Electrical Components Suppliers

[Andy40]

Okay Guys,

since embarking on my "DIY Pedal journey", one of the issues I have had is sourcing electrical components for my DIY pedals.

There is of course, the obvious retail supplier here in Oz - Jaycar. All of the components for my Snarkdoodle pedal were sourced from here. My Fuzz pedal components were sourced from here. However, if you wish to build any pedal which is more difficult to build from noob level, you will most likely need to source electrical components online.

I have had varying degrees of success here and will share my experiences and would love to hear if anyone has got any other experiences to share.

I have sourced components from DIY Guitar Pedals, Mad Bean Pedals, Small Bear Electronics and Futurlec.

DIY Guitar Pedals was fast, reliable and good quality parts. Aussie Supplier

Small Bear Electronics was, incredibly, the fastest from the US, reliable and good quality parts. They also have a lot of rarer parts for reverbs and modulation. I would definitely order from these guys again.

Mad Bean Pedals only sells their PCB's which were delivered in about a month or so from the US and the boards are very good quality

Futurelec, however, has still a lot to be desired. It has a massive range and is cheap, but after many, man emails, I am still awaiting my order placed at the start of May. I don't think i would use them again.

The 1590B enclosures, I have just scoured from Ebay and there has been no problem with this guy http://stores.ebay.com.au/gohankuu/

[mjg]

Opinions? I have them.

I've got links for all these here:

http://graybloomfield.com/guitar/201...ding-workshop/

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DIYGuitarPedals - as you mentioned, Paul is an excellent supplier. Good prices, good quality, and great service.

Small Bear Elec - Fantastic range of all the hard to find components, and they stand by their products. You won't get any fakes from them. As opposed to...

eBay - good for getting cheap enclosures (quality varies - I have received aluminium boxes with cracks in them!), also good for stomp switches (quality varies), and OK for a bag of 100 LEDs or 100 resistors. DO NOT buy 'vintage' transistors or hard to find ICs from eBay sellers from China. They will likely be fake. If the price is too good to be true, it's fake.

Element 14 - the Australian branch of Farnell. Big big range of products. You have to spend a fair bit to get free shipping. Good range of the 'Hammond' brand enclosures, which are top quality (but more expensive than eBay enclosures).

RS Australia - also a big big range of products. Free shipping! But sometimes you have to buy a pack of 50, where you only need one. Good for stocking up. Surprisingly good range of aluminium knobs for cheap. I get a kick out of buying 1 knob and getting it shipped next day for free.

Tayda - Thailand based, but the shipping is cheap and quick. Great range of cheaper enclosures, powder coated, reasonable quality. Great range of cheap stomp switches. Resistors, LEDs and capacitors aplenty. I would hesitate buying any vintage transistors from them. THE BEST place to buy potentiometers.

Pedal Parts Plus - fantastic service for custom painted and engraved enclosures. But the shipping from the USA is a killer.

Awesome places for buying PCBs:

- Mad Bean
- 1776effects
- Grind Custom FX
- DIYguitarPedals

[mjg]

And yeah - Jaycar! Which is where I'll go if I'm short on one or two common parts, and I have to do a trip to *cough* Bunnings *cough*, and Jaycar is only one block over.

[DrNomis_44]

There's also Altronics Australia:

http://www.altronics.com.au/


I just did a quick browse through their list of components and saw that they stock valves, which could be interesting, they stock valve sockets as well, you can find their list of components in the Products menu, hope it proves useful.

[Andy40]

Thanks Matt and Doc. Super helpful. so is your blog Matt.

I'll definitley be checking those other suppliers as opposed to Futurlec.

What this space....i've got some Madbean PCB's that have just arrived!!

[mjg]

Nice. Which PCBs did you get?

[pablopepper]

Check out Wes Components https://www.wes.com.au/

We get all our electronics supplies from them and they are super reliable. If you order before midday you will get it the next day.

[Andy40]

Sweet Pabs. Thx

Matt, I got the 8 Ball, Green bean, Pork Barrell and Mood Ring.

I'm gonna need some help I imagine.

[mjg]

Nice selection, Andy.

For the Mood Ring, don't buy the PT2399 chips from eBay. The quality is variable. They might have good ones in stock at Diyguitarpedals, and most likely at Small Bear. Hmm, I guess you may also need the Belton reverb brick, which I've not been able to source in Australia before, so Small Bear might be the way to go for that too!

Let me know if you find the Belton brick anywhere local, I'm always keen to learn about new suppliers.

[Andy40]

I got the Belton reverb brick from Small bear and I think that PT2399 as well