Pictures!

[jswingchun]

That almost looks like stone now.

[Mark Hammer]

Actually, that picture of the stone (very nice, incidentally) reminds me that there is a whole universe of interesting formica textures, patterns, and colours (e.g., http://www.formica.com/publish/site/na/us/en/index/laminate/colors_collections/patterns.html ).  Obviously, wrapping formica around a chassis would be a waste of effort, but cutting out a top panel, legending on top of it, and securing it by toggle, stomp, and pot hex nuts, is not out of the question, and unlikely to have more awkward requirements than some of the pedals where folks have affixed a picture and heaped coat after coat of clear lacquer on top.

So, has anyone ever used a piece of formica to "decorate" a pedal?

[mdh]

I don't know about an effect pedal, but someone did build a guitar out of formica.  Behold, the Formicaster!

Andrew's swirls also remind me of some of Gerhard Richter's abstract art.  I saw an exhibition of his work at the SF MOMA a few years ago, and the pieces that really struck me were these abstract pieces where he apparently applied generous quantities of paint (from a knife, or maybe even directly from the tube?) to the piece, then dragged a squeegee across it.  I wish I could remember the name of the piece that I liked the most... it was something like "858," but I don't think that's quite it.  It was eight or nine panels with various color schemes, but dominated by this horizontal squeegee technique.  One thing that was really cool was that he built these up in several layers, so there was maybe 1/8" of pigment piled up on the substrate, and there were little voids that kind of looked like canyons or rifts in an otherwise smooth landscape.  Really interesting stuff.

One thing that made me think of the Richter pieces is that there's such strong color saturation in Andrew's swirls, unlike the kind of filmy look that seems more common for the swirl techniques that we've seen elsewhere.  This makes me very curious about the technique!

[birt]

i used formica on a pedal that way mark. don't have a picture of that one but it works quite well as a fast finish

[Marcos - Munky]

Hey Andy. Nice swirls!!! The green one is my favorite, it's awesome. But to tell you the truth, I don't know if I like that Cream Pie box before or after the swirl. The swirl is cool, but the unpainted and hand-wrote box had some "something" (maybe the homemade look) that I like.

[niggez]

dude...how many blank enclosures do you have? 

[Mark Hammer]

You have to love the smell of aluminum shavings in the morning.  It smells like.....victory.

[Just1More]

Here's my first build - GGG BSIAB2.  It sounds awesome.  The finish and decals could have been a bit better, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out for a first build.  I certainly learnt a lot in the process of building it.  Now, what to build next ...?

[12milluz]

That looks GREAT! Especially for a first build

[sshrugg]

Ever since my first build I've done nothing but populate a ton of PCBs.  Now I see all these finished products with brilliant paint jobs, nice labeling, clean wiring -

I'm afraid to post whichever gets finished first X D

[andrew_k]

Ever since my first build I've done nothing but populate a ton of PCBs.

heh, ditto. Except in my case I've got piles of vero and perf build, all without enclosures... 2 fuzz faces, 1 multi face fuzz, 1 big muff fuzz, 2 SHOs, 1 nurse quacky, 1 green ringer, 2 fuzz factories (built to find out what all the fuss is about. Built a second 'cause I was so unimpressed with the first. Both have had their Ge trannies salvaged for other projects now. Not for me.), 1 LPB, 2 12AU7 valve boosts and other stuff that I've already forgotten about. 

This thread is ridiculously inspiring; time to order some enclosures!

[Just1More]

That looks GREAT! Especially for a first build

Thanks.  It's only because of great resources like this forum and so many active and helpful members.  There are so many cool projects in this thread - it's really is inspirational...

[greigoroth]

You have to love the smell of aluminum shavings in the morning.  It smells like.....victory.

[greigoroth]

Hey ~arph!

Your enclosures are freaking awesome! Are they useable in daylight though? Is it practical at all or is it just damn cool?

[~arph]

It's just damn cool.. You can see it in daylight, but I advise using a regular indicator on top of the pedal too.
But wait.. aren't pedals usually on dimly lit stages?

[Austin73]

Adding to the LED plate debate so to speak.

I have a light that I got from IKEA a few years back that does the same thing. The light only comes of the sides although the LED is placed at the end but I'm sure it would be fine in the middle but surely you would either need to face it sideways or have one that has a wide viewing angle.




Anyway not sure if that was any help at all but just thought I 'd join the party

Lol

Cheers

Aus

[~arph]

I'm sure it would be fine in the middle but surely you would either need to face it sideways or have one that has a wide viewing angle.

... if you sand the led, the light comes out everywhere 

[Dragonfly]

I rehoused my old Cream Pie prototype...well, maybe not so much "rehoused" as "painted the enclosure"...

Heres the old look...






And here it is in the newly painted enclosure !

[darron]

I rehoused my old Cream Pie prototype...well, maybe not so much "rehoused" as "painted the enclosure"...

as cool as the paint swirl is... i somehow liked that diy prototype charm on the cream pie (:

but the pictures thread is a fantastic documentation of it.

[modsquad]

Love the latest swirl color scheme.  Okay Dragonfly I have a Strat that needs refinishing and that color scheme and pearl pickguard would be awesome.  So how about giving up the goods.