bobbass4k

If my google sheets inventory is to be believed I do, but I'll check when I get home.

For general edification, this is an industry wide problem that's going to get worse before it gets better. Most of the big manufacturers have pushed out their lead times and all the distributors have panicked with a big rush of orders, so a lot of stuff is on allocation (orders are outstripping production). One of our manufacturers has quoted us 48 weeks on some stuff. This problem has been looming for a year or so, but as everyone is now running out of their existing and emergency stock, it's starting to hit every level.

CPC is worth a look - https://cpc.farnell.com/ Same company as Farnell but they aim more at the hobbyist so quantities can be more reasonable, though range is more restricted. FYI though at Farnell - if they're only showing full reels and you want less, it's always worth a ring to sales, if you're doing a decent sized order they might transfer them to the cut tape SKU so you can buy smaller quantities (source: I work there).

It's just an odd way to make the distinction that (I think) exploits misconceptions about electronics (Silicon = modern and harsh, Valves = warm and vintage). If you have one side labelled "Silicon Rectifier" and another side labelled something else when it also (almost certainly) also uses Silicon rectifiers, I find that deliberate. No harm though, they clearly know their market and I'm sure it'll sell great. Yes I'm sure the Microtubes name is just for vivid imagery and Mr. Darkglass would be livid if anybody bought the pedal because the name made them think it would make them sound like a tube amp...

If are inclined toward pedantry, "Valve Rectifier" is 3 more letters than "Valve Styled" and the same length as "Valve Emulation", so brevity is perhaps not the principal agenda. Its just something that annoys me is all, so much of the boutique industry is built around an almost ubiquitous snake oil thesaurus that essentially exploits ignorance. But, 'twas ever thus, just annoys me. The microtubes name too yes ("Red Llama with some fancy EQing" probably didn't fit on the box).

They lose a lot of credibility for talking about the "valve rectifier" side and the "solid state rectifier" side. If there ain't a valve in it (which there isn't), then it has 2 solid state sides. Which is fine, but be honest about it.

You're welcome. Now that you mention it I've only clocked on to it the last couple of weeks, but it's possible before that I've just thought I'd left the sound on or thought I had the media volume up (still happens with the media volume muted)

On mobile, if the page is open the new notification tone plays with the system set to silent mode. I've triple checked and can't see anything system side in either the phone settings or chrome that would be allowing this. I've turned the sound off in profile settings, but it's a bit worrying that the site can override systems settings like this. Huawei EMUI 5.0.1 on Android 7.0, Chrome 67.0.3396.87

For me, every digital multi I ever tried was boring, uninspiring and inflexible. They're a great option for probably most people, as they're all about utility. I love pedals for their creativity, discovering new and unexpected sounds is what I love and one of my big inspirations to play and it just isn't possible with multis. Nothing to do with "analogue" purism, as a lot of the really envelope pushing stuff happening at the moment in stompboxes is digital, the increasing availability and cheapness of DSP chips and the tools to develop for them has led to an explosion of really cool unique pedals, with people like Red Panda, Chase Bliss etc.

I get the bulk of my stuff from CPC now as I get a frankly embarrassing Farnell staff discount and the quality is fairly good on the cheap stuff. They have a lot of unbranded/generic resistors/caps that are exactly what you'd get off ebay or a bulk seller. Just to add, Banzai in Germany is also a good one to have bookmarked. Their prices can be quite high, but if you're struggling to find something, Banzai probably have it (I just bought a 100k reverse log 9mm pot that I literally couldn't find anywhere else). Postage is a bit steep but it's a fixed price you won't get stung taxes so it's still cheaper than america.

Bitsbox is probably the closest, they're geared to the hobbyist, and the audio/pedal hobbyist in particular. They don't have quite the selection of the big boys and the prices aren't rock bottom but no minimums, low fixed postage and reliable delivery make them my goto for low volume/last minute orders.

Just stumbled across these at work, forget hunting down original JRC4558s, clearly these are now the key to that truly golden tubescreamer sound... all for a very reasonable £50.... http://www.profusionplc.com/parts/orange-dd

Sand down well with 400-600 grit wet'n'dry, wipe clean with acetone/spirits, couple of coats of primer, leave to dry, few coats of spray paint of choice, drill, touch up any problems cause by the drilling, graphics, few coats of clear coat. You could drill first, but as the painting can take a day or two with drying time, I like to work on my drill template/design while the paints drying. I use all rustoleum stuff because i usually don't have the foresight to plan ahead and end up going to the local DIY store. With proper priming you can use any general purpose spray paint really. I think you can get specialist aluminium primer, but I've found the general purpose rustoleum primer to do the job, just make sure you sand properly (the primer needs something to grip to).

Fortunately I've been listening to nothing but Cardiacs for 3 weeks, which suits this image perfectly. I might see if I can attempt to channel the spirit at least, if not the musical caliber into some compositional chaos.

I reading it back that probably came off more cynical than I'd intended, I know 95% of people would probably be fine, but it's just always felt like a can of worms to me. First foray into etching - Annoyingly the printer at work died the only day I could print so I couldn't do toner transfer so settled for more of a "horror movie" motif, I painted it with nail varnish then scratched the letters in and random bits off. It's not perfect but I've learned a lot for next time.

Couple of new builds - I finally have a compressor that does what I want it too. I'm very happy.

Sidenote, the Pumpernickel went together like a dream and does exactly what I've always wanted a compressor to do. Not boxed yet as I'm waiting for some Ferric Chloride to arrive to begin my adventure into enclosure etching... Next time I post I may be blind...

I'll do stripboard builds and kits for friends/FoF etc for cost of parts and a bottle of nice beer or the like., but I'm always very wary of it. Stuff I build for myself is always made to a very high functional standard, but the cosmetics/finish is often basic or non-existent because, well, I don't really care. Once you start taking money for the actual building, you have to start matching/competing with peoples expectations, which can mean a lot of headaches ("When I said blue I didn't mean that blue"). Not to mention after care expectations ("Yes I put it in the dishwasher but why didn't you make it waterproof? Fix it for free or I'll tell everyone you're a scammer"). If you've got the patience and the inclination for a commercial endeavour there's probably a decent niche to be carved out there, but it's not for me.

Any pedals will work with the dc out, as I recall it has its own current limit you'll have to stick to, not just the PSU limit, but that should be on the label.

Boss LS-2 could be a simple solution, it will only work with 2, but you can use it as a switcher and set different output levels on each channel, you can have them both plugged in and set to different output levels, simple stomp to swap. I've never needed that kind of switching so there me be a better solution with more channels, but the LS-2 is cheap, reliable and very useful.

He does sell PCBs, but even with my embarrassingly large farnell discount it only came out a few quid cheaper to source the bits myself, so for the convenience I plumped for a kit.

i've been considering the pumpernickel for a while, I've built a few compressors on the breadboard recently and they've all underwhelmed me, the pumpernickel has a feature set that appeals to me. Anyone know if the Schalltechnik guy sells bare PCBs? Drilling out the enclosure doesn't look too bad and I can get the parts for way cheaper (working for Farnell has it's advantages). The fruits of the xmas break - The fuzz is a tweaked Megalith, the gold enclosure was meant for a different pedal, and seemed at odds with the rather serious doom/heavy vibe of the fuzz, so i went overboard on the name. I believe it's what the kids call "irony". The flash hasn't showed it off well but it's got a gold glitter top coat that looks really good. The other one is the "(Howard the) Funk-a-Duck", because, well... who gives a duck? I ran out of knobs, more on the way. Howard is a bit of a mess, I'm still getting the hang of this decal business.

I always think it's quite telling that of the 4 pedals I've chosen not to replace or build, 3 are Boss... Famous last words, but I think i've got all the pedals I need for the time being, my next project is to redo the graphics on all the existing ones. After 10 years of holding out I've decided it's worth owning a printer, so I'm going to water transfer the living hell out of everything, and get rid of the "blind donkey fornicating with a paint pot" aesthetic many of them were adorned with (through necessity).

I don't think I've uploaded a picture of it using the big boy board (I finally bought a pedal train...)