In order to keep the communication lines open I'd like to take this opportunity to re-state my commitment to providing the best customer service possible to all members and customers here at the madbeanpedals wonderland of love. To me, this means providing "greater than expected" service and reasonable response times to questions and feedback provided. This extends not only to paying customers in the store but also regular forum members who just like to hang out here.
So, if you have any feedback to provide or suggestions on how I can improve the "customer service" experience, please feel free to respond here. Or, if you prefer to keep your feedback private, email me at brian AT madbeanpedals.com.
Keep in mind that this is a for-profit business, even though it very much rooted in a community framework. I am a professional and therefore I do not take feedback personally so long as it is thoughtful and fair. While you are welcome to offer praise, too, I'm not seeking the "ego boost" here. I have a good sense of "what's right" but not necessarily the best sense of "needs improvement".
Lastly, feedback can also concern other subjects such as project organization, documentation, website development, features, etc. It's really up to your imagination.
I'm really looking forward to this year and I hope to keep you guys excited about the goings-on and the overall community spirit!
this is more of a request than positive or negative feedback.
While I don't want/expect you to have a pre-packaged pedal kit available as part of the greatness of your boards is the ability to tweak them to taste it would be, IMO, a nice time saver if you partnered with a parts supplier and just had a BOM on file there to save some time. From there people could edit out there parts orders to make any component swaps/adjustments they desire.
If this already exists and I don't know about it then I want to die.
"wonderland of love"] Is more thank enough
i think this is the best DIY site, most organized forum, most organized projects, best documents around, easiest store to access and order and fastest turnaround for projects, also original ones and you always keep us waiting for more.
this is the place before heaven, i'm sure of it.
I think that it would be hard to do a better job. Could go on and on about what's right, though I realize you're asking for what could be improved. I think it is this attitude which is what sets your layouts and site apart.
Anyway, with that spirit in mind, I personally would love to know more about the theory of the circuits. In many build docs you touch on various mods and part subs, but I would really value your insight into the theory and workings of the circuits, eg this is the filtering section, this is the voltage reg section, etc.
I come from a background of supporting and building complicated commercial pcbs at high rates but would love to expand my knowledge of how the parts work together in audio circuits such as these.
Sound clips on the project page might be helpful too.
Please keep up the great work!
I'm excited already! Dude, no sweat, the way you treat your customers is already a step up from what I've come to expect.... And you've got the best customer-support team there is! Cool thing happening all the time....
Paul
I'd like a paypal donate button somewhere. I do my own etchings, and have built a bunch of bean's projects, but never given him a dime, which makes me feel bad because he deserves it. Anything to help a brother out, especially when he's given as much to the community as bean has.
I have tons of praise, but since you're looking for criticism, how bout:
1) You could actually update your twitter like you said you would
2) You could upload all the old versions of project build docs (I know some early versions of the Krunkee are missing).
3) You could include links to youtube videos (to include user videos) in project pdfs. Heck why not have a contest for submitting videos!
A lot of good suggestions here, but if I had to choose one. Demo videos. I feel like this should be a pre-requisite along with the build doc for releasing a board.
Nothing crazy needed, mediocre production quality is fine, I just want to hear the pedal built the way its described in the doc... and no hairy toe in the video please :D
Yes, I do need to get more demos done. This is probably the biggest fail on my part so far. There are a few, but not nearly enough. That is something I intend to correct for 2013. Thanks.
And, just to put a finer point on that: I plan on demoing ALL three new Zero Points over the next week.
Quote from: Effectsiation on January 28, 2013, 10:11:34 PM
I have tons of praise, but since you're looking for criticism, how bout:
1) You could actually update your twitter like you said you would
2) You could upload all the old versions of project build docs (I know some early versions of the Krunkee are missing).
3) You could include links to youtube videos (to include user videos) in project pdfs. Heck why not have a contest for submitting videos!
Thank you.
1- I'm just a little confused on this one. I've been using Twitter pretty regularly to announce when new PCBs are released. Did I say I would do something else? I honestly don't remember.
2- I have removed some of the oldest versions (going back to 2009, 2010) but the archive ZIPs (http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=5134.0) usually contain at least one or two previous versions. The Krunkee was was removed at the request of MI Audio, actually.
3- Yes, I agree. If a demo video is done in advance of release putting a link in the doc is a good idea.
Which brings me to another idea that I've been considering: replacing the traditional PDFs with actual webpages. The reason for this is that they can be made much more dynamic and updated frequently. If I can figure out a way to do that AND include the option to download the page as a PDF that would be the best of both worlds.
Or, perhaps only include the schematic, BOM and layout in the PDF and all the important text in a webpage. Not sure.
Regarding demos:
Is there a way to add already made demos to the madbean youtube page?
Chromesphere has a crapload ot MB demos.
I have a few crappy MB on bass demos.
There are a handful of others out there as well.
Being able to colocate or link all these on one Madbean youtube page would increase the amount of demos apperantly available.
Quote from: octa805 on January 25, 2013, 04:56:25 PM
If this already exists and I don't know about it then I want to die.
...that's the funniest line I've read in a very long time.
My youTube karate is pretty limited but it is something I can look into.
One idea for the re-designed website here is to include a media page where youTube could be imbedded. Ideally, it would be great to have individual member pages for such a thing. But, that goes pretty far beyond my own rudimentary web design skills. Luckily, I'm married to a webmaster (for Mapex, no less) :)
Quote from: madbean on January 29, 2013, 03:30:18 AM
Which brings me to another idea that I've been considering: replacing the traditional PDFs with actual webpages. The reason for this is that they can be made much more dynamic and updated frequently. If I can figure out a way to do that AND include the option to download the page as a PDF that would be the best of both worlds.
Or, perhaps only include the schematic, BOM and layout in the PDF and all the important text in a webpage. Not sure.
Tough one this. It's handy to have all the info in the same place. Plus I keep the old docs for some of the old builds that I have if for whatever reason I decide to rebuild it (as I did recently with my v1 CE-2) or need to fault find it.
The biggest pain of my amp build was that all the docs were online and I don't have a computer where I build my stuff...
I think the current system works on this one to be fair as it allows me to keep my own stash of the build docs I used at the time of building the effects (so they tally). Just have some version control of them so it's easy to see if it's a later version or not, if you don't already.
Quote from: madbean on January 29, 2013, 03:30:18 AM
1- I'm just a little confused on this one. I've been using Twitter pretty regularly to announce when new PCBs are released. Did I say I would do something else? I honestly don't remember.
2- I have removed some of the oldest versions (going back to 2009, 2010) but the archive ZIPs (http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=5134.0) usually contain at least one or two previous versions. The Krunkee was was removed at the request of MI Audio, actually.
1 -- MY MISTAKE! :-[ I honestly hadn't checked Twitter in quite a while, because I found the page/forum to be more up-to-date. I see now you've been keeping up with it.
2 -- Would there be any harm in leaving all the old docs (minus the ones requested to be removed) up? I selfishly ask because I have a stash of your old etched boards I never got around to building. I suppose I could just interpret from the newer versions/schematics though.
Thanks for all you do!
'The biggest pain of my amp build was that all the docs were online and I don't have a computer where I build my stuff...'
I totally agree on that one. Any chance it is Ampmakers documentation you are referring too?
That is the companies only downside IMO; Online documentation.
Last thing I want is to be staring at my laptop (or even worse iPhone) when building something.
Please stick with .pdf's Brian; I personally think you do a very good job of keeping everything tidy and well organized.
My only real bit of feeback would be more demo's for your new projects (as you mention yourself). Many of these are new designs so it would be great for customers to be able to get a 'feel' for them before ordering.
Personally I don't think video is entirely necessary; well recorded (and well commented using SoundCloud etc.) clips would be fine by me.
There's certainly no harm in it. I think what I will do is to create one archive file with all the older versions in it. The main reason for not making these more "up front" on the site is that some projects had several versions back when I was hand-etching, and I believe it would be confusing to people who are newer to the site.
But, I have pretty much everything saved, so I will look and figure out how to collate everything. Maybe it's time for a madbeanpedals dropbox.
Quote from: raulduke on January 29, 2013, 03:42:48 PM
Please stick with .pdf's Brian; I personally think you do a very good job of keeping everything tidy and well organized.
My only real bit of feeback would be more demo's for your new projects (as you mention yourself). Many of these are new designs so it would be great for customers to be able to get a 'feel' for them before ordering.
Personally I don't think video is entirely necessary; well recorded (and well commented using SoundCloud etc.) clips would be fine by me.
Thanks for your input.
PDFs are one of the only reliable ways to ensure that no page scaling will result in an accurately sized etch.
I've been testing Google Docs for this. It's just like working in a word processor, and it can be updated easily, in real time, and remotely. They can't be saved in high resolution apparently, but I was able to print in multiple browsers an accurately sized etch image (after some trial and error on the sizing in the google doc ...) at 600dpi. A PDF would still probably be necessary for the etch image itself, though, to be safe and to avoid the hassle of getting it sized properly in the document before posting ...
I guess the thrust of my desire to have some of it online is that it can be more of a "living document". IOW, when changes are made, mods, corrections, etc I don't have to go around telling people to re-download a pdf.
Naturally, the etching artwork itself has to be in a pdf.
But, I also agree that no one wants to sit by a damn computer when they are building so it is probably a non-starter.
Quote from: raulduke on January 29, 2013, 03:42:48 PM
'The biggest pain of my amp build was that all the docs were online and I don't have a computer where I build my stuff...'
I totally agree on that one. Any chance it is Ampmakers documentation you are referring too?
That is the companies only downside IMO; Online documentation.
Yup and agree totally. The online docs, though excellent, were the biggest pain in the arse of the entire build.
Quote from: madbean on January 29, 2013, 04:06:26 PM
I guess the thrust of my desire to have some of it online is that it can be more of a "living document". IOW, when changes are made, mods, corrections, etc I don't have to go around telling people to re-download a pdf.
My 0.2 SEK on this one:
I vote for pdf-s. Pretty much just as you have it arranged right now, i like it. I actually dont want the build doc to be "living" in a way that it can be hard to get the version history. If - say - i need to troubleshoot or mod my Chunk Chunk (old version PCB) right now, i am pretty happy that i have the whole pdf right here on my HDD. Maybe i am a bit oldschool but i also like paper. I printout the whole pdf, do my own checkmarks on the BOM and comments on the schematic.
***
WGC earlier suggested a more indepth explanation of each circuit too. I think thats a cool idea, maybe as a separate board on the forum. One sticky thread for the mangler, one for the Chunk Chunk etcetc. It could include idea/history of the circuit as well as a technerd signal path explanation. Very much of this info/knowledge IS allready here (and on the rest of the web) in different threads, but as an idea to have it in one place.
***
...but its hard to make the best place even better...
Cheers!
Personally I like the PDF's. If it was on a web page then people might struggle having it near their working area if they have a PC, I have a laptop so it wouldn't be an issue for me personally. Also, all web pages display differently, depending on how someone has their screen set up. A PDF will display the same no matter what. And they are easy to print out.
Also, although you are doing the boards for profit, its good to see a company open enough to allow other people to sell their products (PCBs from other sellers designs) through your forum. It's direct competition, and that has to be respected.
Also, I haven't had to post many help threads, as a lot of the answers I've needed have already been answered on other threads, proving that the forum is not only a great place to get help, but also a massively helpful learning tool.
I think you should also have a 'donate' button as well. Even if you don't want the money, once a month give all the proceeds to charity. The reason I say this is because I etch my own boards, as I like the DIY side of things, and it's just a way of saying thanks for the layouts that you provide free of charge.
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One thing that could be improved is the tech help section which is a section i post too often.
The "try, fail, learn, fix" bit of the DIY experience could be somewhat improved. That's basically a "spend more time there" request with some explanation of the fix when they happen there.
This is the section of the forum i learnt the most from.
My vote is for keeping the pdf as they exist with the errata section and their downsides.
Quote from: Vallhagen on January 29, 2013, 07:02:09 PM
Quote from: madbean on January 29, 2013, 04:06:26 PM
WGC earlier suggested a more indepth explanation of each circuit too. I think thats a cool idea, maybe as a separate board on the forum. One sticky thread for the mangler, one for the Chunk Chunk etcetc. It could include idea/history of the circuit as well as a technerd signal path explanation. Very much of this info/knowledge IS allready here (and on the rest of the web) in different threads, but as an idea to have it in one place.
***
Cheers!
+ 1 for PDFs.
I also agree with Vallagen and WGC on the book learning end. I love to learn about stuff and I realize that big part of DIY -- is self-sufficency in learning, etc.
But sometimes after multiple 10 hour workdays of herding poisonous cats, paint by number is all I can handle. While I could infuse knowledge if it was there, I'm just too fried to go hunting. (Most of my learning has come from when I inevitably screw up--and am required to learn what does what in order to get the magic box gratification.) So while I totally understand not serving everything up on a silver platter (It feels obnoxious to even ask for more), my brain would be more lubed for the heavy lifting if it had an occasional watering.
Regardless, this site is an amazing collection of well organized projects, resources, and talents. (I love the project page layout for example.) It's become my favorite spot on the web. Cheers to a good year for you and your endeavors Mr. Bean.
I would not say a fail, but if a picture is worth a thousand words a demo video is even better. I've got so many beans builds queued up a demo might help me figure out which one to do first.
I really love what you are doing Brian.
Quote from: madbean on January 29, 2013, 03:23:58 AM
Yes, I do need to get more demos done. This is probably the biggest fail on my part so far. There are a few, but not nearly enough. That is something I intend to correct for 2013. Thanks.
And, just to put a finer point on that: I plan on demoing ALL three new Zero Points over the next week.
It goes without saying that my wholehearted praise and gratitude goes to Brian for this resource that he has created for all of us.
As far as the individual webpage idea goes though, im of the other opinion. The thing i like best about madbean projects are they are completed. I have confidience that when i undertake a madbean project, it will work (or with minimal tweaking). This is like Tonepad projects. For a simple project, like a boost, it probably doesnt matter so much. Aquaboy on the other hand :o
It makes the project obtainable for all skill levels. Diysb forum (and freesb's) has these development pages. They are difficult to follow and tend to evolve continualy with no finished 'product'. Nothing wrong with that of course, its the melting pot that alot of finished product projects come from, its essential! I'm just highlighing the advantages of a pdf style project.
Anyway, just my opinion. Keep up the good work mate! You've always got my support.
Paul
As far as documentation goes, what about using a wiki format? I use PBworks quite a bit and set up one for our web management at the newspaper and it's been invaluable.
You could designate moderators as editors and they could add photos, demos, links to forum topics, links to suppliers, mods, build reports, etc. The BOM, schematic and artwork can easily be attached as a file for printing.
Id like a link to all the popular schematics and diagrams. shop is in the garage and i wouldnt mind putting together a binder.
All the current madbean projects .pdf's are available on the projects page:
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/index.html (http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/index.html)
All discontinued projects can be found here:
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=5134.0 (http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=5134.0)
Should keep you busy for a while ;)!
I have a request re the pdfs.
In addition to the standard BOM could a shopping list showing how many of each component is needed be added?
100k x10
2n2 x2
That kind of thing.
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I noticed that the new project documents identify the type of capacitor used.
Nice touch.
A madbean store app would be cool as well as a forum app:)