I'm putting out this question for help on a decision to purchase. My step-son is looking for a pedal like the Boss GE-7.

https://www.boss.info/us/products/ge-7/

I know absolutely nothing about guitar pedals, so My question is this; Should he (or I) buy this, or is this something that can be built with components for less?

I've seen several discussions before about building custom pedals. I'm capable of doing the fabrication, including any metal fab that might be necessary, but if this can be built I would need to find appropriate circuits and components.

Any help the forum can provide would be much appreciated.

I've built two kits from byoc. They sell enclosures, they use top notch components, and if you can solder not too difficult to put together. Haven't looked in a while so I don't know if they have a clone for that model Boss though.

Unless you can't live without a project, I'd just buy a used one for $80ish. They're great pedals and grow on trees.

I sold a vintage Japanese-made pedal like this for a few bucks some years ago. I would rather have such a vintage pedal than try to replicate it.

I can't imagine building one from scratch makes sense as compared to buying one. Boss pedals aren't crazy expensive. If there is a kit, and you just want to build it, that would be different.

I kind of do want to build some pedals, as I've done a few Marshall clones and am getting better at soldering. But a 10+ band EQ seems to have a lot of moving parts, solder joints and all on a small PCB in a small space. Build or buy? On that one I buy.

Just buy one from Reverb.com. Sell it when you're done.

Stop stressing, buy used if you must. They’ve been cranking those out for something like thirty years. If you want to screw around with building a pedal, you want to start with gain, not EQ.

Don’t spend a lot of money on this venture. Why? Because inside of six months, your step-son is going to realize what all studio players and working guitarists know: you cannot add between the fingers and what comes out of the speakers, you can only take away. The pros that I have built gear for use an EQ to remove or smooth certain favorite instrument’s harsher qualities. Your money may be better spent, gift-wise. I’ve owned a shit-ton of pedals, even a tuner, but an EQ pedal was so far down on the list of priorities that a noise gate filter would’ve made more sense.

What is he into, musically? What does he have for a rig? I went fairly deep into that industry and while I’m far from what anyone would call a Subject Matter Expert, lets just say I’m far past “hobbyist” at this point.

Following P220 Smudge's comment, I would add that if your son is playing in a venue in a group with a sound system, his EQ will be set by a soundboard operator. Whatever the room demands of the guitar will differ from venue to venue, and the EQ must be set to the house needs. If he has a amp and cabinet as an on-stage monitor, he won't be able to really discern his local EQ vs. the house EQ, and he'll need to send the cleanest signal to the soundboard first.

https://reverb.com/p/boss-ge-7-graphic-eq-1981-1992

Thanks everyone for your responses.

Based on what I'm reading, we'll be shopping for a used one I think.

My step-son is nothing more than a tinkerer hobbyist at this point so I didn't want to spend a ton of money, especially if there was a chance to build it for less.

I doubt anything more will come from this besides his hobby play at home, and I'm trying to do my part in the annual Christmas list fulfillment.

I appreciate the help of the forum.

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Following P220 Smudge's comment, I would add that if your son is playing in a venue in a group with a sound system, his EQ will be set by a soundboard operator. Whatever the room demands of the guitar will differ from venue to venue, and the EQ must be set to the house needs. If he has a amp and cabinet as an on-stage monitor, he won't be able to really discern his local EQ vs. the house EQ, and he'll need to send the cleanest signal to the soundboard first.

https://reverb.com/p/boss-ge-7-graphic-eq-1981-1992

Most venues I play mike the speaker cabs so you want your sound sculpted and done before it hits the house mixer. From there they can cut any frequency they need to keep the PA clean but my tone comes from my gear.

The Boss unit is really good as well as the 10 band EQ from MXR. I personally use the 5 band eq from Mesa Boogie but that's on the pricier side.

quote:

Originally posted by DanPatWork:
Thanks everyone for your responses.

Based on what I'm reading, we'll be shopping for a used one I think.

My step-son is nothing more than a tinkerer hobbyist at this point so I didn't want to spend a ton of money, especially if there was a chance to build it for less.

I doubt anything more will come from this besides his hobby play at home, and I'm trying to do my part in the annual Christmas list fulfillment.

I appreciate the help of the forum.

I think this is probably your best bet. He'll get to just enjoy it instead of having to screw around with all the trial and error of building one. I used to build guitar pickups for a living, which is arguably a much more delicate operation. I never "graduated" to building a pedal. It would not have been a big technical leap, but it's one I didn't feel like making. I talked to Mark123 about it for a while, and in the end, he just built it for me and I couldn't be more thrilled with it.

If your boy is at tinkerer-hobbyist level, then I can see him really just enjoying a used one and exploring the concept and seeing if is as cool as he imagined it would be. Keep the interest sparked when you can.

This is a timely topic. I'm actually filming some YouTube videos on building effect pedals.

However, for something like a GE-7 check the used section at Guitar Center. That would be a challenging first build.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I can't imagine building one from scratch makes sense as compared to buying one. Boss pedals aren't crazy expensive. If there is a kit, and you just want to build it, that would be different.

You can save some loot by building. You can probably make a great clone for around $30 + whatever the frustration is worth. Not in this case but if it's a pedal that's no longer available or rare/vintage and crazily priced, then even more so.

We have a member who builds very professional pedals from scratch.

A big Sorry to the member for forgetting their name; pictures of his projects have been posted in the past.

I've built crossovers for separating frequency; they are not hard. A home-built pedal down the road could open up new interests and even a career. There are very very few people who "know" what they are doing, with regards to old amp repair.

quote:

Originally posted by mark123:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
I can't imagine building one from scratch makes sense as compared to buying one. Boss pedals aren't crazy expensive. If there is a kit, and you just want to build it, that would be different.

You can save some loot by building. You can probably make a great clone for around $30 + whatever the frustration is worth. Not in this case but if it's a pedal that's no longer available or rare/vintage and crazily priced, then even more so.

Mark123, I know you build pedals.

Is the $30 the cost of the parts?

If you didn't have the tools, and other stuff, though, I would guess you would be way in over the $120 a Boss pedal would cost. As I said, if you like building them, then great. But if you just want to save a buck, and also need to buy tools you won't use much, there may not be a savings. Maybe I am wrong.

And as you say, if you want a pedal you can't get anymore, then it is totally different.

Which reminds me, can you build a Klon Centaur clone? I even saw the circuit diagram the other day.

quote:

Originally posted by Woodman:
A home-built pedal down the road could open up new interests and even a career. There are very very few people who "know" what they are doing, with regards to old amp repair.

You know, this is worth emphasizing, and I kinda feel bad for not considering this before, but yes, this is absolutely a consideration.

I can't light up the fretboard like most other players I know. I've always been a mediocre guitar player at best, and usually not even that. But I love them. And I really wanted to be decent and so while I spent years playing them, I had to maintain them and got tired of paying the money to have them maintained and set up properly.

By the time I was 15, I was reading online technical manuals and DIY threads about how to properly adjust and set up guitars. So I started working on my own. This got me more interested, and then I was swapping parts and soldering and then a few years later, I was apprenticing at an inlay shop with the guy who handles most of Martin's custom inlay work - cutting out some of the more common stuff from abalam and pearl laminate. I handled and helped with pieces that went straight from Martin to our shop and then back and immediately into a display case. Then I got to work for a guy who retired out of Nashville who moved to Florida and opened up a tiny store and I got to learn more about the industry than I imagined. I moved to Washington and interviewed at Warmoth, they literally laughed me out of the door for wearing a suit to the job interview. I wore torn up jeans and a hoodie and got hired at a guitar pickup company and built P-90's for four years and got to play guitars loaded with the very first humbuckers and P-90's that were built by Seth Lover and Les Paul. I've held prototype pickups that those guys built in the 40's in my own hands. I was like being handed holy relics.

If this was Formula 1 racing, I would love to be a driver, but I'm not. I'd be one of the mechanics that keeps those guys flying down the pavement. Your step son may enjoy venturing down that path, and lemme tella, it's somewhat of a dying art. There's back-doors into the music industry. I built a set of pickups for my absolute favorite guitarist, got to stand in the middle of the crowd while he played my favorite songs though pickups I built, and when I went onstage after the show and introduced myself to one of my guitar heros, he acted like I was his hero and was going on and on about presence and EQ and how it sat in the mix and I was just standing there like an idiot. Beyond mind-blowing moment. It's all very possible. Keep sparking his interests and you never know what could happen.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
... Which reminds me, can you build a Klon Centaur clone? I even saw the circuit diagram the other day.

Here's the one I've made for myself:


I think the one that P220 Smudge has is prettier though.

Awesome. Have you ever compared it to a Klon? Would you consider building one for sale?

That centaur graphic is awesome, but you are a bit stingy with the solder.
They should look like perfect Hershey kisses. Still, I bet it sounds cool, I would buy one.