(I Can’t Get No) Motivation…

Here's some motivation: sell your pedals and build em again. This time you're soldering/wiring/artwork will be much better. I've been very tempted to sell a handful of my builds, either Reverb or my local shop (haven't walked in there to talk about it yet) and then build em better: messed up on the paint job, wiring is messy, etc. I just can't part with em. I'll bet you anything once I sell one I'll do a massive purge!
 
Here's some motivation: sell your pedals and build em again. This time you're soldering/wiring/artwork will be much better. I've been very tempted to sell a handful of my builds, either Reverb or my local shop (haven't walked in there to talk about it yet) and then build em better: messed up on the paint job, wiring is messy, etc. I just can't part with em. I'll bet you anything once I sell one I'll do a massive purge!
That’s kinda of what I was thinking. Maybe go back and redesign certain pedals…try and do it better…maybe try a mod or two this time around, etc…
Have you, by any chance, not been playing guitar lately?

The brain actually grows when you start playing music, it adds brain cell connections to enable you to process all the stuff that needs to happen at the same time. If you stop playing music, that part of your brain gets zero exercise. Unused brain cells get cranky, like a pissed off senior citizen with nothing to do.

This can lead to apathy and loss of motivation. Been there. I make sure I play guitar AT LEAST three times a week for at least an hour. And normally on the weekend I'll get in about 4 to 6 hours. So, basically, playing the blues can prevent the blues. Go grab a guitar!!!!
This happened to me last year around this time too. I responded by not turning my amp on for a solid month, and just playing my jazz box acoustically. I cleaned it up, dusted off the old chops, and greatly expanded my capabilities. By late January had plugged in, and was planning builds…

Maybe I just need to chill out at the end of the year…
 
It's interesting that you are concerned about the art and that's putting you off. I don't care in the least about artwork - other than as something which involves labelling the knobs art work is pretty much irrelevant to me. It's all about the sound for me. Sure, I make them as neatly and technically well as I can, and I like a cool enclosure. But the artwork is not something which means a great deal to me. If I can see myself using a pedal and enjoying the sounds and what it can bring to the experience of playing - well, that's what motivates me. I only ever got into building pedals as a way to get the particular sounds I wanted, and also because it's cheaper than building amps. :)
Word. Building giggable bass amps of reasonable power is definitely not for the faint of heart or weak of wallet, but it's also by far the most gratifying DIY work I've ever done.

I'm a cranky old geezer, and cartoon-ish art is just not something I typically want anything to do with on my own gear. I'm definitely in the form follows function camp, for the few pedals I've sold the ones with simple easy to read control labels and nothing else have been the most popular by far. Test builds get laminated inkjet prints on regular printer paper, in black and white. If it's worth boxing it's worth fifty bucks or so to me for a nice looking powder coat and UV printing.

FWIW, I also don't care a whit about symmetrical board layouts, a little flux residue, having lots of outboard wires, and the cosmetic aspects of much of anything else going on inside the box. Neat and tidy is a nice ideal, but in what passes for my world if it sounds good and is very reliable it is good. ;)
 
Maybe the faceplate thing is the way to go for graphics. I just can't stand the hours it takes for me to get enclosure graphics up to my expectations. Totally kills the vibe.
 
Maybe the faceplate thing is the way to go for graphics. I just can't stand the hours it takes for me to get enclosure graphics up to my expectations. Totally kills the vibe.
But you still need to choose the fonts, line up the labels and name of the pedal or company and maybe a logo or other art for the faceplate. Not much different than applying a decal...

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