Mklec, Bitsbox and Tagboardeffects

[navin1]

Hi all,

Does anyone have any inputs as to the reliability of the projects offered by sites like bitsbox and mklec?
http://bitsbox.co.uk/
http://mklec.com/project-kits/guitar-effects-kits

The projects there are based on the veroboard schemes posted on tagboard effects.
http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/

Is there any place where we can access schematic of these veroboard schemes?
How close do these verobaord schemes sound to the original? I ask because in some cases they have posted videos of the original pedal.

Mklec claims that the offer a "Printed Color Board Layout/Schematic" with every kit and this makes Mklec a little more attractive as a schematic can help trace what you did wrong (should you do something wrong).
http://mklec.com/project-kits/guitar-ef ... -pedal-kit
http://mklec.com/project-kits/guitar-ef ... -clone-kit

I tried to look for reviews of kits from Mklec or Bitsbox on google and could not find any.

Since I am in India, I would actually like to order a few kits at one go to save on shipping and customs clearance hassles and I would like to be sure I am not wasting my time, money and energy here. My hope is to build a few drive pedals that encompasses 2 (maybe even 3) verobaords in one box. For example the Pale green compressor and the Emerald green distortion or the Cornish G2 and SS2+buffer (see link below)
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index. ... 2.1135951/

I see a lot of interest in the G2 here.
viewtopic.php?f=56&t=9882
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9255
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=12314

Is there any interest in the Bearfootfx schemes (kits for these are on Mklec) like the pale green compressor, distortion, honey bee, pink/purple or artic white etc?


Thanks in advance.

[navin1]

Vero layouts and traditional schematics are simply different ways to represent a circuit... no one or the other is no more correct or "original-sounding". Think of a vero layout as guitar tabulature (numbers arranged on six lines) and a schematic as sheet music (dots, circles and lines arranged on longer lines)... both would produce the same sounding piece of music if written correctly, they just get there using different aesthetics and visual theory. Does that make sense?.

Aha maybe I am old fashioned because I prefer to see schematics. I cant even read vero board easily. Anyway the real question was are the project kits offered by sites like bitsbox and mklec reliable? Has anyone made them?

[tabbycat]

what you are really asking is are the layouts at tagboard effects (aka guitar fx layouts - gfx) reliable, since mklec and bitsbox are basically those exact layouts supplied as a kit.

i've built maybe a dozen of the layouts at gfx and have always had good results. and as it's a forum set up, much like this, there is also a thriving community feedback section (visit the forum section in addition to the main page for each layout) that considers and debates the merits of each layout and ideas for options (try these transistors, try those diodes, etc). this will give you the possibility to tweak your build according to taste. a lot of those discussions will reference back to comments made in the tracing threads here, where the schematics have usually originated.
the two sites complement each other. though it's a crude simplification, in many aspects fsb is more r&d (the lab) and archiving (the library) and gfx is like the workshop, simplifying all that discovery and theory into build-by-numbers layouts that anyone can attempt without a great deal of prior knowledge. then pushing those designs to the next level of tweak and personalise. there are also lots of original member-submitted designs there too (see the contributions section in the forum).

as for the source and reliability of the schematics, the layouts there are always based on the best available schematics at the time. this isn't always an exact science, as manufacturers may vary circuit design and components over the course of a product's run. but they are invariably the closest you are likely to get anywhere on the net.
by far the majority of the schematics have come from pedals traced by members here, which is the interweb centre for tracing. not an easy task, as many pedal manufacturers would rather their designs remained secret. but we are fortunate that the person who hosts this site (modman) takes a wikileaks attitude to keeping information circulating around the diy building community.
this has the dual benefit of keeping stompbox technology (old and new) freely accessible to diy builders and up-and-coming designers, which is good for the science. and it also helps to keep makers honest about what they are selling, since they know that sooner or later their handiwork will be revealed here, in all its glory (or all its horror) for all to see.

but to cut a long answer short, as long as the parts bitsbox and mklec are supplying are the parts indicated in the gfx layouts, the builds should be good.
i buy a lot of things from bitsbox and they are always quick and reliable, and as both bitsbox and mklec are approved as kit suppliers by mark (who runs gfx), i would expect mklec to be reliable too.

[navin1]

the two sites complement each other. though it's a crude simplification, in many aspects fsb is more r&d (the lab) and archiving (the library) and gfx is like the workshop, simplifying all that discovery and theory into build-by-numbers layouts that anyone can attempt without a great deal of prior knowledge. then pushing those designs to the next level of tweak and personalise. there are also lots of original member-submitted designs there too (see the contributions section in the forum).

as for the source and reliability of the schematics, the layouts there are always based on the best available schematics at the time...but to cut a long answer short, as long as the parts bitsbox and mklec are supplying are the parts indicated in the gfx layouts, the builds should be good.
i buy a lot of things from bitsbox and they are always quick and reliable, and as both bitsbox and mklec are approved as kit suppliers by mark (who runs gfx), i would expect mklec to be reliable too.

Thank you for this. This is as clear as one can get.

[roseblood11]

There is a market for selling kits for builts based on vero board? How absolutely silly is this? There is a parts list included in most layouts and you could buy the parts for a bit more than half the price...

[Frank_NH]

There is a market for selling kits for builts based on vero board? How absolutely silly is this? There is a parts list included in most layouts and you could buy the parts for a bit more than half the price...

Well, if you just want to do one project and that's it, I can see the logic in providing a vero kit. But to be honest, it's much easier to build a PCB kit, and there are many of those available.

I've built and modded dozens of vero projects, and to me the attraction of that style is the ability to make effects for which no PCB exists and (perhaps of more interest to myself) to be able to mod the effect to you heart's content. For example, I added the SWTC to a Crunchbox build to improve the tone control. Easy to do on vero.

Having said all the above, I would never build to sell using vero, though some people have (too much effort versus a PCB).

[navin1]

There is a market for selling kits for builts based on vero board? How absolutely silly is this? There is a parts list included in most layouts and you could buy the parts for a bit more than half the price...

Well, if you just want to do one project and that's it, I can see the logic in providing a vero kit. But to be honest, it's much easier to build a PCB kit, and there are many of those available... For example, I added the SWTC to a Crunchbox build to improve the tone control. Easy to do on vero.

I would much prefer a PCB kit to a Vero. Yes modifications are limited on a PCB (one can change a few cap and resister values) but the reliability of a PCB trumps Vero. With Vero cutting all the right traces can be tedious. However neither bitsbox nor mklec offer PCB kits. I guess no one can for pedals that have some IP or copyrights still active.

[marmaliser]

There are LOTS of PCB based kits available. Are you looking for anything in particular ?

Off the top of my head
http://www.musikding.de/
http://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/Kits/cat847125_752589.aspx

[navin1]

There are LOTS of PCB based kits available. Are you looking for anything in particular ?

Off the top of my head
http://www.musikding.de/
http://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/Kits/cat847125_752589.aspx

Thanks a lot for the musiking and pedal parts links. I am looking at boost, drives and dirt pedals.

I am looking for smooth drives and flexible fuzzes like the Cornish G2 and maybe others like the Rockett WTF, Emerald Green Distortion, BJFE Honey Bee, Xotic EP Booster, Bearfoot Pink-Purple etc. The music I play is old stuff like Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Rolling Stones, The Who, etc.

With Mklec I was thinking of putting the G2 and SS2 in one box like done here.
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index. ... 2.1135951/

Another pedal I was considering is a combo of the Pale Green Compressor and Emerald Green Distortion (again both are available at Mklec) and the Rockett WTF combined with the Xotic EP Booster (both from Bitsbox) and for fuzz, a Skreddy P19 combined with the Lunar Module (again both available from Bits Box). With a PCB layout one can still make minor changes like replacing a 2N2222 with a 2N5088 or changing some resistance value to change the nature of the drive.

[roseblood11]

Maybe you should learn to make your own layouts with diy layout creator... That way you could put two circuits on one board.

[navin1]

Maybe you should learn to make your own layouts with diy layout creator... That way you could put two circuits on one board.

Actually one can do this on a Vero board too. The advantage of separate boards is for testing and also 2 smaller boards are easier to place inside a 1590BB than 1 big board. You can tuck 2 smaller boards in spaces between the pots and foot switches.

[tabbycat]

i would recommend the fuzzdog kits. i've built a handful of effects from their pcbs and they are always good. as you mentioned yourself, beyond a certain size vero can be a drag to do and a time drain, cutting and linking, and the potential for messing up begins to escalate beyond a certain level. as a rough guide, up to 20 cuts and 10 links i will usually try a vero. anything bigger than that and i will always take a pcb if i can find an affordable version that gets to me quickly.
obviously when there is no pcb available or you want it immediately you just have to get on with it if you really want it. but i find layouts with 40 cuts etc burn up a lot of time and patience, so they have to be seriously must-have for me to commit.

fuzzdog's overdrive and distortion kits here. pcbs only in another page.

http://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/OverdriveD ... 65699.aspx

madbean is good for pcb only. thriving pcb scene there with lots of community feedback re builds.

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/

re doing your own vero layouts, this is what you need. all the layouts at gfx (tagboardeffects) are done with the same software. it's freeware but if you get good use and fun out of it you may well want to consider making a contribution to the designer (link to support on page). i am rubbish at computers. i don't even own a smart phone. yet i can do fairly decent small-medium level layouts with this without major problems. so great software in my opinion. and if you come up with any nice ones post them here and at gfx.

https://code.google.com/p/diy-layout-creator/

sample vero layout page (can also us it to layout pcbs).







http://shop.pedalparts.co.uk/OverdriveD ... 65699.aspx

[navin1]

i would recommend the fuzzdog kits. i've built a handful of effects from their pcbs and they are always good.

re doing your own vero layouts, this is what you need. all the layouts at gfx (tagboardeffects) are done with the same software.

Thanks for the vote on fuzzdog. I did not see any sample videos of the sounds these pedals can create. Is there a link for these?