SchlegFace
Active member
Well folks, I did it. I finally decided to buckle down and figure out Tayda's UV prints. I was holding off until I came across a build that I wouldn't be able to easily do the art myself and this one did it.
The Zoar was one that went straight onto my must have list as soon as it came out. The build was as straightforward and easy as most other PPCB builds. I did need some stuff from Mouser, so I went with the stock SMD transistor for Q1. I do enjoy these builds SMD transistors, makes the board seem much more open and spacious!
I had two face palm moments for this build. First off, when I went to initially test it, I forgot to bias it and got nothing from it for the first 30 seconds that it was fired up. I had that heart in your stomach feeling for a few seconds, then flipped it over, saw the trimmer, and gave myself a good talking too. Seems I tend to forget biasing or to put ICs in or something silly with each build. The other goof was putting in an orange LED instead of red. So back to the soldering station to swap those around.
I am a bass player, so with any dirt or fuzz pedal I use I run it through my clean blend pedal to retain some bottom end and clarity. After using the Zoar for a little bit, I don't think I would need to run this with a clean blend. The Weight control on this thing is great at retaining that thickness that you can lose with some dirt pedals on bass. This is probably my new favorite dirt pedal, which is what I normally say with each new build!
I am quite pleased with the results from Tayda's UV printing. I definitely am grateful for the tutorial here and from Pachyderm Pedals. Those took a lot of the mystery out of the process of preparing the art file for printing. I used Inkscape and Affinity, and feel pretty confident that I will be able to add this to my arsenal of finishing techniques.
I didn't really know how to theme this pedal for a while, so I just looked at the original pedal art for a while until I realized it was creepy hands themed. What else is creepy hands themed? The Master's robe from Manos: The Hands of Fate!!! After I came to that realization I was off to the races, punny control names and all! I definitely wouldn't have been able to easily do the red on black art without UV printing.
The Zoar was one that went straight onto my must have list as soon as it came out. The build was as straightforward and easy as most other PPCB builds. I did need some stuff from Mouser, so I went with the stock SMD transistor for Q1. I do enjoy these builds SMD transistors, makes the board seem much more open and spacious!
I had two face palm moments for this build. First off, when I went to initially test it, I forgot to bias it and got nothing from it for the first 30 seconds that it was fired up. I had that heart in your stomach feeling for a few seconds, then flipped it over, saw the trimmer, and gave myself a good talking too. Seems I tend to forget biasing or to put ICs in or something silly with each build. The other goof was putting in an orange LED instead of red. So back to the soldering station to swap those around.I am a bass player, so with any dirt or fuzz pedal I use I run it through my clean blend pedal to retain some bottom end and clarity. After using the Zoar for a little bit, I don't think I would need to run this with a clean blend. The Weight control on this thing is great at retaining that thickness that you can lose with some dirt pedals on bass. This is probably my new favorite dirt pedal, which is what I normally say with each new build!
I am quite pleased with the results from Tayda's UV printing. I definitely am grateful for the tutorial here and from Pachyderm Pedals. Those took a lot of the mystery out of the process of preparing the art file for printing. I used Inkscape and Affinity, and feel pretty confident that I will be able to add this to my arsenal of finishing techniques.
I didn't really know how to theme this pedal for a while, so I just looked at the original pedal art for a while until I realized it was creepy hands themed. What else is creepy hands themed? The Master's robe from Manos: The Hands of Fate!!! After I came to that realization I was off to the races, punny control names and all! I definitely wouldn't have been able to easily do the red on black art without UV printing.
