What can you and me contribute to the forum?

[Username123]

I've been thinking, what can I contribute? How can I help this community with my limited knowledge? Well I know I can't help all that much other than a quick comment or build report, but I'm learning a lot everyday because of very generous and knowledgeable people on the forum. While I was thinking about what and how I could contribute to the forum, I thought a list of the most common questions asked frequently or things that beginners like me would find useful. Stuff like IC and transistor subs, transistor biasing, trusted part sourcing, guides or questions about uv printing, guides about bass cutoff capacitors, tone stacks, active vs passive and graphic vs baxandall EQ, Just general stuff like that. I could just re format previous thread info and cite back to the original thread. This would really better the community and help people find hard to locate information. But what can other novices do to help the forum? How about helping other novices troubleshoot? Building a pedal and sharing a build report and your thoughts on it's sound? Finding those pesky FV-1 chips that keep getting sold out . It would really better the community as a whole to do things like that. If every new member contributed in even a small way, all the new forum members will have better access to information, troubleshooting, etc, and that would be so awesome! Sorry for the long philosophical talk! I would be surprised if anybody read all the way through! If anybody did read all the way through, then I appreciate it!

 

[Stickman393]

I can provide bewildered laughs. I think. And HVAC advice.

I excell at at shockingly few things.

 

[Username123]

I can provide bewildered laughs. I think. And HVAC advice.

I excell at at shockingly few things.

Bewildered laughs and HVAC advice are definitely good contributions. You seem to excel at building pedals!

 

[Big Monk]

I would say the best way to contribute, especially on niche forums like this, is to simply build pedals. Breadboard, tweak, build, share, etc.

What i have always found on these types of very particular forums is that there is a tendency for people, myself included, to manufacturer a niche for themselves in the absence of just doing the thing the forum is about.

In this case, the best way to help others, to contribute and to be of service to this forum is to build pedals and share your highlights (and lowlights) with everyone else.

 

[BuddytheReow]

^^^THIS!

The only thing you can contribute to the community is your knowledge. This can be obtained either by building pedals (important) or learning how circuits work (equally if not more important). Most people here can contribute their experiences here for the former: what worked and what didn't work. The latter knowledge gets obtained either through combing through the internet, textbooks, your local library, or via troubleshooting yours or others' builds. If you are just starting out with circuit knowledge I would start here. It is a very good source that will teach you how circuits are built and what components can do. It will take you, or at least for me, a while to grasp the basics of electronics. Not to pat myself on the back since I wrote many of the threads, but take a look at the Test Kitchen and the tutorials as well. Chuck's Boneyard can get advanced quite quickly, but do take a look at it. What solidified the learning process for me was breadboarding: you are literally building a circuit from scratch! Modding these circuits help with learning too. I myself still have a lot to learn about circuits and pedal building (my artwork sucks), but as long as you are taking the time to have an open mind and learn then good things will happen.

Before you know it you'll be helping others out in the troubleshooting threads or designing circuits of your own that you can share. Giving back is the reward in itself!

 

[vigilante398]

Another important way to contribute is ASK QUESTIONS. One of my old teachers always said "the only stupid question is one you already know the answer to, anything else is a quest for knowledge." Chances are if you have a question, there are probably a dozen or so people that have the same question but don't know how to ask it. Loads of people read forums to try to find answers without commenting, so if you have a question, ask it both for yourself and for the countless others on the internet that may find themselves looking for the same answer.

 

[wintercept]

This might be an interesting way to expand on the wiki. Make it so that people can contribute, and we have plenty of knowledgeable people who can review it. I really think the wiki has a lot of potential if it had more content and was open to contributions from forum members.

Asking questions is great: most of the nuanced stuff I know has come from googling the answer and finding past threads (site:diystompboxes and looking for RG Keen’s comments on a particular matter lmao). By asking a question and getting an answer, you will be helping others who have the same issue. To that end, I would highly suggest that people search for their questions first and post if they really can’t find an answer. There are no stupid questions, but there are questions that have been asked a bazillion times.

You don’t have to be an engineer or have a deep understanding to contribute here. By simply learning and growing along with the rest of us, you are contributing. I know a lot more know than I did years ago, and through the help of the forum and other resources I will know a lot more in the future and this be able to assist people more.

We also support and socially engage each other here. When you thumbs up a build report, or comment on that sexy wiring or sick art, you are supporting someone doing what makes them happy. Covid taught a lot of us about the importance of hobbies, so this is a great way to contribute.

 

[dawson]

There are no stupid questions, but there are questions that have been asked a bazillion times.

^damn, that's poetic.

My opinion on the original post, I think we've all got strengths where others are going to have weaknesses and we grow as a whole when everyone comes together to share things that we're proud of. For instance: I still have loads to learn about circuitry but regardless of that, a couple giant-brained circuit-whizzes have PM'd me in the past for advice/help with graphic art, which I was obviously flattered to provide.

It's also fun to watch people progress as builders, so even if you're just starting, if you're building stuff that you think is cool, a lot of us are going to want to see it. Heck-my builds are way better now than when I started posting (though less-frequent,) and I hope they continue to get better.

@Username123, if you're the type of mind so inclined to help out in the ways you mentioned above like compiling useful data that's strewn about multiple forums, I'm sure a ton of people would benefit from that and appreciate it.

 

[HamishR]

Just because you aren't a seasoned pedal builder doesn't mean you can't add to the discussion. You may have skills in different areas which may end up being applicable to pedal building. For me the beauty of being a builder or being creative in any way is how the different fields cross over. For example most of us use the built-for-pedals-enclosures to house our effects in. But then someone like Chuck comes along and builds a pedal in an electrical wall housing. There are people here who know a lot about colour printing and can help with how to apply graphics to boxes.

Electronics guys tend to look for solutions in electronics ways. Sometimes there are better ways that we don't know about. That's when it gets interesting for me.

 

[Barry]

Maybe a start here section that links to that great work flow thread, the Boneyard and throw in some commonly asked for information, or move those threads into that area

 

[BuddytheReow]

I'll chime back in here. Previously I stressed circuit analysis/design which is incredibly important for troubleshooting/modding/designing a circuit. We are all builders here and I took some time wandering around the Build Reports forum last night. Although all the pedals have their boards populated the same way (i.e. R10 goes in the R10 slot) that's really where the similarities end IMO. I can't tell you how much I have learned just from looking at these posts since I've wandered over to this side of the internet. Artwork that's been hand painted, spray painted, powder coated, UV printed, stickers, waterslide decals, CNC based, letter stamped, or even no artwork with a sharpie or print out label slapped on it has a certain aesthetic appeal to me. The types/colors of LEDs and bezels, stranded wires, solid core wires, ribbon cabling, multiple colored wires (more helpful in troubleshooting), a single colored wire for the whole hookup, breakout boards, A/B switches, ribbon cabling, enclosure size, you name it! Everyone here has their strengths and weaknesses although we are all striving to get better at our builds in some aspect. Sometimes I'm hesitant to try a different technique or off board component either for monetary reasons or the fear of screwing something up.

What I'm really trying to say between my two posts is to share, to learn, and to repeat. Share what you know, what you have done, what you have learned, what you want to learn. Post them in the various threads around here. Others will be thankful in the future. Ask questions and try something new.