Where do you get your parts in the UK???

[Les Paul Lover]

I'm finalising the parts list I'll need to do 4 or 5 pedals, but I'm struggling to find one decent all in one supplier.

I used to use Doctor Tweek and liked his website, service and prices.

Now I can't find anything similar. Radiospare is a royal pain to navigate, mouser UK looks on the pricey side, nevermind maplin...

W
So where do you guys shop as hobbyists ?

And where can I find sparkly powder coated 1590b/bb without having to order 100s of them?

This isn't the easiest hobby to fulfill that pedal making malarkey.....  :lol:

[LightSoundGeometry]

in my 7 months of pedal building, I noticed you will have to buy from at least people to get what you want. I mostly go through Small bear and Tayda - there are a few ebayers I trust because of their feedback/ratings and pictures etc especially when you can find them on a social media as well to confirm they are a legit seller.

I think they both ship globally. It seems not one store can carry everything for everyone needs.  probably just too much stuff to inventory and becomes costly at some point to do the ads etc

[peterg]

Try here:

http://www.cricklewoodelectronics.com/home.php

[VidSicious]

I usually use various UK ebay sellers (Langtronics for example). Some of them are pretty good, others pretty bad. You have to figure out what works best. I normally use Tayda when they have 10% off deals but they don't have some of the components (Philips Film Caps and etc.) so in that case I go to Bitsbox and try to make bulk orders from them.

[slacker]

Here's a recentish thread listing some UK suppliers http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=111334.msg1023586#msg1023586

[merlinb]

bitsbox.co.uk
spiratronics.com
rapidonline.com
hotroxuk.com (has a few bits, mostly amp stuff, see also http://valvewizard.co.uk/links.html)
eBay.co.uk

[anotherjim]

It's a shame Dr Tweek isn't currently active, although there's a promise he will return, but I think it's a hobby job for him.

My first call is Rapid, but I have to go to bitsbox for 3PDT foot switches. Rapids on-line catalogue is sometimes illogically organised with stuff not under the expected heading.

Sometimes I've also gone to Hobbytronics, Technobots & CPC (Farnell group).

A new one to me is http://www.soundtronics.co.uk/, which stocks MFOS synth kits.

[tommycataus]

I noticed Tayda is just as cheap to ship to the UK as it is Australia (wish I'd known about them when I lived in blighty) so give them a go,  good quality for the price. Also a little of topic but for guitar parts, axetec.co.uk is brilliant. Cheap pickups that sound super tasty.

[bluebunny]

...and of course, Tayda has a 15%-off discount code ("15AMPS") valid until September 20th (6pm New York time) - just in case you wanted to give them a try. 

[tommycataus]

Ah cheers Marc, forgot to mention. I think this one includes enclosures too!

[bluebunny]

Yeah, thanks for that heads-up, Tom.  Scored big time last night - got my shipping effectively for free, plus a few bob in my pocket on top.   

(BTW, where is Nathan?  It's a bum deal that we have to do his job for him...!)

[disto]

It definetly seems to be a case of shopping around. I rarely buy everything from one supplier, some places are better for certain things. Heres a few I would recommend with some comments.

UK/EU based

bitsbox.co.uk - Excellent little supplier, good range and they are usually fairly cheap and fast delivery
ebay.co.uk - Good for odd bits and enclosures
musikding.de - Pedal\music specialist that seem to stock a lot of the standard bits small bear stocks. They are German based so shipping might take a bit longer
pedalparts.co.uk - Mainly sells kits and PCBs but they do stock some pots, switches and knobs

Other UK you could try
www.rapidonline.com - I have only used there ebay store to order powder coated enclosures
uk.farnell.com/Farnell‎ - Large range of stock, only used once and my item has been on back order for a month!

Other
smallbearelec.com - Good for hard to find specialist bits, the only problem is shipping for large orders and import fees

The problem with ordering from outside the EU is that you may have to pay additional fees. I think you need to pay VAT on orders over £15 and duty on orders over £135. However, on top of this you often end up paying a handling fee. I recently order something from the states and had to pay £1.5 tax with a £10 handling fee!!! Its something to be aware of.

[stevie1556]

I use Rapid Electronics for quite a few parts (as I do as many builds as possible in SMD as I'm not keen on TH).

JPR Elec are brilliant for enclosures. I use the Hammond Eddystone and they are the cheapest place by far. I order in batches of 25, and they are cheaper than Rapid by around £15).

AliExpress is great for parts that are SMD, especially if Rapid don't stock them (ICs, etc).

Tayda for pots. Whether they are real or fake alphas, I've never had a issue with them. Their Davies 1510 clones are great as well. For the few TH builds I do, I use their resistors and film/ceramic caps. I generally place my orders when they are doing the 15% off discount, and that then covers the postage cost.

[Les Paul Lover]

Thank you all for the advice!!!!

Bitsbox & rapidonline both looks excellent.
Jpr elec isn't bad either.

That's a great help - despite all my Google searches, all I could find were mouser and radiospare,  and both are hit and miss for pedal making and rather pricey.

The only thing I can't seem to trace anywhere (beside ebay) are the IC MAX1044 (charge pump for a Klon clone) and a MPQ3904 (swollen pickle quad transistors chip) though I can probably use widely available 2N3904 instead.


Thanks a lottery your help, you guys are really helpful - as always!!!

[Kipper4]

There's better charge pumps than max1044 beware of over voltages with that chip.
Can't remember what it was. I'll look it up.
Edit
Icl7660 or icl7660s

[tommycataus]

There's better charge pumps than max1044 beware of over voltages with that chip.
Can't remember what it was. I'll look it up.
Edit
Icl7660 or icl7660s

In my experience the icl7660s is less prone to oscillations. Watch out for the one with the cpz suffix too, still works well but again not as good for oscillations.

[nick d]

   Bitsbox has the ICL7660S and the LT1054 , both of which should do the job .

[StephenGiles]

It's sad how times have changed - when I lived in Edmonton (North London) during 1980s there were 3 shops within 10 minutes walk selling electronic components, nothing difficult such as BBDs (for which a 30 minute drive to Cricklewood Electronics was needed) but pretty well all bog standard stuff was available, and they all knew their product.

Now I live in the outer reaches of South Croydon, and there is nothing bar Maplin, which I naturally exclude!

[Les Paul Lover]

I'm lucky enough to have a decent independent shop in Derby, but you can't find everything there.

I certainly could get all resistors and capacitors, but their selection of Pots and others isn't what I'd like. Nevermimd 3pdt footswitch...... But pedalparts.co.uk has those at the best price I can find in the UK.

Thanks for the heads up about the charge pump IC, the 7660s is directly interchangeable for the MAX1044 in the Klon clone I want to do!

[Ben Lyman]

Here in Sacramento, CA I had Metro Electronics, the last remaining non-Radio Shack/Fry's left, until recently... now it's gone and I am SOL. On the plus side, it has forced me to go to the intrawebs where I discovered Small Bear and Steve, so helpful, kind, and patient! He also directed me to this site where I've had tons of help, so you guys are stuck with me now!