Just finished my first build and my I feel weird.

B

bo_beezy

New member
I apologize if this is too off topic and please delete if not allowed.

TLDR;
I just finished building my first ever guitar pedal (AliExpress Klon Clone), first time soldering or anything like that too) and now I think I feel accomplishment and satisfaction for the first time in my life. I usually put myself down or minimize my achievements, but this time I feel weird and I like it. This community convinced me to give it a go by reading all your discussions and seeing how you all help each other.

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I don't usually post on public forums but I think you all are the best audience for this.

I'm a 34 y.o. male from New Zealand and I've always loved tinkering and have played guitar for about 20 years. I have always jumped from hobby to hobby and never found anything that fully scratches that itch, or keeps me hooked. I revisit some hobbies on a random rotation but I get bored when I'm not challenged.

I started learning about electronics a few months ago, reading this forum pretty much top-to-bottom, reading books and watching videos on YouTube. I felt I had enough basic knowledge to give it a go so I bought an Acrobat Parametric Distortion PCB from here, ordered all the parts from Tayda and then once they arrived I was scared I'd mess it all up and have to start again, so I decided to buy a cheap kit from AliExpress.

Over the last few days I've put the kit together in stages and tonight I soldered in the last wire and plugged it in. It worked right off the bat! (Which really surprised me) and it sounded amazing!

As I said above, this whole experience has made me feel accomplished and satisfied for what feels like the first time in my life. I know my soldering could be better, I know there's a long list of things I could and will do differently next time, but I'm okay with that. I'm loving the way I'm feeling and I hope theres more to come.

Next I'm going to attempt the Acrobat Parametric Distortion (I freaking love Queens of the Stone Age) - I've almost finished designing the UV print for the enclosure annnnd I'll definitely post a build report once I'm done.

If you've read all the way down here I thank you greatly.

I wanna thank the community here for being amazing and a massive source of courage and knowledge! You're all amazing.

Have you had an experience like this? What was your first pedal build like? Lemme know below

Peace!
 

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This was an amazing read and really lifted my mood after a miserable morning. It's so good to see that there are others like myself that have been inspired, by this great community specifically, to dive into the hobby head-first and just go for it. To hear that your first build went without a single hiccup is fantastic too!

My first build attempt was butchered because of my lack of care to attention, despite being just about the easiest kit in existence. I soldered things in the wrong directions and then screwed up the desoldering, but learnt a lot in the process. Currently I'm only a few steps away from completing my 2nd (officially 1st?) which I will definitely post when done. Hope I get to feel the same way you do then :)
 
Reimon said:
This was an amazing read and really lifted my mood after a miserable morning. It's so good to see that there are others like myself that have been inspired, by this great community specifically, to dive into the hobby head-first and just go for it. To hear that your first build went without a single hiccup is fantastic too!

My first build attempt was butchered because of my lack of care to attention, despite being just about the easiest kit in existence. I soldered things in the wrong directions and then screwed up the desoldering, but learnt a lot in the process. Currently I'm only a few steps away from completing my 2nd (officially 1st?) which I will definitely post when done. Hope I get to feel the same way you do then :)
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Hey! I'm glad it helped your mood and I hope your day gets better.

I'm pretty sure the fact everything worked first time was pure luck. After my first soldering session I just by chance realised my diodes were in backwards so I had to take em out and do it again.

As long as you learnt something along the way, it's always a win in my book.

I look forward to seeing your completed build!
 
bo_beezy said:
Hey! I'm glad it helped your mood and I hope your day gets better.

I'm pretty sure the fact everything worked first time was pure luck. After my first soldering session I just by chance realised my diodes were in backwards so I had to take em out and do it again.

As long as you learnt something along the way, it's always a win in my book.

I look forward to seeing your completed build!
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Yep, diodes got me too hahaha. Somehow overlooked the very obvious markings that tell the fools soldering which direction to place em.
 
This is why I like making things. I grew up with a dad who was forever making (slightly cheap and crappy) furniture for our house. He even fitted out a minivan with seats he made himself out of timber. So I have made every table in our house, many bookcases and shelves, etc. I have made quite a few guitar amps including the cabs. It's embarrassing how many pedals I have now made.

Making stuff makes me happy. Making stuff for the house makes my wife happy! I built a big back deck for our place to make use of the shade of a large tree we planted 20 years ago and everyone seems to like that. My son has made a few things too, and used to modify his skateboards with my help.

My wife used to sew a lot because we couldn't afford to buy the clothes she liked. Over the years though fewer people make their own clothes so it's harder to find decent fabrics these days. Every year fewer people are making their own stuff. It used to be quite common for people to make stuff but these days everyone just buys cheaper and increasingly crappy stuff. Fewer people have the skills to build and make things that used to be common to make yourself.

So welcome to the club! If you think it's fun to make something for yourself wait 'til you start making stuff for friends and band mates. I love seeing friends play gigs with amps and pedals I have made for them. Most affordable gear you can buy sounds very ordinary compared to well made home made gear.
 
Great job man! That’s not something I would generally consider a beginner project either. I went through 3-4 of Pedalpcbs easiest projects to dip my toes back in the water. Actually im still working on easy projects compared to what some of these guys can do.
 
Physical manipulation of the world to your needs is satisfying. Be it a pedal or getting a nail sit snug in a shitty, brittle wall. Hope this success will bring you lots more of enjoyment along the way! And lets not forget, accidentally learning things, picking up details, making the picture clearer and clearer. This forum is a blessing since there's a wide range of knowledge in different fields available. From laser hijinks to woodwork, from CNC to bringing old junk back to life. Just drop your ponderings in the "your workbench" thread and there's going to be someone there who has been where you are.

I call this place my hobby club when mom asks what the fuck I'm tapping my screen so much for. 😌
 
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Great first build, and great first post! I think everyone else on this forum can still remember when we were just beginning to solder, to figure out what all the little parts do, (or at least how to read what their specs were to make sure we had the right part in the right place).

Soldering is a tricky skill to master; I know I can look at some of my first projects and wonder why they worked. But like almost all skills, practice really improves things. And you’re completely right about this forum. Welcome aboard!
 
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