Rank: Guitar Hero  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/8/2010(UTC) Posts: 223 Points: 681 Location: Oz
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Hi, been looking for some stompbox effects kits to assemble, and sell in the shop as hand made 'boutique' pedals, as its cheaper and can be sold at a reasonable price, as we want to find a different niche for the place, plus few have the assembly and soldering skills, that I do.
I have found a few, but many dont deliver outside the EU or US! (Frustrating with some nice low wattage valve amp kits too!)
Can any1 recommend some kit suppliers that I may not be aware of?
Cheers!
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Rank: Guitar Legend  Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/18/2010(UTC) Posts: 736 Points: 2,249 Location: Rocknbluesville, Ark. U.S.A.
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Originally Posted by: Axeman69  Hi, been looking for some stompbox effects kits to assemble, and sell in the shop as hand made 'boutique' pedals, as its cheaper and can be sold at a reasonable price, as we want to find a different niche for the place, plus few have the assembly and soldering skills, that I do.
I have found a few, but many dont deliver outside the EU or US! (Frustrating with some nice low wattage valve amp kits too!)
Can any1 recommend some kit suppliers that I may not be aware of?
Cheers! Mojotone sells All kinds of Pedals, amps Kits, and guitar parts. They are the main suppliers for Pickup, and Amp Builders. If you are a business, you can get a discount. http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Pedals
I am pretty sure they sell internationally. Good Luck, Terry
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Rank: Guitar Hero  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/8/2010(UTC) Posts: 223 Points: 681 Location: Oz
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Thanks Tezz, I will check them out!
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Rank: Guitar God  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/5/2009(UTC) Posts: 1,312 Points: 3,960 Location: Northern Tier, EEUU
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I considered something similar a few years ago, but set it aside for other projects. So, yeah, I've got some thoughts. If a vendor says they don't want to ship outside the States or Europe, that's either from fear of geting scammed, or not wanting to deal with the extra hassle of forms (customs, duties, etc.). You get around the former by sending them a polite letter (or making a phone call) to both work out a deal & establish your credibility; you solve the latter by making it worth their while with a decent-size order -- they're likely used to selling one or two kits to a customer, & that's the last they get -- & maybe a dollar or three extra for "shipping & handling" hassles. The main problem with many kits is that they sell for about as much as finished similar units. Plus, the latter can often be purchased in bulk for a good price break, while the former come from small shops that sell a few here & there, making their profit from "kitting" or dropping the necessary components into a bag. With this in mind, you might be better off finding a source for assembled units, then making a few tweaks & repainting the boxes with your own brand & model name. The "tweaks" possible are things the average player doesn't want to mess with, anything from upgrading mechanicals (some commercial boxes use crappy switches & jacks that break down quickly) to swapping out components (different caps to change the tonal range, say, or transistors to germanium or can). Don't forget to factor in the cost of building!! Sure, there you are in the shop, with a few minutes to kill here & there through the day, & you'd likely enjoy burning a few stompers together... but your time has value, even if you'd otherwise just be staring at the wall. While I'll sometimes take on a repair job for cheap, just for the education &/or a chance to dig into some vintage gear I might otherwise never see, generally I won't touch something unless I'll pocket at least $10/hour... & that's CHEAP. What's your bench rate? If you get all the parts you need (case, board, mounting hardware, components), then unless you've got a wave soldering tank or similar (look it up!), it might take you an hour just to load the board. You MUST factor this in -- what'd happen if the darned things catch on & you have to hire someone to turn out five a day? You could source your own, from scratch. There are plenty of pilfered circuits out there, & they're not all that difficult to design. My overdrive/line driver started as a DOD circuit, but I made changes based on other similar boxes, & then changed a few values to suit the small stock available at the nearby Radio Shack -- et viola  an Original Design. I then sat down & sketched out my own PC board (about 1"x2", where the DOD's board was almost 3"x5"), etched it in the basement, & hand-drilled it. There are small shops that'd be happy to do some or all of the board work for you, for $5-$10/unit, less in bulk (if they can camera a dozen boards onto a single sheet, rather than do one-off work, everyone wins). Now that there's an absolute fetish among "boutique" fans for point-to-point, you could make a big thing about using perfboard or turrets. Years ago, the hardest part was finding suitable cases. Now, you can buy 'em by the truckload, pre-drilled. Some boutique shops are happy to sell you sub-kits. This guy is Pigeon fx in Sussex: http://www.ebay.com/sch/icecrea...&_trksid=p4340.l2562Some vendors have reverse-engineered classic effects, & burned clone boards. I don't approve of this, as not only does it risk violating copyright, but in many cases even has the original company's name &/or identifying marks. Still, for reference purposes: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage...&hash=item4ab0ac71e4http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage...&hash=item4ab0ac724cThe classic circuit diagrammes themselves are all over the Web. Often, the design wasn't properly protected (by patent or copyright) or in fact fairly common throughout the industry. If you create your own boards, & don't claim overmuchly that it's somehow "the same" as the ancestor, then you can readily make it your own. One final option would be to take onboard circuits such as from Artec, & box 'em into pedals: http://guitarheads.net/products...tronics/electronics.htmlhttp://www.axesrus.com/axeElectronicsEffects.htmI know, I know: info overload. Well, give it some thought, & keep in touch!!
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Rank: Guitar Hero  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/8/2010(UTC) Posts: 223 Points: 681 Location: Oz
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Originally Posted by: Tony Raven  I considered something similar a few years ago, but set it aside for other projects. So, yeah, I've got some thoughts. If a vendor says they don't want to ship outside the States or Europe, that's either from fear of geting scammed, or not wanting to deal with the extra hassle of forms (customs, duties, etc.). You get around the former by sending them a polite letter (or making a phone call) to both work out a deal & establish your credibility; you solve the latter by making it worth their while with a decent-size order -- they're likely used to selling one or two kits to a customer, & that's the last they get -- & maybe a dollar or three extra for "shipping & handling" hassles. The main problem with many kits is that they sell for about as much as finished similar units. Plus, the latter can often be purchased in bulk for a good price break, while the former come from small shops that sell a few here & there, making their profit from "kitting" or dropping the necessary components into a bag. With this in mind, you might be better off finding a source for assembled units, then making a few tweaks & repainting the boxes with your own brand & model name. The "tweaks" possible are things the average player doesn't want to mess with, anything from upgrading mechanicals (some commercial boxes use crappy switches & jacks that break down quickly) to swapping out components (different caps to change the tonal range, say, or transistors to germanium or can). Don't forget to factor in the cost of building!! Sure, there you are in the shop, with a few minutes to kill here & there through the day, & you'd likely enjoy burning a few stompers together... but your time has value, even if you'd otherwise just be staring at the wall. While I'll sometimes take on a repair job for cheap, just for the education &/or a chance to dig into some vintage gear I might otherwise never see, generally I won't touch something unless I'll pocket at least $10/hour... & that's CHEAP. What's your bench rate? If you get all the parts you need (case, board, mounting hardware, components), then unless you've got a wave soldering tank or similar (look it up!), it might take you an hour just to load the board. You MUST factor this in -- what'd happen if the darned things catch on & you have to hire someone to turn out five a day? You could source your own, from scratch. There are plenty of pilfered circuits out there, & they're not all that difficult to design. My overdrive/line driver started as a DOD circuit, but I made changes based on other similar boxes, & then changed a few values to suit the small stock available at the nearby Radio Shack -- et viola  an Original Design. I then sat down & sketched out my own PC board (about 1"x2", where the DOD's board was almost 3"x5"), etched it in the basement, & hand-drilled it. There are small shops that'd be happy to do some or all of the board work for you, for $5-$10/unit, less in bulk (if they can camera a dozen boards onto a single sheet, rather than do one-off work, everyone wins). Now that there's an absolute fetish among "boutique" fans for point-to-point, you could make a big thing about using perfboard or turrets. Years ago, the hardest part was finding suitable cases. Now, you can buy 'em by the truckload, pre-drilled. Some boutique shops are happy to sell you sub-kits. This guy is Pigeon fx in Sussex: http://www.ebay.com/sch/icecrea...&_trksid=p4340.l2562Some vendors have reverse-engineered classic effects, & burned clone boards. I don't approve of this, as not only does it risk violating copyright, but in many cases even has the original company's name &/or identifying marks. Still, for reference purposes: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage...&hash=item4ab0ac71e4http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage...&hash=item4ab0ac724cThe classic circuit diagrammes themselves are all over the Web. Often, the design wasn't properly protected (by patent or copyright) or in fact fairly common throughout the industry. If you create your own boards, & don't claim overmuchly that it's somehow "the same" as the ancestor, then you can readily make it your own. One final option would be to take onboard circuits such as from Artec, & box 'em into pedals: http://guitarheads.net/products...tronics/electronics.htmlhttp://www.axesrus.com/axeElectronicsEffects.htmI know, I know: info overload. Well, give it some thought, & keep in touch!! THANKS for that! The 1 Terry recommended is too expensive. I want to build and sell budget stuff as cheap as possible. I'm not much into circuit modding, more just building and selling, as something different from other shops! (I am currently making up my own guiitar leads!) As far as wave soldering is concerned, I can solder as GOOD as a wave machine! I was taught by 1! Cheers!
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Rank: Guitar Legend  Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/18/2010(UTC) Posts: 736 Points: 2,249 Location: Rocknbluesville, Ark. U.S.A.
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That's why you need the discount. I may make a TS Clone some day. The Mojo stuff is all Industrial and heavy duty. In Ozz Land You would probably be better off just ordering from Asian Land. Good Luck, Terry
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 Rank: Administration  Medals: Groups: Administrators
Joined: 8/4/2009(UTC) Posts: 1,937 Points: 5,566 Location: Allen, TX
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| | Check out my music: http://willchentrio.com | http://www.reverbnation.com/willchentrio |
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Rank: Guitar Legend  Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/18/2010(UTC) Posts: 736 Points: 2,249 Location: Rocknbluesville, Ark. U.S.A.
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Originally Posted by: Will Chen  Your talking 60-75 Dollars at all of them. So you can buy a lot of the ready made for that. Mojo has a AB Kit? I wonder what that would end up? I can get pretty reasonable. http://www.mojotone.com/...-Kits/Mojo-AB-Pedal-Kit
That is the cheapest one, might be something to start with. T * I guess that is for switching between 2 different amps? They need better descriptions.
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 Rank: Administration  Medals: Groups: Administrators
Joined: 8/4/2009(UTC) Posts: 1,937 Points: 5,566 Location: Allen, TX
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Many of those kits are somewhat original designs though. If the goal is to build a kit with maybe some personal tuning of the circuit and add a fancy graphic to sell it at a premium, those type of sites would be the best bet. Perhaps buying just the boards and sourcing the parts locally. If the ultimate goal is the lowest price, there are many Chinese manufacturers who will sell dirt boxes fully assembled (some even offer custom graphics/branding) in bulk at around $20 a pop, even less if ordering in high quantities.
An A/B is for switching one signal to 2 different sources or vice versa. Common usage is for switching between 2 amps, or switching between channels of some vintage amps in which each channel has its own input but no built in way to toggle them. | | Check out my music: http://willchentrio.com | http://www.reverbnation.com/willchentrio |
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Rank: Guitar Legend  Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/18/2010(UTC) Posts: 736 Points: 2,249 Location: Rocknbluesville, Ark. U.S.A.
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Originally Posted by: Will Chen  Many of those kits are somewhat original designs though. If the goal is to build a kit with maybe some personal tuning of the circuit and add a fancy graphic to sell it at a premium, those type of sites would be the best bet. Perhaps buying just the boards and sourcing the parts locally. If the ultimate goal is the lowest price, there are many Chinese manufacturers who will sell dirt boxes fully assembled (some even offer custom graphics/branding) in bulk at around $20 a pop, even less if ordering in high quantities.
An A/B is for switching one signal to 2 different sources or vice versa. Common usage is for switching between 2 amps, or switching between channels of some vintage amps in which each channel has its own input but no built in way to toggle them. Thanks, A kit for under $60 would be a fun adventure, and You would Learn a Lot in the process. I know everything I've built to date, even if it may have cost a little more has been worth the effort. Most of the hand built boards and stuff, are real easy to maintain. That's what I like about the hand built, eyelet, and turret built stuff. It should last a long, long time. So back to the pedals, what would be the sound dif. in say a TS Type, and a BB (BluesBreaker) Type? B_T
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