why so many parts?

[Luke]

Hi everyone,
I opened up a dead DOD pedal of a friend of mine, and was suprised at the amount of parts used. I have noticed that alot of Dod or Boss pedals use heaps of parts- chips, diodes, bipolars electrolytics- everything but the kitcken sink. Also, most of the parts used in these 'comercial' pedals dont seem at all prominent in pedals of the DIY ilk. Why is that? I mean, realisticaly, dod and boss must sell the majority of pedals in the wolrd (and i guess danelectro as well). I mean, why do they use so many parts when so many 'better' (imho) effects use alot less- and acomplish more?
take care,
Cheers,
Luke

[gtrmac]

Some of the parts are used in the electronic bypass and indicator switching in this type of effect. Using a "hard" bypass eliminates this stuff anyway.

Then there is the fact that these circuits are just more complex than a lot of the earlier types of circuits that a lot of us build.

They don't always sound better though.

[smoguzbenjamin]

Some parts are also for protection. Imagine protection against pops, melting caps, frying IC's etc. These guys manufacture their pedals for a worst-case scenario. So lots of parts are generally to stop the pedal from malfunctioning.

[Boofhead]

On DOD effects the whole corner of the PCB around the CMOS 4000 chip is for the push button foot switch, FET switching and LED indicator.  It's largely the same on all DOD units, strip that away and what remains is a normal sort of circuit.

[smoguzbenjamin]

Same with Boss. Keyboard button switching!

I made a led flip-flop with a SPST switch from an old PC keyboard :mrgreen:

[Luke]

ahh... that explains alot! thatks for settling my curiosity!
Cheers,
Luke

[ExpAnonColin]

http://geofex.com/circuits/what_are_all_those_parts_for.htm

Always check geofex

-Colin

[smoguzbenjamin]

I was wondering where I'd read that article! Thanks Colin!