I started a few years back modding pedals. It was exciting to crack open pedals and fiddle with the inside bits. I knew very little about what I was doing, but I knew what I had to do. I was handy with a soldering iron and was cheap, so of course I wanted to try to get the boutique sound everyone was on about on a budget. Going from there, I found that for the price of a used pedal and a mod-kit (or an order from a parts vendor) You can buy a kit with everything you need to build an entirely new pedal. There a few things that you have be mindful of.
1) There is A Steep Learning Curve
Can you tell a resister from a Capacitor? Do you own a soldering iron and necessary accessories to complete projects? Do you have a large amount of free time to use on projects of varying difficulty and usefulness? Do you have a some extra cash to blow on something that may or may not work? Well then, you can embark in to the wonderful world of pedal building. That is, right after you learn how to read schematic and gain a basic understanding how/why pedals work. Building pedals can be a lot of fun. It might save you a bit of money after you get the hang of it. Before you get the hang of it, you might have to sink a bit of money, time, and frustration into gaining that grasp.
2) It won't work
Typically, your first time out won't work. If it does, then you are either lucky or the most talented person I've ever heard of. Depending on the project, there are tons of things that can go airy. So if you are skilled enough to make every solder joint solid, there is still a chance that anyone of the components you've installed are improperly placed. Do you understand exactly how a 3PDT switch works, or how to tell which leg of an LED is negative? Even if you double and triple check your schematics and diagrams as your build, chances are there will be a bug or two that don't work. Which leads us to...
3) Troubleshooting
Typically, this is the step that is the hardest. You know the inner workings of your components, your solder joins are flawless, and you can read technical schematics in Chinese. Now is the time to put all that hard work into action. The pedal is built and everything is "correct" but it is still not functioning properly. This is where a multi-meter comes in handing. You may want to brush up on how to use said device to best serve your needs. The continuity function comes in very handy. I've spent many an hour trying to figure out why something wasn't working only to understand that it was beyond me. So I ended up:
4) Getting Help
There is a wealth of knowledge out there (here) on the interweb. I wouldn't be typing now if not for the vast amount of resources that I've found on this subject and many others that can be found on websites and forums. Sometimes it takes a big man (or lady) to admit that they need help. Other times it take someone who has spend countless hours burning his fingers only to wind up with an extremely frustrating paperweight. You'll find that many people are looking for the same answers that you are. If you are having a particular problem, then you can contact some builders personally. There are fantastic communities of builders and prospect builders willing to help us. Sometimes even with the guided help of experts, we still find a way to fail. Which leads us to...
5) Acceptance
Yes, sometimes the best thing to do is to give up. Maybe today is not your day. Maybe you need to walk away and try again later. Perhaps you were a little too ambitious and need to try a simpler project. I have a couple projects that are just that, projects. I started them with a good understanding of what I need to do and still wind up with something that is unsuitable for use. That's Ok. We learn something every time we start a new project. Its not just about to product at the end of the build but what we learn along the way.
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