Bulk buying components

M

micmike

New member
Hi all

Really grateful this community exists and have enjoyed perusing random posts. I've done some searches and I'm sorry if this has been asked and posted concisely before:

Where do I start with ordering a bulk foundation of capacitors, resistors, chips, inputs, switches etc?

What foundational components do you keep stock of on your workbench? Sorry if I'm asking the wrong questions here. I imagine buying the PCBs of pedals I want to build, but would rather not buy all components on a case by case basis, I'd rather save money and have a library of components ready to go. Is this the right mentality?

Additionally, anyone in Australia able to point me to the best local resources?
 
I know you don't wanna buy on a PCB by PCB basis, but unless your intention is to start breadboarding immediately and making your own designs I would stick to ordering what's required for the pcbs you have or are intending to buy. If you're at the "making my own designs out of parts that I have" stage by all means load up on a little bit of everything. But if you're just planning on building specific PCBs for now order the parts needed for those PCBs and by all means order double, triple, or quadruple of what those PCBs need. That's a good tactic for building up parts that you'll actually use and having extras for some projects later on.

Most components are relatively cheap, it's the hardware/enclosures where dollars start racking up.

Trying to buy for a "ready for any situation" method can be extremely overwhelming, a potential waste of money, and a disorganized mess.

Can't help ya locally, but online Tayda, Mouser, and Smallbear are good starting points.
 
micmike said:
Hi all

Really grateful this community exists and have enjoyed perusing random posts. I've done some searches and I'm sorry if this has been asked and posted concisely before:

Where do I start with ordering a bulk foundation of capacitors, resistors, chips, inputs, switches etc?

What foundational components do you keep stock of on your workbench? Sorry if I'm asking the wrong questions here. I imagine buying the PCBs of pedals I want to build, but would rather not buy all components on a case by case basis, I'd rather save money and have a library of components ready to go. Is this the right mentality?

Additionally, anyone in Australia able to point me to the best local resources?
Click to expand...
My method has been to order a few extra of whatever I need, and eventually I'll end up needing very little.

Since Tayda is so cheap for things like resistors, I generally just buy 100 of whatever value I need (Except for 10K ohms. You'll always need a load of these, so I always throw in another 100 into every Tayda order). It wasn't long before I stopped ordering "what I needed" and started ordering "What I'm getting low on" if that makes sense.

Beyond that, just look for the common parts among the PCBs you're looking at, and you'll start to see a pattern (You'll always need 100n film caps, for example). I've also found that the various designers seem to have a "style", and tend to employ what works well for them, so if you're going to stick with a particular producer, there can be some predictability that won't necessarily translate if you're going to be building from a lot of different PCB suppliers.

There are a few designs out there that use some strange and hard-to-source parts (mostly ICs and transistors), but for the most part the majority of projects use the same kind of stuff.
 
JTEX said:
Hmm, I just had this idea that it might be useful to have a sort of database where we could dump BOMs for lots of various pedals and then sort components by how frequently used they are overall.
Click to expand...
I think I remember a project like that a few years back. I’m not sure where I saw it—hopefully someone remembers.
 
Buying extra is the way to go. When I started out I'd put together a spreadsheet and order parts for 3 or more projects at once. Buying extra parts will also get you into the bulk pricing for parts, which lowers the cost. For expensive parts like electrolytic caps I usually look for deals, Newark used to be great.

The exception to this would be pots; don't get extra pots. I always have 3 of the 4 pots I need for a project, on hand :ROFLMAO: Always end up with a Tayda order, anyways.
 
Mouser has different price points for 10/100/etc. if you’re going to get 30 of something it usually makes sense to buy 100
 
I went all in before I could even solder properly (not that I can solder well now, but I've gotten better at it).

So I bulked up right away knowing I'd need lots of stuff for all the planned builds, not to mention unplanned.*


For instance if you plan to solder up some phasers in future you'll need some specific bits such as matched sets of JFETs that some phasers require.
The Duo-Phase itself alone requires 13 TL072 ICs. Other phasers may need 2, 3 or 4 TL072s (or JRC4558) ...

If you have discipline to only specifically build what you need/want for yourself, then order parts per build.
If you have a curious streak and want to dip your ears in all the sonic-waters, and have friends that may want builds, and maybe you want to sell a few builds to offset the cost of satisfying your curiosity — then you'll need a LOT of TL072 ICs and a helluva lot of other things.


Stuff I can't seem to keep stocked (and I don't even build anywhere near as much as others here), but not limited to the following:

RESISTORS
10k
100k

CAPS
100n
1µ
100µ (Power filtering)

DIODES
1N914
1N5817


POTS
A100k
B100k

KNOBS
Assorted. Order a few of what you need immediately and you'll soon find what is sub-standard and what is quality and in the style you like.

JACKS
IN
OUT
SWITCHING
DC
Yeah, all kinds of jacks. Some are better for certain types of builds such as enclosed jacks for most, but compact ones for 1590A and anywhere you're stuffing in more than you should into an enclosure...

ICs
TL072
JRC/NJM4558
LT1054 / TC7660 charge pumps
CA3080
CD4049UBE
LM13700





Check out Beavis' website for some shopping suggestions
Also GuitarPCB has a PDF with suggestions on what to stock up on.
Aion is another resource for purchasing tips.

CAVEAT EMPTOR!
Some of the advice I've linked to may be old and out of date.
For example, Tayda has upped its game in regards to knobs. When I first started and bought knobs from Tayda, most of them were cheap, but the quality of the knobs Tayda carries now is much better.


*Some of the stuff I bought I've used up a few times over, other stuff I haven't touched and may not ever do so, so a life-time supply...
YMMV
YNMV
 
Feral Feline said:
I went all in before I could even solder properly (not that I can solder well now, but I've gotten better at it).

So I bulked up right away knowing I'd need lots of stuff for all the planned builds, not to mention unplanned.*


For instance if you plan to solder up some phasers in future you'll need some specific bits such as matched sets of JFETs that some phasers require.
The Duo-Phase itself alone requires 13 TL072 ICs. Other phasers may need 2, 3 or 4 TL072s (or JRC4558) ...

If you have discipline to only specifically build what you need/want for yourself, then order parts per build.
If you have a curious streak and want to dip your ears in all the sonic-waters, and have friends that may want builds, and maybe you want to sell a few builds to offset the cost of satisfying your curiosity — then you'll need a LOT of TL072 ICs and a helluva lot of other things.


Stuff I can't seem to keep stocked (and I don't even build anywhere near as much as others here), but not limited to the following:

RESISTORS
10k
100k

CAPS
100n
1µ
100µ (Power filtering)

DIODES
1N914
1N5817


POTS
A100k
B100k

KNOBS
Assorted. Order a few of what you need immediately and you'll soon find what is sub-standard and what is quality and in the style you like.

JACKS
IN
OUT
SWITCHING
DC
Yeah, all kinds of jacks. Some are better for certain types of builds such as enclosed jacks for most, but compact ones for 1590A and anywhere you're stuffing in more than you should into an enclosure...

ICs
TL072
JRC/NJM4558
LT1054 / TC7660 charge pumps
CA3080
CD4049UBE
LM13700





Check out Beavis' website for some shopping suggestions
Also GuitarPCB has a PDF with suggestions on what to stock up on.
Aion is another resource for purchasing tips.

CAVEAT EMPTOR!
Some of the advice I've linked to may be old and out of date.
For example, Tayda has upped its game in regards to knobs. When I first started and bought knobs from Tayda, most of them were cheap, but the quality of the knobs Tayda carries now is much better.


*Some of the stuff I bought I've used up a few times over, other stuff I haven't touched and may not ever do so, so a life-time supply...
YMMV
YNMV
Click to expand...
great list, most of those i'd agree with in my experience
 
I build a lot of pedals... and sell a few on the side... so I buy in bulk a lot...

I mostly buy from Mouser, but I pick up the oddball stuff all over...

Resistors I generally buy at least 50, more likely 100, except for the things I need a lot of (10K ohm, 100K ohm, etc.) - that starts at 200... but resistors are cheap...

Caps I tend to buy in the 10, 20, 50 range depending on the value...

TL072 chips... yeah, get those in bulk...

Same thing for 1N914, 1N4148, 1N5817 and 1N4001 diodes...
 
Feral Feline said:
DIODES
1N914
1N5817


POTS
A100k
B100k
Click to expand...
Definitely a great list!

I don't buy those pots in quantities of less than 10. :D

Additionally, those diodes are generally non-critical enough that I don't mind buying the 100-150 packs on Amazon. As a bonus, they come in plastic boxes that are very handily reusable.
 
benny_profane said:
Unless making a ton of old comps without a retrofit for modern components, this really doesn’t need to be on the “must have” list.
Click to expand...
I never said it was "must have", what I said was ...

Feral Feline said:
Stuff I can't seem to keep stocked
Click to expand...



I like the CD4049UBE and mentioned it too, but if someone else doesn't like the sound of circuits based on that chip it probably wouldn't be in his/her list.
I buy resistors in 100 packs
Diodes such as 1N914 aren't hard to come by, yet I always seem to be out of them. Sometimes I'll use 1N4148 instead of 1N914, but I still want 1N914.


I also mentioned at the end of my post:

YMMV [Your Mileage May Vary]
YNMV [Your Needs May Vary]
 
If you’re going to buy bulk, stock up on the E6 series. If you have any oddball values that aren’t in there, then you can put stuff in parallel/series to get what you need. Precise values are overrated in any case but storing oddball values is wasteful (in my experience).
I tend to start at 100, though 10 and 47 ohm resistors are useful.

Apart from that, TL072s, 1N5817, 1N914/1N4148, 2N3904, and some BAT40 somethings will build nearly anything.
 
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