I recently built madbean's Total Recall, and then Lectric FX's Flintlock flanger. Both were pretty complicated builds...high part counts, lots of ICs and an involved calibration process. I loved building these. There's a lot of satisfaction when they're done, and the pedals themselves sound as good as anything I've bought.
I am interested what other big, complicated pedal projects are out there. What are some other challenging/satisfying pedal builds that people would recommend?
Lovetone Ring Stinger (or String Ringer, for the DIY version.) The Flange With No Name is pretty gonzo, too.
The EMS Synthi Hi-Fli that Digi2t and co are doing is probably the biggest, though. That, and that other guitar synth one, I forget the name.
Edit -- the Ludwig Phase 2!
Klein Bottle was tough.
THe Aion Dimension C was fun
DEFX Ludwig Phase II > Aion Dimension C > VFE Pedals
Quote from: alanp on July 24, 2019, 10:49:22 AM
Lovetone Ring Stinger (or String Ringer, for the DIY version.) The Flange With No Name is pretty gonzo, too.
The EMS Synthi Hi-Fli that Digi2t and co are doing is probably the biggest, though. That, and that other guitar synth one, I forget the name.
Edit -- the Ludwig Phase 2!
Dino may chirp in on this but I think our BiPhase build was harder than the Synthi. There's a while bunch of calibration that needs doing that isn't required for the Hifli. I guess the hardest part of the hifli is finding all the parts. The Ludwig is a bitch as well.
I think Lectric FX's Dandy Horse was a pretty challenging/satisfying build. DEFX Flange-a-rama and Aion Dimension C are also good for the stackable board thing.
That said, I think the most challenging build will be the one that has a problem you have to figure out. For me, that was the Lectric FX's Flintlock flanger. One bad joint on a resistor was many many weeks of debug and questions on the forum. Fixing the problem and firing it up was the definite high point of my build satisfaction.
Nameless (Lovetone Flange with No Name) was definitely a difficult build. Aion's Dimension C build and L5 builds are both pretty large. I'm currently (slowly) working my way through DeadEndFX's Mutron BiPhase build, which appears to have some serious configuration with it.
Thanks, lots to check out here. DeadendFX looks like a gold mine for this sort of thing...their Lovetone Flanger piques my interest especially. The Silver Rose looks awesome too, surprisingly big for a dual fuzz.
Or start dabbing into synth builds....
Quote from: peAk on July 26, 2019, 08:14:16 PM
Or start dabbing into synth builds....
If you are into modular then I'd recommend Pusherman
https://pushermanproductions.com/
Does vero count? There is this phase 90 with mods layout that I haven't been able to build successfully. Sucks looking for 4 matched jfets bought like almost 50 of them but found none that matched or even close, I must be that unlucky. Failed building it twice and now the third time it's still not working. Same problem, low output and no phase effect. Since I started building pedals like 4-5 months ago this is by far the most difficult. Oh well, back to tracing the problem. This should develop my circuit troubleshooting skills. lol ;D
For me, it was making a clone of the BA662 chip for a Boss CS-2 Compressor.
I wanted to save 10$ on buying the thing pre-made. I regretted that decision. Densely packed fine pitched SMD with poorly marked parts and me with only a simple hand lens.
SOT416 is an utter bastard to hand solder.
To join the choir here, so far the Aion L5 preamp was by far the most difficult build I've attempted to date, although the Dimension C was also fairly challenging, although not horrible if you're using a slightly bigger box. Lots of Dead End FX stuff fits the bill as well, I'm slowly putting together their Enigma flanger (Lovetone Flange With No Name) and I'm kinda dreading boxing it all up due to all the off-board wiring.
Any time I try to put a circuit into an enclosure, it becomes the most challenging build to date.
Quote from: Invertiguy on July 31, 2019, 01:19:52 AM
To join the choir here, so far the Aion L5 preamp was by far the most difficult build I've attempted to date, although the Dimension C was also fairly challenging, although not horrible if you're using a slightly bigger box. Lots of Dead End FX stuff fits the bill as well, I'm slowly putting together their Enigma flanger (Lovetone Flange With No Name) and I'm kinda dreading boxing it all up due to all the off-board wiring.
Just as a heads up. A lot of the wiring going to the jacks on that build are actually grounds to the sleeves (not ALL but... quite a few) and you can save some time and wire by buss barring the grounds appropriately. That is what I did and I believe it saves about 6-8 wires.