Turkey Day SHOOTOUT Competition

[Govmnt_Lacky]

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!

Ok forumites... its time for another build competition.

This competition is brought to you by Digi2t (judge), pinkjimiphoton (judge), Aron, Steve (smallbear), and myself (judge) of course  

So.... lets get to the nitty gritty shall we!

RULES:

1)   Builds do not need to be themed. Just good quality builds.
2)   NO pre-fabbed circuit boards allowed. Self-etched PCBs, Vero, or tag board only.
3)   Competition is open to hobby builders only. NO commercial or production builders.
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.
5)   Circuit layouts DO NOT have to be your own. You may use circuits that are already out there however, more consideration will be given to custom layouts. Bonus judging points given to those who provide their custom layouts WITH their submission. Builders who use a layout for their build MUST give credit to the original layout designer. (if known)
6)   Enclosures can be etched, painted, laser engraved, etc. More consideration will be given to more "creative" esthetic efforts. A "good" etch is not as good as a "great" paint job.
7)   Difficulty of the build as well as clean wiring will be judging criteria.
8]   This competition is for through-hole analog builds only. No DSP, SMD, or Tube builds. This makes the competition accessible and win-able to everyone!
9)   Entries WILL provide evidence of a WORKING pedal! Pictures and gut shots are MANDATORY! Must include a video of the pedal in action. Video submissions must show clean guitar through amp, followed by ONLY the built pedal (with NO delay, reverb, etc.) then followed by the built pedal with ANY other effect to make your build unique. We will be judging heavily on the finished product!!! This is your chance to make it stand out!! Be creative but, do it in the order stated please.
10)   Entries MUST BE completed builds. Incomplete or non-working builds will not be considered.
11)   This competition is for NEW or UNSEEN builds only! The whole idea behind this competition is to encourage creativity and to share ideas on the forum. Please do not enter other "competition winner" or previously entered or pictured builds. If you have a killer build that has not been revealed yet, then I guess it's your lucky day! Otherwise, please come up with something original for this competition.

PRIZES:

Prizes will be awarded in order of ranking. Basically, when all of the entries are judged, they will be given a final score. The 5 highest scores will be deemed the winners. The winner with the highest score will have his/her choice of prizes from the pool. When that person chooses then the next highest scoring winner will have their choice of the remaining prizes, and so on until the final winner (5th place) will receive the remaining prize.

Prize#1 - $25 in credit to Smallbear electronics w/ free shipping. Courtesy of Smallbear electronics.
Prize#2 – Custom Vocalizer pedal build shipped to winner. Courtesy of Digi2t.
Prize#3 – Custom Digitech XP ALL (XP 100, 200, 300, and 400 in one box! And you don't have to power it down to switch effects!!!) Shipped to winner. Courtesy of Govmnt_Lacky.
Prize#4 – Custom "Stupid Pedal Tricks" Pedal shipped to winner. Courtesy of pinkjimiphoton. Video soon to come!!!
Prize#5 – Store credit to DIYStomp store in the amount of the entry fees (minus shipping costs). Courtesy of the entrants and Aron.
Prize#6 - - A prize pack of your choice of 3 PCBs/ shipped to the winner in accordance to the rules in the initial post (Courtesy of Jacob at JMK PCBs)
ALL OF THE 5 WINNERS WILL RECEIVE A LARGE (Sorry folks... Large is the ONLY size available) DIYSTOMPBOXES T-SHIRT COURTESY OF ARON AND DIYSTOMPBOXES.COM.

STIPULATIONS:

- Any winner outside of the continental US or Canada WILL BE responsible for shipping fees, taxes, or VATs that are above and/or beyond the regular shipping rate.
- MUST HAVE A MINIMUM OF 15 ENTRIES BEFORE COMPETITION BEGINS!!
- Entry Fee is $10/per board in accordance to the rules above.

OTHER STUFF:

- Remember, this competition is for the benefit of developing creativity on the forum AND to help fund the forum/store. NONE of the judges will be receiving ANY reimbursement from this contest. It was OUR intent to do it this way and ultimately we hope it will convince YOU forumites to pick up the torch and run with it  
- The DEADLINE for complete submissions will be 23:59 on Thanksgiving Day (November 22nd 2012). You can submit your entry as early as you like. Just remember to make sure it is COMPLETE and according to the rules set forth above.
- ALL submissions WILL be posted on THIS thread. DO NOT post submissions on the Pictures thread BEFORE posting them here! You may do so AFTER posting them on here if you like.
- We will be relying on you forumites to assist us with policing this effort. We want to keep the field as level as possible. It only takes one rotten apple to spoil the barrel!

Any questions that are directly related to the competition, rules, prizes, etc. should be posted here for other forumites to benefit. PLEASE DO NOT SEND PMs FOR COMPETITION QUESTIONS TO ANY OF THE JUDGES! Post them here and one of the judges will answer as soon as possible.

Finally, remember to tell others about this! The more people involved... the higher the Store Credit Prize will be!  

Here is the link to pay for your entries. Be sure to let Aron know EXACTLY what you are paying for (if entering multi-board builds):

http://diystompboxes.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=89

GOOD LUCK TO ALL. HOPING TO SEE SOME CREATIVE BUILDS!!!!!

[Jdansti]

Thanks-I like the rules.  I hold an airgun "turkey shoot" every year at Thanksgiving for the folks that work for me. I award the prizes the same way by letting them choose their prize starting with1st place. Should be another great contest!

[pakrat]

Thanks Gov and all of the guys running this, I'm in!

[pinkjimiphoton]

we're really looking forward to seeing what the great people on this forum come up with...so let the games commence! 

[rockhorst]

Strange that a Millenium bypass board is no extra fee, but a 3PDT is...just IMHO

[deadastronaut]

 ''A "good" etch is not as good as a "great" paint job.''

well thats me out then...

[pinkjimiphoton]

Strange that a Millenium bypass board is no extra fee, but a 3PDT is...just IMHO

a 3pdt board is fine...daughterboards if necessary aren't the issue.

there is a fee per CIRCUIT...if you have three fuzz boards in a box, that would be three boards.
millenium bypass, 3pdt, charge pump boards do not count as circuits.

[Jdansti]

Strange that a Millenium bypass board is no extra fee, but a 3PDT is...just IMHO

a 3pdt board is fine...daughterboards if necessary aren't the issue.

there is a fee per CIRCUIT...if you have three fuzz boards in a box, that would be three boards.
millenium bypass, 3pdt, charge pump boards do not count as circuits.

Thanks Jimi.  In addition though, shouldn't all boards be DIY etch, vero, or otherwise  constructed by the builder, including these daughter boards?

[Jdansti]

''A "good" etch is not as good as a "great" paint job.''

well thats me out then...

Rob- I saw that too, but I think he meant that etching and painting are equivalent techniques. In other words, the judges will be looking at the quality of the graphics without preference to the technique used. No bonus points for any particular technique. What counts is the asthetic results.  Do I hear an amen?

[Perrow]

This sounds great, I fear the video proof will finally out me as a non musician or can I find someone who can play it for me?

[artifus]

yes. send me all your pedals. my address is 14... nah! i can't even play but i do have a camera.... 

[Govmnt_Lacky]

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   EDIT: Amended the rules above.

2) As for etching your own 3PDT, millenium, or charge pump boards. I really don't think we need to go THAT DIY about it. As long as your ENTRY circuit is fabricated in the manner stated above, then it will be fine. Of course, it might catch the judges eye when they see an etched 3PDT board -OR- a vero'd millenium bypass 

3) JDansti hit the nail on the head. We will NOT favor any finishing technique over another. The statement about a "good etch is not as good as a great paint job" means simply that. If 2 people enter pedals and they both sound fantastic yet one has a great paint job and the other has an OK etch, then the pedal with the great paint job will probably score higher. It was meant to say that since you etched your pedal, it does not automatically mean you trump anyone who used paint, laser, etc.'

4) @ Perrow - We don't care WHO demos your build. As long as it is in the manner stated above and you let us know it's your build. If you can get Steve Vai to play.... you might get more consideration    

[digi2t]

@deadastronaut -

''A "good" etch is not as good as a "great" paint job.''

well thats me out then...

I can't speak for Greg or Jimi, but as far as I'm concerned, one can be used to compensate for the other. I believe that's the spirit of the statement. The external might be OK, but the guts can really shine, or vice versa. I'm taking everything into consideration, so I can understand that one may opt to lose a few points in one aspect of their creation, to pile on a few more somewhere else.

Hope that clears it up for you.

[garcho]

Been jobbing all month, and weirdly enough, a lot of it has been Turkish music. Which means I might be able to buy some components! I'm in! (once the checks clear)

musical hero of mine, Necdet Yaşar:

[Perrow]

If you can get Steve Vai to play.... you might get more consideration    

I'll call him

[Jdansti]

Been jobbing all month, and weirdly enough, a lot of it has been Turkish music. Which means I might be able to buy some components! I'm in! (once the checks clear)

musical hero of mine, Necdet Yaşar:

I didn't know that like Turkish music!  What do you call that axe he's playing?

[garcho]

What do you call that axe he's playing?

Tambur (Tanbur).

I played one this evening actually, at a gig here in Chicago. It's the most important instrument in Ottoman 'court' or 'classical' music, after the voice, of course. Much less popular now that the modern nation-state has put a distance between itself and the Ottoman Empire. It wasn't ever a 'folk' instrument, although it's based on one some Turks might call a 'bağlama' or 'saz', which is very popular in Turkey today, as is guitar. Guitars can't play the microtones in Turkish tunings, though, so most folk and art musicians still play the traditional instruments. Most Turks I've heard say the word say 'tanbur', with an 'n'. It's not related to the Hindustani drone instrument of a similar name.

My pedal for the contest entry is going to be a switchable parallel/series dual tunable band pass filter, with 2 simple LFOs. Basically, ripping off many of the more well known folks here at the forum, as well as a guy with a funny name that writes books for a place called Radio Shack.   Don't worry, I'll give credit to the right people! (if it works  ) I've been failing at putting together a decent, non-massively huge, single-sided PCB for the MS-20 project a few of us are keeping up with, so I thought this would be a more manageable endeavor for me. Hopefully, it'll make some mighty fine filter/gobble noises for Turkey day.

[Ronan]

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).

[Perrow]

Just to confuse everyone I'm gonna put each component of my English Channel build on a separate board, how much is the entry fee?

[Govmnt_Lacky]

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).

Thanks for asking. Hopefully this will clarify the rule.

Look at this link for an example:

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/two_in_one_wiring.pdf

This is a good example of an entry that would require 2 fees. There are 2 seperate circuits in the box. Whether it be 2 tubescreamers, a tubescreamer and a boost, etc.

2 SEPERATE CIRCUITS = 2 ENTRY FEES.

The reasoning for this "rule" is to keep the entrys simple, effective, and to keep it available to even the novice builders.

If you incorporate a boost into an overdrive and IT IS ON THE SAME BOARD then there should not be a problem.

Hope this helps. We really want to see a good turn out for this.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!