Since you build them, do you still buy stompboxes?

[GreenEye]

Since I've figured out some simple circuits (and gone a little crazy in the process), I feel like I'm cheating myself if I go out and pay full price for something like a RAT.  I'd rather see my guitar room full of weird, unpainted customized pedals, than full of manufactured pretty expensive ones with brand names.  I would consider something like a really good reverb, but not a normal distortion pedal anymore....

[Gilles C]

You're correct about the Korg Ampworks. That's a good buy. Cool demo video.

My Korg Multi FX411 sounds a bit the same, but is a lot less elaborate. It's just that they must have the same ancestors....

[Mark Hammer]

Time is money and money is time, my friend.

Sometimes it's both cheaper and faster to get to your desired sound by building.  Sometimes, it's both cheaper and faster to get to it by buying, whether 2nd hand or new.  Sometimes, it's not any cheaper (or costlier), but way faster to buy something and mod it.  Sometimes, things are simply out of one's league for building from scratch (can you say reverse digital delay or harmonizer?)

Fact of the matter is that there are LOTS of products produced at competitive prices that put a desirable sound in your hands in respectable convenient packaging with reliable functioning for a decent price.

Then there is stuff you buy because it has sentimental value or because you can't resist a bargain. or because, God help you, you simply haven't bought anything in ages and you're just dying to.

Building stuff from scratch will always provide a kick, but no bigger a kick than having stuff that works well and is usable right now.

[RDV]

It's a good thing I'm not worried about the time(=$) that I've put into this.

It's a theraputic hobby for me that replaces my old one(called drug abuse) that plagued me from my teens well into my 30's. I have spent a lot of actual $ as well(which I do worry about a bit), but I'm going to slow down on that as I'm pretty well stocked now. I, however used to spend between $500.00 to $1,000.00 a month on that other hobby I mentioned, so the cost hasn't been too awful bad, and I actually get a finished, usable product to boot.

My cup runneth over.

RDV

[Mark Hammer]

Yeah, that "other hobby" doesn't have much resale value either, does it?

[Marcos - Munky]

If I have extra money, I spend it on DIY. Is better than spend it in the "other hobbie". And you get experience, satisfaction, fun and a killer tone.

[Gilles C]

RDV, It reminds me what my wife once told me about my hobbies...

She told me that she prefered to see me at home on my computer or building things than in a bar and getting drunk until I drop dead every night. (Not that it was my habit or my style. I was just compared to someone she knew   )

I must admit though that sometimes she calls herself a computer widow.

But she still tells me from time to time to get out and go to a bar to see a friend play when she feels I need it.  

Sometimes, I don't wait her sugestion... I know when I'm due.

Gilles

[Paul Marossy]

Thinking about this a little more, I could buy most any effect that I wanted to, and have in times past. Money isn't the issue for me, though. Building stompboxes, tube amps, etc. is an outlet for me. Being a project manager at a large consulting engineering firm is stressful, by the end of the day (9 hours) I can be quite exhausted - and agitated at times. Building stuff helps me to keep from going crazy, and I suppose it helps to keep my blood pressure down, too.  Well, unless that  !@#(^!   piece of  !^()@!%^!  doesn't work the first time I apply power to it... :lol:

[mlabbee]

I think it also depends on what you're trying to accomplish.  There are some things that just aren't readily available or have limitations that you would like to overcome.  

I just started building these things recently and the desire to do so came about almost entirely because of two boxes I wanted, but wanted to be able to do more with - the SeekWah and the Nanohead. I love the sound of the SeekWah (and other sequenced filter effects, like the MURF), but wanted to be able to sync it to midi. Plus, I'd like to try various different filter designs, etc, etc.

And I love the Nanohead, but would love to have one with an effects loop and more tone control (size isn't the attraction for me - it's the low volume/great tone).  I will probably end up buying the SW and NH anyway, but they definitely served as inspiration for me to design/build some things that do precisely what I want them to do, with no compromises.  (Incidentally, I have not yet built either of these projects - I'm still too far down on the learning curve to attempt them . . . patience grasshopper)

As others have said, if you're doing it to save money - unless you already have all the stuff you need, you will spend WAY more money building these things.  Trust me on that one :-)

[Burstbucker]

Hi everybody,

Yeah, I still buy the occasional commercial stompbox but I'm getting more into this DIY thing.  What a great hobby.  The idea of building something from scratch and having it blow away most pedals sold at your local music store is pretty cool indeed!

I've built a variety of Treble Boosters and Fuzzes and they really kick butt IMHO.

BTW, Paul Marrosy, you sure built a lot of pedals in a short time span, mmaaaannnnnnnnn!!!!!!  And you did a dynamite job on them too.  For all you guys who took-up Electronics/Engineering it sure gave you a jump-start in building stompboxes, since you're good at using CAD, etc...

I'm an electrician by day and I've been playing guitar for 25+ years, I'm an incureable tinkerer and tweaker, I love gear!  I've built some really cool pedals using skillets for the enclosure just like Joe Gagan.  They look cool and sound great.  I owe it all to the guys that post on this and other boards, thanks for sharing!

[Hal]

i bought a boss CE-2 not too long ago....$50
and an arion stereo phasor.  $20

i needed a chorus for a band i was in, and that was before i was good at DIY.  Now i use my easyvibe, but still love my ce-2.  

And the phasor was cheap....i got it to screw around wtih mostly.

[Paul Marossy]

Burstbucker-

Yeah, I've built too many of them, I think.  I was building one a week for a while there. :shock:
But, I had fun and learned a lot in the process.  
My main focus right now is to get my house addition done - the studio/lab/hobby room thing. Got a tree guy coming in the morning to cut down the tree that needs to be removed before I can start the addition...

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

I love the sound of the SeekWah (and other sequenced filter effects, like the MURF), but wanted to be able to sync it to midi

..Here is a 'left field' approach, just sequence a suitable sequence (some software will even let you do random sequences with various parameters!) driving a cheapo general midi box or even out of the sound card. where the notes have different velocities. Then all you need is an envelope follower & voila! the world is your oyster. And imagine what you can do running the audio into a ring modulator instead of the local oscillator!!