is it cheaper to build your own?

[jimbob]

Im one of the few lucky individuals who have the opportunity to purchace great brand name effects VERY cheap. Actually its a lot cheaper for me to buy the real product than to build one..example= new EH Lpb2ube 20.00$ versus 200.00$ or Tube driver=4.99$ But when it really gets down to it i enjoy making them more than buying them cause im not so afraid of experimenting and making changes with the ones i build. And it keeps my mind busy and a chance to listen to some of my favorite tunes-and gives me something to look forward to. Its my "daddy time" when i have all my parts, beers, tunes, peace and quiet, schematics, computer, ect...like that dumb ass commercial on tv ( sometimes it not about the money--(Priceless)

[smoguzbenjamin]

I can make an LPB for $15... If I'm gonna add some switches and pots it can quickly turn to $35 - 45... It all depends.

[Bluesgeetar]

Excellent point Gringo!!!  We forgot to mention that here in AMerica we think we should get paid enormous salarys and wages for little to no work.  And get full benefits and breaks and off every holiday etc. etc..

I guess if you consider that most Americans would consider $25 an hour a good fair wage for something like soldering and assembly of pedals where somewhere else they would be happy with $5 to $7 it is a hell of alot cheaper building it when you live somewhere else.  Geez it just dawned on me why they keep sending jobs out of the country here in America!  We want to much for nothing.   :roll:

Let's say they low ball me.  Pay me $15 an hour.  I spend 4 hours on a pedal fine tuning it and tweaking it and painting etc.  $60 plus parts for a custom tuned to my setup vintage parts pedal!  Hey!  That still is cheaper than buying boutique!!!!!!!  Shit!  How much do you for profit builders think yur time is worth!?  Most degrees including MDs don't make what your asking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Your crazy! :roll:   Gotta love America and all of it's societies greed! :roll:

Sorry!  I grew up in the South where I would come home with blisters on my feet and hands with plenty of cuts and scraps for only $7.00 an hour working in factories with no Air Conditioning in a metal building in 100 degree hot ass Alabama weather!!!!  And if you was late twice without some doctors excuse your fired!

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

It is certainly true that the answer depends on WHAT you want to build, WHO you are, and WHERE you are building it. Also WHY, i guess.
For the time angle, i suppose it depends what else you would be doing with your time. If you said "watching TV", well.........!!!!!
Incidentally, the only engineers I ever met or employed who were any use, were people who built their own shit at home as kids. That has got to tell you something!

[puretube]

I can make an LPB for $15... If I'm gonna add some switches and pots it can quickly turn to $35 - 45... It all depends.

jimbob talked about LPB-TUBE with 2 12AX7s on HT, 5 pots & 4 Jacks....

[brett]

Hi.  
So...is making pedals cheaper than buying them?  Probably is for me.  
Is fooling with pedals a dirt cheap hobby?  You bet!!

I build most pedals for US$45 or so.  If I make 2 and sell one on e-bay I get US$70 for it, and use the small profit for more stuff to make pedals (drill press, o'scope, test gear)

My girlfriend keeps and competes on horses for a hobby.  1 Horse=$4000, saddles (x2) = $3000, feed = $2000 (p.a. at least), truck = $8000....

Yep, this is cheap as chips

[smoguzbenjamin]

jimbob talked about LPB-TUBE with 2 12AX7s on HT, 5 pots & 4 Jacks....

Right. That would be a little more expensive... :lol:

[axis]

It all depends on what your building.One project sort of begets the next, and so on and so on....So in the long run I'd say it's slightly cheaper.

[puretube]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040329095308080185251156800203/g=guitar/search/b=1106

now this is cheap - box incl.....

[petemoore]

Not only did I not ever see a FF, for thirty years of Fuzz Box shoppin' [as my brother used to call it] I never even heard of a Tonebender.
 The chances of getting one of these [that works the way you want It to] back in the day would be very unlikely...even less likely these days. Plus chances are I would'n't even know how to use it and the odds would have been 50/50 for alot of players whether it got tried out through a SS or tube amp or what it would sound like or if it were biased correctly or if it squealed like crazy with a guuitar plugged in [not knowing of the guitars volume knob turning into a gain knob]...chances are even if an original Tonebender offered itself up to me for 10$ or trade for my Dist+...I likely would have said something like: 'I don't know...seems to squeal alot"
 Because there is such a wealth of applicable information about effect building and usage, there is a value there that's absent from bought stuff.
 Pondering through this stuff and gathering info, building circuits that you choose for what [5-10$;s per...I scavenge] opens up an entire wide open field of experimentation that you won't get at a store, or might take lots of money...this is not the place to ask for an unbiased opinion on this matter...I don't know that such a place exists...you'll just have to judge for yourself what's subjective and objective.
 You talk to a botique pedal buyer and youre likely to hear a 180 degree shift of opinion on what's 'better'.
 From what I'm reading, I don't know that what I build could compete with Say a BotIque FF.  I do know that as far as boost and fuzz and OD etc, the tone pallette I'm using is really fabulous, never better [in all it's many incarnations].  
 Here's my boiled down, subjective, braggidociated opinion: "There's no Way my guitar would sound this great had I not acquired hand tweeked pedals".
 For someone who still can't get enough guitar in in one day, buying prebuilts is faster...I liked taking the time and doing it...still trying to kick the habit

[smoguzbenjamin]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=040329095308080185251156800203/g=guitar/search/b=1106

now this is cheap - box incl.....

The fact that they can ask $15 for a pedal tells me enough about its quality. They're making a profit off that whatever way you look at it. So what's the cost of the pedal, $5? Can't be good, part tolerances will be all over the place and the plastic casing will survive not even one gig... I used to have an arion I think. I remember having a pedal that looked similar, I stomped it hard once and it broke. I think I sold the insides... :roll:

[Ansil]

on the contrary it is abs style plastic which in this molded state is quite strong,

i actualy have a case that i have put mutilple circuits in fromthe 80's when the pedal died on me

[bwanasonic]

Aside from the obsurdity of trying to answer this as a yes or no question in a general sense, I was pretty sure if there were already three pages of posts before I got to it, someone must have already posted what I would. And sure enough:

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!

I got into this to gain access to the primitive first few generations of effects, i. e. Fuzz Face, Rangemaster, Octavia, etc. This certainly made my first few builds cost effective vs. purchasing vintage. But when I wanted a PDS 8000, I bought one on ebay like a normal person.

Kerry M

[aron]

Yes. I think you need to know when to draw the line. There are many instances where you can simply buy a pedal used or new and it will cost less. If you just want a few pedals, it can be cheaper to just buy them. Another thing is what cost do you put on frustration  :?

For me, I've spent so much on this hobby that I could've bought all the pedals I ever needed outright I think. That's not the point. If I didn't get into this hobby I'd be like a lot of my friends and constantly selling and buying when I might be one capacitor change from THE sound.

You guys know.... How many times have you heard "great pedal, but needs less bass", or "almost perfect, just needed a little more drive", or "I loved it, but the treble didn't affect the right range".

[puretube]

...too big, ...too many knobs, ...

[strungout]

Did anyone factor in the cost of gas? You need gas to go to the electronics store...

Seriously tho, I'm one of the many scavengers, I just hack off old video/cassette players and whatnot. By nature, I wouldn't be doing this if I could afford store priced pedals (tho I'd probly end up modding them).

Ciao.

[puretube]

I use my bike...

[aron]

I use my bike...

Man, you are analog all the way!  

[Marcos - Munky]

In my city, I can't find components to sell. I need to go to a big city near here, then I have to pay to go to the city. The bus price is R$1,60 ($0.55 in dollars). Then when I want to buy something, I need to spend $1.10 dollars more the price that I pay in the components.

[EdJ]

Besides the fact that i get so much pleasure from this hobby and from spending time with you all i sincerely feel diy brought me deeper into playing and having control over the instrument.
i fully realize now that i can`t depend on an effect to make my playing better neither does any effect have a deeper effect on my tone then i have myself.
Realizing that(and that took me a while :wink: )i feel more in control and more comfortable then ever since i can devide my contrentrantion over what i can do to make my playing better and what makes my sound nicer.
That is something money can`t buy and i`m sure wouldn`t have come to my mind chasing pedals in stores.
Thank you all very much for that,Ed