First Build!!

[Ringwraith]

Heya guys
Just wanted to share my excitement...
I've been wanting to build a box for about a year now.
I ended up working on tube amps for the last while & just now put together my first stomp box!

For my first encounter in stomp box building I chose the Tonebender MK II Pro.
I thought this would be a fun dist box for my 51 Supro! :twisted:

Well it must be beginners luck or the awesome layouts, boards
& help found on the net but IT WORKED FIRST TRY!!
I was so excited when I plugged it in & it sounded awesome right out of the gate!
I was expecting it to scream & howl the first go around! LOL

I'm also thrilled because I've never played through such an "old school" dist box. Man this thing is so cool!
It's like nothing I've played through in the past.
One of the main reasons I'm getting into the DIY amps & stomps is to make the vintage gear at a decent price.
I haven't even put it in the enclosure yet, I wanted to play it right away! hehe
Actually I bought the recommended BB size box but it's so freakin huge for this pedal!
I think I'll try a B size.

Any ways, keep on rockin in the DIY world!
Thanks again for the help.
Sean

[Fret Wire]

Congratulations!!  Now you're off and running. You'll be knee deep in DIY pedals before you know it. And you're right...a great way to cop some vintage tones without vintage prices.

[aron]

He's had it.  :wink:

[ninoman123]

Welcome to addiction. Its a blast

[Ringwraith]

Yes I can see myself checking into a DIY rehab clinic some time down the road!
It's easy to see how this will become very addicting!
I've always been a "hobby" type guy & now mixing a fun
hobby with life as a guitarist is going to be the end of me!  :twisted:

I've been playing for about 23 years, make a living as a guitarist/vocalist.
I have always fixed my (small) problems but have relied on a pro tech & luthier for the bigger things.
I've just lately got into learning the ins & outs of tube amps, peds & guitar set ups.
Man, I use to think it was exciting to experiment & change my guitar pick ups! LOL

Cheers
Sean

[David]

He's had it.  :wink:

Yup, stick a fork in him, Mabel.  He's done!

[jmusser]

Wonderful! I can't remember if that uses the germanium or Silicon transistors. I built the one with the silicon, and it is great. I really hate that it worked for you the first time though. If not, you may have just thrown in the towel and never fiddled with another one. As it stands now, you'll end up like the rest of us hanging out in a back alley somewhere in dirty clothes, trying to score "just one more" 2N5088, and telling your contact "I promise, this will be my last one, honest"! Then a VCR or old clock radio comes up missing, and your wife finds them hidden beside the dumpster with their guts removed......and then....ahhhhhhhhhh!!!

[Ringwraith]

LOL jmusser
Ya I'm toast!
The build I did is with the geranium transistors.
I got a matched set from SB.

Maybe I should start a new thread with this question but...
Can you really get parts out of old clock radios/vcrs etc??
I mean besides your average resistors/caps, are there some good hard to find parts to be had?
I think I just threw a clock radio out a few months ago. hehe

Sean

[RLBJR65]

Ringwraith, Thats great! Good choice of pedals too!

I have found some great germanium's in old transistor radios I picked up at thrift stores and garage sales for as little as $0.25

[troubledtom]

you'll never be the same :wink:
        peace,
             - tom

[jmusser]

I haven't found to many "holy grail" parts or anything, but you can get switches, pots, and weirdo value resistors. I scavange parts because I live way out in the boonies, and I don't have access to a lot of new parts unless I order them. There is also metal in old VCRs to use, along with brackets and, screws. I just cut up an old VCR top to make a bottom plate for an Original Crybaby I got off the Internet. I guess it's really what value it has to you. I took an old table top radio, gutted it, and used it to house a mini amp circuit. It already had the speaker and grill cloth in it, and all I had to do was fabricate a new control panel for it. That was another piece of VCR top. Some people love to scavange, and other people would never put the time in, because they can get new components easily and cheaply. I enjoy doing it, but you may not.