Make it Pretty! (What's your way of "dressing" up your pedal?)

[Arcane Analog]

Have you even SEEN any of my builds? I can only assume that you have not or none of this would be said.

I was merely pointing out the fact (again) that it seems more people are focused on the look than the sound. I can totally appreciate when someone posts pics of a spectacular looking pedal (Deadastro, pickdropper, to name a few) but first and foremost I like to see builds that are challenging and sound good BEFORE what they look like.

Personally, I agree with Dave W. If it looks like a ferrari but sounds like a Pinto.... its a doorstop! Gotta find a good mix of both. I would prefer the AWESOME SOUNDING pedal with the misaligned pots and sharpie labeling over the powdercoated, etched, swirl-painted beauty that makes my guitar sound like garbage (I have enough problems with my playing  )

Saying that... I do think the bar has been raised esthetically in the pictures thread on this forum. I have personally gotten inspired by some of the builds. I appreciate when people strive to make their pedals look great. But, in the end.... I LISTEN to it first. 

I actually looked for a few of your builds but there appears to be nothing posted over the last 20-25 pages of your posts.

Again, with the resources available online it is not hard to make a decent sounding pedal. Paint by the numbers and follow basic build techniques and you are there. Hell, the pedal should sound good before it is committed to the box. Making it sound good is normally taken care of before someone DIYs the circuit. Making the pedal sound good is far easier than making it look top notch.

[deadastronaut]

no1. sound, sound, sound...

no2. quality.

no3. a nice look too.

when i started building i just painted my boxes, and added letraset rub on lettering...then i soon got pissed off with paint chips, scratches etc..

then i tried waterslide a few times, but hated the visible edges and unavoidable, inevitable paint chips again...

that's when i started etching, bingo! no chips, a nice brushed finish, and permanent design/text. never looked back.

i enjoy the graphic design process a lot too, to me its all part of it,  its quite satisfying to see an idea for a project from start to finish

and end up with a box that you are entirely happy with as planned....not a doorstop/dust collector etc..

but yeah, sound is the No.1 aim, ... my doors are always flapping about..

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Greg, it's because most people are just looking at pictures of the pedals. They can't tell what it sounds like from the picture. Even if they heard it, it's difficult to quantify "sounds good," because sometimes "ugly" sounds are also desirable in a way that ugly visuals aren't. We tend to have a more evolutionary-level recognition of visual attractiveness than for auditory attractiveness. For instance, symmetry and complementary colors are likely to be rated as more attractive than asymmetry and clashing colors, and we also have a positive visual reaction to "clean" (which is why things like polished aluminum looks good in a kitchen). Let's face it, humans are visual creatures, and we judge books by their cover.

And there are plenty, tons, of people who say they don't care what a pedal looks like. I inexplicably get orders for pedals where they don't want any art, don't care what the outside looks like, and one guy even asked me for a build in a blank box. I mean, my main thing is handpainted stuff, so I kind of have to ask them if there isn't someone else they'd rather buy the pedal from.

You've described an ideal where everyone listens with their ears. The world isn't like that. It just isn't. So don't fault people for wanting to put out a product with good visuals or fault the people who go "ooh pretty."

Very good points Jon. I really dont know where this spiraled out of control but.... it tends to happen on forums. 

I was merely posting my OPINION that there seems to be a lot of people that are hung up on the esthetics and not as much focus on the sound. Opinions vary and I definitely DO NOT fault the OP for wanting to make a nice "looking" pedal. I appreciate the art that goes into making a product look good. Hell... I think that the enclosure finishing is the hardest part of building a box!

I suppose that a better post would have been "Dont get hung up on how the box looks until AFTER you are satisfied with how it sounds to you."

[Arcane Analog]

no1. sound, sound, sound...

no2. quality.

no3. a nice look too.

Making a list in this manner is problematic. For instance, you can have a pedal that sounds amazing but the build quality is shoddy and it only sounds great for a few weeks. In that case, does "sound, sound, sound..." really rank over quality?

My point has been that sound is certainly an integral part but build quality is an equally integral part.

Is a lovely sounding shoddy build better than a quality build that does not sound great?

Both are equally important. I simply believe that if you take the time to make an excellent sounding pedal with a high quality build you should take the time to make it look the part as well.

[Hemmel]

For instance, you can have a pedal that sounds amazing but the build quality is shoddy and it only sounds great for a few weeks.

I have to agree. My first build, a Kalamazoo, sounded great at first but then some solder joints started to fail and it just stopped working. I shoved everything with no regards to proper installation and the circuit board was slightly bent.
OTOH, I think the topic was with the "decoration of the box" more than the "quality of gut placement".

[Ice-9]

Once I have a circuit designed on breadboard and the quality of sound question is all done, (which is the most important part  ). then I like to design my PCB to suit the circuit, I can't be doing with wires all over the place it is just not acceptable to me, so most stuff is on board the pcb. When everything like jacks and switches are on the PCB it becomes very important that the enclosure drilling is accurate for no component stress.

I hate little PCB's floating around on wires inside an enclosure, plenty high priced pedals from so called Top boutique makers have boards wrapped in foam held in place with elastic bands and pushed into the space available. Ohh No, not for me.

[Arcane Analog]

OTOH, I think the topic was with the "decoration of the box" more than the "quality of gut placement".

I've been thinking of lots of little things that add the finishing touches to a build.

...

What do you guys like to do or add that just sends the pedal from ok to dayyyyyuuuummmm? 

I take the OP as more than putting lipstick on the pedal.

[Arcane Analog]

Once I have a circuit designed on breadboard and the quality of sound question is all done, (which is the most important part  ).

An awesome sounding pedal on the breadboard is important but not more important than a well built pedal.

[Ice-9]

Once I have a circuit designed on breadboard and the quality of sound question is all done, (which is the most important part  ).

An awesome sounding pedal on the breadboard is important but not more important than a well built pedal.

I didn't say a well built pedal was not important, I stated, once I'm happy with the sound I then address the build quality. Both things go hand in hand, but if my pedal was rubbish on the breadboard it would never get to the next stage   

[Govmnt_Lacky]

I echo ALL of the statements that Mick has made. This was the spirit that my posts were about.

And YES... I personally would rather have a brilliant SOUNDING pedal in a shoddy looking enclosure. You can always make the enclosure LOOK better. You cant always make the circuit SOUND better 

[Ice-9]

I echo ALL of the statements that Mick has made. This was the spirit that my posts were about.

And YES... I personally would rather have a brilliant SOUNDING pedal in a shoddy looking enclosure. You can always make the enclosure LOOK better. You cant always make the circuit SOUND better 

Indeed, I wholly agree on SOUND and QUALITY of build, I think I may have missed what was meant by "dressing". I have took dressing as build quality rather than how the box is painted and looks, looks of course is very personal and does not affect the quality of build in any way at all. So again for me, how it sounds is paramount and design for reliability is just as important once you get that killer sound.

[Arcane Analog]

I echo ALL of the statements that Mick has made. This was the spirit that my posts were about.

And YES... I personally would rather have a brilliant SOUNDING pedal in a shoddy looking enclosure. You can always make the enclosure LOOK better. You cant always make the circuit SOUND better  

Do you box the circuit before testing or listening to it?

[deadastronaut]

check this out...





it does sound crap good though...

[Ice-9]

check this out...





it does sound crap good though...

Poppy Boost, yeah Rob, that sounds like a good fund raiser for a good cause.

[wildebelor]

I really don't understand how this got a) misconstrued and b) out of hand! 

All I was asking about was what preferences do people have on making the finishing touches.
e.g. heatshrink, board placement, paint technique, ageing knobs etc WHATEVER

At no point was this about sound, when blatantly the general consensus is that it HAS TO SOUND GOOD FIRST.
That is a no brainer (for me anyway) and I'm not about to make something that sounds crap and put a lot of effort into making it look good too.   
I enjoy tying everything together; making it a complete and finished package.  I want it to be presentable, even if it's just for me or a friend.
Forums are a good place to share information, however this veered heavily off-topic into an opinionated  rant.

It was really just a light hearted post.

[Ice-9]

I wouldn't have said it was "Out of hand"  When people are asked there preferences on something, thing can and do tend to go off on a tangent at times. Good, Bad, undecided, Hmm who knows but it is still a light hearted discussion.

[Arcane Analog]

That is a no brainer (for me anyway) and I'm not about to make something that sounds crap and put a lot of effort into making it look good too.   :

I agree. It seems odd for someone to even bring it up. Who boxes up a shitty sounding pedal? Obviously beginers can have issues with builds but who makes a pedal, determines it sounds like ass and then decides to box it up and spend hours on making it look awesome.

[deadastronaut]

but who makes a pedal, determines it sounds like ass and then decides to box it up and spend hours on making it look awesome.

electro harmonix..

[Arcane Analog]

but who makes a pedal, determines it sounds like ass and then decides to box it up and spend hours on making it look awesome.

electro harmonix..

You think EHX's line looks awesome? 

[Jopn]

This thread derailed the moment it was suggested that the subject was obsolete because the sound of the pedal was more important.  By the same logic, any threads that discuss how a pedal sounds should be met with a "stop worrying about your pedals and practice your guitar" response and so on.

The reality is that threads are specific for good reason. 

Back to the question, I suck at making pedals look nice.  So I gave up on nice.  Here's my procedure:

1. Palm sander with fine grit sandpaper to the bare enclosure
2. Thick spray of spray paint, whatever is cheap
3. 15 minutes in the toaster oven, then let cool
4. Palm sander with medium sandpaper until roughly half the paint is removed "a la" relic'd Fender look
5. Metal stamp the labelling on the controls, pedal name, etc.
6. Clear lacquer coat, toaster oven, cool, ultra fine sandpaper (auto grade stuff)
7. Repeat #6