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yeah no such luck with building two the same I've always wanted a jazzmaster/ Ibanez roadcore style shape whereas his is something more like a strat or mosriite shape, so totally different templates and we can't agree on pickup config either. building pedals you say, I've never thought to try, is there much involved?
Building pedals - depends on whether you have done any soldering or electronics before. If you've soldered up a guitar, you can probably do a basic pedal without much stress.
To make a basic boost + distortion, you are looking at 1 transistor, a few resistors, 2 capacitors and 2 diodes. A couple of potentiometers for volume and gain. That's it. If you want a fuzz pedal then add in another transistor, take out the diodes. It gets more complicated for things like delay, chorus, vibe, etc, but start out simple and see how you go. Some of the pedals require vintage parts to get the true to the original sound, but you don't have to go to those lengths to start with.
I have run a few pedal building workshops and intro to electronics workshops before. At the moment trying to get a regular (paid) workshop going here in Canberra to teach guitarists how to build pedals.
Here's most of the ones I've built so far: http://graybloomfield.com/guitar/category/pedals/
Here's some of my workshop notes - we build this one on breadboard (no soldering) in the workshop. Pretty simple if you already have some electronics background. http://graybloomfield.com/guitar/wp-...distortion.pdf
Let me know if you have any questions about pedal building. If so I'll start another thread somewhere perhaps?
Great pedals! I love the can pedal :)
Nice collection and great names too, did you build all of these? I wouldn't mind having a go at a fairly basic( he says without having a clue what's involved) overdrive pedal to start with. have you done anymore on the beast yet?
Thanks, yep I built all of those pedals. Started out thinking "how hard can it be" and then got hooked.
If you want a good one to start on, with a guide to walk you through it, I'd recommend you have a look at this one: https://www.premierguitar.com/articl...r-own-stompbox
There is a PDF download of instructions that goes through everything. Read through and see if it looks like something you can do.
If you want a good pedal building forum, check out http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php
We did a bit more work on the primer coat. Sprayed more on the back, this time going nice and slow. It made the world of difference. I'm much happier with the coverage now - it has covered the wood, rather than made little gritty bumps on it. The can ran out before we could redo the front, so back to SCA tomorrow to pick up more primer.
I've also had a read through the build diary from Phrozin about how to do spray finishes, that was helpful. I'll be picking up some more clear coat as well, as it looks like it is going to take a lot more clear coats than I expected. But that's getting ahead of myself... :)
That's great to hear that the painting is starting to go your way, thanks for the pedal link, I will definitely give that ago but I should probably just concentrate on my build for the moment and leave that for my next project.
Thanks for all the advice so far people.
We've done a few more passes with the primer, and let that dry for a few days. Sanding has now started. It seems to be working OK, it's coming up smooth, with scratches from the 400 grit paper. I got some white paper and used it dry. Wiped off the residue with a cotton rag as we went.
I'm assuming that I'm trying to remove all traces of the 'orange peel' look from the primer? See photos below...
We've managed to sand through to the wood in a few places, does this mean another coat of primer is needed? Or is it OK to spray colour over this?
I guess with much more practice this gets easier, but for now I'm struggling finding the balance between removing all the orange peel, but not cutting through to the wood. Doing around the edges is pretty fiddly too.
Anyway, if more primer is needed, I'll be able to spray more later in the week once it stops raining. Might need a 3rd can at the rate we are using it.
Before sanding:
http://graybloomfield.com/guitar/wp-...3-1024x768.jpg
After sanding - these scratches are only visible viewing from a really flat angle. This photo makes it look worse than it looks by eye:
http://graybloomfield.com/guitar/wp-...8-1024x768.jpg
Some of the 'orange peel' near the centre of this photo. I assume this has to go?
http://graybloomfield.com/guitar/wp-...3-1024x768.jpg
And some more photos... can only include 4 per post apparently?
Whoops and more whoops. etc. Does this need more primer all over now? Or can I just say 'stuff it, let's spray colour'. ;)
http://graybloomfield.com/guitar/wp-...2-1024x768.jpg
http://graybloomfield.com/guitar/wp-...9-1024x768.jpg
I think most of the places where we have sanded through the primer are either on the edges, where it is tricky to work out the angles, and also a few places near the middle of the guitar. The piece of wood in the centre of the guitar had a very different grain than the bits on the outside, so the sanding cut down more in the middle before I worked out what was going on. So there are slightly lower bits near the joins of the wood, and when sanding the primer down there it is cutting through to the wood nearby on the higher piece. Lesson learned.