(SOT) Why is it sooo difficult?! Yarrgghh!!! (mini-rant)

[O]

I finally decided to build the top 4 pedals that I've been wanting to try out. I made a parts list of what I needed (sans enclosures and PCBs) and set out hunting. I figured, if I'm building these pedals, I might as well use the best out there... After many, many hours looking, researching, buying I finally have the parts I need to start.

<rant>
Why, oh why! does it take me 6 different sites with 6 different shipping rates and 6 different delivery dates to get what I need? Is it sooo hard to get all the parts I need at one place? GOOD LARD! It's like looking for a needle in a haystack!
After a few drinks and even more time in meditation/zen/etc... I'm better.
</rant>

I guess the average DIY parts site can only have so many pieces in inventory. Has anyone else experienced this? I would find the piece I was looking for, but not in the type I needed. Oh no! too bad! I already had a cart full of stuff, so I had to go checkout and continue the hunt on another site.
Am I the only one that this has happened to? Please tell me I'm not alone...

breathe... breathe... find the center... find the center...

[vanhansen]

I've been able to get pretty much everything I ever needed from Smallbear Electronics.  I ordered everything I needed to mod my SD-1 from Digikey but everything else I got has been from Smallbear.

[Mark Hammer]

I'm assuming from your comments that you got at least some of your stuff from Steve.  While he strives to be a "full service" retailer,  the fullness of his service is constrained by the physical space of his living quarters and his rather callous need for things like....oh I don't know....a place to sit.  There is also the issue of getting things for a price that is competitive, and the need to get things which are easily obtained in numerous other places for comparable price.

I can't count how many projects I have that consist of boards that are just about almost nearly fully mostly populated, awaiting one more component with a value that nobody in town carries and the out of town outlets I go to just didn't happen to have in stock when I was there.  So, you're certainly not alone in your exasperation.

It would be a wonderful world if everything could be built with 10k resistors, 1000pf caps, TL072 chips, 2N3904 transistors, and 1N914 diodes.  Sadly, the world ain't like that, and the variety of parts needed for some things, or rather, for all the things we want to make, are generally more than most places can keep in stock.

What can I say?  Get used to it.  It isn't going away anytime soon.

[O]

I'm glad I'm not the only one...

I wasn't talking about anyone in particular. I could only find the jacks For example... I could only find the jacks I was looking for at Store A, but since I already had half the caps ordered from Store B... You see what I mean. And it wasn't just the caps and resistors. I basically had to split 4 pedals across 6 different stores just to get what values/types/brands I wanted to use.

Like I said in the original thread, I can understand that most DIY sites have a limited amount of "stuff" on hand. I think that in my experience, having to shop at 6 different places for parts was just a hassle. Like you said, "Will it go away?" probably not... I just wish it was easier for DIY pedal builders to have a "One-Stop-Shop" kinda deal. Maybe it was my fault... i was looking for the really high end components that aren't always used by DIY builders due to the $$ issue.

Once again, I hope no one takes this like I'm raggin' on the usual sites we get the parts from... I just had to vent a little.

[vanhansen]

Understood.  Being a newbie, sometimes I have to make a run to the local Rat Shack for a part only to find they don't have it.  Then I have to order and wait.  Sometimes I wish there were more electronic stores that I could actually walk in to instead of "surf" in to.  :wink:

Online ordering is convenient but it sucks cause then you have to wait for the parts when you want to finish something that day.  So what happens?  You start another project using the parts you have instead, then find out your missing a value, and then.......back to square one.  A never ending cycle.  

[O]

I don't mind waiting for the parts... it just gives me time to finish other things that need done (like cleaning the garage, etc...) The thing that irks me is that since an order is spread across 2, 3, or more stores/sites, the shipping charges are crazy. What could be a $20 project suddenly turns into a $35 project or more.

I guess I've been "Walmartized" thinking that I can just surf/walk in somewhere and everything I need to finish what I'm working on, will be there.

[Gilles C]

That's why some people are selling kits that include all the needed parts.

Like this one:

http://www.paia.com/guitarfx.htm

and another one I can't find the link, and that sells some with harder to find germanium transistors.

But there is a price to pay for that.

Gilles C

[Paul Marossy]

Are there any good electronics stores in your area (not CrapShack)?
I have one here in town that pretty much has everything I need for building stompboxes and other low voltage circuits. They even carry high voltage electrolytic caps now!

I also get frustrated with having to do stuff online. It's very rare to find one place that "has it all". For building stompboxes, Mouser seems to have it all, except that it can be difficult to tell if you are getting the right part looking at those catalog sheets (at least for the layman like myself :oops: )

[javacody]

My strategy has been to buy common components in bulk from ebay and otherwise buy assortments from small bear/radio shack, etc.

Oddly enough, I can get free samples faster than most retailers can ship components to me. Funny, eh?

[NaBo]

i hear you.  its much better if you can find electronics stores with good assortment/quality/pricing locally, though.  i visited two stores here in toronto last week and was thoroughly impressed: supermetronic and active surplus.  active surplus isn't too great for components, i just got two high value electrolytic caps and 6 red leds for a buck (for a guv'nor and anything else i feel like using them in for clipping)... but they had some cool stuff like 10 alligator clips for 4 bucks and a roll of electrical tape for a buck.

now supermetronic was just great... 8 pin ic sockets and metal film resistors for 5 cents, LEDs for 15 cents, most caps and transistors for 20 to 30 cents.  just all around great prices.  im still gonna order the capacitor packs from small bear i think (works out to 10 cents each i think), and perhaps those cool ultra-bright water clear LEDs with bezels, and the LM308 for my rat... and 3pdt switches from aron (of course)...  but im definitely glad i came here for school  :wink:

like it says in the FAQ, you have to just do your best to balance ordering with buying locally.  sure, mouser has resistors for 3 cents a piece when you buy 200, but am i going to use 200 Rs of a given value?  probably not- i have parts lists for 25 pedals, plus a mini amp and power supply, all entered into a spreadsheet, and the most i have of one value is about 60 - at 5 cents a piece its 3 bucks total, CDN.  if i were to buy from mouser, it would be 1.80 US, but add on shipping and the hassle, and its just not worth it to me.  is it worth it to buy enclosed switchcraft jacks at almost 2 bucks a piece?  i guess i'll find out by not using them first and seeing if im satisfied...

i've been KILLING myself by planning out all my purchases for weeks, crunching the numbers when all i really wanna do is dive in with my soldering iron and make some noise.  but if i end up with a 1500$ setup at a third of the cost, in the long run, i'd say its worth it.

[RDV]

Ah, I don't know, I kinda enjoy the Hunt fer parts. If everything's too easy we get soft(er).

RDV

[Ge_Whiz]

With the benefit of over thirty years' experience and some disposable income, I don't find it difficult to keep a stock of enough components to be able to build at least 90% of designs that are discussed in these pages. Of course, I regularly substitute transistors and diodes, and don't give a monkey's about any of that "looking for a capacitor with mojo in it", or "buy the PCB". I order parts at least four times a year from Rapid Electronics, they deliver next day without fail, and for orders over £30 value I pay no postage/packing costs.

[Mark Hammer]

Well, as a Hammer, I feel aptly qualified to say you've hit the nail on the head.

Many, though certainly not all, of the things that people feel compelled to build are the results of the work of those with considerably more experience and parts-accumulation years behind them.  I've got stuff in my bins from 30 years ago (e.g., the 2N5133's from that old Muff Fuzz I cannibalized, and untold TV's left by the end of the driveway).  Over time, one ends up with enough stock that taking on any project may involve sending away for something, but it will likely only involve sending away for a few things from one place because so much is already there in the bins.  Indeed, I'm constantly frustrated by how often I'm somewhere and pick up "some of those" only to find I'd forgotten how many I truly had at home in the bins.

What you've depicted, O, is really just growing pains.  It gets better.  You'll still have to keep on top of who carries what, but it will be more seldom that you have to go to 5 places to be able to get started on something.

[O]

Maybe my problem was that I wanted the higher-end components. Normally I go with the cheaper stuff that is readily available. I have a few RadioShacks and Fry's electronics but the lack of selection coupled with the long drives involved force me to just buy on the net out of convenience.

After giving it some thought maybe I should open a store!

[Mark Hammer]

You live in Fort Worth and you have a "few" Radio Shacks?  Isn't Fort Worth the home base of RS and the place one calls when placing component orders?

[O]

You live in Fort Worth and you have a "few" Radio Shacks?  Isn't Fort Worth the home base of RS and the place one calls when placing component orders?

Actually, I can probably find more part by cannibalizing a dead caller id box than in a Rat shack around here. :?