Folk Fuzz Survey & 'Suggestion box'

[Corksniffer]

1. Links to the Lush Pedal....

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... 518&page=3

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... p?t=404157

and glorious it is indeed, it is a clone of the Boss DC-2 which I have always considered the Holy Grail of chorus pedals, until I made this which sounds far better than the original, I used higher quality components thus lowering the noise floor and increasing the headroom. Also its the only stereo true bypass pedal that I know of that does not use relays.

2. I hear you on the clones but there is really not much that can be done that has not already been done, you either distort it, eq it, or modulate it. It was the same when all these now "classic" pedals came out. Ever compared a TS-9 to a Super Overdrive? A DM-2 to a FX65 or AD-9? RAT to a 250+, or Fat Cat? All the same circuit. All of my pedals are clones, and there are very few completely original ideas out there that gain acceptance, either because they are not musical or they just sound bad. What makes the current botique pedals good is that the people making the pedals are musicians, using high quality components and making tweeks to values that make a Lovepedal Eternity (TS-9) sound different from a Cusack Screamer (TS-9) which sounds different from a CJOD (TS-9) which sounds different than a Super Overdrive (TS-9).

That lush pedal looks awesome. Very dilapidated looking too which is a cool design.

I guess my biggest issue is that there are 100s of TS clones out there but only just now is cool stuff like your Lush pedal coming out. Yes its a clone but its a clone of a pedal thats actually unique and awesome sounding. Its too bad that 100 builders show up with a fuzz face and a big muff clone before one shows up with a cool pedal like you put out.

[Donner]

most people when trying something new will start with something easy and safe and for most new builders or people considering takng a stab at it, a fuzz or TS is an easy in .... and many of them quickly find out that pedal building isnt really for them and they move on before they get to anything unusual..... so yeah maybe out of every 50-100 people that pick up a soldering iron intending to rule the world you might get a few that make it to the second project ...........


Look at t he number of people that have actually finished thier Folk Fuzzes, granted most people bought 2 so maybe theres 50 individuals there ..... thats one thing I wanted to see in theis poll ...

[Bobby D]

most people when trying something new will start with something easy and safe and for most new builders or people considering takng a stab at it, a fuzz or TS is an easy in .... and many of them quickly find out that pedal building isnt really for them and they move on before they get to anything unusual..... so yeah maybe out of every 50-100 people that pick up a soldering iron intending to rule the world you might get a few that make it to the second project ...........


Look at t he number of people that have actually finished thier Folk Fuzzes, granted most people bought 2 so maybe theres 50 individuals there ..... thats one thing I wanted to see in theis poll ...

Donner -- I have been thinking about breaking out the soldering iron for years now. My Dad was on the R&D team that helped develop "core memory" the forerunner to RAM memory in the late 50s. We built a lot of Heathkits when I was a kid, so I was soldering at 10 years old.

I'm really kinda surprised that I haven't made some pedals already, but I have always been playing guitar and never really had the time to devote to building.

If anyone wants to give up their FF project, I would be glad to buy it and build it

[jfromel]

Donner, you were right on about the number of people... Here are the stats incase anyone is iterested..

There were 44 participants in the project
Of those only 4 people took boards without a kit, one of which was Nick from NOC3, who said he did not want a parts kit.
A total of 95 boards and 68 parts kits were shipped. Most people bought more than one board.

Which brings up the fact that there are some latecomers who would like a board, anyone out there willing to share????

[Josh]

Look at t he number of people that have actually finished thier Folk Fuzzes, granted most people bought 2 so maybe theres 50 individuals there ..... thats one thing I wanted to see in theis poll ...

I haven't built mine yet, I have been too busy. I will have more time in a week or two. I checked out corksniffer's guide, looks very helpful. I will vote in this once I build it.

[Jagattack]

Look at t he number of people that have actually finished thier Folk Fuzzes, granted most people bought 2 so maybe theres 50 individuals there ..... thats one thing I wanted to see in theis poll ...

I haven't built mine yet, I have been too busy. I will have more time in a week or two. I checked out corksniffer's guide, looks very helpful. I will vote in this once I build it.

Same for me, and it doesn't look like I'll be doing the build until late next month.

[Donner]

Well Im no better and I have most of the other parts available ,,,, I have an idea of something evil to do to/with it but havent quite gotten around to it....

and Im sure theres also a sort of ' let the guys that know what they are doing work the bugs out first' thingy and that makes sense too.....


It would be fun to have a Build day, like get everyone thier kits and give them a week to get the other parts together and then actually build it together at the same time and have live help right there so the experienced guy could hand hold the newbs thru it........

and then the thread could be followed thru later by others.........


actually I guess we could still do this come to think of it......

what if we picked a date and had a Build Party for the stragglers ... maybe if there was a concerted effort and some support and commiseration ~ that might be fun and productive.......

[JKoeth]

OK. Here's my take on the Folk Fuzz building project. At times, I found it very frustrating but I also found it very rewarding and learned alot. After completing two Folk Fuzzes (one silicon and one germanium) I feel empowered and am ready to build more.

It's funny, I haven't been called a noob in so many years that I find that notion funny. However, as far as building pedals goes, I guess I am. I am not new to building things and learning as I go, however. I have built many computers from the ground up. Not basic systems but high performance recording machines. My last one had a dual operating system and was streamlined for audio production in my home studio. This is pretty advanced stuff to most. I'm also pretty handy with a soldering iron and build my own cables, have wired a pretty complicated board, have swapped out pickups on my guitars many times and have tinkered with my amps too. I learned how to do this stuff on my own mostly because I refuse to pay someone to do something that I can learn to do. Self reliance is not an issue for me but when doing something for the very first time a little extra attention is sometimes necessary.

Overall, I think there needs to be a little more guidance for those who need it. For those who don't, they needn't seek it. That way, each builder can be as independant as he wishes to be. I understand that one of the goals of this project was independant learning and appreciation for the building process. I have no problem with that but I did feel a bit left in the dust in the beggining. Early on, I posted a few questions on threads that weren't even noticed and it bummed me out a bit. In the end, Donner, JFrommel & Corksniffer were very helpful. After their guidance, and some research and troubleshooting on my part, the pedals turned out great. Strangely, the hardest part for me was physically spacing out the components and drilling the boxes!

The step by step thread on populating the PCB with pictures was extremely helpful. By the time that had been posted, I had already figured out where everything went but it helped to know that I was on the right track. Another step by step thread on how to wire it up would have been even more helpful to me. Obviously, I figured everything out and should need less help next time but it's nice to know it's there if I need it.

I think an official build moderator or two would be really beneficial to everyone. It will take more time on the parts of the "Master Builders" but I think it would make this process and ultimately this forum an even more special experience. I would like to learn more about what each part does, about swapping possibilities and experiments, and have experienced answers to simple questions and quidance when troubleshooting. A slightly more organized and streamlined approach to building would make the educational aspect and the process itself even more rewarding.

Thanks to everyone who made the Folk Fuzzes possible. This place is fantastic and I look forward to more Folk designs. Thanks, Bjorn, Donner, Jfrommel, Corksniffer and anyone else who was involved. They sound KILLER!

[GDKing]

Bobby

I bought 3 total, I built one and it is sitting on cardboard, and the second one I am gonna do germanium. I suppose I could spare the third one.

If you want it I will send it to ya for 25 bucks + postage. PM me your address and you can paypal me after I go to the post office and mail it so I know how much postage is.

most people when trying something new will start with something easy and safe and for most new builders or people considering takng a stab at it, a fuzz or TS is an easy in .... and many of them quickly find out that pedal building isnt really for them and they move on before they get to anything unusual..... so yeah maybe out of every 50-100 people that pick up a soldering iron intending to rule the world you might get a few that make it to the second project ...........


Look at t he number of people that have actually finished thier Folk Fuzzes, granted most people bought 2 so maybe theres 50 individuals there ..... thats one thing I wanted to see in theis poll ...

Donner -- I have been thinking about breaking out the soldering iron for years now. My Dad was on the R&D team that helped develop "core memory" the forerunner to RAM memory in the late 50s. We built a lot of Heathkits when I was a kid, so I was soldering at 10 years old.

I'm really kinda surprised that I haven't made some pedals already, but I have always been playing guitar and never really had the time to devote to building.

If anyone wants to give up their FF project, I would be glad to buy it and build it

[GDKing]

As far as the build goes, the board was laid out OK, but some things could have been explained better (or at all even there really was not any instruction to speak of that I could readily follow, it went too far too fast for me). This was a simple circuit and I was able to wade through it OK but I still had problems.

If Corksniffer did not post his excellent step by step, I would have had a lot more problems with it. I especially liked his tip of soldering the components in order of height so you can rest it on the table to solder. Sounds easy and intuitive enough, but as a beginner that tip was huge and I would not have thought of it. Without Corksniffers' post I would have been disappointed overall in the project from a novice standpoint. After I read his post, I was quite happy overall. I would not attempt anything harder without assurances of either Corksniffer posting a how to, or better instructions and tips for the layman.