Show Your Pedal Builds

[SillyOctpuss]

Working on a dual pedal — Fuzzhugger Doom Bloom + Algal Bloom. I 3D printed a 1590XX mockup before drilling into an enclosure and I’m glad I did that. I wasn’t exactly sure how I wanted everything positioned, but this isn’t quite there yet. V2 is printing now.

View attachment 54966

3d printing is a great idea for that. I'd love a 3d printer.

 

[eggpl@nt]

3d printing is a great idea for that. I'd love a 3d printer.

Yeah, I’ve printed drilling jigs but this was the first “enclosure” I’ve printed. I’d consider this a great success. The inside isn’t very pretty because I underestimated how much wire length I would want in some places (and because some connections are only temporary, see the LEDs), but it’s functional and sounds great. I get some noise when running both fuzzes, but that’s probably somewhat to be expected. Remains to be seen if putting the boards in a metal enclosure helps.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Yeah, I’ve printed drilling jigs but this was the first “enclosure” I’ve printed. I’d consider this a great success. The inside isn’t very pretty because I underestimated how much wire length I would want in some places (and because some connections are only temporary, see the LEDs), but it’s functional and sounds great. I get some noise when running both fuzzes, but that’s probably somewhat to be expected. Remains to be seen if putting the boards in a metal enclosure helps.

View attachment 55034

Ooh I didn't realise you were printing the whole enclosure. Wicked.
Shielded cable could help with the noise, especially of it's not going in a metal enclosure.

 

[eggpl@nt]

Ooh I didn't realise you were printing the whole enclosure. Wicked.
Shielded cable could help with the noise, especially of it's not going in a metal enclosure.

Oh, it’s 100% going into a metal enclosure. I just don’t know when I’ll have a chance to do that between work, baby, and the fact that daylight it in limited supply right now.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Oh, it’s 100% going into a metal enclosure. I just don’t know when I’ll have a chance to do that between work, baby, and the fact that daylight it in limited supply right now.

Very cool to be able to 3d print things like this though. I've got some challenging builds coming up and being able to confirm your tolerances like that would be great.

 

[eggpl@nt]

Very cool to be able to 3d print things like this though. I've got some challenging builds coming up and being able to confirm your tolerances like that would be great.

Indeed. And this is just a test run for when I get around to stuffing three PCBs into those 1590DD enclosures I bought recently

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Indeed. And this is just a test run for when I get around to stuffing three PCBs into those 1590DD enclosures I bought recently

Looking forward to seeing those

 

[JasonE]

I am redoing my pedal board and have been buying some new pedals for it. I needed a tap tempo switch for two of the new pedals. I decided to just build them since they are easy to make and the cost of buying one is more than I think they should be. I just ordered some cool paint for them. I am going to see how nice I can make them look. I may post some pictures once I have them done.

Now that I have my soldering stuff all set back up again, I should pull out the other pedals that I have in the build process to see if I can finish any of them up. I would like to get them done.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I am redoing my pedal board and have been buying some new pedals for it. I needed a tap tempo switch for two of the new pedals. I decided to just build them since they are easy to make and the cost of buying one is more than I think they should be. I just ordered some cool paint for them. I am going to see how nice I can make them look. I may post some pictures once I have them done.

Now that I have my soldering stuff all set back up again, I should pull out the other pedals that I have in the build process to see if I can finish any of them up. I would like to get them done.

Post updates when you do them please.

 

[JasonE]

Post updates when you do them please.

I started painting them today. I have a few coats of the base black on them and a few coats of the color shift. I am going to let them dry overnight in the house and will spray a couple of coats of clear on them tomorrow. They really came to life when I sprayed the first coat of the color shift on the black base. They came a little more to life with each color shift coat after that. This is going to work out exactly like I was hoping. My Keeley Halo is the Guitar Center version. I think they called that finish Cosmos. These are going to look very close to that finish when done. I will snap a picture of them with the Halo when I get them done.

I am contemplating doing something else to them. My wife couldn't really figure out what she wanted for Christmas. I had an idea of something I had been thinking about and ran that past her. She loved it so I spent some money, a fair amount actually. I bought a laser engraver / cutter. I may put the enclosures in that and engrave something on them after they are painted. I think I need some time with it before I will be ready to do that but that is one of the ideas I wanted it for. The other is to make custom pickguards. I will be able to engrave things into them and with a 3 ply material the engraving will be a different color because it will go into the second ply which is a different color. I have some interesting customizations ahead.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I started painting them today. I have a few coats of the base black on them and a few coats of the color shift. I am going to let them dry overnight in the house and will spray a couple of coats of clear on them tomorrow. They really came to life when I sprayed the first coat of the color shift on the black base. They came a little more to life with each color shift coat after that. This is going to work out exactly like I was hoping. My Keeley Halo is the Guitar Center version. I think they called that finish Cosmos. These are going to look very close to that finish when done. I will snap a picture of them with the Halo when I get them done.

I am contemplating doing something else to them. My wife couldn't really figure out what she wanted for Christmas. I had an idea of something I had been thinking about and ran that past her. She loved it so I spent some money, a fair amount actually. I bought a laser engraver / cutter. I may put the enclosures in that and engrave something on them after they are painted. I think I need some time with it before I will be ready to do that but that is one of the ideas I wanted it for. The other is to make custom pickguards. I will be able to engrave things into them and with a 3 ply material the engraving will be a different color because it will go into the second ply which is a different color. I have some interesting customizations ahead.

Looking forward to seeing your pics. I'd love a laser cutter for my pedal graphics.

 

[JasonE]

I put 4 coats of clear on the enclosures today. I am going to call them done. They look pretty good. This finish is near impossible to photograph. My cell phone camera keeps minimizing the shine and it mutes or takes away the color glow that the finish gives off. Here are some pictures on my soldering station under different hues of light. I put the Halo next to it. You can see the finish is similar but a little different. I think the color of the flakes is a little different in the two. I will possibly put them back together tomorrow. The finish is still gassing off a good bit. I think they may be hardened up by tomorrow around mid day. There are 10 coats on them, 3 black, 3 color shift and 4 clear.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I put 4 coats of clear on the enclosures today. I am going to call them done. They look pretty good. This finish is near impossible to photograph. My cell phone camera keeps minimizing the shine and it mutes or takes away the color glow that the finish gives off. Here are some pictures on my soldering station under different hues of light. I put the Halo next to it. You can see the finish is similar but a little different. I think the color of the flakes is a little different in the two. I will possibly put them back together tomorrow. The finish is still gassing off a good bit. I think they may be hardened up by tomorrow around mid day. There are 10 coats on them, 3 black, 3 color shift and 4 clear.

Nice. I love finishes like that but I'm way too lazy to do any painting. I also just buy powder coated enclosures. My early pedals which were painted are all chipped to hell now.

 

[JasonE]

Nice. I love finishes like that but I'm way too lazy to do any painting. I also just buy powder coated enclosures. My early pedals which were painted are all chipped to hell now.

I have been looking at powder coating solutions for home use. I may invest in one of those. I dropped some big money on a laser engraver for my wife and I. I could powder coat the enclosures then laser engrave them. I would need to actually make more than one pedal ever few years to make that worth doing. :)

The finish came out pretty good on both of them. It is an impossible finish to photograph. My cell phone camera keeps suppressing the color glow that it has as well as the shine. That has been annoying. They look so much better in person.

As a side note, I got some disappointment yesterday. I discovered that I can't do the pickguard material in the laser. What I didn't know is that pickguard material is PVC. That stuff creates a toxic gas when cut with a laser. So, if I want to continue living I really should not cut it in the new laser unit. I thought I would be able to do it because I saw a video of someone doing it. I wonder if they knew the hazards of doing this.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I have been looking at powder coating solutions for home use. I may invest in one of those. I dropped some big money on a laser engraver for my wife and I. I could powder coat the enclosures then laser engrave them. I would need to actually make more than one pedal ever few years to make that worth doing. :)

The finish came out pretty good on both of them. It is an impossible finish to photograph. My cell phone camera keeps suppressing the color glow that it has as well as the shine. That has been annoying. They look so much better in person.

As a side note, I got some disappointment yesterday. I discovered that I can't do the pickguard material in the laser. What I didn't know is that pickguard material is PVC. That stuff creates a toxic gas when cut with a laser. So, if I want to continue living I really should not cut it in the new laser unit. I thought I would be able to do it because I saw a video of someone doing it. I wonder if they knew the hazards of doing this.

I'd love to have a go at home powder coating but don't have the room for that kind of thing.

I had no idea pvc gave off gas like that when cut with a laser either. Good job you found out before trying it.

 

[JasonE]

I'd love to have a go at home powder coating but don't have the room for that kind of thing.

I had no idea pvc gave off gas like that when cut with a laser either. Good job you found out before trying it.

You can do small pieces with powder coating without needing too much space. Amazon has some small solutions for it. You just need an old toaster oven to heat the pieces up in once the powder is on them. That is what I have been thinking about doing.

I think I am insane at this point. I ended up going all in on this laser engraving thing. I actually bought a second type of laser and a big air filter unit on Christmas day. I was discussing with my wife how we could try to turn it into a side hustle. I have a lot of money to recover now but everything I bought went back up in price the day after I ordered it. I saved a ton of money buying it when I did, even though I spent four tons on it. The other laser I bought will cut metal and can actually make colored markings on certain metals like stainless. It is a freaking beast.

 

[Shask]

I love building pedals!! I have built a ton of them. Probably 100+. I dont get too fancy with the looks. I haven't built any recently just because I ran out of things to build.

Here is about half of what I have built. I ran out of room on my shelves.

 

[eggpl@nt]

I love building pedals!! I have built a ton of them. Probably 100+. I dont get too fancy with the looks. I haven't built any recently just because I ran out of things to build.

Here is about half of what I have built. I ran out of room on my shelves.

View attachment 57134

What are the shelves? IKEA Mosslanda?

Edit: Also, thoughts on the Aion Fractal? I’ve been looking at that one.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

You can do small pieces with powder coating without needing too much space. Amazon has some small solutions for it. You just need an old toaster oven to heat the pieces up in once the powder is on them. That is what I have been thinking about doing.

I think I am insane at this point. I ended up going all in on this laser engraving thing. I actually bought a second type of laser and a big air filter unit on Christmas day. I was discussing with my wife how we could try to turn it into a side hustle. I have a lot of money to recover now but everything I bought went back up in price the day after I ordered it. I saved a ton of money buying it when I did, even though I spent four tons on it. The other laser I bought will cut metal and can actually make colored markings on certain metals like stainless. It is a freaking beast.

A thread on your laser exploits would be cool.

 

[Shask]

What are the shelves? IKEA Mosslanda?

Edit: Also, thoughts on the Aion Fractal? I’ve been looking at that one.

I think that is what the shelves are. That sounds familiar.

The Fractal is the Pearl Overdrive clone. It is interesting. It is basically like a Tubescreamer that doesn't cut any bass. The Mid control can majorly boost or cut the mids. I generally use these types of pedals for boosting high gain, but it isn't as good at that since it doesn't cut bass. I like the VFE Ice Scream Clone and the Ibanez ST-9 clones better for the Tubescreamer with a Parametric Mid boost thing.

The last several I did that are not in this picture are FV-1 pedals and Analog BBD pedals. I did the Boss DM-2 Clone (Aion), the Memory Man clone, and Anamorph from Madbean. Stacked PCBs with BBD chips can get pretty crazy! I have also done several of the PPCB FV-1 pedals. I even did the stereo one, but haven't spent enough time trying to create stereo algorithms yet. These are tricky because of the SMT soldering, but not too bad.