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Building A Pedal From Radio Shack


Haggard Cky

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i no im going to prolly get a lot of crap about this but i tried to search multiple times and i couldnt find anything (kept giving me an error)

now i want to build a pedal (any type, distortion, wah, phase, ect.) but i dont want to go ordering things off the internet unless i have to. i dont really have any experiance with electronical stuff but i feel confident enough that if some gave me a diagram and told me wut everything was i would be able to build it.

my main goal is to try to get everything from radio shack or some place simular to those. if anyone here has ever made a pedal from just radio shack parts or no of a thread where someone has done please point me to it.

i might get the tweak-o (forgot where i saw it) because i heard its easey and the instructons looked easy. i do have a soldering iron and i do no how to use it

any help would be greatly appreceated

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i no im going to prolly get a lot of crap about this but i tried to search multiple times and i couldnt find anything (kept giving me an error)

now i want to build a pedal (any type, distortion, wah, phase, ect.) but i dont want to go ordering things off the internet unless i have to. i dont really have any experiance with electronical stuff but i feel confident enough that if some gave me a diagram and told me wut everything was i would be able to build it.

my main goal is to try to get everything from radio shack or some place simular to those. if anyone here has ever made a pedal from just radio shack parts or no of a thread where someone has done please point me to it.

i might get the tweak-o (forgot where i saw it) because i heard its easey and the instructons looked easy. i do have a soldering iron and i do no how to use it

any help would be greatly appreceated

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Yeah...what's with these guys like RatShack...Dick Smith down here :D is moving away from kit's and stuff...it doesn't make sense to me as the mark up must be enormous, even if they are small sales....

Check out for other places...Kit's are definitely the way to go...they are often cheaper than buying the individual comp;onents and you get a circuit board so that it's more likely to work....

When you learn a bit more you can customise them too...swaping opamps and other components to change the sounds a bit to taste...

The Australian Mag Silicon Chip has featured all sorts of great effects and many of them have been made into kits...for instance they designed a really cool distortion - 5 knobs inc 3 band EQ featuring even and odd harmonics...not your simple fuzz box...A$65 in kit form from places like Jaycar or Altronics...including quality knobs and slimline case...plus their instructions not only tell you how to build it but how it works...You couldn't by the components that cheap and finding them anyway would be such a PITA...

Likewise my Sustainer Circuitry is made from two modified kits chained together...they're cheap and reliable and I haven't found anything to match them really on price, time to construct or performance...

Other stuff, since I've got the Catalogue out includes...5 band graphic equaliser A$37...Audio compressor (I've made this, 4 knobs control compression, Limiting, Sustain, Noise gate, gain and output level...works perfectly) A$34....

Simple Fuzz boxes, pre-amps and stuff even cheaper...

I'd really encourage people to start with this stuff as with care (and a decent soldering iron) you're pretty much assured of a working device and the quality is often on a par or exceeds commercial stompboxes...plus it's a no hassle fun introduction...go for it...

psw

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ya i think im goin to get the tweak-o fuzz pedal but it will have to wait since i just bought me a 160 watt tube amp for 160 bucks. ya thats right a tube head for a 160 bucks. its a peavey mace made in the 70s the same one that the guitarist from lynyrd Skynyrd used in the 70s. so now i got to find me a cab and get some new tubes. if u have any ideas please tell me i play music like thrice and avenged sevenfold.

thanks for all the help so far

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well i was thinking after i get my cab (used Marshall 1960A) and get my head retubed i want to start building my pedal. but i was thinking if im going to build something might as well build something im going to use. i personally hate fuzz pedals and i was thinking wut about a clean boast? something like a MXR micro amp, does anyone no where i can get a kit or no how i can build a boost pedal? this project will prolly start in like 2 months so i have time to learn what im doing.

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radio shack is WAY overpriced. .99 for 5 resistors?! please! i can get an entire roll of 100 for 1.99 at fry's electronics! dont go to the rat shack unless theres a specific part that you ABSOLUTELY need RIGHT NOW and have no where else to go. i personally build my pedals from a combo of cannibalized parts from my old toys(good thing i didnt throw them away!) and stuff ordered from www.mouser.com and www.smallbearelec.com

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OK...but don't discount the Kit route...perf-boarding stuff and ordering each individual component, especially for a beginner can be a real PITA, and some things are a bargin...but perhaps not from RatShack.... :D

Here's something I've got my eye on for a future amp project...

Valve Pre-amp

A real tube preamp with power adaptor for A$33....!!! And this is designed for guitar use...

I'm looking at two of these running two sides of a stereo 100 watt per side amp...hmmm...

You could probably build it yourself...but at this price, and the virtual assuredy that it'd work...you'd be struggling...with the power adaptor (sure it's Aussie 240 volt, but hey....)

I'm sure there's all sorts of amazing bargins out there for all levels of experimenters and stompbox abuses....

pete

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i found this schematic and a board for this here http://www.tonepad.com/project.asp?id=6. would this be hard to make? and about how expensive d o uthink it will be.

Not too hard to make at all. Cost shouldn't be more than $50-60, less if you aleady have all the tools you need.

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Sorry, but i had to edit your post - the image was too big, and above all, I don't think Aron would appreciate you using his bandwidth by hotlinking to his site. As for tools, you'll need wire strippers, pliers, a good set of side cutters, a drill (if you're planning on boxing it up), that kind of stuff. I'm sure there's something important i've forgotten, so don't consider this a comprehensive list.

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