Use the pedals, what a concept?

spi

spi

Well-known member
As I was boxing yet another one, my wife asked me if I actually use all the pedals I build.

"Of course I do honey, I need them all." If my Mach One craps out, I've got the Timmy, and if the Timmy craps out I've got the Red Herring. Triples is better.

The reality is I will use it until the next one is built, and then one goes into a place where I store them all. Sometimes it gets back into the rotation, but often it doesn't.

I'm up to over 60 builds now, and I know many of you have a much higher number. What do you all do with them?
 
spi said:
As I was boxing yet another one, my wife asked me if I actually use all the pedals I build.

"Of course I do honey, I need them all." If my Mach One craps out, I've got the Timmy, and if the Timmy craps out I've got the Red Herring. Triples is better.

The reality is I will use it until the next one is built, and then one goes into a place where I store them all. Sometimes it gets back into the rotation, but often it doesn't.

I'm up to over 60 builds now, and I know many of you have a much higher number. What do you all do with them?
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Why we store them in boxes and move on to the next one. I’m no longer gigging, so that’s about it. Does she wear all of those shoes? I know my wife doesn’t.
 
jimilee said:
Why we store them in boxes and move on to the next one. I’m no longer gigging, so that’s about it. Does she wear all of those shoes? I know my wife doesn’t.
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I don't think she's really concerned about it. We are both conscious about space though, as our house has accumulated too much stuff and every nook and cranny is filled. Luckily pedals are small.
 
spi said:
I don't think she's really concerned about it. We are both conscious about space though, as our house has accumulated too much stuff and every nook and cranny is filled. Luckily pedals are small.
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😁 Oh yeah, I figured. It was more or less in jest. I’m covered up with them myself.
 
I typically build them, play them a few times, and up on the wall shelf they go. Even the ones I buy are the same way. I will occasionally put a delay or fuzz on, but I typically go straight into the amp or into my interface and through a plugin as I only play at home. I only have 30-40. Pedals though. Although, this last Supa J I built makes my Vibrochamp sound like it’s gonna explode and it might just stay hooked up as an always option.
 
I have a large "permanent" pedal board with a good amount that I made. It has a space where I rotate out different overdrives I built every month or 2, because I made many good ones.

I have built about 40, mostly overdrives. Most are really great! Some I was curious about, and it turns out I am glad I didn't buy the commercial version for various reasons and they will probably not get used much.

Lately I've been feeling that I don't need any more overdrives or distortions so after I finish the the couple I have in progress, I am going to try a break. Might look into other modulations, reverb, delays, etc. but I have bought or built these also.

I guess I am trying to decide if I focus on building an amp next.
 
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First I build a pile of pedals.
When the pile is too large, then I switch to woodworking and build a set of wall shelves to hold them!
Then I build a few more pedals...
When they accumulate too much, then I offer some to my sister in law for her setup.
Then I build a few more pedals...
Ultimately, I plan to donate some to a local school.
Before I build a few more...
 
darwin999 said:
First I build a pile of pedals.
When the pile is too large, then I switch to woodworking and build a set of wall shelves to hold them!
Then I build a few more pedals...
When they accumulate too much, then I offer some to my sister in law for her setup.
Then I build a few more pedals...
Ultimately, I plan to donate some to a local school.
Before I build a few more...
Click to expand...
I do this as well. Build pedals, then amps, then photography, then hi-fi amps/preamps, then I’m trying my hand at WW2 airplane models. It usually takes 2-4 cycles to finish the electronics stuff. I’ve got a tube preamp I’ve been working on for at least 2-3 years. I get to the chassis making part and then stall.
 
Lately I've been trying out a lot of circuit ideas and experiments on Vero. So I tend to reuse the enclosures, pots, sockets, switches, ICs etc - even caps - so the number of pedals isn't growing much (thank goodness!). Plus it makes the building process a lot faster because I'm just replacing the board and pots in the build.

But I have a box of early builds which may get tossed. I don't really know what to do with them. There's only so much that can be recycled.

At least with the amps I build it seems there is always a buyer for any I don't want.
 
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I have about 40 or so now. There are lots of them I have build that I don’t really use anymore and I am ok with that. I look at them as a relatively inexpensive way for me to try new things and get better at electronics. I have build recently a duo-phase, lollar overdrive, meatball and am working on an IVP. There is no way I could ever afford to test drive all these pedals otherwise and along the way I have learned that some pedals even ones that would be very expensive to purchase I just really don’t click with. I have also in the process improved at my ability to express myself with the guitar.

Long story short I have no idea what to do with ones you don’t get on with. I will probably give them to friends and acquaintances who are interested. If I ever hear anyone expressing an interest in the clarinot I will make their day.
 
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darwin999 said:
First I build a pile of pedals.
When the pile is too large, then I switch to woodworking and build a set of wall shelves to hold them!
Then I build a few more pedals...
When they accumulate too much, then I offer some to my sister in law for her setup.
Then I build a few more pedals...
Ultimately, I plan to donate some to a local school.
Before I build a few more...
Click to expand...
This reads like this "if you give a mouse a cookie" book:

If you give the pedal nerd a soldering iron,
Chances are he'll want a PCB to go with it ...
 
With building them yourself, it's about the journey, not the destination, isn't it? If you truly needed it, you bought it and started using it, master it and apply it to songs and record it. I take it as a hobby within a hobby. I got way more synths (10) and waaaay more pedals (75+) than I need, but but these can be sold relatively easy (especially if you hunt down mint discontinued things, which is my aim with the more expensive music gear, though there are unique contemporary things I fell for as well), so I don't worry to much about there being too many of them. I live alone. I don't record. I don't play live. But it's fun too see what all these expensive tools really are about. I can get by with a part-time job, so need to find new ways to kill time, when I eventually get bored by what I started. With woodwork, I build all the things I need. Now waiting for a new home to pop up so I can start again, with new skills and even grander ambitions. Soldering is just a hobby that fits in the confines of my current place, with all the accumilated hobbies, and it allows me to try out some things that I want that just aren't available commercially. I am too hyperfocussed to do multiple things at the same time. It's a couple-of-months rotation thing. There's so many things we don't need. Not some of. Not a lot of. Just make sure your time-wasters can be sold off, not thrown away. The latter truly is a waste.
 
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