My overdue Build Report Megathread

[Spark_Trooper84]

Hey all, I figured it was time for me to post a few of the builds I've completed thus far.

To start with, I began building pedals only 4 short months ago. In that time, I've built 18 pedals so far, the vast majority of which started with PedalPCB boards.
So, I've chosen a selection of my favorites to share with you.

All of the enclosures are finished by me.
Using only rustoleum spray paint primer and enamel color, homemade waterslide decals from Inkscape and printed on my laser printer, and then clear coated with either SprayMax 1k clear or Duplicolor 1k clear.

You'll notice that I like to you old etching artworks in most of my label designs.
Primarily I pull from Albrect Durer, but also from Gustave Dore

Firstly, we have the PedalPCB Parenthesis build.
I've actually built this pedal twice so far, the first for myself, and the second for a good friend of mine.
Both builds went very smoothly and fun.
For my unit, in the Germanium diodes, I selected a matched set of D9J at .240 for D1 & D2, and a set of D2J at .290 for D8 & D9
I originally built it with an OP07 op-amp, but I recently got 2 LM308 chips.
I know there's not going to be a sonic difference that I would be able to tell with my ears, but I now have one of them slotted into the build as it's new home.

 

[Spark_Trooper84]

Next up, Let's talk about what I call Lightbringer.
This project is build from the PedalPCB Spirit Box board, and finished with a custom paint/label and brushed aluminum knobs.
I love this thing, the build was again super fun and smooth, and it sounds absolutely incredible.
This is basically and always on pedal for me now.

 

[Spark_Trooper84]

And now, let's show this one.
I call this the Ritual Pre-Amp, and it's build from the PedalPCB Mofeta board.
One of the reviews on the board's page says 'this thing is made for doom stacking', and that reviewer couldn't have been more right.
I adore the tone I can get out of it, it's dark and deep and so so so good.
I've also built this one twice, the silver one as my personal one, and another finished in bright green
with pink knobs for this really awesome 13yo who's the daughter of my best friend.
So far, I've built her 3 pedals,

 

[Spark_Trooper84]

Now, let's get weird with a couple.
First, the PedalPCB Super Heterodyne Reciever.
This thing is just fully out of pocket and damn near insane.
I haven't played around with it much, because it frankly feels like it just wants to do whatever it wants to do regardless of any input i give it.
It's fun, its weird, its quirky, but I honestly kind of look at it as a novelty rather than anything i'm going to seriously use.




And then we get to one that gave me troubles, but troubles only of my own making.
What I call Destruction is the PedalPCB Chaos Machine board.
This was a fun build, but as soon as I was done with it, it just didn't want to work right.
I was getting this super strange sound out of the thing, and I just couldn't figure out what I did wrong.
I spent 2 hours last night with an audio probe to track down the source of the issue, and concluded that the TL072 in IC3 was probably faulty.
But, I also didn't do the smart thing when I built the board and install IC sockets.
So, there I went with the super fun task of desoldering the TL072, installing a socket, replacing the TL072.
And less than a minute later I spotted the actual issue.

I had used a JRC386 rather than a JRC4558...
Yep, somehow I just didn't use the right IC.
So, again, desolder, socket, replace with the correct IC, and this this runs beautifully now.

 

[Spark_Trooper84]

Now we get to a few more that i'll just touch on.
The PedalPCB Germanium II Fuzz
I can't remember the forward voltage for the germaniums I used, but I know there's a set of 1N34As and a set of D2J in there.
it's a great one, and another 'always on' when I'm playing some softer things.
Having this after the Spiritbox and Pre-Amp pedal I posted earlier is just magic.



A couple non-pedalpcb pedals now,
two builds of the Corvus project from AionFX.
the green one is mine, and the blue one lives with that same 13yo I talked about earlier.

 

[Spark_Trooper84]

Let's wrap it up for now with the most challenging build I've done thus far.
Another Aionfx board, the Neurotron Ring Modulator.
This thing is a behemoth of a board, and you REALLY have to pay attention to the details with it's build.
However, when you have it done and it works, it's such a rewarding pedal with a TON of possibilities.

As for the enclosure, i thought back to my time working in the drilling industry and seeing countless industrial control boxes that were always beaten to hell and back and stained from the greasy and dirty hands over the years.
So, that's what I wanted to try to replicate with this on.
With the liberal application of sandpaper, an xacto blade, and thinned out black paint, I completed what was also my very first aging/weathering project.

The label, I just had fun with, so check out what it says on the sides and bottom center.

 

[Spark_Trooper84]

And that's about it.
I'll just finish up with my DIY 5 loop switcher pedal and a shot of my personal board.

I also built the board itself in an afternoon at the woodshop of a friend.
It measures 24 long by 14 deep with an 8 degree slope.

I hope ya'll have enjoyed these posts.
Thanks for letting me share.

 

[leadfoot]

Great job on all of them!

You should go down the path of the overkill Lovetone pedals from AionFx. I've built them all and they're a ton of fun to build.

 

[szukalski]

Looking great!

 

[Spark_Trooper84]

Great job on all of them!

You should go down the path of the overkill Lovetone pedals from AionFx. I've built them all and they're a ton of fun to build.

Thank you.
Its been really fun building them.

I'v actually already been looking at those projects if you're talking about the doppelganger, meatball, big cheese and brown source

I have them on my list of things I want to do.