At the risk of
being misinterpreted, and/or getting off on the wrong foot as a forum newbie...
As a pedal building noob, I have to provide a contrast to some of the sentiments above. The fact PedalPCB offers so much is amazing, but I have to honest: the terse documentation is a speedbump to entry for people who are just starting out like me. The amount of assumed prior knowledge in PedalPCB docs can be frustrating. I would love to have at least recommendations on what kinds of caps, diodes, resistors to use in what spots (film? ceramic? etc). I realize that's often open to tinkering for different results, but having part callouts for a "default" benchmark build would really help A LOT. Not just in building, but in discussion as well.
I absolutely respect that it's all being done by one guy, and given the huge volume of boards in his catalog, I absolutely can't fault him if it's too much work. If he can't or doesn't want to do it, that's his call.
BUT, with all due respect, folks here actually praising and encouraging that kind of lack of info
as a general practice sets a really bad precedent. You may personally be advanced, and that's cool for you, but saying stuff like "it's everything you need and nothing you don't" (YIKES, is that untrue), or "I like being treated like I know what I'm doing" (pulling the ladder up behind you in over an ego thing that ultimately exists in your head instead of the documentation), or "I prefer less because I like to print everything out" (treating major value for many others as disposable compared to a convenience to a quirky practice that may be unique to you) is corrosive in the bigger picture.
A lot of these ideas in practice manifest as unintentional gatekeeping. Catering to the egos and non-standard quirks of old hands at the cost of making it harder than it needs to be for new blood to enter.
Good documentation makes learning WAY easier and more efficient. It can often be a difference between just two minutes of close reading a doc, vs, half an hour of combing forums and trying to parse the one simple bit of needed info from a quagmire of semi-unrelated "did you try this?" troubleshooting discussions that I don't yet have the expertise to learn from.
And again: all I'd personally want is specified cap/resistor/diode types for build benchmarking (like Coda Effects and Breakfast Audio have in their docs). Just that alone would be the single biggest help. And again: I understand if PedalPCB himself has to pick his battles when it comes to his time, energy, or interest. It's the community appearing to gather around the idea that the quality of documentation can be measured by how exclusively it caters to experts and grognards that's throwing up red flags for me.
lots of good folks here ready to help. Trimmers most often help bias transistors. Post if you need a hand!
