DIY predictions for 2014

[R.G.]

Making estimations from the rate of growth of DIY stompboxes from the 90s to now, I think that by 2027, the number of people building and selling stompboxes will exceed the population of the planet.

So we're going to have to invent interstellar travel and trade with aliens just so we have someone to sell stompboxes to.

[Gus]

Are we past peak effects?

[Fender3D]

Do aliens have feet?

[bluebunny]

Making estimations from the rate of growth of DIY stompboxes from the 90s to now, I think that by 2027, the number of people building and selling stompboxes will exceed the population of the planet.

Fairchild et al. will just have to start making JFETs again! 

So we're going to have to invent interstellar travel and trade with aliens just so we have someone to sell stompboxes to.

I always thought the Visual Sound logo looked something like a sci-fi transporter beam:
        ...something you're working on, R.G?   

[duck_arse]

so all the best Ge's are at roswell?

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Making estimations from the rate of growth of DIY stompboxes from the 90s to now...

Is that based on the number of "true" pedal manufacturers? 

I ask because I often see people posting pictures on here and other forums. A lot of times they have a "Company Logo" plastered all over the pedal in the picture but, more often than not.... the thread is titled "Help.... Cannot get _____ Working!!!"

Are you figuring these partially bloomed flowers into your figures? 

[B Tremblay]

Making estimations from the rate of growth of DIY stompboxes from the 90s to now...

Is that based on the number of "true" pedal manufacturers? 

I ask because I often see people posting pictures on here and other forums. A lot of times they have a "Company Logo" plastered all over the pedal in the picture but, more often than not.... the thread is titled "Help.... Cannot get _____ Working!!!"

Are you figuring these partially bloomed flowers into your figures? 

The correct term is dud buds.

[Quackzed]

i expect shipping costs to continue to rise, also parts prices(china) to continue to rise. fabbing boards etc...
pump it up! untill you can feel it
pump it up! when you don't really need it!!!

on the plus side, girls will be hotter and nerds will be cooler. 

[mremic01]

I've only been building for maybe 3 years or so, but it seems like the big parts have gotten a lot cheaper, while the components seem to have gone up. When I first started, I couldn't find a blue 3PDT for any less than 8$. Enclosures were at least 10$. Now I can 3PDTs for about 3$, and enclosures for 6 or 8$, depending on the size and the seller. On the other hand, JFETs were a lot cheaper before they stopped making them, and even caps seem to be going up here and there. Every time I place an order from Tayda, it seems like one part or another has gone up by a few cents. I got my first 1N34As from Mouser, but they stopped carrying them a few weeks later. But a lot of places that cater to the pedal market sell them now.  Overall, it's gotten a lot cheaper though. I can build pretty decent pedals for 30-50$ worth of parts, whereas I used to figure each build at something like 60-80$. The downside is that selling builds seems a lot tougher. Pretty much any circuit you can think of has at least a dozen clones up on ebay now. I used to be able to recoup my losses by selling a build for about the cost of parts if I decided it wasn't for me later down the road. Not so much anymore.

[Steve Newton]

Somebody will finally figure out the magic behind the Tube Screamer and we will all be able to build one for ourselves.

[Mark Hammer]

Fingers crossed, Steve, fingers crossed.

[MrStab]

i predict that the components market will be dominated by "counterfeit" Chinese parts, and during the summer when there are loads of gigs, the secret timers inside them will activate, injecting subliminal messages into our music and initiating a Maoist takeover of the western world from within.

...or just more digital crap.

[Mark Hammer]

1) The Hammond trapezoidal box will simply not gain the traction in the DIY world some of us thought it would....but other kinds of boxes might.

2) The EHX Soul Food will crush the grey-market Klon-clone trade...finally.

3) We will see more hobbyist tools aimed at surface mount construction.

4) Some of the first digital DIY project kits from commercial producers....that don't use a PT2399.

5) Some interesting Arduino and Raspberry Pi kits with musical applications.

6) Guitar-parts distributors offering bodies pre-routed for installing the digital board of your choice (Variax, MIDI, USB convertor, GK3 13-pin, etc.), plus a penlight-based onboard power source.

7) Foot-friendly joysticks, and guitar joysticks.

8 ) Harmonic distortion analysis apps for your tablet/phone thingie.

9) No Chinese counterfeit parts but a huge spike in the belief that there are tons of them out there.

10) At least 20 it-worked-before-I-boxed-it-up posts here.

11) Creative projects for utilizing the Source Audio Hot Hand as a generalized control device.

12) Katy Perry dumps John Mayer, so he uses the spare time to build himself another BYOC pedal.

13) effectsdatabase has to buy a few more terrabytes of storage space.

14) Some established pedal-maker/s will begin cashing in on DIY by offering "semi-kits".  That is fully machined and legended boxes, wave-soldered SMD boards and the remaining chassis-mounted parts in a bag.  Walco and Amdek...watch out!

15) Somebody here finally does a layout for SIP dual op-amps.

16) Those teeny green-body not-quite-a-trimpot-not-quite-a-real-pot things catch on big time and become near standard for projects, along with those long-lug PCB-mount pots.

17) 1/8w resistors, and small ceramic caps catch on big time.

18) PnP finally come down below $2/sheet in small quantities.

19) You can't find or order anything useful whatsoever from any Radio Shack anywhere.

20) Your Mouser order will start arriving by drone...and taking your picture as you come outside to receive it.

21) Oh yeah, almost forgot.  I *will* finish my PAiA hyperflange this year.   

[rousejeremy]

22. Someone builds an iPhone3 on vero.

[azrael]

In all seriousness, hoping to see some more new stuff from RunOffGroove this year.

[Eddododo]

I am enjoying every post of this

singular prediction: chicks will dig diy effects guys.
we will read the twitter and download the leaked love videos of boutique builders

[smallbearelec]

23. Small Bear will farm Hammer's list of predictions for things to stock...

[MrStab]

i think it'd be cool to see more hybrid interfaces with digital control of analogue signals - not just the whole preset thing, but along those lines. no practical benefits really, it'd just be cool.

Mark: #7 reminded me of those surround-sound panning sticks they had on a ProTools ProControl back when i was at college, and i've occasionally had fleeting ideas of how that could be used in stompbox designs. i bet something like that has already been done for stereo setups, but maybe not. you'd probably wanna make it look clearly different from a footswitch, though. maybe a flashing light like they have on radio towers to stop aircraft crashing into them.

[drolo]

An EHX reissue of the burst box

[deadastronaut]

24: someone will make a fuzz that doesn't sound shit.

25: that same person will be killed by hoardes of vigilante purist fuzzists.

26: the return of fuzz pedals that sound shit again.