VFE Pedals -- An opportunity to become a "licensed builder"

[Bricksnbeatles]

When Mr VonRutter first announced the closing of VFE (as we knew it then), he put the entire schematic/brd/eagle files set on sale for ...

$10.

That was about a year ago. He must've realised that's too cheap for all that, and raised the price accordingly.

Ahh, I see the new pricing includes ALL future designs as well. I wonder if I can pay the difference to upgrade to the future ones as well.

Also in the link: There are some exclusions due to shared IP rights, such as the Ice Scream — but you can get that info and board from MadBean, so I'm really not sure how all this shakes down.


I'm curious if the RPU will be made available in this new dealio, as thus far its schematic etc has not been released.

Yeah, that $10 thing was too good to be true. Unfortunately I had bookmarked that back when it happened to remember for later, and then only remembered it well after the $10 deal had ended. $20 is still a steal though, considering that the Gerbers are included.

 

[Feral Feline]

Yeah, that $10 thing was too good to be true. Unfortunately I had bookmarked that back when it happened to remember for later, and then only remembered it well after the $10 deal had ended. $20 is still a steal though, considering that the Gerbers are included.

AND future projects are included for that 20, which the $10 deal did not include.

$20 — It's a deal, it's a steal. It's the sale of the circuit-century. In fact, Bricks, I might just buy it.
Just to have the future-circuits...

 

[Danbieranowski]

Got an email from them today— the full set of files for all of the pedals is only $30 until August 8, and if you use the code MOTHERLODE, it takes another $10 off, bringing it down to just $20

The Motherload - All VFE Design Files | VFE Pedals

This item provides a digital download of a ZIP file with all the documentation needed to build every VFE Pedal design...both those available now and in the future. Purchasing this covers my website hosting, ecommerce, and cloud storage fees for one month - letting me keep this resource available...

www.vfepedals.com

Im trying this code but it doesn’t work. Any idea if he stopped doing that sale?

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

Im trying this code but it doesn’t work. Any idea if he stopped doing that sale?

Not working for me either— finally got around to doing it now. The email was only sent out 6 hours ago though and it said the deal gues until August 8th, and the other coupon code part of the deal (DIYFILES for $1 off any individual files) is still active, so I’d assume it’s not over yet...
I sent an email asking about the code not working. I’ll report back in the morning

 

[jjjimi84]

I bought this motherload pack and its worth it. The presentation alone is really good and a nice little history on all of the pedals. Plus now I can have a ravine board made and be happy.

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

I bought this motherload pack and its worth it. The presentation alone is really good and a nice little history on all of the pedals. Plus now I can have a ravine board made and be happy.

Did the code work for you, and if so what time did you purchase it and was it on mobile or a computer?

 

[Barry]

Did the code work for you, and if so what time did you purchase it and was it on mobile or a computer?

You got it spelled wrong it's MOTHERLOAD

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

You got it spelled wrong it's MOTHERLOAD

I thought I had edited my original comment to fix that shortly after I initially posted it, but it must not have gone through. Regardless, neither MOTHERLOAD or any upper/lowercase variations worked for me on the mobile site in Safari

 

[Barry]

Im trying this code but it doesn’t work. Any idea if he stopped doing that sale?

It's MOTHERLOAD not LODE

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

I was able to get it working on mobile now. You have to do add to cart and then go to checkout— clicking buy now takes you to a different checkout dialog where the code doesn’t work. Neither option worked last night, but now at least the normal checkout works with the code!

 

[zgrav]

When Mr VonRutter first announced the closing of VFE (as we knew it then), he put the entire schematic/brd/eagle files set on sale for ...

$10.

That was about a year ago. He must've realised that's too cheap for all that, and raised the price accordingly.

Ahh, I see the new pricing includes ALL future designs as well. I wonder if I can pay the difference to upgrade to the future ones as well.

Also in the link: There are some exclusions due to shared IP rights, such as the Ice Scream — but you can get that info and board from MadBean, so I'm really not sure how all this shakes down.


I'm curious if the RPU will be made available in this new dealio, as thus far its schematic etc has not been released.

the other thing to note is that these are all new designs for a 125b pedal format. 6 full sized knobs on most, 5 knobs and a toggle switch on a few. some circuit tweaks as well.

I may have misunderstood a part of his earlier email about the licensed builder program, thinking you could build and resell his pedals through other channels if you did now want to be a licensed builder. the latest email says the designs are for personal use only unless you want to build them for resale under the licensed builder platform he is going to establish. Not that he could stop some private selling on other sites, but it seems like that might become more of a gray area.

still, nice to see an established company/builder trying something a bit different with the DIY community.

 

[Harry Klippton]

I bought this motherload pack and its worth it. The presentation alone is really good and a nice little history on all of the pedals. Plus now I can have a ravine board made and be happy.

What do you do about the proprietary micro controller for the switching board?

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

What do you do about the proprietary micro controller for the switching board?

At a quick glance, it seems that all of the boards are laid out so they can easily be wired true-bypass without any modifications. I am curious about that though, as even Madbean doesn’t have access to the code for the microcontroller

 

[zgrav]

At a quick glance, it seems that all of the boards are laid out so they can easily be wired true-bypass without any modifications. I am curious about that though, as even Madbean doesn’t have access to the code for the microcontroller

good question and we'll have to see. Peter talks about carrying some inventory of his custom parts like the dual pots with different ranges. I would think he will carry offer the microcontrollers too, and those should be easy for him to keep in stock.

also an open question whether madbean will be able to keep offering the boards for the 1590B enclosures.

it will be interesting to see what prices the pedals from licensed builders will bring and whether builders can get a premium for some really amazing enclosure designs like we see posted for some pedalpcb projects. there really are some gold standard designs (and designers) here that could raise the bar for the VFE enclosures for customers that want a doubly boutique experience.

 

[Danbieranowski]

Would we have to brand the boards VFE?

 

[jjjimi84]

Did the code work for you, and if so what time did you purchase it and was it on mobile or a computer?

I got it working on PC.

the other thing to note is that these are all new designs for a 125b pedal format. 6 full sized knobs on most, 5 knobs and a toggle switch on a few. some circuit tweaks as well.

I may have misunderstood a part of his earlier email about the licensed builder program, thinking you could build and resell his pedals through other channels if you did now want to be a licensed builder. the latest email says the designs are for personal use only unless you want to build them for resale under the licensed builder platform he is going to establish. Not that he could stop some private selling on other sites, but it seems like that might become more of a gray area.

still, nice to see an established company/builder trying something a bit different with the DIY community.

They are 1590bb2, they will fit in a 125b but if using the sps system you have to add a spacer between the inside of the enclosure and the sps system. I will post a picture to try and explain this better later.

All of the standard series and live series use the same micro controller that mbp sells. Peter is not a coder and commissioned someone, I can’t remember who, to code it and he continued to use it throughout his releases.

The sps system has all of that stuff in smd on the daughter board.

 

[jjjimi84]

Would we have to brand the boards VFE?

I don’t think you would have to if you were making changes but I think doing straight clones would be the right thing to do.

 

[xefned]

They are 1590bb2, they will fit in a 125b but if using the sps system you have to add a spacer between the inside of the enclosure and the sps system. I will post a picture to try and explain this better later.

Hey Jjjimi84, is the spacer necessary?
I'm planning to use a 125b for my Woodchipper to match my other PedalPCB-based pedals. I'm not sure what the spacer is supposed to do, keep the SPS system off the lid?

 

[jjjimi84]

Hey Jjjimi84, is the spacer necessary?
I'm planning to use a 125b for my Woodchipper to match my PedalPCB-based board. I'm not sure what the spacer is supposed to do, keep the SPS system off the lid?

It allows you to mount the sps system flush to the input output jack locations. With a 125b I found the screw receptacles stuck out too far and it wasnt a tight mount.

 

[xefned]

It allows you to mount the sps system flush to the input output jack locations. With a 125b I found the screw receptacles stuck out too far and it wasnt a tight mount.

Cool. Thanks for that heads-up. I'm ordering multiple UV-printed 125b and considering becoming a licensed VFE reseller. But perhaps I'll just start with 1 pre-drilled enclosure to see the deal. Hopefully, I can fashion an adequate spacer to create a tight fit. Gracias!