What would take this site from 'Good' to 'Great'

If you can just pick 1, what would you like?

  • Day 1 Build Docs

    Votes: 17 68.0%

  • Substitues Listed in Build Docs

    Votes: 6 24.0%

  • More Thurough Instructions/Setup

    Votes: 2 8.0%

  • Beginner Friendly Instructions

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    25
MichaelW said:
Not being defensive or anything, but this is a real question, does anyone else really read all the stuff Aion and MadBean's puts in their build docs?
I've stopped printing out the whole bundle. I just need the drill template, the BOM, schematic, that's about it.
And I consider myself a noob having only started building pedals in March.
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I do read through the build docs. I’m a noob I think I’ve built around 20-30 pedals. I don’t print any of it off anymore with exception of the drill template and the schematic when I’m troubleshooting. I don’t have experience with aion but I do appreciate the madbean build notes. I bought a few from mr. Bean during there sale. I was reading through the build docs for the mysterioso to learn more about the circuit especially which components I should consider socketing. But if I was building a more familiar circuit TS, FF, Etc. I don’t know that I’d bother reading the notes
 
I think having a centralized forum post per released pedal would be a solid, yet easy to implement, improvement. This forum is incredibly valuable, but having a single location to go to instead of searching every thread that mentions e.g. "biasing pedal X" would be nice. A wiki page would be even better, with component swap info, community-contributed mods, etc. but that would take more work and moderation, though seemingly less than cranking out full blown build docs, so maybe an easy win. Plus there seems no shortage of reliable folks here to serve as mods/admins of a wiki.
 
iamjackslackof said:
I think having a centralized forum post per released pedal would be a solid, yet easy to implement, improvement. This forum is incredibly valuable, but having a single location to go to instead of searching every thread that mentions e.g. "biasing pedal X" would be nice. A wiki page would be even better, with component swap info, community-contributed mods, etc. but that would take more work and moderation, though seemingly less than cranking out full blown build docs, so maybe an easy win. Plus there seems no shortage of reliable folks here to serve as mods/admins of a wiki.
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I think this is a pretty good idea. Maybe there are too many PCBs for it though?

Love this site
 
PedalPCB was the first PCB maker I discovered a few years back. I know - I live under a rock. But before the pandemic I'd only built a handfull of pedals and all on veroboard. I have PPCB to thank for my growing in to this hobby and all of he things that have spun off from it (namely my getting more in to metal work and using my love for building pedals as a vehicle for that).

That being said I really have to hand it to Madbean and Aion in particular because their build docs taught me so much about effects in general, how to think about substitutions, biasing particular pedals, certain parts of history regarding effects pedals, and just all around general knowledge stuff. I also appreciate that they do attempt to put their own twist on things at times in an attempt to update old designs or to improve on things they found annoying about other designs and I enjoy learning about that.

I've made many friends on this forum and value my time here and those relationships quite a lot (I mean - @fig set me flowers the day after my surgery - I didn't even get a call from anyone in my family until a week or two later!). And while I don't really use this place for much troubleshooting anymore, I understand that things being DIY and all assumes that the community will pick up much of the troubleshooting and whatnot, but the lack of build docs here kind of makes it the only source for things. I mean, how many "What's a good substitute for an OC 139?" threads does it take to put a note in the build docs is all I'm saying, I guess :ROFLMAO:
 
MichaelW said:
Not being defensive or anything, but this is a real question, does anyone else really read all the stuff Aion and MadBean's puts in their build docs?
I've stopped printing out the whole bundle. I just need the drill template, the BOM, schematic, that's about it.
And I consider myself a noob having only started building pedals in March.
Click to expand...
I really DO like the read in the Aion and MB docs in the sense that I get a bit of history or intent on the pedal and the thought process behind any of the mods or deviations. It's not necessary to build it at all. I do like to have biasing/setup info when it's applicable.

But I've been hanging around here for so long that I take Robert's approach in stride and have zero complaints. And "cult-like"? Damn right it is. This is a tight knit community that cares for each other. But it also welcomes new comers and lurkers alike. All of nate433's suggestions were valid but also had a decidedly aggressive posture I wasn't crazy about. Would I help the guy/girl out or answer questions? Definitely.
 
MichaelW said:
Not being defensive or anything, but this is a real question, does anyone else really read all the stuff Aion and MadBean's puts in their build docs?
Click to expand...
I read the Spectron build doc 7 times. But it’s far from being a tube screamer or a big muff.
 
I read all the stuff Aion writes up about the pedal. Never print it but always read it. But I'm a read it all kinda guy. I've learnt that it often saves time down the track. Plus I'm a geek that way. My mind has a way of filtering information. The less important it is the greater it is that I will remember it until my dying day. Your name? Gone in an instant.
 
Robert said:
It has to be printable (and legible) on standard 8.5 x 11 paper.
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Can I get the dimensions for non-standard 8.5 x 11 ?
🤠
 
Big Monk said:
I wonder if for those you could do the schematic on a page and the BOM refdes on a second.
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I mean that's one page away from the current configuration.

Chances are if the schematic is big the PCB image will be as well, and it'll also probably have a fairly long BOM.

Take a look at the Proposition, for example. I'll be doing good if I can get the full schematic on a single page without scaling it down to the point that you need glasses to read the component values.... and I absolutely hate when a schematic is split across multiple pages.

The PCB image takes up nearly an entire sheet, and the parts list is three pages long.
 
I'm a "read it on paper" kind of guy — after decades in the print trade, I can guarantee you that editing docs on screen is just NOT the same (ie not as good) as editing on a hard copy of a doc.

Nonetheless, I've NEVER printed out a build doc, schematic, NOR DRILL TEMPLATE. Sure, I read and use all those, but they stay on my laptop which I keep close at hand while building and measuring out the holes on an enclosure.

I enjoy reading the build docs from other PCB vendors, and at first it was indeed off-putting that PCBs here were released without build docs — but once I realised that the build docs/schematics DO come eventually... well then I relaxed and learned to go with the flow of this place.

I particularly LIKE the differences between the different main PCB vendors, each brings their own unique take on the hobby, and I enjoy reading the docs on my computer of all the different projects and find cross-pollination of information is useful. Ex: Building a PedalPCB Shika? Reading up on Muffs at Madbean and Aion can help give additional insights and tweaks that may or may not also pop up in the forums here.


My only annoyance with PedalPCB is self-inflicted regret that I didn't buy some PedalPCB PCBs and join this community sooner.
Thanks Robert et al.


Viva la difference!!
 
The earliest build docs did have the PCB image and component values on one page.

It worked for simpler circuits but eventually as projects got larger it was a bit cramped. They weren't grouped by value, but even still, it'd be a squeeze for quite a few projects.
 
I would much rather have each section on a separate page. I like to rip out the schematic into a standalone file, and use some scripts to pull out the components (which work better when the components are on, say, page 2 every time).
 
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