# It's my PedalPCB-iversary. Tell me your fav pedal + build tip.



## bengarland (Apr 26, 2020)

It's my PedalPCB-iversary -- one year since I started down this wild and wonderful road of building guitar pedals.

To help me celebrate, tell me:

*1) What's your favorite PedalPCB?

2) What's one pedal-building tip or trick that you've learned that you think other builders should know?*

I'll start...

Favorite pedal is the Duo Phase but I also really like the Stockade. Going further down the list it's hard to pick a definitive order in my Top 10... it depends on my mood so I'll just list 'em alphabetically: Arcana, Dark Rift, Magnetron, Muffin Factory, Paragon, Parenthesis, War Scythe, Zapper. At the bottom of the list though are definitely the Backfeeder -- kinda gimmicky, Procrastinator -- very narrow range of where it sounds good/interesting, and the Captain Bit, Roboto, and Super Heterodyne -- I thought the low fi sound would more interesting in real life compared to the YouTube demos but these 3 are just so unpredictable and "bad weird" instead of "good weird" IMHO.

The tip or trick I can share is:

We're all cleaning our boards after soldering, right? I started out using the standard laboratory style pump-top bottle, you know the type where there's a little reservoir on top and you bang your brush on it to make it squirt out more alcohol? That ended up being too fiddly for me. I replaced it with a clear plastic foodservice squirt bottle with a pointy tip, the kind like you would see for ketchup and mustard at a hot dog stand. With the tip cut to a very narrow opening, I can easily squeeze the IPA all over the board and then scrub it with a brush. It seems like a simple change but this has allowed me to get the boards a lot cleaner in half the time. Gotta use a lot of it otherwise you're just smearing diluted flux all over the board. I use one of those photo lens cleaner air squeezer bulbs to blast the IPA out from under the resistors etc, then wipe it off with kimwipes. Works like a charm.

As far as what I've learned? Overall I'd say that it's easier than I imagined. Building pedals still takes lots of time and concentration and attention to detail, but I've been surprised at how there's not a lot that can go wrong. Every time I've had an issue it's turned out to be something simple: an electrolytic cap installed backwards, a jack tip accidentally touching the enclosure, a bad 3PDT (don't buy them from Tayda), an IC installed backwards -- but nothing catastrophic. I've never totally fried anything. And truthfully, the mistakes have just helped me understand what's going on instead of just blindly looking at it as a "paint by numbers".

Lastly I will say that I really appreciate all of the hard work that Robert puts into designing these boards. A few months ago I ventured into building a few pedals from other sources, and they weren't nearly as easy and honestly I wasn't satisfied with the end product (I won't name names). I had mistakenly assumed early on that "all DIY pedals must be like this" but they're not. I appreciate how consistent the PedalPCB designs are. Very few surprises.

Thanks everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing which pedals are the faves around here!


----------



## Cucurbitam0schata (Apr 27, 2020)

*1) Fave(s):*
Seahorse (chorusish)
Zapper (filter/distortion)
Magnetron (delay) 
CDXL Reissue (autowah)

*2) Tips/Tricks:*
Read lots of PedalPCB forum posts, and jump in with questions.
Go slow, appreciate the mistakes 
Don't forget to keep making noise, and find a friend who'd like your extra pedals.


----------



## Dali (Apr 27, 2020)

Cucurbitam0schata said:


> *1) Fave(s):*
> Seahorse (chorusish)
> Zapper (filter/distortion)
> Magnetron (delay)
> ...



Wow! I'm your padawan and didn't knew it.  I did all 4 you mention and a big fan of the forum here.


----------



## BurntFingers (Apr 27, 2020)

Fave is the cataclysm delay, a clone of the eqd disaster transport jr, which I think is a clone of the feel blue with a tone knob.

Tip:

I use blutack when soldering my boards. Put your components on, crimp the board, stick a blob of blutack on component side then stick that to your work bench. Easy peasy and gives you something stable to work against.


----------



## PedalBuilder (Apr 27, 2020)

1) Trumpeter, a clone of the Paul Trombetta Mini-Bone.

2) A few:
• Socket your transistors, and solder them in once you settle on the right set.
• Hfe and leakage matter more than part name when you're building with germanium transistors. 
• Wet toner transfer for enclosure art works best with lower paper weight and a white enclosure.
• Make sure to remove the powder coat from the input and output jack holes if you're using them to ground the circuit.


----------



## daeg (Apr 27, 2020)

Blue Shoe Gai Pan (JFET Overdrive)
Unison Double Tracker (Detune/Delay)

Diffuse your water-clear LED's with Sandpaper.
Don't add the ground wire to your Input Jack, it's already grounded via the Output Jack wire and enclosure.


----------



## Bobbyd67 (Apr 27, 2020)

The simulcast is hands down my favorite build, closely followed by the parenthesise.

Socket your diodes .... The small solder pads are great for a compact pcb layout but are a pain when having to change a component xD


----------



## Barry (Apr 27, 2020)

I'm a big fan of the Parthenon and the Paragon and looking forward to building the Kliche

Measure everything before you install  and if you use waterslides make sure everything is labeled right before printing and applying, and be damn sure before clear coating!


----------



## jjjimi84 (Apr 28, 2020)

Some of my favorites;

Celestial Drive -
a sleeper overdrive that sounds great.

Constrictor - A very useful compressor

Covert OD w/mods - makes my deluxe sound like a plexi and cleans up great with volume knob.

Dung Beetle - there is no bad sound in this pedal, at all.

jetaime and clever - this combo pedal I made has had so many uses it is nuts.

Mammal and Poptop are two preamp pedals i like to use with my Mesa Fillmore 50 for some different sounds.

Honestly there is a ton more that I love and find at different times with a different guitar or amp all of them have sounded great. I built a eternal burst and thought “ehhh”. Played it today with a different amp and some other pedals and it was awesome.

My biggest tip is finish the build! You as a builder go through all of this part gathering and populating to soldering to assembly, you buy the sweet knobs and enclosure and the dragon blood diodes and unicorn dick transistors but then never label anything. 

I have seen some incredible work over the 15 years of pedal building with guys/gurls using sharpies and paint pens or inkjets and spray paint.

I know for me when I can look at a build and it is uniquely me and all done up it gets played more and I actually know how to use it.

To be fair this is also coming frthe guy that didn’t finish a pedal for about the first ten years of building.

Second piece of advice, lock tight on the power and out put jacks. The blue stuff that keeps stuff from moving around.

Third and last piece from anyone crazy enough to listen, build everything you can. Just because your idol played a fuzz face doesn’t mean a tonebender doesn’t work better for you.


----------



## hamerfan (Sep 7, 2022)

I can highly recommend the Golden Falk (2 channel jfet Marshall amp). Gives a realistic Marshall vibe into Fender amp. 
Sockets for the caps to do some tweaking. I solder the pots after mounting them to the enclosure. This makes a tensionfree build.


----------



## sticky1138 (Sep 7, 2022)

1. Caesar. Best chorus of all time, you must hear it to believe it.

2. When working on a build that calls for a dual gang pot, have a six pack. It's more fun, and you can cut the cardboard from the box into a small square and tape to the back of the pot for insulation.


----------



## spi (Sep 7, 2022)

Some of my favorites:

Face Melter--don't let the sleazy heritage of this one turn you off.  It is unique as far as I can tell:  a bi-mos op-amp sandwiched between two SHOs.  It's a great stackIAB style pedal, but with its own thing going, like a bit of a rattitude.  (The hi-gain mode is a bit much though, if I built it again I'd just leave the switch off).

Pendulum--I don't use it much, but I really love the phasey sound of this tremolo.

Honorable mention for the Mach One and the humble Bluebreaker.  Given how much I like the BB, is it odd that I still haven't built any of the tricked-out variants?

Some folks mentioned the Cataclysm and Magnetron delays.  I built both together, and let my friend pick one to keep.  He chose the Cataclysm and he chose correctly.  I need to build myself one now.

Tip:
I always had a hard time with PCB-mounted LEDs.  Once I started socketing them, and extending the led legs with solid core wire, it made builds easier for me--also great for when you don't want to put the LED where the board wants it.


----------



## jimilee (Sep 7, 2022)

Duophase….never grab the iron like a pencil for better precision.


----------



## szukalski (Sep 7, 2022)

Modus Operandi, Brown Betty, Mach 1, Chickenhead, Fuchsia Fuzz, Gnat Fuzz, Dizzy Elk, Luxury763, Aphrodite, Constrictor, Tso. 

Those would be first on my rebuild list if I had to start over.


----------



## Coda (Sep 7, 2022)

Favorite builds: Mutagen Fuzz, Phase II, Gnat, Marigold Fuzz

Tip: I’ve never tinned a wire. It has never been an issue…


----------



## DGWVI (Sep 7, 2022)

My favorite PedalPCB builds have been
Muroidea - classic versatile dirt, my all time fave

Dream Fuzz - heavy fuzzies with a metallic tinge

Pendulum - wonderful harmonic trem that can invoke some vibe and Phaser sounds

Minnow - wackily aggressive Envelope filter with a nifty sample and hold feature

Low Tide - still playing with this one, but it's on its way to being my favorite chorus/ vibe. Makes me wish there were more envelope controlled modulation boards available

Duo-Phase - LUSH phasing with some cool options

Waddle Box - funké

Captain Bit - lo-fi fuzzy octave synth that tracks well

Arachnid/Pythagoras - I'm terribly fond of the Dual Pitch, Lo-Fi, and Dual Ring Mod patches

Not sure I have any tips that haven't been stated


----------



## fig (Sep 7, 2022)

Bump-tastic!

I learn something with every build and I choose pedal chains based on _mood and muse_ so it’s hard to single out favorites.


----------



## jjjimi84 (Sep 7, 2022)

fig said:


> Bump-tastic!
> 
> I learn something with every build and I choose pedal chains based on _mood and muse_ so it’s hard to single out favorites.


This cannot be understated enough, some things sound like shit to me on Thursday and delightful on Monday


----------



## tcpoint (Sep 7, 2022)

Ultisol Distortion, any for the Revv Pedals, the Zuul noise gate, the Dirty Shirley, the Keeley Tape Echo, the Golden Falk, and about 50 other pedals.  General TSO.  The Dude.  Mercurial Boost.  Any of the ChuckBones stuff.  Ice Cream with CB mods.  I won't get started with fuzzes.


----------



## Diynot (Sep 7, 2022)

My favorite pedal is whichever one I just finished building…..or board that I just ordered, or like @fig said, whichever one strikes my fancy on any given day.


----------



## Gordo (Sep 7, 2022)

It's cool seeing the varied cross section of fave boards.  For me it's the Deflector.  I'm not even a reverb guy and I HATE spring reverb but this thing does it in spades when you need BIG reverb or cool pad/sound washes.  It's been on my board since mid-2020.  Malificent Mids is a total sleeper secret weapon.  Organ Donor was a waste of time for me but I lent it to a pal that thinks it's the coolest thing ever and uses it to great effect with a Leslie type thing after it.

Best tip I can think of is to spend the (cheap) money on a countersink bit.  Chuck it up in a power drill (better than a drill press) and ream out all your drill holes from the front and any you can get to the backside of.  Your pots and switches will thank you for it and it makes hole edges much easier to deal with for decals.


----------



## BryGuy (Sep 7, 2022)

Only one I have built so far is a Caesar. It’s great. Got a bunch of new boards coming tomorrow hopefully. 

Tip: get yourself a pair of 90 degree offset needle nose Pliers. So useful for grabbing things.


----------



## spilla (Sep 7, 2022)

Magnetron has to be my fav and although im not that into modulation im really liking the Pendulum. Hasnt left my board

Tips: cheap ebay secateurs are very handy with wiring, its also great they can lock together if needed. Spare pot condoms and the extra washers (from tayda)  that fit the 6mm and 6.35mm alpha pots are helpful to have on hand too, the washer for switches are good to get too. You wont have to deal with that little indent on the washers anymore (again available from tayda).


----------



## Feral Feline (Sep 8, 2022)

A lot of new stuff has come down the pipe from PedalPCB since this thread was first activated, two years ago — SO I reckon it was in need of a refresher.


I'm finishing up a Dirt Dauber build and loving it.

Incredibly low parts count for what it is/does and there's nothing weird or exotic to find, so it's an easy and a quick build. 

Very satisfying after being stumped or stymied on more exotic or complex builds of late.


----------



## JetFixxxer (Sep 8, 2022)

My favorite by far has been Kliche... It's the one that I have used the most and always stacked with others.


----------



## fritzypatzy (Sep 28, 2022)

Loving the Duocast, the Squidward, the Carbon Black Fuzz, the Organizer and the Gravitation. Those are the ones I'm having fun with at the moment.
My favorites must be the Low Tide Modulator, the Spatialist and the Dark Rift Delay, which all became mainstays.
Next on the list are a Minnow, a Pitch Witch and an Informant Overdrive. Really curious about those.

Tip : take time, don't hurry, especially when you're building a Stockade or a Parentheses . And learn to unsolder by training yourself on circuits that are lost anyway so you don't destroy the aforementioned circuits by aiming at unsoldering anything that is not on the right side of the board.

Next tip : avoid "THE" European brand that's cheap if you live in Europe like me (you know who). I think he's trying to invade Australia these days. So many circuits that will drive you nuts on there (errors in the circuits, in the values, in the schematics, everywhere potentially). At least so many PCBs that drove ME nuts on there. But they're good lost PCBs to train yourself to unsolder. Just expensive lost PCBs, dammit!

Was more than pleased to meet you, Mr PedalPCB! You do a much better job.

Learning everything from you all on here. Many thanks to all of you for the knowledge. I should have read more before the Stockade. And the Parentheses. Now, let me see that Muffin Factory (will read before building to avoid obvious mistakes this time)...


----------



## jimilee (Sep 28, 2022)

My favorite of all time? Has to be the Ross compressor. I should do a layout. Handy tip? Careful, the other end is hot.


----------

