sticky1138
Well-known member
He once had an extended argument with me in his YouTube comments
Why do YOU build pedals?
- Thread starter BuddytheReow
- Start date
vigilante398
Authorized Vendor
Children's starter circuits that he defends violently on the internet, attacking anyone and everyone with belligerence.
Erik S
Well-known member
Things I've been obsessed with for most of my life: tools, equipment, skills, fixing things, building things, being able to avoid paying money through the ability and willingness to do things. To a lesser extent: playing the guitar.
Pedals is still a pretty new obsession. A friend sent me a link to "The Pedal Movie" in 2021 - At that point I had just got an electric guitar for the first time in 20 years and bought my first couple pedals at my local music store. That movie presented pedal builders as mostly scrappy self taught outsiders in a way that was very appealing. I started looking into what was involved in building a pedal.
When you're an opportunistic hoarder of tools and materials, one of the greatest things that can happen is that you find a project that you are accidentally fully prepared to complete using only the junk you've already got. I told the friend who sent me the Pedal Movie that I was pretty sure I could build a fuzz face out of scrap without having to buy anything and I did. That got the ball rolling.
As a grown man with no kids, my life is mostly work and hobbies. Why I keep building pedals instead of working on my many other neglected hobbies is that pedals have a lot going for them as a built object.
So I guess I build pedals because it's an opportunity to build a thing that was very apparently made by a person, and to do it in a way that might tell you something about what kind of person I am. And if the pedals stick around long enough - what kind of person I was.
Pedals is still a pretty new obsession. A friend sent me a link to "The Pedal Movie" in 2021 - At that point I had just got an electric guitar for the first time in 20 years and bought my first couple pedals at my local music store. That movie presented pedal builders as mostly scrappy self taught outsiders in a way that was very appealing. I started looking into what was involved in building a pedal.
When you're an opportunistic hoarder of tools and materials, one of the greatest things that can happen is that you find a project that you are accidentally fully prepared to complete using only the junk you've already got. I told the friend who sent me the Pedal Movie that I was pretty sure I could build a fuzz face out of scrap without having to buy anything and I did. That got the ball rolling.
As a grown man with no kids, my life is mostly work and hobbies. Why I keep building pedals instead of working on my many other neglected hobbies is that pedals have a lot going for them as a built object.
- Cost: They are cheap relative to the time that it takes me to build them - in other words, the per hour cost of the activity isn't that high relative to other things I could be doing. I try to think about cost in hobby terms and not business terms. In a business venture, the less time you spend per unit, the higher your profit. In a hobby venture it's the opposite - the slower you work, the slower you're burning money.
- Size: They are small. I can build many of them without creating a storage nightmare (see above about my hoarding tendencies for why this is a concern). I had a brief obsession with building chairs that quickly became unsustainable.
- Durability: I like the idea of making a thing that has a decent chance of outlasting me. Pedals are physically robust, have a recognizable use-value and seem like they have a chance of not being immediately thrown in the dumpster by whoever is cleaning up the mess I leave behind when I'm dead.
- Value: Maybe more than any hobby-object I've been involved in building, pedals are a thing that people around me are interested in getting. That feels very validating.
- Process: Pedals are a thing that can be made in a way that expresses my feelings about workmanship, and where I can observe the results of my efforts to get better at something.
When the product becomes indistinguishable, the process becomes the product.
Let me say that again:
The Process IS the Product.
AI is already making music that’s nearly indistinguishable from human-made songs. Maybe you’ve felt it too—listening to a track and wondering,
“Was this made by a person… or a prompt?”
Which is why how you make your music—your process, your voice, your quirks, your struggle—is more important than ever.
As Austin Kleon puts it in Show Your Work:
“...an artist can share her sketches and works-in-progress, post pictures of her studio, or blog about her influences, inspiration, and tools. By sharing her day-to-day process—the thing she really cares about—she can form a unique bond with her audience.”
Another way to put it?
People really do want to see how the sausage is made.
So I guess I build pedals because it's an opportunity to build a thing that was very apparently made by a person, and to do it in a way that might tell you something about what kind of person I am. And if the pedals stick around long enough - what kind of person I was.
sticky1138
Well-known member
I chose the "therapy" option.
Fire up the iron, put on some stupid podcast, huff lead fumes. Turn on, tune in, drop out.
Fire up the iron, put on some stupid podcast, huff lead fumes. Turn on, tune in, drop out.
KreoPensas
Well-known member
I discovered a long time ago that building things scratched the same itch as other creativity. I've built a lot of things before I started building pedals. Really, though, if you want *new* analog modulation fx, start soldering or place your wallet between your arse cheeks so someone can nail both at once.
Rpschultz13
Well-known member
Great thread. After years and years of gear-tone chasing, I finally figured out that I "just like to build stuff". And if it can be useful to my music, so be it. If not, as long as it's fun and challenging, it's a win for me. I've got a whole shelf of pedals that I have built that I will never use.
jimilee
Well-known member
All day long!!!
Aleph Null
Well-known member
Pedal building and circuit design has been a natural extension of the music making process for me. At first it's, "How do I get my hands to do that so that the sound I want comes out?". Which becomes, "What kind of instrument will help me get the sound I want?" Which becomes, "What sort of electronics will help me convey that sound to an audience?" Eventually, the quest took me down to the component level.
Now I build the stuff I want or design the things I want that don't exist. Pedal making allows for new musical expression. Musical expression inspires new circuit designs. It's a virtuous cycle.
Now I build the stuff I want or design the things I want that don't exist. Pedal making allows for new musical expression. Musical expression inspires new circuit designs. It's a virtuous cycle.
That’s such a great way to put it. It’s digging into the physical part of creating music. Like how on the composition side, one can go down to the Fourier transform and the harmonic series.
At the start it was because it was way cheaper to build pedals than to buy retail versions. Now though I actually really enjoy the whole development pipeline. I've gone from populating PCBs to trying to understand the circuit design and come up with my own designs and PCBs. It's really satisfying when you combine all these different skills into one project.
Currently I'm developing a "rack mount" type system because I mostly play in the studio and rack mount is way more convenient for me. I'm also interesting in studio gear too.
Currently I'm developing a "rack mount" type system because I mostly play in the studio and rack mount is way more convenient for me. I'm also interesting in studio gear too.
RhPf Electronics
Well-known member
I think I am just a terrible guitar player so always blamed it on the gear instead of my own hands.. I picked "I like to build stuff" cuz my ego needs it but I was tempted by "Eh, I'm done building for now. I'm just here to troll on people and sell $5 diodes"
Alan W
Well-known member
So many reasons! I’ve always loved just building things, and ended up “building things” as a business, making prototypes and models (architectural, industrial design, etc.). Electronics have always baffled me, but I feel immensely drawn to them. I began modifying, and then building, stereo equipment in the late 70s. That was absolutely my main hobby, almost an obsession at times. With digital, and the move to surface mount, my initial reaction was “well, so much for the DIY future…” (which was obviously an over-reaction). I had built a few pedals, mainly from Craig’s book, and realized that I could continue soldering away if I spent more time building pedals.
So for a few years I made veroboard versions of circuits that became available due to this internet thingie. While I still don’t understand what the electrons are up to, I can read schematics, and truly loved the process of looking at a schematic and turning it into a veroboard layout, then taking that layout and seeing how I could optimize it. In the meantime, I had this shop that allowed me to do whatever I wanted in terms of making and decorating the enclosures—so life was sweet.
I’m not sure what my favorite part of pedal building is. I really love soldering! I love board stuffing, pulling the leads taut, getting everything lined up as neatly as possible (model makers tend to be pretty anal…). I love designing the artwork for enclosures. And the drilling, prep, painting and decorating are like a busman’s holiday to me. My least favorite part is parts ordering. From my stereo building days, especially the last few pieces I’ve built, that were all differentially balanced, I got used to the need for really accurate spec matching of parts, and even though it’s hugely inappropriate, and expensive, I’ve carried that over in my pedals. (Anal, like I mentioned earlier.)
Oh, and then, there’s the joy of playing what you’ve built! My number one amp is an Allen Encore that I kit built, and 2 of my favorite guitars are Warmoth assemblies. And even with the parts costs for my “oh, just buy mil spec” splurges, trying out pedals I’d never drop the $ on to buy has been an extra benefit.
And then, there’s this. This specific forum. In general, my favorite locations on the internet have been various DIY sites—snark doesn’t do so well, people are actually invested in helping each other, etc. PedalPCB is a special place. I’ve been less active on it lately—my board full of working but unfinished (in terms of paint etc.) pedals grew to the point that I decided I needed to stop building until I took them apart, brought them into my old shop and got them spruced up to my standards, and rebuilt. I keep putting it off… but the list of pedals waiting to be built is also getting large, so I’m about to cave, and start taking things apart.
So for a few years I made veroboard versions of circuits that became available due to this internet thingie. While I still don’t understand what the electrons are up to, I can read schematics, and truly loved the process of looking at a schematic and turning it into a veroboard layout, then taking that layout and seeing how I could optimize it. In the meantime, I had this shop that allowed me to do whatever I wanted in terms of making and decorating the enclosures—so life was sweet.
I’m not sure what my favorite part of pedal building is. I really love soldering! I love board stuffing, pulling the leads taut, getting everything lined up as neatly as possible (model makers tend to be pretty anal…). I love designing the artwork for enclosures. And the drilling, prep, painting and decorating are like a busman’s holiday to me. My least favorite part is parts ordering. From my stereo building days, especially the last few pieces I’ve built, that were all differentially balanced, I got used to the need for really accurate spec matching of parts, and even though it’s hugely inappropriate, and expensive, I’ve carried that over in my pedals. (Anal, like I mentioned earlier.)
Oh, and then, there’s the joy of playing what you’ve built! My number one amp is an Allen Encore that I kit built, and 2 of my favorite guitars are Warmoth assemblies. And even with the parts costs for my “oh, just buy mil spec” splurges, trying out pedals I’d never drop the $ on to buy has been an extra benefit.
And then, there’s this. This specific forum. In general, my favorite locations on the internet have been various DIY sites—snark doesn’t do so well, people are actually invested in helping each other, etc. PedalPCB is a special place. I’ve been less active on it lately—my board full of working but unfinished (in terms of paint etc.) pedals grew to the point that I decided I needed to stop building until I took them apart, brought them into my old shop and got them spruced up to my standards, and rebuilt. I keep putting it off… but the list of pedals waiting to be built is also getting large, so I’m about to cave, and start taking things apart.
I like building things, actually more like solving a problem that I don't have to start with:
* telescope control and cameras on computers that don't have support (that had me coding in assembler in the cameras), includes passive atmosphere deconvolution of the image using GPUs. Also the servo control on the scope focusing was Arduino with a chopper, the rest was computer side in C++. My favourite bit is extracting image information from below the Dawes limit of the scope and between the pixels using maths..
* drone stereo vision.. co-foundered died unfortunately, lost the hardware side of it. Used dual Blackfin embedded CPUs.
* fish pond - uses only 58W not 580W thanks to the use of airlifts
* fixing hifi amp and CDP (recapped and modified after it blew the diode bridge to pieces - the old caps were 1997 and cooked..)
* ADC with new clock, power supply, isolation, and STM32 USB2 audio firmware, getting down to -160dBV.
* hybrid tube-BJT headphone amp in a circlotron config
* fixed hand-me-down Phillips 1957 receiver
* guitar (designed and built from planks)
* amp (jcm800 mini 2W) and cab.
* pedals (because you get stuff and make sound then fiddle with it - the tube compressor was my first), I'm eyeing up a daisy seed but for now fuzz..
* I'd like to get the archtop design built.
You see what I mean.. The guitar stuff is more focused on something I'll use heavily so pedals are an easy tinker with less investment outlay.
* telescope control and cameras on computers that don't have support (that had me coding in assembler in the cameras), includes passive atmosphere deconvolution of the image using GPUs. Also the servo control on the scope focusing was Arduino with a chopper, the rest was computer side in C++. My favourite bit is extracting image information from below the Dawes limit of the scope and between the pixels using maths..
* drone stereo vision.. co-foundered died unfortunately, lost the hardware side of it. Used dual Blackfin embedded CPUs.
* fish pond - uses only 58W not 580W thanks to the use of airlifts
* fixing hifi amp and CDP (recapped and modified after it blew the diode bridge to pieces - the old caps were 1997 and cooked..)
* ADC with new clock, power supply, isolation, and STM32 USB2 audio firmware, getting down to -160dBV.
* hybrid tube-BJT headphone amp in a circlotron config
* fixed hand-me-down Phillips 1957 receiver
* guitar (designed and built from planks)
* amp (jcm800 mini 2W) and cab.
* pedals (because you get stuff and make sound then fiddle with it - the tube compressor was my first), I'm eyeing up a daisy seed but for now fuzz..
* I'd like to get the archtop design built.
You see what I mean.. The guitar stuff is more focused on something I'll use heavily so pedals are an easy tinker with less investment outlay.
jesuscrisp
Well-known member
At first I just wanted some fuzz pedals for cheap while I was studying. After building some kits and a bunch on veroboard I started to dream up my own versions of circuits and went into arguably original designs.
Right now I'm hardly soldering anything and got a lot of unfinished boards, both clone kits and my own designs sitting around because I have other things in life eating away my time.
Was easier during covid as everything else was kind of on ice anyway.
Toyed around with the idea of making it my side hustle but my current job pays enough that I wouldn't rely on it and also the market is in a tough place right now anyway.
Mostly doing circuit design and PCB layout for other guys recently, but that might change again.
I think my main motivation I is that I am just never quite satisfied with most pedals on the market and would like to change stuff, find my own spin on how to achieve a certain kind of sound, add useful features etc.
Right now I'm hardly soldering anything and got a lot of unfinished boards, both clone kits and my own designs sitting around because I have other things in life eating away my time.
Was easier during covid as everything else was kind of on ice anyway.
Toyed around with the idea of making it my side hustle but my current job pays enough that I wouldn't rely on it and also the market is in a tough place right now anyway.
Mostly doing circuit design and PCB layout for other guys recently, but that might change again.
I think my main motivation I is that I am just never quite satisfied with most pedals on the market and would like to change stuff, find my own spin on how to achieve a certain kind of sound, add useful features etc.