# building myself an ABY pedal



## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

I ordered a polished aluminum 125B enclosure, 3 mono jacks, 2 dpdt switches, 3 -3mm LEDs w/ Bezels, a 3m ohm resistor and 2 1.5k ohm resistors, premium battery snaps and a battery holder.

Should be built for about $30.

Any tips?

I can solder just fine, but this is the first pedal I'm building. I'm a bit worried it's going to be a tight squeeze getting everything in there.


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## exhausted (Feb 10, 2006)

I'm thinking you should have gone with 3PDT switches to enable you to ground the input of the line that will be bypassed sometimes. You may have some noise issues.


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## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

exhausted said:


> I'm thinking you should have gone with 3PDT switches to enable you to ground the input of the line that will be bypassed sometimes. You may have some noise issues.


I thought about that, but what is the difference between 3PDT and the DPDT switches? I figured both have 6 posts to connect to...


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## exhausted (Feb 10, 2006)

3PDTs have nine. So you can use two poles to do the switching and one pole for the LEDs.


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## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

Hmm.. that's a really nice diagram.

Here's the one I used to order my parts.









I know it's hard to read.
I like yours better, but will mine work just the same?


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## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

I'm just gonna order a couple 3DPT switches. Could I get away with a 1.5k resistor instead of 2k?


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## exhausted (Feb 10, 2006)

Yours will work with what you've got. The 1.5K will just give you brighter LEDs.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The resistor value will depend on the efficiency/brightness of the LED and the desired brightness level. These days LEDs of ridiculous brightness and efficiency can be gotten easily and cheaply. If I use a superbright with a rating of 6000millicandles, I can easily get away with using a 10k or even 15k resistor. If it's an older type with a 300-600mcd rating, then 2.2k is about right. You don't want to go that much below 1.5k.


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## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

One more question for you Exhausted,

Is the input jack on your ABY diagram a stereo jack?


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## exhausted (Feb 10, 2006)

It's just one I found via google but yes it's a stereo jack. A mono plug will connect ring and sleeve and engage the battery.


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## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

Cool. I cancelled my original order. I like the color diagram better, seems simpler. As I look at it I can see how it works. So I ordered slightly higher quality components, and a sheet of water slide decal paper so I can make it look Pro.

It's going to be going into a polished aluminum 125B enclosure.

Pictures when it's done.


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## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

The enclosure I ordered is finished in polished aluminum. I want to add some water-slide decals next to the LED's to indicate which one is A, which is B and which is Y. I ordered a blue, green and orange LED's for this purpose, but I figure to give it a pro finished quality, I would label them.

My concern is whether I should apply clear coat to the enclosure after I've added the decals in order to smooth out the edges of the decals and protect the surface. Is clear coating polished aluminum recommended? 

Thanks


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

BEMUSofNrthAmra said:


> The enclosure I ordered is finished in polished aluminum. I want to add some water-slide decals next to the LED's to indicate which one is A, which is B and which is Y. I ordered a blue, green and orange LED's for this purpose, but I figure to give it a pro finished quality, I would label them.
> 
> My concern is whether I should apply clear coat to the enclosure after I've added the decals in order to smooth out the edges of the decals and protect the surface. Is clear coating polished aluminum recommended?
> 
> Thanks


I don't know whether its _recommended_ or not, but cc might have a hard time sticking to a polished smooth surface. It will, however, certainly make your decal more hardy. I'd go *really* thin coats of cc and do 4 or 5. Make sure all surfaces are super pristinely clean before spraying, no finger oil or dust or anything.


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## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

keto said:


> I don't know whether its _recommended_ or not, but cc might have a hard time sticking to a polished smooth surface. It will, however, certainly make your decal more hardy. I'd go *really* thin coats of cc and do 4 or 5. Make sure all surfaces are super pristinely clean before spraying, no finger oil or dust or anything.


Hmm.. I'm starting to think about putting a layer or two of automotive wax, so long as it won't hurt the decals.


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## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

Alright, looks like I'm in business. I found a local automotive powder coating place. I e-mailed him a description, he said he clear powder coats polished aluminum for cars all the time and that for the 125B size shouldn't cost more than $10-$15.

With powdercoating my total build cost will be $55 CAN. Not bad.


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## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

got my ABY built. works good except the LEDs. Going to keep working on it.


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## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

here it is:


















and a gut shot to show my work:










it has LEDs + battery in it now, just haven't updated pictures yet.

Works great with my 4-hole Marshall JMP.


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## v-verb (Mar 29, 2007)

Looks great - so are you building for paying customers:smilie_flagge17:


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

v-verb said:


> Looks great - so are you building for paying customers:smilie_flagge17:


Just out of curiousity, it cost him $55 for just the parts, how much would you think he would charge to put those parts together? On the other hand, you could get a Radial Bigshot with more features for $82.50+tax at Long and McQuade.

My statement is no way a diss to the OP, I think he did a pretty good job of putting the pedal together.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

BEMUSofNrthAmra said:


> .......a gut shot to show my work:


Nice work ! 

Cheers

Dave


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## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

Thanks for the compliments everyone. It was every bit as fun to build as I hoped it would be.



Chito said:


> Just out of curiousity, it cost him $55 for just the parts, how much would you think he would charge to put those parts together? On the other hand, you could get a Radial Bigshot with more features for $82.50+tax at Long and McQuade.
> 
> My statement is no way a diss to the OP, I think he did a pretty good job of putting the pedal together.


You're right. $55 was the price to order parts for one pedal + very expensive shipping. Ordered in bulk (parts for 25+ pedals), with a one time shipping fee, I could probably get the parts down to $25-$30 each. If I sold the ABY for $50 + shipping, it would turn out the same as the Loop-Master ABY, only they have a reputation, I don't.

Don't get me wrong though, I would love to build these for people.

Kudos to Loop-Master for building a business this way. These boxes are so easy to build.

I'm in love with my germanium treble booster, so for my next project, I'm going to prototype my own booster circuit. Should be fun! Maybe if I can come up with something original of my own to offer up, I will.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Building pedals for resale is a slippery slope, on several fronts. Ask me how I know lol 

SPAM: I've had a BNIB Radial ABY up for $70 shipped for 3 weeks not even a nibble. Just sayin, not like there's big demand or anything.

BEMUS, nice looking build, looking forward to seeing the finished product.


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## BEMUSofNrthAmra (Jun 9, 2012)

keto said:


> Building pedals for resale is a slippery slope, on several fronts. Ask me how I know lol


I would love to build pedals for resale, but only if I were offering my own unique circuit. I would probably keep a small product line, a Fuzz, a Booster and a passive ABY designed for 4-hole Marshalls... that's it. 

I would also offer a re-tolexing service. I don't think anyone in the Niagara region does tolex work, and I seem to have a knack for it.

In all honesty, after playing music for a living, this would be my dream job.


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## Jeff B. (Feb 20, 2010)

Nice job on the ABY.

The re-tolexing service idea is a good one.


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