ilovefuzz.com

One of my friends works at a guitar store and the owner wants to start stocking some obscure pedals and whatnot. He saw on my FB page I posted a couple pictures of the small number of successful builds I have done and just volunteers me to stock them with pedals...

1. I barely know what I'm doing. And barely is being generous. At this point I pretty much know how to duplicate other peoples work - with only a vague idea of why everything works the way it does.

2. I work several jobs and even if I knew exactly how to build whatever they want I still wouldn't have the time.

3. ...Come on really? You just go around volunteering people for things?


Honestly I wish I could, and I'm trying to build more now because I think being able to sell pedals of my own design in the future would be cool. Just as a hobby pretty much, not as a real business or anything. I think the population of this forum has the pedal world on lock.

Start a record label. Bands will try to volunteer you to release their music every week...

A friend of mine with a music store is constantly 'volunteering' me to do graphic design work for him. I'd be 100% down with that if he ever gave me any kind of deal, or even dropped me $20 or a couple six packs, but he doesn't. So the last batch of bizcards I did for him was indeed, the last batch.

Release a few albums, tour a bit, give interviews - people volunteer to start a band project with You, almost like the one You're in but with them on solo guitar.

It does sound like an awesome opportunity, jfrey. Sure, your friend should have asked you first, or maybe he just mentioned it offhand(like, "Oh, my friend likes to fart around with pedals") and the manager just misinterpreted it. I'd say if there is ANY way you can do it go for it. I'm sure there's plenty of amateur builders on and off ILF who'd kill for that kind of offer.

Or you could ask for a hefty cash advance and make a run for Mexico.

Here's some Cheap Trick to inspire you...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s1Jsz1lj1Y[/youtube]

snipelfritz wrote:It does sound like an awesome opportunity, jfrey. Sure, your friend should have asked you first, or maybe he just mentioned it offhand(like, "Oh, my friend likes to fart around with pedals") and the manager just misinterpreted it. I'd say if there is ANY way you can do it go for it. I'm sure there's plenty of amateur builders on and off ILF who'd kill for that kind of offer.

My knowledge right now is just so limited. I was thinking though that maybe if I just come up with one good thing that I could make a bunch of... Idk... You'll probably see me in the DIY forum asking everyone stupid questions for the next week.

Cheap Trick. I've actually seen them live. Good show.

Girls that dont meet my standards frequently volunteer me to fuck them that night and ill be all nah but they hang around me all fucking night while im trying to talk to other chicks. Gets annoying.

Worst thing is when someone invites you to a party and when you get there (or sometimes before) volunteers you to be the one to "get all the bitches". Fuck that, i barely like talking to them enough for ME to fuck them, let alone a whole group.

Dude, if DBA managed to get off the ground the way they were building pedals, you should be set.

jfrey wrote:I was thinking though that maybe if I just come up with one good thing that I could make a bunch of..

If you need some custom PCBs done, let me know. I can now do (or rather, have someone else do) very short runs of fabricated boards on the cheap. But I can whip up a new layout with whatever you want on the silkscreen (brand name, circuit name, etc).

culturejam wrote:If you need some custom PCBs done, let me know. I can now do (or rather, have someone else do) very short runs of fabricated boards on the cheap. But I can whip up a new layout with whatever you want on the silkscreen (brand name, circuit name, etc).

Cool. I'll let you know.

Well... I did it... I designed and build an overdrive pedal tonight. Worked perfectly first try and everything is fairly neat. Going to try out some variations tomorrow. I'm a little uncomfortable with the organization of the circuits similarity to some pedals that are already made, even though component types and values are different, and I have a few additional parts. Maybe I'm just ocd about it, but I want to make it more original.

jfrey wrote:1. I barely know what I'm doing. And barely is being generous. At this point I pretty much know how to duplicate other peoples work - with only a vague idea of why everything works the way it does.

n

Well then, buy yourself some NOS transistors and head over to The Gear page!


Seriously, don't worry quite so much about originality. Most pedal circuits aren't as unique as you'd think anyways. All booster pedals-- every single one-- are just basic amplifier circuits that are used in circuits other than pedals. Overdrives are just these with some clipping diodes, which outside of the pedal industry are called "peak detectors" or clippers... they just limit voltage spikes. Do a google search "full wave rectifier" and you'll find circuit fragments from octave fuzzes on sites that have nothing to do with pedals. The green ringer styles simply replace the transformer with a transistor. Anything with an active EQ circuit is just a booster with some basic frequency filters. Modulation circuits just use basic oscillators to control small phase shifts or delay times or whatever. A Big Muff is just 4 boosters, and two of them have clipping diodes. A fuzz face is just two transistors set up to boost as much as possible without regard to saturation.

The real originality is in how you tune the circuit to your ears, and your control layout/options, or how you stack these circuit fragments.

Plus, if the big companies are going to build half-assed products, why shouldn't someone build a good one?

Treat it like art. You're not the first person to paint a dolphin, but god damnit if you've never seen someone paint a dolphin using its snout to rape a unicorn.