what do you keep on hand?

[TheWaker43]

hello
i am about to place an order for what i need to build a fuzz face and a SHO.  I thought i might as well order a bit extra.  don't want to keep too large of a stock maybe 100 or so of the common resistors,  20 to 30 caps, few transistors, jacks, pots, leds, switches.  What do you find you keep coming back to or use for many projects?  what are the most common?  I am also trying to keep it down to two or three vendors, more specifically small bear, jameco, futurlec, and tubedepot.  also, if you do not mind, be specific as for the wattage,material, what not, i have only built/modded a handful of effects.
thanks
casey

[Ripthorn]

I get tons of stuff from Futurlec.  I load up on 100kA, 500kA, and 250kB pots, 2n5457 and 2n3906 trannies (sometimes 2n7000), 100uF, 47 uF, 10uF and 1uF electrolytics, all the 10 22 and 47 value caps starting at 100 pF or so and working my way up, then the 10, 12, 15, 22, 27, 33, 39, 47 value resistors starting at 1k and going up.  I also get a lot of blue leds (work better for me being colorblind than red or others).  The best thing to do is to make a list of 2 or 3 other projects you want to do and buy those parts.  I also try to buy at least one extra of every cap, resistor and semiconductor for a project to build a good stockpile.

[MikeH]

It's different for everyone, but I try to never have a shortage of the following:

ICs- 4558, TL071, TL072, TL074, LM386, 555,
Trannys- 3904, 3906, 5088, 5089, J201, MPF102, BS170

And lots of the "10-22-47" stuff.

For caps that means 100p, 220p, 470p, 0.001uf, 0.0022uf, 0.0047uf, 0.01uf and so on up to 0.47uf
and for resistors 1K, 2K2, 4K7, 10K, 22K, 47K, 100K, 220K, 470K, 1M.  Maybe a few 100ohm, 470ohm and 10M too

And pots, 1K 10K 100K 1M both Linear and Log

And then there's stuff like DC jacks, battery snaps, sockets, switches, knobs, etc

[TheWaker43]

thanks
that is exactly the type of information i was looking for.
good idea about thinking of what i want to build next.
also what about the generic pots from futurlec/jameco how
do they compare to the Alpha's?

[phuzle]

I got a bunch of the cheap value packs from Futurlec when I started.  Then I got a few kits of nicer quality stuff from Small Bear.  I got 2000 metal film resistors from Japan for like $10, free shipping, on ebay.  Got a bunch of transistors and op-amps from Mouser.  Buy a ton of stuff at once, and you'll probably end up saving money in the long run due to less shipping.  Also save time by not having to think about this stuff anymore.

[bumblebee]

I'm always short on something but I always seem to be able to salvage/find enough parts to make just about any dirt pedal.

I have enough stuff (possibly) to make a fuzz factory,woolly mammoth, fuzz face, tone bender, SHO, super duper 2 in 1, IC big muff, tubescreamer, I think. I like to have tons of stuff I just haven't made a big buy in ages and will be doing so in the near future.

What I am short on is pots,switches and a couple values of resistors and caps.

As for wire, i have possibly thousands of feet of ex-telephone supply stuff, solid core stuff, its great.

[jacobyjd]

I usually keep a few of each of the most common parts around, along with a full stock of resistors.

My rule of thumb for everything else is to plan out my next few projects, then order everything I need for them, plus 2-3 additional pieces of each. After awhile, you have plenty of parts to make all sorts of projects

[kupervaser]

Just slaughter a few electronic devices and there is your stock.

[StephenGiles]

A glove - because it's very cold in the UK

[arawn]

the generic  futurlec pots are alphas and they work just great

[Tonemonger]

I can never seem to keep enough 10uF electros and 0.1uF polys -But, I do have one tip.
Every time I step out for some pots and sockets I'll always grab a $5 bag of mixed ceramics or LEDs or whatever.
It does'nt take long for your parts lists to get progressively shorter and it does'nt seem like spending a fortune ( off board components are the killer - If You see switches etc.. cheap grab them !).

[BoxOfSnoo]

I'm always short one particular value pot.  I'm going to have to fix that with a few orders.

Oh yeah, at least 3 different colors of 22 or 24 gauge wire!

[aron]

Please support the STORE link above. I brought in a few more stuff and plan to have a few more things there.

[BoxOfSnoo]

Please support the STORE link above. I brought in a few more stuff and plan to have a few more things there.

I noticed!  My cart isn't empty right now, let's put it that way!

P.S. your store is excellent, it's my first stop for certain parts.

[MissionBrown]

I seem to go through quite a few of the following,,
Caps:                      Resistors:         Transistors:         IC's:
0.1uf all types          1k                    2n5088                Lm386
1uf non polar           2.2k                 2n3904                TL072(or equivalent)
1uf electro               10k                  J201                     TL072(or equivalent)
10uf electro             100k                                            MAX1044(10v) or ICL7660(12v) charge pump
22uf Electro             1m                                               555 timer
47uf Electro                                                                 CD4013, 4049, 4069 & 4070 cmos chips

Otherwise if you want some random parts futurelec have the special packs of Resistors, IC's, Leds, Caps and Transistors.
I gotta say they do come in very handy and don't cost all that much!

[Pakaloabob]

I would suggest loading up on 0.1mf caps. Almost every project I make uses several and I can never keep enough of them around.
Everyone else has covered the 1, 22, 47 rule which I quickly learned myself.
Definitely recommend using the store on this site. Help support the community and the service has been quite fast for me. Shipping reasonable as well. Can't go wrong with the "grab bags" of diodes, ICs, transistors, etc.
Hey TheWaker43 - are you a Panic fan?

[StephenGiles]

A glove - because it's very cold in the UK

I'm sorry but I couldn't resist that!

[Paul Marossy]

It's gets trickier keeping stocked up when you build things for yourself, customs for other people and for small companies as an assembler. But there are things that are a constant, like certain resistor and cap values and that sort of thing.

[mikemaddux]

Dont ever buy just one of anything..............

[petemoore]

  Really old resistors. 
  Pots that are in good shape.
  Caps...if they're still kinda shiny, I prefer new ones in the electrolytic line.
  Transistors.
  Wires.
  Other capacitors [film types].
  Anything else..and heat sinks.
  Some of my favorite finds are the transformers, save big bukks and trash dump space while installing the vintage mojo !
  Heat sensative components like Opamps..anything with a diode, unless it's an easy pull, new, fresh leads are much easier and more reliable to work with[transistors, one lead a bit at a time, cooling time in-between...can be slowly worked out], sometimes they have enough lead length, I've successfully pulled every attempted transistor pull though.
  Oh yes, I collect junk, there's junk piles, junk at the workspace, other junk still in the containers [new/broken monitors].
  Pots and power supplies are getting sparser every minute, switches are less expensive and all the modern stuff has momentary switches replacing where I was getting pots. I need to work on my SMPS's and see if I can load one down and put it back into a working position.