Comments on: Make your own guitar pedal with Beavis Board

By: Stormrider

Stormrider — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:31:27 +0000

I don’t think $250 is overly steep, all in all. Two breadboards, the box itself, and all the jacks add up fast. I’m sure you could buy it all cheaper individually, but I’ve never seen an all in one kit that lets you make pretty much any pedal type. If he gets more in I think I’m gonna pick one up.

-Storm

By: Quin

Quin — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:56:20 +0000

$250 for support and a descent metal box with a quality stomp switch is not that bad. In my experience, the box and the switch have been the most expensive parts. Sure, you can use just a toggle DPDT and a plastic case, but I don't recommend actually using your foot to hit the switch.

If you really want cheap, pick up a 300in1 electronics kit from a box store after Christmas, they run around 5$ and have a breadboard and lots of low quality parts. Hit a music store or Radio Shack equivalent for some mono and stereo 1/4 inch jacks and a mix of log and linear pots. If you want some FETs for the more complicated pedals, you'll have to find those too.

Someone else mentioned it before, but Aaron's Stompbox site moved some ages ago and I think is now found at http://www.diystompboxes.com/ And it's a good place even for beginners.

By: dano

dano — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:12:34 +0000

Thanks much for the link. Here’s the deal on the beavis board: I do them part-time because lots of people have asked me to do it. If $249 is too much, then build your own. I have instructions on the site for how to make your own (beavisaudio is *all* about DIY) and you can download the builders guidea and all of the projects for free. As for the “30 dollars” in parts, that’s now even close–and there is a lot of labor involved in building them, sourcing the parts, doing all the docs, answering all the questions, etc. I do this as a labor of love (which is hopefully conveyed by the content on my site) not as a way to build a business. Regardless, thanks much for all the comments, don’t be shy about sending me emails!

-dano

By: Tom Whitwell (Music Thing)

Tom Whitwell (Music Thing) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:45:26 +0000

“they’d be better off suppling you with a soldering iron”
The whole point of a breadboard is that it doesn’t need a soldering iron.
Even if it’s $30 of parts, you save $100 of your labour you’d have spent messing about trying to source those parts…

By: shbazjinkens

shbazjinkens — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:26:49 +0000

Hey Trex, having been in that situation myself I can tell you exactly what to do. Build the kit yourself - it really is about $30 in parts. Get a breadboard, scrap a metal case from something or make your own with a hacksaw and C purling. Get yourself over to Ampage.org and Aaron's stombox forum, or R.G. Keen's site at http://www.geofex.com. If you're interested in amp building, hit ax84.com. They'll all have great advice and further links for you. This stuff isn't hard or expensive, and doesn't require $50 of kits, much less $250.

Good luck! I'm almost finished with a degree in electronics after cutting my teeth in guitar FX and amplification starting at your age.

By: trex

trex — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:07:01 +0000

why do they include a multimeter? almost everyone has one, and they’d be better off suppling you with a soldering iron, and for $250 you expected better over-all quality. im really interested in this because i have no previous experience hacking, however being 16 i don’t have $250 to save my life. is a kit similar to this, that is informative and teaches you to solder etc. but does overcharge you which i think this is doing

By: Eliot

Eliot — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:20:11 +0000

“entry level” was a reference to it going so far as including a multimeter, which we assume most people here have.

By: Wolf

Wolf — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:35:46 +0000

^^^ That would make sense, considering the clash is over the barrage of new posts.

Not that this doesn’t look interesting, based on the pictures that looks like a rather complete introductory general electronics kit. 250 is a bit steep for what is essentially $30 worth of parts and a $15 multimeter, but considering that it contains all the basic components a beginning hacker will need for quite a while, and apparently some good documentation to boot, It may very well be worth that much for someone trying to get into hacking or electronics.

By: Dean

Dean — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:11:37 +0000

i for one am interested in this sort of thing. it’s not too “entry level”. i hope you don’t have sour grapes about some complainers. it takes a while for readers to adjust to change, and it takes a while for writers to get used to their audience. the barrage of new posts sort of accelerated that clash i think.