Tips for a successful build or the ramblings of a balding idiot

Pauleo1214 said:
Truly inspiring video Dan. Your honest enthusiasm for seeing the work of others is truly motivational.

If I saw this when I first started, my wife would be #2.

Oh, and you wish you were as balding as me.
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How easy is a shower?!?!

I used to have long hair until my dermatologist very rudely told me I am losing my hair and its not a great look. Worst bedside manner i have ever heard, i told her if the dermatology gig doesn’t pan out she could sign up for the Packers.

I didn't say that but i wanted too. Instead i swallowed my pride and cut my hair and officially became a dad.
 
jjjimi84 said:
How easy is a shower?!?!

I used to have long hair until my dermatologist very rudely told me I am losing my hair and its not a great look. Worst bedside manner i have ever heard, i told her if the dermatology gig doesn’t pan out she could sign up for the Packers.

I didn't say that but i wanted too. Instead i swallowed my pride and cut my hair and officially became a dad.
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That was the excuse I used at work when I grew my hair out. "IDK I might go bald in a couple years"
 
jjjimi84 said:
Nope! They were in my sg and i decided to put humbuckers back in it.

That is a set of lindy fralin humbucker size p90s and a set of bootstrap pickups in the same configuration. I am trying to start cleaning out the pedals and some gear.
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Hey Dan, what did you think of the Bootstrap H90's? I have a set on the way.....do they sound like "authentic" P90's?
 
Oh yeah they are really nice but what I didn't like is the volume difference between the two. I guess this is a common thing with SGs but when you are in the neck, it was crazy full and really low/mid. Then you go to the bridge and all that mid/low end drops out and perceived volume is drops.

I couldn't seem to get the balance right in my sg, with either sets, so I am still on the hunt for its ideal pick ups.
 
jjjimi84 said:
Oh yeah they are really nice but what I didn't like is the volume difference between the two. I guess this is a common thing with SGs but when you are in the neck, it was crazy full and really low/mid. Then you go to the bridge and all that mid/low end drops out and perceived volume is drops.

I couldn't seem to get the balance right in my sg, with either sets, so I am still on the hunt for its ideal pick ups.
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That’s comes with the territory of dual p90s period. Particularly if they’re close in output. I think it may be exacerbated with the pickup placement on an SG for the neck pickup. But glad to hear they sound good. I’m looking forward getting mine.
 
jjjimi84 said:
I made this video as a intro to pedal building and some tips about how I do it. I am by no means a professional but I feel like this is a much better way to discuss my process and knowledge gained.

It is also a nice way to transition to the next video and the new format that will have more of a build report and breakdown and be more informative.

I realized that it is way too challenging for me to go from creative improvising guitar playing demo mode to technical aspects of a pedal, so I am switching it up!

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Fantastic, Dan. How I wish I'd seen this when I started some five years ago with a Fuzz Face, which is fairly counter-intuitive for beginners. I took the resultant non-functioning build (more like a small natural disaster) to a local electronics guru who remarked on the intricacies of the circuit to my barely disguised bafflement. He then fixed it, so (apart from his kindness and generosity) I actually learned zip about troubleshooting.

I'm getting slightly better at troubleshooting but wouldn't bank on my abilities to fix simple circuits, let alone some much more ambitious later ones I've attempted. I also have a 'flipping the bird' area in my workspace for defunct and dysfunctional pedals which I'll return to some day, or so I kid myself.

Enough about my foibles and mishaps. Great work again and trust you will inspire more noobs to have the confidence to go build something, as Chairman @fig is wont to insist. ☺️
 
Label my knobs!? LABEL MY KNOBS!? Yeah, you’re right. As my builds have gotten more complex (aka more knobs and switches) I’ve been having a harder time remembering what’s what and there’s nothing like blasting your eardrums because you THOUGHT that was a tone knob….. sometimes it’s fun to just twiddle until I get something usable, but playing time is scarce and I can’t spend it all dialing a 6+ knob pedal into usable territory. I also admit to never cleaning my boards, but it has never, thankfully, been an issue. I started building using a $5 Walmart pencil iron. Was good for ab 5 builds then I had to buy a new one. Still operating at the Weller level. Great job on the vid. Def some good info for those wanting to get started.
 
I've started to make an effort to label my knobs for anything that's not the standard vol-gain-tone arrangement. And what's up with the Timmy not following the standard layout?
 
MichaelW said:
That’s comes with the territory of dual p90s period. Particularly if they’re close in output. I think it may be exacerbated with the pickup placement on an SG for the neck pickup. But glad to hear they sound good. I’m looking forward getting mine.
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I think you are right about that! I am very interested in what you think, what are you putting them in?
mybud said:
Fantastic, Dan. How I wish I'd seen this when I started some five years ago with a Fuzz Face, which is fairly counter-intuitive for beginners. I took the resultant non-functioning build (more like a small natural disaster) to a local electronics guru who remarked on the intricacies of the circuit to my barely disguised bafflement. He then fixed it, so (apart from his kindness and generosity) I actually learned zip about troubleshooting.

I'm getting slightly better at troubleshooting but wouldn't bank on my abilities to fix simple circuits, let alone some much more ambitious later ones I've attempted. I also have a 'flipping the bird' area in my workspace for defunct and dysfunctional pedals which I'll return to some day, or so I kid myself.

Enough about my foibles and mishaps. Great work again and trust you will inspire more noobs to have the confidence to go build something, as Chairman @fig is wont to insist. ☺️
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Everyone has that area and everyone hates it but we keep it for no good reason.

Listen my troubleshooting abilities eat butts but eat a lot less butts than when I started.
Diynot said:
Label my knobs!? LABEL MY KNOBS!? Yeah, you’re right. As my builds have gotten more complex (aka more knobs and switches) I’ve been having a harder time remembering what’s what and there’s nothing like blasting your eardrums because you THOUGHT that was a tone knob….. sometimes it’s fun to just twiddle until I get something usable, but playing time is scarce and I can’t spend it all dialing a 6+ knob pedal into usable territory. I also admit to never cleaning my boards, but it has never, thankfully, been an issue. I started building using a $5 Walmart pencil iron. Was good for ab 5 builds then I had to buy a new one. Still operating at the Weller level. Great job on the vid. Def some good info for those wanting to get started.
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My weller was awesome and the only reason I dont have it is because a good friend of my wanted to get into pedal building so i gave him mine and a multimeter. It was the push I needed to buy the hakko and the push he needed to build some pedals.
MichaelW said:
Yeah yeah yeah….I got yer knobs labels right here baby…..
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Just label yer knobs or ask someone to do it for you, if you don't you will grow hair on your palms......right?
spi said:
I've started to make an effort to label my knobs for anything that's not the standard vol-gain-tone arrangement. And what's up with the Timmy not following the standard layout?
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Timmy? The only thing I can think of is the Aion Fractal and that is a different beast and a glorious one at that.
chongmagic said:
Man I did the same thing with the Pangea, drilled the holes backwards!
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That gives me a sense of relief, that was a build and I wish was readily available to get..
 
spi said:
I've started to make an effort to label my knobs for anything that's not the standard vol-gain-tone arrangement. And what's up with the Timmy not following the standard layout?
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The Tommy III is really the only pedal that I use infrequently that throws me off. For those types of pedals I'll use different colored knobs. I put the gain/vol knobs in a different color to remind myself they're non-standard.
 
Mate, loved the vid. You’re so spot on. Sharing the lessons we’ve all learned the hard way.

Really feel it with the labeling. Even a half ass label and graphics makes any pedal a whole bunch better. Sharpie and a sticker can make the difference.
 
spi said:
The volume is bottom left instead of top left.
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That is the way the originals were laid out. That and the baxandall tone knobs operating seemingly backwards of a traditional tone pot threw people. Def did me when I tried a friends “V1”
 
szukalski said:
Mate, loved the vid. You’re so spot on. Sharing the lessons we’ve all learned the hard way.

Really feel it with the labeling. Even a half ass label and graphics makes any pedal a whole bunch better. Sharpie and a sticker can make the difference.
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Thanks for watching! Really all of you guys, it means the world to me!
spi said:
The volume is bottom left instead of top left.
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@spi Are you messing with me? The Aion Fractal is a clone of this Pearl (the drum company) pedal, it has a really interesting eq that you set the Q using the Freq knob and then using the EQ Gain you can boost or cut in that frequency. I use it all of the time and really love the pedal just not the graphic I painted on there. Reminds me of a high school sports team.

I will add it to the video list as it is a really neat pedal that is quite different and a great alternative to TS clones.
 
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