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DIY Stompboxes => Building your own stompbox => Topic started by: Greg M. on February 23, 2004, 11:50:36 PM

Title: the art of the box
Post by: Greg M. on February 23, 2004, 11:50:36 PM
I know pedals are all about the sound, but I'm interested to see the creativity behind the external presentation.  Show me your coolest paint job, name, box design, etc.  Ugly doesn't matter--Ibanez couldn't have put much thought into the puke green right?
Title: the art of the box
Post by: MarkB on February 24, 2004, 12:07:18 AM
I just put the guts in this one today - my first nice box (others were junction box builds)..

It's an Orange Squeezer... get it!?  Crush? Squeeze?

Read the fine print on it, too.
"-)

(http://mark.warcode.com/diy/crush1.jpg)
Title: That's what I'm talking 'bout!
Post by: Greg M. on February 24, 2004, 11:47:22 AM
I'm building a squeezer too and I was just going to paint it orange.  Boring.  That's a great job Mark.
Title: the art of the box
Post by: Desert_Fox on February 24, 2004, 11:54:24 AM
thats a wicked box there mark.  love the fine print hehehe
Title: the art of the box
Post by: smoguzbenjamin on February 24, 2004, 02:10:08 PM
:mrgreen: Sweet.... I'm going to have to name all my pedals after fruit now :D
Title: the art of the box
Post by: modmod on February 24, 2004, 02:30:52 PM
hey mark,do u actually need a drill station to drill a box like that ? any tips for drilling ? i'm going to make my first own effect pedal, thanks :)
Title: the art of the box
Post by: Joe Hart on February 24, 2004, 02:48:29 PM
Mark, how did you get that print/picture on the box?  I want to do that!!!
-Joe Hart
Title: the art of the box
Post by: toneless on February 24, 2004, 03:31:28 PM
Creg M. and Joe Hart this is t-shirt transfer. Actually (as you can see) you need some art work for an impressive image...
I hope Mark will tell give more details about his nice box

bye
Title: the art of the box
Post by: ian87 on February 24, 2004, 03:37:48 PM
mark, that's GORgeous. i'm very impressed.

here are my recent boxes, done with Mirage flip-flop paint w/ screened text.

(http://www.thehillshaveeyes.com/img/224/krok.jpg)
Title: the art of the box
Post by: thumposaurus on February 24, 2004, 10:04:06 PM
This is my latest build, did everything on it in one day on saturday.
(http://mywebpage.netscape.com/Thumposaurus/lpb.jpg)
(http://mywebpage.netscape.com/Thumposaurus/lpb-006.jpg)
(http://mywebpage.netscape.com/Thumposaurus/lpb-007.jpg)
The base is powdercoated white, the lables are waterslide decal stock printed with an ALPS MD-1000 printer, then has 3 or 4 coats of krylon clear.
Title: the art of the box
Post by: claydavis on February 24, 2004, 11:02:17 PM
here's a 4ms tremulus lune i just finished for a friend a few weeks ago:
(http://home.comcast.net/~claytondavis/graphics/jeffstremulus1web.jpg)

and a 4ms triwave i built for my brother last christmas. the enclosure is one of those aluminum briefcase toolbox thingies, with some heavy modification. i wish i had this one back:
(http://home.comcast.net/~claytondavis/graphics/jakestriwave2web.jpg)

clay
Title: the art of the box
Post by: MarkB on February 25, 2004, 01:05:58 AM
thanks for the kind words, guys...

The artwork was done in Photoshop - I found an orange peel texture for the background.. then a stock photo of the orange slice.. then I found a picture of an old Orange Crush bottlecap, and traced the logo.

This was then put on the box using the t-shirt transfer method.. and 4 coats of Krylon spray urethane.

For drilling the box - I did not use a press.. just a handheld drill and a Unibit (which I HIGHLY recommend)..  the aluminum drills VERY easily with a Unibit, and bit of machine oil.  Make sure to use a centerpunch or similar to make a good starting point so the bit doesn't 'walk' on you.
"-)
Title: the art of the box
Post by: anyuser00 on February 25, 2004, 02:07:36 AM
Wow, hey thumposaurus what kind of enclosure is that :?:
Title: the art of the box
Post by: O'malley's Alley on February 25, 2004, 02:45:44 AM
here is one I built recentely for a friend.  It kinda has a faded, rough, mechanical look to it.  He really enjoyed it:

(http://pic7.picturetrail.com/VOL203/1858888/3586837/46248790.jpg)
Title: the art of the box
Post by: amz-fx on February 25, 2004, 06:30:10 AM
(http://209.124.248.167/media/boost6.jpg)

-Jack
Title: the art of the box
Post by: troubledtom on February 25, 2004, 10:13:41 AM
Quote from: claydavishere's a 4ms tremulus lune i just finished for a friend a few weeks ago:
(http://home.comcast.net/~claytondavis/graphics/jeffstremulus1web.jpg)

and a 4ms triwave i built for my brother last christmas. the enclosure is one of those aluminum briefcase toolbox thingies, with some heavy modification. i wish i had this one back:
(http://home.comcast.net/~claytondavis/graphics/jakestriwave2web.jpg)

clay
clay, you are a killer!!!!!!
     - tom
Title: the art of the box
Post by: troubledtom on February 25, 2004, 10:15:51 AM
nice work everyone!!!!! :wink:
        peace,
            - tom
Title: the art of the box
Post by: thumposaurus on February 25, 2004, 04:34:29 PM
Quote from: anyuser00Wow, hey thumposaurus what kind of enclosure is that :?:
The enclosure is a "weatherproof" electrical junction box, you can get them at home depot or lowes, they do require a bit of stripping of the factory finish if you want to start on bare aluminum and they also need a bit of grinding to get them to be smooth enough.  
There is also one that is about doulbe that size, and a third that is almost but not quite round.
I'm going to pick up some different boxes I've seen at homedepot tommorrow or friday to try out for some other things I'm finishing, I'll make sure and grab another one of these, and post a before shot so you can know what to look for if anyone wants.
Title: the art of the box
Post by: Marcos - Munky on February 25, 2004, 04:47:25 PM
All the enclosures look very cool. Mine looks like a little box made by a kid :P.
www.geocities.com/munkydiy/photos.html
Title: the art of the box
Post by: YouAre on March 28, 2004, 09:35:30 PM
hey clay davis, how did you do those works of art?! i need to make a pedal, and i need aaaall the help i can get, can some1 help me out with a design too?
Title: the art of the box
Post by: Gilles C on March 28, 2004, 11:27:46 PM
I have an aluminium briefcase like the one pictured.

I also want to use it for guitar effects, but the problem is that most of them are already in boxes  :x

And everytime I see Jack's pedals (AMZ), it makes me want to use a Celtic design for my next effect. (Well, Jack, yours may not be Celtic, but it reminds me of that...)

Ahhhh, it's nice to see designs that give you some inspiration for our own boxes...


BTW, I ordered a cheap airbrush that I should use on my next effect.

I hope it's good enough for that

Gilles
Title: the art of the box
Post by: claydavis on March 29, 2004, 09:29:48 AM
Quote from: YouArehey clay davis, how did you do those works of art?! i need to make a pedal, and i need aaaall the help i can get, can some1 help me out with a design too?

as far as the painting, you just really need to experiment. i used 4 or 5 colors of spraypaint on the tremulus. i put on a solid base coat, baked and sanded it, then misted on the other colors (light spray from about 18-20" away, layered them in from the edges, dark to light), then baked and sanded again. the labels are water-slide laser decals. i clearcoat and sand the finished paint, apply the decals, then clearcoat, sand, and clearcoat again.

the triwave was pretty much painted and labeled the same way. i hate the colors (red and purple?!?), but that's what my brother wanted, and i think the design came out well. if i remember correctly, the control panel is 22-ga steel sheet, attached to the box with 3/4" aluminum angle and excessive profanity. metal-working with a dremel tool is an exercise in patience.

clay
Title: the art of the box
Post by: YouAre on March 29, 2004, 09:53:21 AM
To claydavis, come online AIM soon, i wanna talk abt this stuff.
Title: the art of the box
Post by: claydavis on March 29, 2004, 10:14:45 AM
Quote from: YouAreTo claydavis, come online AIM soon, i wanna talk abt this stuff.

i'm rarely on aim, and i'm currently at work. feel free to email me, though.