Inspired by some of the topics and guys that emerge once a week hehe, and their apologetic comments about the guts being messy and all. All that made me remember my first, and why not share with you guys :)
So, this is the Emerald Beyond Fuzz, a Zvex Machine clone that I tweaked extensively on the breadboard before I finally boxed it. I wanted this pedal and had no money or ways of getting it so I tried to make one.
Of course, there was so many trial and error moments, frustration, countless hours holding the soldering iron and cursing.
Then the thing finally worked, hooray! So i started tweaking it, changing diodes, resistor values, introducing additional circuitry etc.
Somewhere I heard about the "square wave oscillator" LOL and I decided I will have that in my pedal. Hahah, that's right, I just decided that and went with it. The noob that I was. Still am hehe. So i practically INSERTED the SWO [based on the 555 timer chip] between the clipping diodes of the Machine. I was really pleased with the results. Here are some of the pictures, and down there, the clips of me playing it, I'll comment each clip.
small victories first :)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/253879_10150271897656337_7975748_n.jpg)
getting ambitious
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/249394_10150271897891337_3327387_n.jpg)
first soldering moments
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/250879_10150271897966337_5895776_n.jpg)
experimentation is loads of fun
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/247479_10150271898196337_4255894_n.jpg)
getting to the finish
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/253679_10150271898721337_3979960_n.jpg)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/253434_10150271898876337_7356559_n.jpg)
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/250014_10150271898811337_2434057_n.jpg)
SWO included
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/254954_10150271899116337_791844_n.jpg)
Guts hehehe
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/254429_10150271899191337_7455066_n.jpg)
And now the sounds. I put the SWO part on a switch so first a couple of clips without it and then engaged.
http://www.box.net/shared/k8n5fi5kar
http://www.box.net/shared/2nsany77et
http://www.box.net/shared/zj64x1q2r7
and now with the oscillator, depending on the frequency of oscillation you can get some crazy sounds
http://www.box.net/shared/bzmqunqrh3 [volume on the guitar is barely above zero, and then I crank it full]
http://www.box.net/shared/tzgbllr2sh [selected the frequency that's loosely equal to playing a 5th with the original note]
http://www.box.net/shared/3bu8nymc6x
http://www.box.net/shared/82fnr4mdad
http://www.box.net/shared/ep7zjbsrm9
Some of you might like this, hellz I still like it hhehe, haven't touched that pedal in a couple of years. Cheers
Thats awesome. Here is my first pedal I made. It was a Fairfield Barbershop and after I made it the damn thing kept shorting out so I stuck it in a bag.. lol
(http://music.codydeschenes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/20130310-232333.jpg)
hahah I still have my 2-in-1 build built that way, the Octavia and the Squeezer, and I use em on every rehearsal and even live heheh
*** Okay so I changed the topic name so others would feel welcome to post their messy first builds :D ***
I think the first thing I built that worked (not my first attempt) was this headphone amp.
My first attempts were are a Ross Comp and a TS808 from Tonepad, but I couldn't get them to work for a while, and switched to this while I was trying to cool off and waited for parts/enclosures to replace what I had first ordered (got the wrong type of DC jack and ruined the 1590Bs I drilled).
But this headphone amp was extremely useful for a time, and I used it for making my first testing rig eventually.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img191/8230/img0844s.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/191/img0844s.jpg/)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img17/4898/img0842oi.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/17/img0842oi.jpg/)
Jacob
First thing I ever built, my grandad helped me, he is one of those super clever people who has done/knows most things. We mis drilled the box, so instead of binning the box, the board got cut, patched, and crammed, the soldering is horrendous, the wiring is awful! Believe it or not it's the one pedal that's not moved off my board, and even gets moved on to other boards!
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/14/apyvupyz.jpg)
ABSOLUTLEY SHOCKING!! but it sounds better than the neat ones I've built!!
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/14/ate9y5y5.jpg)
I had some boards fabbed, as the original is not doubt going to go wrong one day!!!
So, to all the new comers churning out good builds, keep it up - it gets better quick!
EDIT - also, I'm interested to see how many people's first working builds were 1590A! I think even at the start I was punishing myself for something!?
George
First pedal I built that wasn't a BYOC kit (actually build no 3)...
So lets start with the front:
(http://juansolo.demon.co.uk/stompage/images/maltese-o.jpg)
Funky layout huh... They were supposed to be straight, but I misjudged the size of the pots and indeed, my aptitude with a drill at this point. The maltese cross is not there for decoration either, it's covering another hole...
Then there's the insides:
(http://juansolo.demon.co.uk/stompage/images/maltese-i.jpg)
I don't really think I need to say much here. My wiring has, errrm, improved...
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t282/Gutstwohand/tremguts.jpg) (http://s163.photobucket.com/user/Gutstwohand/media/tremguts.jpg.html)
No, the battery didn't actually FIT there. :-[
It almost feels like it hasn't been long enough for me to post something in this thread and reflect back this way, but it's actually about two years that I started out.
It's my first build alright, a Pepper Spray. Looking back, my wiring started out not too bad, but hasn't improved a ton in the interim. I used a little square of cardboard under the PCB to keep it from shorting. I didn't even know about board-mounted pots when I ordered the parts. The enclosure was a pre-drilled job from Mammoth that would have prevented me from using them anyway!
(http://imageshack.us/a/img513/6844/1004631.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/513/1004631.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img442/1210/1004633.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/442/1004633.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
I guess it all worked out okay and is still one of my favorites!
So glad to see this topic alive and others contributing, yay!
pretty sure this was my first ever- a madbean neutrino (eternity). to my great surprise it worked! aand then the addiction...
(http://imageshack.us/a/img297/9876/pict0075e.jpg)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img263/153/pict0076l.jpg)
I don't even have a gutshot from my first couple working and finished builds. This was my second:
(http://midwayfair.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/bactrian.jpg?w=600)
If you search for my post about that build, you can read up about my very clever method of isolating the metal jack.
I wrote a blog post about my first completely finished, working, and painted build ... which ironically was the fairly complex Tap Tempo Tremolo. I don't even have a picture of the BYOC Envelope Filter that was the first thing I soldered up and it worked. It ended up in the box a little later.
My first build, a confidence boost into an enclosure. A mod within itself considering it was just a board with no enclosure.(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/15/egehehad.jpg)(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/15/zege2y5a.jpg)
Crazy wiring but I think Juan has us all beat. He must've been going through wire like mad! Did you go back and salvage some if that wire for your next 10 builds? :-)
Quote from: jimilee on September 15, 2013, 02:36:19 AMCrazy wiring but I think Juan has us all beat. He must've been going through wire like mad! Did you go back and salvage some if that wire for your next 10 builds? :-)
That was my worst... I learned a lot from that one. As with a lot of my early stuff, it was recycled and probably made quite a few pedals after that, yup! ;)
Here's my first, i wasn't going to post it, cause i cheated a bit. Went back in after my second build and added one of Josh's 3pdt boards and it neatened it up ALOT!!! on the topside, the soldering underneath is still pretty ordinary. :P I tried 3 times to paint it without runs, gave up and clear coated the sanded enclosure. The main reason i've posted this, was to show the size of the pcb that i etched, thought that larger would make it easier to solder, a trap for young players. ;) Here she is, Violet Rams Head, sounded bloody great, instant addiction.
(http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/836/dsc00744dg.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/836/dsc00744dg.jpg/)
(http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/594/dsc00747yf.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/594/dsc00747yf.jpg/)
Oh man some of these are great. Love the mess of wires. Here is my first full build. This is my DSOTM mayo muff with switchable transistors.
(http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv299/pnordeen/20130915_111417_zps93230d9e.jpg)
Total shite from me. Going all the way back to 2004, no less! This was number 3, actually...don't have pics of the first two.
(http://www.madbeanpedals.com/builds/reports/mosfet/images/mosfet_originalWiring.jpg)
This is my 2nd build, from 2009, first non-kit. I built a Bazz Fuss as a birthday gift for my younger brother. Can't even see the board due the miles of wire. Sadly, it doesn't look that different from my current stuff. :-/
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2779/4132115939_0fe01be4ab_o.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2704/4132115905_2a2bf94f9e_o.jpg)
My very first build, just a few weeks old. Not worth being put in an enclosure, but it's still useful today — I use the circuit (chromesphere's 7 min fuzz) to test 3PDT/switch boards, and I use the 3PDT board as a basic test rig. Which is utterly impractical, but hey.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1042331/Pedals/fb.png)
Quote from: jimilee on September 15, 2013, 02:36:19 AM
My first build, a confidence boost into an enclosure. A mod within itself considering it was just a board with no enclosure.(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/15/egehehad.jpg)(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/15/zege2y5a.jpg)
Crazy wiring but I think Juan has us all beat. He must've been going through wire like mad! Did you go back and salvage some if that wire for your next 10 builds? :-)
Love those rusty pliers Jimi...I got some like those :P
Quote from: fendman on September 15, 2013, 07:57:35 PM
Quote from: jimilee on September 15, 2013, 02:36:19 AM
My first build, a confidence boost into an enclosure. A mod within itself considering it was just a board with no enclosure.(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/15/egehehad.jpg)(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/15/zege2y5a.jpg)
Crazy wiring but I think Juan has us all beat. He must've been going through wire like mad! Did you go back and salvage some if that wire for your next 10 builds? :-)
Love those rusty pliers Jimi...I got some like those :P
still use them too
Quote from: juansolo on September 15, 2013, 07:41:48 AM
Quote from: jimilee on September 15, 2013, 02:36:19 AMCrazy wiring but I think Juan has us all beat. He must've been going through wire like mad! Did you go back and salvage some if that wire for your next 10 builds? :-)
That was my worst... I learned a lot from that one. As with a lot of my early stuff, it was recycled and probably made quite a few pedals after that, yup! ;)
I thought all that extra wire was a retirement plan. Just cash in that copper at a later date and live like a king.
So, how many stations did that pick up? ;) :)
Quote from: das234 on September 15, 2013, 09:18:02 PM
Quote from: juansolo on September 15, 2013, 07:41:48 AM
Quote from: jimilee on September 15, 2013, 02:36:19 AMCrazy wiring but I think Juan has us all beat. He must've been going through wire like mad! Did you go back and salvage some if that wire for your next 10 builds? :-)
That was my worst... I learned a lot from that one. As with a lot of my early stuff, it was recycled and probably made quite a few pedals after that, yup! ;)
I thought all that extra wire was a retirement plan. Just cash in that copper at a later date and live like a king.
hahahahahha
Quote from: alanp on September 16, 2013, 05:24:20 AM
So, how many stations did that pick up? ;) :)
;) I think we should also take the quality of reception into account. My Wolfshirt (fourth build, far from beautiful wiring) picks up this really interesting economics talk show on Sunday mornings. I can shred, and I can take a quick break and learn about the prices on pork bellies in the futures market!
I'm feeling a little left out here. Possibly my worse build yet. Wasn't my first build, bit was one of them.
(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/16/4upemymu.jpg)
Sent from my thumbs using Tapatalk!
Heres mine. As tempting as it is to just rip that sucker apart and build it again from the ground up, i think its important to leave it as it is. Its a humble reminder to me, that we all start at the start.
Most of my first builds were before I discovered MadBeans PCBs.
Here are the first builds I had done. The "Timmy Jr" and "O.C.Drive" were just rehouses of Danelectro Cool Cat pedals.
Platinum Overdrive: Barber LTD Silver vero build - based on the schematic he released.
Gold pedal on left: Attempted OCD clone on vero - would go into crazy oscillations if the gain got cranked too high. Never did fix it.
Zen Drive: Vero Zen clone
DLS: Vero DLS Clone
The Tremojo: this was the last build of the group. It is a vero build of the 4ms Tremulus Lune tremolo. It is an amazing trem and has been on my friends board since I built it.
I'll have to check my computer and see if I have any gut shots of any of them.
(http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2552/4138793045_19077776e6_z.jpg)
Dunnow if this one is too clean to show on here ::) ... This is my first stompbox, but it should be said that i have been doin other kind of electronics and done my solder courses long before this, but for sure i have had a more than 10 years break. It was fun just to pick up the soldering iron and fine tools again. I was googling for a replacement pot for my CryBaby, and almost by accident ran across some kits to build your own thing... Soon after that i found this webplace:)
It is the BYOC OD2, handpainted by the youngest kid and handtexted by me. I had this idea of letting every family member paint one box. That would give me FIVE boxes in total, and that should be it... WHOOOOO can need more than that??? ::) ...
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10190945/1st%20SKREEMAH/A008.JPG)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10190945/1st%20SKREEMAH/017.JPG)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10190945/1st%20SKREEMAH/A009.JPG)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10190945/1st%20SKREEMAH/A010.JPG)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10190945/1st%20SKREEMAH/B001.JPG)
Cheers
Quote from: Vallhagen on September 17, 2013, 06:42:39 PM
Dunnow if this one is too clean to show on here ::) ... This is my first stompbox, but it should be said that i have been doin other kind of electronics and done my solder courses long before this, but for sure i have had a more than 10 years break. It was fun just to pick up the soldering iron and fine tools again. I was googling for a replacement pot for my CryBaby, and almost by accident ran across some kits to build your own thing... Soon after that i found this webplace:)
It is the BYOC OD2, handpainted by the youngest kid and handtexted by me. I had this idea of letting every family member paint one box. That would give me FIVE boxes in total, and that should be it... WHOOOOO can need more than that??? ::) ...
Cheers
I love how the dudes face on the newspaper is blacked out.. lol
The Little Angel was my first build, and is a pretty tight fit due to all the wire inside and poor placement planning. I had to put electrical tape across the inside of the bottom plate to prevent shorting. Very happy with the enclosure though.
The Krankosaurus was my second build. The insides are a bit neater, finish is cool (the t-shirt transfer looks like a silk screen almost) but the hookup wire I used keeps breaking at the board or other solder points. Needs a re-do.
Ok! This thread is plain awesome!
Going to try to find pics of my first build ;D
Quote from: Cortexturizer on September 13, 2013, 10:52:03 AM
and now with the oscillator, depending on the frequency of oscillation you can get some crazy sounds
http://www.box.net/shared/bzmqunqrh3 [volume on the guitar is barely above zero, and then I crank it full]
http://www.box.net/shared/tzgbllr2sh [selected the frequency that's loosely equal to playing a 5th with the original note]
http://www.box.net/shared/3bu8nymc6x
http://www.box.net/shared/82fnr4mdad
http://www.box.net/shared/ep7zjbsrm9
Some of you might like this, hellz I still like it hhehe, haven't touched that pedal in a couple of years. Cheers
That is sweet! I really like the effect. I was thinking about how to incorporate LFOs into pedals the other day and wondering what it might sound like... Looks like I have my answer!
Mad box of wires aside, this was my actual first build...
(http://juansolo.demon.co.uk/stompage/images/diablo-o.jpg)
(http://juansolo.demon.co.uk/stompage/images/diablo-i.jpg)
Which actually isn't that bad really. As I say, it got interesting when I started scratch building stuff on vero.
I still like the copper wire birds' nest pedal.