Post-Lockdown pedal building

stickyfiddle

UPDATE - changed title to reflect that (hopefully) we’re all free forever now!!

Original post:

So with not much else to do, I'm in the process of a couple of new pedalboards, but before that I'm building up some fuzz dog kits I've had for a while. 

I started 2 weekends ago with a Stratoblaster, this time in red with a proper knob 



Then today started with prepping and spraying a couple of enclosures (contents to follow maybe next weekend)



And finally a complete build. Vertex Steel String clone, which itself is a Dumble-ish thing. Mine is a bit more homemade, so I've called it the Womble.

Super easy build - first the bill of materials, including Opto bypass. I'm a little disappointed that this doesn't use a soft switch, but it's apparently a fair bit more reliable than 








Testing time. Worked first time. This is where the switch PCB makes it really easy as that's the easiest place to bugger up a build.



And with knobs & labels fitted. I also used a nicer LED bezel and bigger LED than fuzz dog supply. I don't quite understand why they provide really little LEDs with no surrounds, as it's really the one thing that they could easily improve. No paint on this one, just a slightly "brushed metal" vibe with a bit of sandpaper & wire wool. Not least because my can of silver chrome spray is buggered and I can't go buy another at the moment. I'll cope

Anyway, pedal sounds good. I won't use it much but it does that hi-fi Mayer/SRV thing nicely.

Winny_Pooh

Nice, do you use it as a dirty boost? The optopuss is great.

soma1975

FYI the Vertex Steel String is a clone of the Jack Orman Mu amp boost, aka the Bad Bob boost. I think it's two of them. 

Wazmeister

Great photos and results mate - love the Fendrt knob on the red one.

JMP220478

I think the Womble should rechristened the Uncle Bulgaria .. :-) 

The dymo labels and knob selection definitely   nailing the  Dumbloid look ... I likey 

https://www.haarguitars.com/haar-guitars/uploads/2017/03/Shin-Dumb.BSp_.JR_.SilHam-8637.jpg ;

 sound clips please ... 

phil_b

phil_b

phil_b

stickyfiddle

@phil_b ;

phil_b

@stickyfiddle ; many thanks 

I was struck by how similar my pedal I built last weekend looks to yours. However mine does not work 

Also when I painted it I used spray enamel and for some reason it would not stick in some areas and I ws left with a bubbled up finish 

Do you have any tips for painting 

stickyfiddle

@JMP220478  Yeah, I've seen those a few times but never tried one. This is a similar theme for about 15% of the money..!

Will try and do some clips when I'm done with work. I also need to see how it stacks with Klons and Tubescreamers. I'm assuming it should be good for that

stickyfiddle

phil_b said:

@stickyfiddle ; many thanks 

I was struck by how similar my pedal I built last weekend looks to yours. However mine does not work 

Also when I painted it I used spray enamel and for some reason it would not stick in some areas and I ws left with a bubbled up finish 

Do you have any tips for painting 

Ha, yeah it's very similar. I've had this in mind for years but already have another of the same circuit in a plain box so never got around to it. I really want to get a bit of scratchplate the appropriate shape to sit under the knob but definitely don't have the right tools to make that happen at the moment! 

I'm not the best person to ask re finishing tbh! But what I can say it I prep by sanding to get a fairly uniform surface to the bare metal, then wipe down to make sure it's super-clean, then spray several *very* light coats over the course of a day. I think these each had about 6 coats over ~6 hours

I'm using Ace hardware enamel (red) and a Krylon "Outdoor" (gold). Neither are perfect, and ideally I'd add a clear coat as well but both have worked reasonably well on other builds in the past. I also gave the red one a light mist of the gold to give it a bit of sparkle, which seems to have set nicely this morning and hasn't buggered it up!

The red Stratoblaster one was a powder coated enclosure direct from Fuzzdog which is quite a bit better tbh and should hold up much better to bumps and knocks over time, but I don't have any real workspace, so can't be too fussy for DIY. 

jonnygreentrees

phil_b said:

@stickyfiddle ; many thanks 

I was struck by how similar my pedal I built last weekend looks to yours. However mine does not work 

Also when I painted it I used spray enamel and for some reason it would not stick in some areas and I ws left with a bubbled up finish 

Do you have any tips for painting 

I use Halfords automotive paints - they always work great

Either that or Hammerite spray paint which takes weeks to dry but is super tough

RickLucas

I have used etching primer and car sprays followed by clearcoat with good results, but they chip easily so now I don't bother. Powder  coated enclosures are much more hard wearing. Or I just leave it raw and unfinished.

stickyfiddle

Argh. Dropped the red enclosure this morning. Chipped 3 out of 4 corners on the top face....   

So back to square one. Might try a Hammerite if I can get some. This will be a Rat-ish thing, so would suit a rustic feel, maybe??!

stickyfiddle

Minor update. I've manually touched up the corners of the red enclosure. That's getting a light sanding and another fine mist of gold tomorrow and I'll see how it looks. If no good I've now got some hammered copper rustoleum on the way, which should work easily, and I can use for other builds if not. 

Either way I'll be building a Lightspeed clone into the gold box this weekend, and I also have a Zeppelin Labs Quaverato term on order from Reverb as well, which might reach me by the following weekend if I'm lucky  

stickyfiddle

I've done another today. Fuzzdog's Greer Lightspeed clone. It's very nice - basically a TS with a little less mid-hump.

Pretty much everything I need. I actually didn't need the solder sucker for this one (woo!) but did use everything else at some point.


Bill of materials layout. All good. I tend to rely on the multimeter for resistor checks. It's far quicker than referring to colour charts, and I don't build enough to remember codes from memory.


Worked first time, which is always nice



Internals post-check. Again the daughter board for the switch is very neat, though you have to be careful to keep the ribbon cable out of the way of the jacks. 


And with knobs in installed. I had to steal one from an old Big Muff build but I don't use that very often so don't mind it having a slightly less posh tone knob. Though I have now realised I've not got any nice knobs left to put on the DRV1981 build  so that's going have to have simple Boss-style ones one it gets to that point. I'm in no hurry to ship that sort of thing halfway around the world in the current circumstances. 

Just needs some labels now

TTony

Nice neat work Mr Fiddle.


I'm going to have to visit PedalParts again soon for some more soldering practice kits.

Keefy

I took delivery of a Fuzz Dog Big Muff Pi kit yesterday and started it today - done the diodes and resistors so far. I went for the ram's head violet variant for a Gilmour vibe. Hoping to squeeze a battery into the 1590B box, despite this apparently not being possible. I'm a bit short of suitable knobs though, and lockdown isn't making it any easier to source 'affordable' spray paint.

darcym

really nice job.

Keefy

stickyfiddle said:

I've done another today. Fuzzdog's Greer Lightspeed clone. It's very nice - basically a TS with a little less mid-hump.

Pretty much everything I need. I actually didn't need the solder sucker for this one (woo!) but did use everything else at some point.


Bill of materials layout. All good. I tend to rely on the multimeter for resistor checks. It's far quicker than referring to colour charts, and I don't build enough to remember codes from memory.


Worked first time, which is always nice



Internals post-check. Again the daughter board for the switch is very neat, though you have to be careful to keep the ribbon cable out of the way of the jacks. 


And with knobs in installed. I had to steal one from an old Big Muff build but I don't use that very often so don't mind it having a slightly less posh tone knob. Though I have now realised I've not got any nice knobs left to put on the DRV1981 build  so that's going have to have simple Boss-style ones one it gets to that point. I'm in no hurry to ship that sort of thing halfway around the world in the current circumstances. 

Just needs some labels now

Nice finishing @stickyfiddle ! Fuzzdog kits do lend themselves to a neat build, but it takes that extra bit of commitment to go the whole hog with the externals.