean throughout...I use the cleaner one.

BYOC also has a forum (see their site). Many comments on it there.

Good luck!

 

[Old BF Shred]

my eye barely caught the subtle difference between a green stripe and yellow stripe-they're so small.

A cheap ($9) pair of Walmart reading glasses help immensely with this situation.

 

[iFreedom]

Success! I got my BYOCS 5 knob to work-first try!-what a relief. And equally amazing was the fact that I didn't need more wire than what they gave me. I had 2" left over. I kind of thought they could have given a little more wire though. I guess, this way you're forced to keep the lengths short.

I didn't get to play with it much, but I can see it's definetly a keeper. Very addicting.

I'm using the 9 pin ic as per BF's suggestions haven't tried the other one or the other transitors either.

It's a cool pedal, I will say though it's not 100% transparent but I've never tried any other compressor so I dont' know how it stacks up in transparency, but it's still awsome.

I would post a pic, but it's not painted or anything-maybe if I paint it or jazz it up, i'll post a pic or two.

 

[Don]

I've built a few BYOC Pedals- I have their old delay on my board and their recent ESV Tone Bender clone is great! I built their TS-808 clone when it first came out and sold my original TS-9, the clone was so good.

I've also built a Rat clone with a Tonepad board, an AMZ Mini-Booster with their board, a Radio Shack fuzz (all the parts, except for the switch and box came from Radio Shack. It actually sounds very good). I also built a buffer for my wah and built and modded the heck out of a few other pedals.

All but one turned out really great and worked the first try.

It's a lot of fun and a hobby unto itself. It can lead to modding pedals and even repairing and modding amplifiers.

 

[Old BF Shred]

Success! I got my BYOCS 5 knob to work-first try!-what a relief. And equally amazing was the fact that I didn't need more wire than what they gave me. I had 2" left over. I kind of thought they could have given a little more wire though. I guess, this way you're forced to keep the lengths short.

I didn't get to play with it much, but I can see it's definetly a keeper. Very addicting.

I'm using the 9 pin ic as per BF's suggestions haven't tried the other one or the other transitors either.

It's a cool pedal, I will say though it's not 100% transparent but I've never tried any other compressor so I dont' know how it stacks up in transparency, but it's still awsome.

I would post a pic, but it's not painted or anything-maybe if I paint it or jazz it up, i'll post a pic or two.

Allright!!!! ...way to go!

Yea I don't think any comp is truly "100% transparent", because they obviously do change your sound or why bother? But I do like the BYOC and as I said before, I use it all the time.

If you want to make it look fancy, you can get lettering decals at an art supply store and paint is just Krylon or Rustoleum. To make it shiny, use clear enamel over all of it after applying the graphics.

Good luck if you try it!