Life Metal - Parentheses

[Grubb]

After some brief troubleshooting, I'm pleased to say that my Parentheses build works and sounds suitably sludgy.

This was my first go using a rotary switch, and also the first time I have wired up a footswitch without using a breakout board of some kind. Apart from one loose connection that was killing the output on the Boost stomp switch, it went pretty well. I wired the LEDs in reverse polarity by accident too, which didn't help. It's all working fine now. I have the DC jack dangling out the back of the unit as I drilled the hole in the wrong place and would have had the rotary switch and DC jack terminals in contact with each other. Eventually, I'll order an external nut jack which will rectify the problem. I also scratched the paintwork by placing the soldered PCB on top to check the drill holes were correctly placed - oops.

I don't love the sound. I'm not a massive fuzz guy and this distortion is pretty fuzzy. It sounds a lot better with my Chapman 7 string than it does with my HSS Strat. The "Octave" switch is producing less of an octave sound and more of an extra layer of doomy weirdness - I'm assuming that's its main function. But I'm glad I built the pedal as I learned some new skills and have now got a 3 button 1590XX build under my belt. Occasionally it will be fun to drag this out and play slow power chords in minor keys. Here are the photos:



Since the picture was taken, I reversed the LED leads to the footswitch

 

[twebb6778]

Congrats on the solid build, it looks great! Did you have the enclosure UV printed by Tayda?

 

[Grubb]

Congrats on the solid build, it looks great! Did you have the enclosure UV printed by Tayda?

Yes, that's my preferred method. These first few units I've just gone for basic text and graphics to ensure I understand the process, but I want to expand on my next builds.

I've learned two things:

1) I don't like gloss black enclosures due to scratches and fingerprints showing up so clearly

2) Paying for the extra print layer on white or colours over black is easily worth the $2USD in terms of quality end product

 

[burger-patty-and-bacon]

Yes, that's my preferred method. These first few units I've just gone for basic text and graphics to ensure I understand the process, but I want to expand on my next builds.

I've learned two things:

1) I don't like gloss black enclosures due to scratches and fingerprints showing up so clearly

2) Paying for the extra print layer on white or colours over black is easily worth the $2USD in terms of quality end product

That looks great, man. What are the LED rings on the stomp buttons?
Do you have a guide on how you prepare your stuff for Tayda?

 

[Grubb]

That looks great, man. What are the LED rings on the stomp buttons?
Do you have a guide on how you prepare your stuff for Tayda?

The LED rings are "illuminated foot switches" from Tayda: link here

If you use them, just be aware that they make your switches around 24mm overall diameter rather than 20, and you need an 18mm drill hole for the plastic ring to sit in rather than a normal 13mm or so hole. Just watch you don't locate them too close to the end of the enclosure and it will be fine. Normally I hook them up using the breakout board from PedalPCB that is designed to connect them, but you can wire them up independently if needed, like I did on this particular build. Breakout board here: linky link

I don't have a guide for Tayda printing and layouts, but I think @dmnCrawler made one? I'm pretty sure I've seen you reply to his thread recently, but if I'm recalling incorrectly, a relevant link is here: another link

I do my templates and layouts in Adobe Illustrator, I get an Adobe subscription through my work, otherwise, I'd be using Affinity like many of the guys here do. I'm happy to send a working template if you use Illustrator and explain how it works and how I made it. Read the Tayda UV Printing thread and you will get lots of helpful pointers too: linkety link

Lastly, the Tayda site has instructions for their UV printing service. It takes a little while to process them and get your head around what to do, but everything you need to know about the printing end of things is explained there, if you read it carefully: zelda and link

 

[fig]

With all those links, you could fashion a chain. Very nice build!

 

[burger-patty-and-bacon]

Thank you. I need to do a lot of reading and learning. I think the Tayda service is totally the way to go instead of my trying other amateur methods at home, although i gotta say the rubber stamp and clear coat look really good if done well!