Parts suggestions for future builds

[pbrommer]

Hey guys-
I'm still kinda new to building effects, and need a little bit of help. I'm going to be tackling projects from runoffgroove in the future, and need some help with part selection (not values, but types). Please give me specific names, i.e. companies, etc. Okay, here goes:

1. For the resistors, which kinds should I use: carbon film, metal film, combination, or something else? I was thinking carbon film.

2. For the picofarad and nanofarad capacitors, which kinds should I use: polyester film, polypropylene film, or other (recommend here)?

3. Which kind of trim pots do you suggest?

I think that's all, give me your opinions, etc. It won't be for a little while, but I need to think about getting an order ready for the future.

patrick

[Thomas P.]

I think everyone here has its own way when it comes to parts selection but I think there are some common things.
I wouldn't use carbon resistors for any of my pedals! If you go to geofex and read the tubeamp FAQ you'll know why (do it, no joke!)! I think 1% metal-film resistors are the best choice since they are quiet and presice.

Caps are a different story! Some will tell you that it don't make any difference which one you use - other don't. I'm useing polyester for most of the values and polyprop, ceramic or mica for small values. (Some say ceramic is good for distortions)

For potis I recommend alpha. They are good but I think other quality pots will do it as well.

[Samuel]

in the quantities you'll be buying, you don't save that much money by using carbon resistors over metal. Pay the extra penny or two per resistor and get the good stuff.

Caps: don't forget to shop for size! I'd been getting greenie craps with way higher voltage than i needed, for some reason. I'll be switching over to the stacked metal plate caps (by panasonic i think) for purely board real estate reasons. For pF caps I just use ceramics. Mica might be a better sonic choice, b they're pricey and enormous.

I second the alpha recommendation for pots. Never buy Philmore pots, if you ask me. I've had an astonishingly dismal failure rate, and have almost no problems with alphas...

trimmers: probably the main choice is between multi-turn and single turn, and I would advice getting single turn for most things. Not as precise as multiturns, but you can see where in the range of the trimmer you are just by looking at it.

[ragtime8922]

This is what I use:

Caps: Panasonic ECQ-P Polypropylene. (Best) or if real estate is an issue the Panasonic ECQ-B (I think it's "B") is there polyester film model that is awesome and small. The polypropylene range goes from .0001uF all the way to .47uF. For bigger caps, like for coupling, I just tried the Vishay/Roederstein MKT1826's, the 1uF, and it worked nicely and they are small.

Resistors - I only use Vishay/Dale Military metal-film RN55D's. These are 1/8 watt which have less noise to begin with and the range is unreal. They have every value thinkable and like 5 values in between those. (I have used the .1% tolerence ERC's which are much more expensive but they have a small range of just a few values, plus they are like $1.19 each at certain values.

Pots - I just started a thread on this and didn't see the results yet. I was using Clarostat Military RV4's at almost $10 a pop. I'll probably end up with Alpha since nobody ever complains about them. It's just that I use all those nice components so I wanted to put the icing on the cake. $10 is way too much icing. Now for your own pedal, one or two pedals worth ain't gonna hurt you too much.

[MartyMart]

I Agree with everyone here,
Resistors- metal film 1%
Caps- panasonic ECQ_B  from smallbear or MMK 63volt polyester,some electros for large values and mica when there's room, if not then ceramic
Alpha and Citec pots seem good so far
Switchcraft jacks
3DPDT foot switches from Aron, had some DPDT Arrow's which snap !
Hammond/Bimbox enclosures or whatever you can find !

Marty.

[pbrommer]

I haven't really seen much on trimmers. What do you guys think? Specific brands? Thanks.

patrick

[ragtime8922]

Bourns trimmers or go to Jameco and they make a Bourns equivalen for a bit cheaper. They sell both.

Like someone said earlier, at the quatities you are going to buy at you should treat yourself to the best. It's not much different. Double is a lot when you are buying a car but not on a 10 cent part.

PLUS you can say that you are buying parts that Boss/Ibanez/etc can't afford. Which is technically true due to the scale they buy at and the overhead and practical business practices. They'd buy the best if they could. You can.

[ragtime8922]

By the way, Small Bear is awesome so go there.