The D.I.Y. FX Pedal Building Thread

[DrNomis_44]

Update:

I managed to get the rest of the needed parts for building the Persuader pedal today, and will be doing more work on it tomorrow, also, I will be starting the write up for the build, stay tuned for more updates.

[Dedman]

I rewired the power socket on the Fuzz, I have static but thats all. I might have to send it to you for surgery Doc, I don't think my hands are steady enough for this tiny soldering :P

[DrNomis_44]

I rewired the power socket on the Fuzz, I have static but thats all. I might have to send it to you for surgery Doc, I don't think my hands are steady enough for this tiny soldering :P

No worries mate, send it to me in the post and I'll sort it all out for you so that it works properly, you still have my postal address, don't you?

[DrNomis_44]

Update:


So here's a couple of pics of the Persuader Tube Distortion pedal I'm going to be working on, I haven't made much progress on it since last night:








So as you can see, this pedal doesn't use a PCB or a tagboard to mount the components on, it uses three tagstrips and the components are soldered point-to-point style between the solder tags and solder lugs of the 9-pin valve socket, might see if I can do more work on it tonight.

[wokkaboy]

hey Doc looks good, what is the tube between the dials in the top photo ?

[DrNomis_44]

hey Doc looks good, what is the tube between the dials in the top photo ?

The tube is an old 12AU7A twin triode tube I had in amongst my stash of tubes, it's similar to the 12AX7/ECC83 tubes that you find in Marshalls except the 12AU7A produces less gain, you can use either a 12AU7, a 12AT7, or a 12AX7 and their ECC equivalents in this pedal, you get different amounts of gain/distortion with them, the 12AX7/ECC83 gives the most gain/distortion, the 12AX7WA/7025 will also work in the pedal too.


As it turns out, I also happen to have a 12AT7 and a few 12AX7/ECC83 tubes in amongst my stash of tubes too, maybe I could do a tube shootout audio demo once I have finished building the pedal and it's working so that those who want to build one of these Persuader pedals can hear what the three different tubes sound like in the pedal?


The persuader pedal is powered by a standard Boss-style 9V DC plugpack adaptor, but, you can also (and I would recommend it) power the pedal by a standard 12V DC/500mA plugpack adaptor too, provided that you get the polarity of the DC plug and socket correct.

[wokkaboy]

Cheers for all the background on the tubes Doc. So Will the tube be fitted inside the box or where it's shown on the photo? Will be awkward if it's mounted on top of the pedal.
Would be cool to hear the difference in the 3 tubes

[DrNomis_44]

Cheers for all the background on the tubes Doc. So Will the tube be fitted inside the box or where it's shown on the photo? Will be awkward if it's mounted on top of the pedal.
Would be cool to hear the difference in the 3 tubes

The tube is going to be fitted where it's shown in the pic, there's not really enough space inside the pedal to accommodate it, although you can mount all the parts on a piece of Veroboard, this will free up space so you can then mount the tube socket inside the pedal, to be honest I didn't really notice any awkward-ness with having the tube socket mounted where it is, it's no more or less awkward than any other pedal although other people may find it a bit awkward.

Where the tube is located is exactly where it is in the original Persuader pedal design.

I reckon it'll be cool to hear exactly what the difference is, this pedal design may be really useful in a situation where a guitarist is in a studio recording session.


I may even see if I can improve on the basic design of the pedal later on, and present it as a build project for other forum members that are interested.

[DrNomis_44]

Update:

I couldn't get any sleep last night so I stayed up all night and worked on my Persuader pedal, anyway, it's finished and working, I've taken some pics of the build process as I was working on the pedal and will see if I can post them later on today for you guys.

[wokkaboy]

hardcore Doc staying up all night, hope you can get some sleep sometime today. Look forward to pics and eventually sound demo's.
Will the other tubes be easy to interchange for a demo ?
The only awkwardness I see with the tube where it is, is adjusting the 2 dials but sure it won't be a problem. Also if you have a massive pedal board if that pedal was at the front you may end up tripping over it ! Would have to have it at the back of the pedal board