is it cheaper to build your own?

[lightningfingers]

theres been a LOT of debate about this at ampage (and many other places)
i personally think its cheaper

[smoguzbenjamin]

If you include man-hours it is far more expensive, but as it's a hobby to all of us it is in fact cheaper

[Joep]

I agreed with Ben here. On the other hand, if you see the prices of some vintage effects on eBay it can be cheaper.

But there are definately some advantages.
- It's a hobby so it's fun!
- You can make your effects true-bypass!
- There is some really cool stuff around that can't be bought (Runoffgroove, Doug H, Mark H etc...etc...)
- You can make the boxes the way you like it
- You can make improved version (better components) of exciting effects.
- etc...etc...

[smoguzbenjamin]

Yeah you can tweak stuff to your own specs. That was one of the main reasons I started out. I wanted to have total control over my guitar arsenal Plus I was bored and needed a challenge.

[Peter Snowberg]

Cheaper??? ROTFLMAO! :lol:

Sorry... If I don't count my time or the money I could be making during that time then.... well.... maybe. Trouble is that I have to amortize the cost of drills, punches, hand tools, etc. etc. etc. and with at thrown in there is no doubt in my mind that it is more expensive to build your own in the short term but then you can also think of it as giving yourself a scholarship and getting an education you could not otherwise receive from a school so in that sense the grand total of the experience (not just the resulting box) is an AMAZING bargain.

That's my run-on sentence for the day.

Take care,
-Peter

[lightningfingers]

maybe im only finding it cheaper cos my school has tools i can use and parts i can steal.............but im definately finding it cheaper, and my effects are better than my buddies store bought ones.............this is interesting

[Thomas P.]

This is not a good question when the possible answers are 'yes' or 'no'!

If you build yourself a Tonebender MKII and you're a lucky guy who got the right trannies out of the first 20 you bought real cheap, than it is definitly cheaper. The reason is because this pedal is out of production.

But it changes if you build a pedal which is still in production (a Boss etc.). Even if it's a simple overdrive you'll send a lot of time with it from the first printing of the PCB to the coat of laquer (debugging not included). Say 5 bucks an hour and I believe you could buy at least two.

Anyway I never liked to look at it this way since I think it is a really cool hobby (even if it's not economical which no hobby is) and I believe you can't pay the feeling if you finish something that works.

[Ansil]

for what i want,  vs paying someone to make it for me yes its definately cheaper

[Nasse]

I´m not into this for money anyway

[smoguzbenjamin]

Hmm I forgot about tools.... that is expensive, the cost of starting is pretty big. Thank heaven I didn't have to pay all that I'm lucky in that aspect. I need to get an O'scope soon for fun but they're expensive. Maybe school has some old ones.....  :wink:

[MartyB]

At this point materials are definitely cheaper.  A year ago, no way.  I can make a fuzz face for the cost of solder and electricity in two evenings because I'm setup and know where to get stuff cheap.  If you add the cost of my labor. well, I'd just have to buy 'em.

[The Tone God]

Looking at the issue quickly I see three occassions where its cheaper to build your own effect:

1. You are building a clone of a vintage or high end pedal where most of its cost is based on fame and not parts/labour.

2. You are building a pedal that takes alot of time/labour/skill to tune properly (i.e. a hand built effect with matched/tunned parts).

3. You are building something different or custom that is not availible.

This also depends if you have the neccessary equipment and time on hand to build everything. I don't consider time a cost since you can't charge yourself for time and most people do this as a hobby not a job.

Contrary to what many hobbiest or newbies may think it is NOT cheaper to build your effect unless you fit into one of the above situations.

Andrew

[Bluesgeetar]

Geez!!!!!!!!  This is the problem when you throw hobbyists and for profit pedal makers together in a forum.  Making them at home is way way cheaper!!!!!!!!  Enough said!!!!!!!!  It is a fact.  Throwing in that BS about man hours and tools?!  Geez!  How bout the guys who have spent thousands on tools and stuff to restore a old car they have always wanted!  I guess they are doing it for profit!  They are gonna run rught out and sell it when their done.  How bout the guys that spend thousands on wood working tools to sit out back in the shed and tinker on Sat and Sun and make stuff to give away or decorate their house or whatever?  I guess they are doing it for profit.  Capitalist society!  We can't comprehend doing something for nothing.  Everything has to be about money!  Hell no!!!  I make pedals cause it's fun the quality is better. And it is tweaked to my rig.  Let me see if I can't pull the master ZVEX in on this.
Hey Zach can you give me a quote on what it will cost for you to build me a Fuzz Face and come to Seattle and sit here and tweak it to my amps and axes and also I want the real parts!  TFK trannys and all!  Also Zach I will need you to come back to Seattle every so often when I buy new Pickups and amps and guitars to fine tune it some more and maybe switch out values.
How much is that gonna run me?  It ain't looking so cheap now is it boys!?  Well all this I can do by making the thing myself at probably 1/16 the price!  Also I get great great satisfactionat creating something and fun.  It keeps me out of trouble and at home.  And in the end I get major major ear candy!!  Again for profit guys and hobbyists together on the same forum with this question is a recipe for big arguments.  
Point is that we all have hobbys and hobbys cost money whether it is car rest., woodworking, painting, boating, flying, etc. etc..  It would be much cheaper to just go out and "buy" an already fully restored 67 Camaro than to tinker with one and do it myself!  Where is the fun in that!?

[nooneknows]

Hi,
I' don't think it's cheaper, no way at all,. considering time, tools and materials.
But it's my hobby and, as I always dream to find the holy grail of sound, this is the only way to accomplish my mission... :-D!!
M.

[Hal]

its depends on what you're building, and where you bought the stuff...

MXR distortion plus, retail, $70
DIY - switch $5 (xicon)
box - $2 (junction)
Board - $2 (perf)
jacks - $2
pots, with knobs - $4
ICs, Resistore (at 3 cents each), caps, diodes...$5 (much less)
misc - (battery clip, adapter jack, paint...anything im forgetting) $10
shipping $5
total - $35, about

Buying all the parts from mouser, its cheeper.  However, this would rise with the complexity of the effect, and the source.  Buy 'em from steve, and the price jumps, even though you're able to get stuff like Ge's and BBD's that mouser doesn't stock.  So my answer is Maybe.  Sure it would be cheeper to buy a DS-1, but probably not a Dist+.

[RDV]

I just enjoy the art of creation. It's AALLIIIVVVVEEE!!!!!! BWAAA!!! HAH! HAH! HAH! They laughed at me back at the academy!! Who's laughing now!!!!!

I've spent a small fortune at this, but then I used to spend a small fortune on drugs, and had nothing but memory loss to show for it!

Regards

RDV

[Mark Hammer]

Rather than IS it cheaper, I think the better question to ask is "WHEN is it cheaper?".

It is cheaper when...

...you live in the right city or country (or the wrong one, depending on how that changes the price availability of pedals vs components)

...you only have to build it once

...you didn't blow any components

....you already HAD a drill press, dremel, for other reasons, or knew someone who did

...you don't have to rely on NTE components

...the last time you ordered or bought parts, you bought all the ones you really needed in the amount you really needed

...you cannibalize your own devices for parts regularly and efficiently

...you know the function and specs of every semiconductor relevant to you and what the state of your inventory is so that when you run across a bargain you recognize it as such

...you have lots and lots of free time, and no possibility of using it to make money doing something else

...you only build as many pedals as you really NEED, or can sell off the ones you don't

...all the stuff you ever needed to read, you didn't have to buy, but could get it on-line or from the library

...you standardize as much as possible (e.g., see Paul Marossy's collection of builds; same chassis, same knobs, etc.), OR you are VERY flexible about standards (i.e., use whatever you can dig up cheap for knobs, pots, chassis, switches, etc.)

...you have lots of friends and know the right people

...you know how to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse

It CAN be cheaper, but it isn't necessarily cheaper.  A lot of things need to line up.  Probably the only thing it will be with any regularity is exactly the way you want it to be and sound, and nothing else on earth sounds like it.  I kinda like that part.

[Bluesgeetar]

Ok my mistake!  I didn't take something into consideration here.  I got a huge box of AllenBradley pots all values I got for free!  I got alot of other brands of pots for free!  I buy surplus caps!  Example:  100 .022uf 25V ceramic disks= $2.99,  I buy surplus trannys!  278 2SB175=$125, I get old switchcraft jacks from 60s and 70s for free!  I get to measure the exact values of the carbon resistors before I buy them therefore cutting down on the need to buy a large lot just to get that dead on schematic value.  ALot times though I get the resistors for free anyway!  

So I see maybe I ain't in the same boat as others on expenses.  For me it is to cheap to make it myself.  Also I get Motorola 3904 and 3906 trannys for free!  JAN 2N2222 for free!   :twisted:

[Gringo]

I find it no only cheaper, but diy is the only way to get guitar fx for me. Even if i had the money (u$s70-130) to buy the one i want, i still couldn't have it, since the music shops here don't stock pedals, so it's either you buy what they are selling (cheap crap) or wait for months (literally) til they ask for it to the importer, it ships and gets to my city shop.

If there are any doubts, let's take the example of the D+ (my first project!!):

Retail: u$s 90 = (exchange to pesos) 90*3 = $180 (90 ?IS the retail price here, after customs and so)

Supplies: buying pcb, etchant, pots, cheap switch, solder, it went to something like $(pesos) 12-15 = u$s 5.

Took me 2 afternoons to put it together and make it work, let's say 6 hours, since it was my first fx ever, so, let's make it u$s 5 the hour ($15, no one will pay you that much for ANY work around here, for specialized labour the normal fee is $5-7 an hour = u$s 2), for a whooping u$s 35 total cost.

So it's cheaper. If i add a nicer switch, thats 3 dollars on top of that.

And i love doin' it!!! I can't loose.

[Marcos - Munky]

Well, here in Brazil is a lot cheaper to me to build something than buy something. Here something like a TS-9 costs about $200.