Awesome build! Thanks for showing us this kit. Helpful tip: All of your grounds are making direct contact with your conductive aluminum enclosure. The ground wiring shown may have caused a headache, and it wasn't entirely necessary.
My first kit except mine mounted the pots to the pcb. Looks much easier though makes it almost impossible to have battery power which I didn't mind leaving out anyway. My first time soldering. Had a teacher to help and check my work. Really easy. Good teacher I guess. Hard part was wiring the switch. Then it didn't work. We had an "extra" resistor that wasn't mentioned in the instructions. The spot (RLED) where it goes is clear but since it wasn't mentioned we overlooked it. Once we put that it in. Works great.
I emailed Lee and he sorted it v.quickly. Just tested it, to my shock it actually works! Thought I'd fried everything with my cackhanded soldering. Now to tackle the switch...
Just spent last month trying to get this kit working and yesterday i fixed the grounding problem :-0 It now sounds like the fuzz pedal from doom. I dont want to tell anyone how long i've spent building my first pedal.... all I know is my neighbours will be suffering for the next few months/
I always find crying, stamping your feet & yelling does you good in those circumstances. Its a very good idea to test the board before you commit to the enclosure & switch as you'll mostly find its the switch that causes people most problems when it fails to kick up. Testing wise, a good piece of kit to make is a simple audio probe & it allows you to chase the signal through the board until you find the fault. There's quiet a few sites where you can get the plans for an audio probe on the net.
yes probably & I wouldnt built it that way now. there was a lot of learning done completing this pedal but thats how you progress as a builder by learning from how you complete things, learn from your mistakes, adapt & modify. thanks for your constructive comments as others can take up your advice.
Okay, thanks for the info and great video! Glad I've been introduced to poodle's work. I think I've caught the electronic diy bug after a few guitar builds. I've got a fluke multimeter and a decent soldering iron so hopefully I wont get into too much trouble and I'll start with a basic effect build. I'll look into audio probes if I land in the shit.
yes mate, it will save you hours of frustration in the long run. Buy the best you can afford without going daft, unless you're going to start using it professionally then the sky's the limit.
@no3chris yes mate, it works fine now. I found that the problem was a bad solder connection on the 'In' on the board but you couldn't actually see it was bad. Its just a case of chasing it back with a tester Im afraid. Hope that gives you some help, don't give up dude as its well worth it.
hi, im thinking about doing this kit. Did you use a heat sink when soldering in the germanium transistors as i know you can bugger them up with a lot of heat?
Where do you start apart from crying if you do come to juice it up and get nothing? I don't suppose you can test each of the components on the pcb while still in circuit? I like to idea of testing it before wiring in the switch and led to help with possible trouble shooting. You've got the guy some more business because I will be giving this a go in the near future. You can also get nice green coloured pedal chassis on ebay which will save you some painting time at the expense of some drilling.
Hey man! Awesome video. Sorta got me excited to try this myself (though its going to cost a bit more for me as I'm in Canada and can't find any kits from here or the states) but I was just wondering, how does it sound? I can't find a demo of it. I want a fuzz factory but I don't have $150+ CAD to get one...
Hey - I bought one of these years ago and got half-way through the build before being distracted. I now have some bits and no instructions and that site doesn't seem to work any longer - can you share the instructions please?
hi, basically how the feck are you supposed to do it, i've soldered on all of the components now i'm completely stuck with the wiring/grounding, please help
What do you mean dude? Is your signal running to ground or are you having problems with the wiring? Just keep things simple, make a common ground & try the board before you wire it to the stomp switch. Most issues happen when hooking it up to the switch.
that's after building my first one that I realise how absurd the pricetags of effect are... It's only 25£worth of electronics components and max 1hour of labour they could set the price waay down.
Γιώργος Ζιώτας That's right. But I didn't meant that they should simply charge25$plus 9 or 10$ for the hour of labour either! I think that just like soo many other guitar stompbox manufacturer, they could offer the vexter series at a reasonable 100$ Still expensive for a student like me, but manageable if you really want it. Now there would still be the fancy handpainted 300$ one if you want a very pretty pedal board and have money to spend. I wouldn't go as far as to think a prestigious brand should offer their pedals at 45$ like the low end stuff!
A bowl of Miso soup agreed... why buy when you can build :p plus recycling some parts is always a good idea... pots, jacks, knobs, transistors, IC's, tantalum capacitors (they can get pricey), foil/poly caps, diodes (if they are worth it such as OA germaniums).. not only does it save you money, it saves the planet ;)
RobTapps88 I don't have a lot of money, but I keep everything from my past project. and all that stuff is unsorted in a box under my bed. Maybe not enough to build a pedal but there's enough crappy old pickups and parts to build several cigarbox guitars!
I'm completely lost trying to sort out the wiring, the stuff on Poodle's website is nowhere near dumbed down enough for novice builders. Need to put it away for a while and read up on the basics. Frustrating.
Sorry for this but you have spoken a lot. You are supposed to reduce your words and show your device how it works and use it with a guitar and a loudspeaker.
Awesome build! Thanks for showing us this kit.
Helpful tip: All of your grounds are making direct contact with your conductive aluminum enclosure. The ground wiring shown may have caused a headache, and it wasn't entirely necessary.
My first kit except mine mounted the pots to the pcb. Looks much easier though makes it almost impossible to have battery power which I didn't mind leaving out anyway. My first time soldering. Had a teacher to help and check my work. Really easy. Good teacher I guess. Hard part was wiring the switch. Then it didn't work. We had an "extra" resistor that wasn't mentioned in the instructions. The spot (RLED) where it goes is clear but since it wasn't mentioned we overlooked it. Once we put that it in. Works great.
great work, love it!!
I think you you mean the elecrlytic caps are polerized not a transistor as you said in the vid!
I emailed Lee and he sorted it v.quickly. Just tested it, to my shock it actually works! Thought I'd fried everything with my cackhanded soldering. Now to tackle the switch...
Oh you can check for flow through. If it fills the hole to the other side your golden.looks good with your wire job.
Just spent last month trying to get this kit working and yesterday i fixed the grounding problem :-0 It now sounds like the fuzz pedal from doom. I dont want to tell anyone how long i've spent building my first pedal.... all I know is my neighbours will be suffering for the next few months/
Well done dude for not giving up. Now you've opened Pandoras box.
I always find crying, stamping your feet & yelling does you good in those circumstances. Its a very good idea to test the board before you commit to the enclosure & switch as you'll mostly find its the switch that causes people most problems when it fails to kick up. Testing wise, a good piece of kit to make is a simple audio probe & it allows you to chase the signal through the board until you find the fault. There's quiet a few sites where you can get the plans for an audio probe on the net.
yes probably & I wouldnt built it that way now. there was a lot of learning done completing this pedal but thats how you progress as a builder by learning from how you complete things, learn from your mistakes, adapt & modify. thanks for your constructive comments as others can take up your advice.
Okay, thanks for the info and great video! Glad I've been introduced to poodle's work.
I think I've caught the electronic diy bug after a few guitar builds. I've got a fluke multimeter and a decent soldering iron so hopefully I wont get into too much trouble and I'll start with a basic effect build.
I'll look into audio probes if I land in the shit.
yes mate, it will save you hours of frustration in the long run. Buy the best you can afford without going daft, unless you're going to start using it professionally then the sky's the limit.
@no3chris yes mate, it works fine now. I found that the problem was a bad solder connection on the 'In' on the board but you couldn't actually see it was bad. Its just a case of chasing it back with a tester Im afraid. Hope that gives you some help, don't give up dude as its well worth it.
Great vid mate
Glad you enjoyed the vid dude & thanks for the comment. Sean Bean I aint but I wish I had his money & good looks ;-)
@heminder lol, cheers dude had a Epic Brain fart. Glad you enjoyed the video, thanks for the comment
hi, im thinking about doing this kit. Did you use a heat sink when soldering in the germanium transistors as i know you can bugger them up with a lot of heat?
Hey dude, it sounds exactly like a Fuzzy Factory should but with the added bonus of not costing you $150 + CAD
Where do you start apart from crying if you do come to juice it up and get nothing?
I don't suppose you can test each of the components on the pcb while still in circuit?
I like to idea of testing it before wiring in the switch and led to help with possible trouble shooting.
You've got the guy some more business because I will be giving this a go in the near future.
You can also get nice green coloured pedal chassis on ebay which will save you some painting time at the expense of some drilling.
cheers thats helped me out
Should I get a decent soldering iron????
Hey man! Awesome video. Sorta got me excited to try this myself (though its going to cost a bit more for me as I'm in Canada and can't find any kits from here or the states) but I was just wondering, how does it sound? I can't find a demo of it. I want a fuzz factory but I don't have $150+ CAD to get one...
When you connect ground to your to the jacks it turns your metal enclose into a common ground .
cool build.
that transistor at 1:55 is actually a capacitor =P
I want to build their animal kit. That was gilmores fave.
Hey - I bought one of these years ago and got half-way through the build before being distracted. I now have some bits and no instructions and that site doesn't seem to work any longer - can you share the instructions please?
James Ward look at fuzzdog pedal parts. I think it's the filth fack kit you need. There's a pdf file that will help you.
James Ward the link below still works.
hi, basically how the feck are you supposed to do it, i've soldered on all of the components now i'm completely stuck with the wiring/grounding, please help
What do you mean dude? Is your signal running to ground or are you having problems with the wiring? Just keep things simple, make a common ground & try the board before you wire it to the stomp switch. Most issues happen when hooking it up to the switch.
wouldn't it have been easier to use one of the backs of the pots for a common ground instead of all that wiring to the jack?
no problem but be warned, thats how it starts!
dont give up dude, its all a learning curve. what are you having problems with?
Where did you buy the kit?
jcows12 shop.pedalparts.co.uk/
3pdt.com 39 dollars complete kit
1:59 it's a capacitor.. not a transistor.
Summit Sayem thank you
billyblunt63.. my comment seems a little rude now that i'm seeing it. Sorry, meant no offence.
that's after building my first one that I realise how absurd the pricetags of effect are... It's only 25£worth of electronics components and max 1hour of labour they could set the price waay down.
Γιώργος Ζιώτας That's right.
But I didn't meant that they should simply charge25$plus 9 or 10$ for the hour of labour either!
I think that just like soo many other guitar stompbox manufacturer, they could offer the vexter series at a reasonable 100$
Still expensive for a student like me, but manageable if you really want it.
Now there would still be the fancy handpainted 300$ one if you want a very pretty pedal board and have money to spend.
I wouldn't go as far as to think a prestigious brand should offer their pedals at 45$ like the low end stuff!
A bowl of Miso soup agreed... why buy when you can build :p plus recycling some parts is always a good idea... pots, jacks, knobs, transistors, IC's, tantalum capacitors (they can get pricey), foil/poly caps, diodes (if they are worth it such as OA germaniums).. not only does it save you money, it saves the planet ;)
RobTapps88 My spare parts box has no end hahaha
A bowl of Miso soup ha mine does... i dont have the space for a huge tote of spare pcbs lol or the money for scopes n shit.. i wish i did :(
RobTapps88 I don't have a lot of money, but I keep everything from my past project. and all that stuff is unsorted in a box under my bed. Maybe not enough to build a pedal but there's enough crappy old pickups and parts to build several cigarbox guitars!
I'm completely lost trying to sort out the wiring, the stuff on Poodle's website is nowhere near dumbed down enough for novice builders. Need to put it away for a while and read up on the basics. Frustrating.
Sorry for this but you have spoken a lot. You are supposed to reduce your words and show your device how it works and use it with a guitar and a loudspeaker.