Turkey Day SHOOTOUT Competition

[pinkjimiphoton]

4) Multi-board builds MUST contribute an entry fee for EACH board. The ONLY exceptions to this are charge pumps, 3PDT boards, and millennium bypass circuits.

To clarify a few points that have been brought up:

1) a 3PDT board IS acceptable. As Jimi stated above, if you want to enter the contest with a TS/Boost/Noise Gate/Compressor/blah blah pedal, then you will need to pay an entry fee for each CIRCUIT. If you feel you can blow away the competition with a complex Fuzz circuit that has a pre-boost on it (like an LPB type circuit) and it sounds like the voice of the lord to you, then by all mean ENTER IT. It will just mean that you will need to pay 2 entry fees. We want this to be available to ALL forum mebers. Even the members that are just starting and want to give it a try 

Just wondering what is the intent of the one entry fee per board/circuit rule?

I can see the rules are aiming for a level playing field for hobby builders, which is great, but I can't understand the reason for this particular rule.

For example, if a circuit uses a LPB into a fuzz circuit then into a AMZ buffer, and all the parts were on the same layout, (i.e. on the same board), and the whole effect could only be on or off (as opposed to sections of the circuit being switchable), shouldn't that be just one entry fee?

I think there could be a lot of grey areas with this rule, like if you have a TS front-end with a Crunch Box rear end and a FMV tone control, is that one/two/three entry fees? Can you see where I'm going with this, what if someone says the circuit of one of the winners is a combination of X plus Y and he only paid one entry fee? What happens then? Many circuits are a collection of building blocks...

Any chance of some detailed clarification for nitwits like me? Some of my confusion stems from the fact you can put 2 circuits on 1 board, or use 2 boards to make 1 circuit (e.g. a tone control circuit pcb with mounted pots which is seperate from the main pcb).

let's make it easier. we encourage people to make the circuit as one contiguous board. if you want to combine tubescreamers, fuzz, lpb1, phazer, echo and tone suck all on one board as one continuous circuit, well, that would be impressive on say more levels than having each effect daisy chained on separate boards if you get my drift.

if you choose to combine a couple effects on separate boards, well...then it's single entry fee per board x number of boards = entry fee total.

so if you etch/vero/perf one board with everything on it, you will score higher possibly and only pay ONE board entry fee.

as to where the money goes, well, look at the rules where it states what the prizes are bros.

we three judges are contributing and shipping (at our own expense minus tax/tarriff's/VAT etc) with no recompense other than the fun of watching you guys sweat.
and digging the fruits of your labors!
it's a way to help bring the community together, and have some fun... and watch the mother of invention do her work.

so...we clear now?

circuit plus led/mill bypass/3pdt/chargepump etc = 1 entry fee.

circuit plus circuit ad nauseum = total number of circuits x entry fee.

no, an lpb1 is NOT a support board.

further...we're all gadget addicts, we're all equal here...so no worries please about musicianship, that aspect will not be judged.


if you get steve vai....i agree, that may be interesting.

or you can send all your submissions to me, for episodes of stupid pedal tricks..

just kidding, i am out of this .... we want to hear  YOU

[krister]

Sounds like a cool competition.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Thank you for clarifying those points Jimi!! 

Furthermore, to address some issues with the restriction on commercial/production builders, I refer you all to the following:

- a commercial builder is one who makes pedals expressly for sale.
- a commercial builder is not one who builds pedals, and occasionally sells one-offs.
- a commercial builder is one who builds pedals expressly to seek profit.
- if one is seeking profit, they are a business, even if they build for pleasure as well.
- if they are a business, they are a commercial builder and cannot enter the competition.

Although this may seem unfair to some of the forumites here, believe me when I say that it was the judges intent to keep a level playing field for ALL of the forum members. We were even thinking about the member that signed up TODAY and would like to enter. We want to eliminate the fear of creating a great build only to be totally smashed by a forum member that builds pedals as a business.

If another forum member or members would like to open their contest to production builders (and we really would like to see the competitions continue!!) then that is great too. In the mean time, we would like to see some great builds.

[haveyouseenhim]

What if I sell them to pay for my hobby. It's nonprofit but I do have a logo. It pays for all the tayda orders. I hope I'm not blurring the rule for you 

[Govmnt_Lacky]

What if I sell them to pay for my hobby. It's nonprofit but I do have a logo. It pays for all the tayda orders. I hope I'm not blurring the rule for you 

"- a commercial builder is not one who builds pedals, and occasionally sells one-offs."
"- a commercial builder is one who builds pedals expressly to seek profit."

[haveyouseenhim]

ahh, sorry. i didnt read it clearly. im doped up from some dental work

[pinkjimiphoton]

hey mike, if you're selling builds to get parts to make more, that's not commercial.

if you can afford a lexus on the pedals you build, you definitely are commercial.


perhaps in a future competition, we can allow commercial builders, but ONLY if the builds are submitted to the world as "freeware" that anyone can build using
commonly available parts that will not be used as commercial pedals..

but that's a big perhaps. 

[digi2t]

Hmmm... I think by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, we'll have the rules clarified too. That, and a buttload of jokes to go along with it.

As for Steve Vai demoing your pedal, crap, I think I would throw in an extra prize to anyone that could pull THAT off. Authentication would present a problem though  

Best of luck to all the prospective participants!

Cheers,
Dino

[Jdansti]

ahh, sorry. i didnt read it clearly. im doped up from some dental work

[pinkjimiphoton]

priceless...

[Beo]

You know, I'd like to enter this contest, but I'm a little hesitant. The organizers have done a good job telling us what is not allowed, and I like a lot of the restrictions (especially since I have a full time non-pedal job, restricting commercial builders is a huge plus for me). Granted, I have recently learned how to program AVRs, so the restriction on digital gimmicks limits some of the things I'm thinking about. What I don't see is a scoring system on how pedals will be evaluated. Is innovation the most important, aesthetics and artistry, etc. How with multiple judges are opinions consolidated? In the end, I don't necessarily need to know how the judging will be scored, but I just need to know that the scoring will be organized, and I'm not going into this competition with a concept that is doomed from the start. This is a tough question which the judges will be reluctant to answer, cause I'm sure they want to leave the creative side as open as possible. It's enter at your own risk, and with that in mind, I'll save my multi-effects ideas for another competition, as I won't pay multiple entry fees for a single shot in the dark.

Travis

[deadastronaut]

ok, gotcha!..

so no painting or etching or solder or wires or switches or enclosures or components and if i make more than £0.76p per annum but less tha £0.12p i'm a commercial builder.....sounds good, but its gonna be tough, ..

[Perrow]

more than £0.76p per annum but less tha £0.12p

It's been a while since I studied math, but it feels like those boundaries leaves a quite small gap 

[deadastronaut]

it certainly does, especially with the global financial crisis in my wallet....i'll have to call a summit of world leaders in my gaff i think..

[Ronan]

I got the impression in the last comp, you were doomed if you didn't do an etched enclosure.

Get your priorities right DA, you gotta eat first, then build pedals second, OK?
The world leaders will not help you.

[Jdansti]

ok, gotcha!..

so no painting or etching or solder or wires or switches or enclosures or components and if i make more than £0.76p per annum but less tha £0.12p i'm a commercial builder.....sounds good, but its gonna be tough, ..

See United Nations "Pedal Contest Rules, Regulations, and Corporal Punishment Penalties" manual #UN7294735292073637663V.

Kidding aside, the judges are trying accomplish a few things with the rules:
1) Narrow the entry specs so that they can compare "apples to apples". While the last contest was fun, the entries ranged from classic analog effects to sophisticated digital effects to multiFX toilet seats.
2) Since each effect of a multiFx entry is treated like a separate entry, a multiFX entry doesn't have an advantage over a single FX entry.
3) Allow amateurs/non-pros to compete just against each other.

I appreciate what the judges are trying to do. At the same time, it's difficult to write perfectly clear rules that leave no questions.

I think that it would be fun to have future contests with different rules. For example, all digital, all mutiFX, only fuzzes, only 1590A enclosures, etc.

[deadastronaut]

''I think that it would be fun to have future contests with different rules. For example, all digital, all mutiFX, only fuzzes, only 1590A enclosures, etc. ''



yep a more level playing field!!!..good idea!.

[bluebunny]

if you can afford a lexus on the pedals you build, you definitely are commercial.

What if I sell my Lexus to fund the parts to build this pedal?   

(Ha ha, in another universe perhaps...  )

[pinkjimiphoton]

lol...you guys are killing us!!

here's the bottom line...

number one?

it has to sound good.

what it looks like is of LESS consequence. if the wiring's a rat's nest, and the pedal is in a radio shack box ( ) it may well score higher than a brilliantly executed
box that folds up into a postage stamp with wiring so exquisite after seeing it we need to visit the bathroom for the "wood-b-gone" if it SOUNDS BETTER.

we three judges are pretty open to different areas, and different sounds, and have a vast plethora of effectuals to choose from. we like to pretend we're pretty eclectic.

(look it up, there's greg, dino and me, right there).

we're trying to level the playing field, and make it fair for everyone. putting seasoned commercial builders up against total beginners and making it so all have a chance is ludicrous.

making people compete within fair guidelines for everyone however is a different story.

hope that clarifies some muddy water a little.

[haveyouseenhim]

There should be a prize for most transformed enclosure     I would totally win that    I'm making some good progress, I keep having to remind myself to slow down and that i have over a month and a half to get it done. I'm super psyched about this comp and cant wait for judging day.

Mind if i ask how many entries so far?