# My latest pedal builds - a record breaking series(?)



## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

Literally. It was a record breaking build.



I got the visual idea for these just over a year ago. So, over a year from inception to completion - another record?



Vinyl Flux is a Niagara band in which two members were old friends. 
Since debuting just over 2 years ago, they've ALL become friends of ours.

Why so long to build these? I didn't really know what to build for the guys. I just had the visual idea.
After many chats and surreptitious interviewing, I figured out what I needed to build.

Once I began producing these, I ran into many problems with cutting the vinyl, getting fonts, printing the logo, and generally messing things up and starting over.
The circuits were the easiest part - even the dual tagboard build that gave me so much trouble was easier than the graphics/decoration.

The bass player wanted a "phaser type thing". I already had a Dr. Phibes circuit from GuitarPCB built. So, that was set aside for this build.

The Phluxer. It's a Phaser and the bass player's name is Phil...


The "Phil" switch does absolutely nothing. I accidentally drilled an extra hole. So, I put a switch in it and wrote in the instructions that it's there just to make him smile.
There are many pictures of him with a complete dead pan face. So, it's kind of a running gag to get him to smile while he's playing.



One of the guitarists started chatting about a dual pedal for which he had read about and had seen online review videos.
So, I hunted down some ideas and decided to follow a build that someone over on the BYOC forums did last year. It's a tagboard build and includes two drive circuits that were recently combined for a specific UK player. [whispers]Wampler Fusion[/whispers]

The Fluxion


This is an in-progress gut shot. The end result is a mess since I had to rewire everything and ended up flipping the "E-Drive" board upside down too. But I just forgot to take a final shot before closing it up.


The other guitarist was a tough one, but I ended up putting together the SuperDrive 70s from GuitarPCB for him.

The SuperFlux




I didn't want to leave the drummer out so I bought a fan, took it all apart and painted it with Krylon Fusion paint.



The singer got a candy jar with the band logo on it and loaded with eucalyptus candies that we've been supplying to him for a few months. I don't have a picture of that, though.

It was a fun build, frustrating at times, but that's part of the process for me. I learned a lot.

Like:
1. If you're going to put envirotex over a paper label, clear coat the piece first to seal the label and the edges. When I poured the envirotex, it seeped under the label and the label even absorbed some. So it looked like wet paper.
2. Also, envirotex fills in all of the grooves on a vinyl record so that it doesn't look like a vinyl record anymore. They got tossed and I started over.
3. You (or maybe it's just me) can build one pedal and not mess up the pot pin order, build a second pedal and mess it up, then build a third and not mess it up.
4. It's pretty impossible to print orange on a printer. I ended up getting a stamp making kit and carving the logo myself. Then I used paint and stamped it wherever I needed it. The rustic look is intentional (whether I meant to do it that way or not).
5. I'm sure there's lots more that I am forgetting now.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

They look great. Better than most pedals out there, imo.


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## Noise Supply (May 31, 2013)

I love the aesthetics. Such a cool idea!


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Very cool look indeed!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Very nice builds. Those powder-coated boxes sure make life easier, don't they? I'm intrigued by the pots. Where'd you get those?


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

Thanks all.

I love the powder coated boxes. I even orders a bunch drilled with too many holes than I needed. Then I use the vinyl as a top plate but just drill the holes I actually need in the vinyl. The vinyl plate covers the extra holes.

The pots are normal pots from the usual suppliers, but I've got them covered with pot condoms from GuitarPCB.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

dodgechargerfan said:


> I've got them covered with *pot condoms* from GuitarPCB.




Great looking build! Congrats!

Cheers

Dave


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Ah! Mystery solved. Never seen those before.

Shorts against the back cover of pots, and pot lugs are a regular source of "I don't understand...it worked before I boxed it up" posts over on the DIY stompbox forum. I make a point of putting a piece of heat shrink over the solder lugs of pots and toggles as well. It provides some strain relief so that the wire won't fracture, but it also prevents lugs from accidentally shorting out against other pots or the side of the chassis, or the leads of vertically-mounted resistors.


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## mrfiftyfour (Jun 29, 2008)

Wow. Love them all. 

Yo momma


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## JerS (Jun 16, 2014)

Great looking builds! This is a really unique idea, I love it!


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

Thanks again for all of the kind words.

I swore I'd never do a other one like this, but an online friend passed away suddenly few weeks ago.
There's a number of fund raising efforts underway and one is a "sell stuff and donate the proceeds" sort of deal.
So, I decided to build a pedal and auction it off.
It's a tribute to our friend in terms of the look and I used the vinyl record as the top plate again.
No pictures handy yet, but I'll get one here sometime this week.

It IS kinda fun to build them this way and it saves all kinds of work with regards to the holes on top.
I got a bunch of enclosures pre-drilled with a lot of holes on top. I just use what I need and the top plate covers up the rest.


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