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This discussion started over in the DIY forum, and us builders posting over there too much starts to violate that bright red statement at the top of the DIY forum page. So I'm taking the conversation over here where we don't have to worry about sounding like we're self-promoting at a non-self-promoting party.

Aen (Dwarfcraft) has been selling kits for a couple of his pedals for a while now. It's a way for him to offer something to the DIYers without 1) losing sales from someone posting cloning instructions up on the sites that do this and 2) making sure that if someone does want to build their own Great Destroyer or Robot Devil, they actually use the right schematic. Many of the schematics posted by cloners are incorrect, and then you've got these "clones" out there that aren't right. Devi does kits too.

I was kicking around the idea of offering a DIY kit for my CHOAD BLASTER pedal. After all, the DIY community is generally the type of crowd that thinks penis-related pedal names are funny. Right around the time I was thinking of this, I saw a Dwarfcraft announcement about their kits, and I thought "right on!" So, if you were looking for a DIY kit, and the builder had one available, would you be inclined to buy it from the builder rather than source all of the parts yourself to do it off a schematic from one of the knock-off forums? What about the price? At what point is the price too high to buy a kit? BYOC kits are a bit on the pricey side in my opinion. Aen's prices are much better, and the pedal is far more unique than the BYOC options in my opinion.

It's nice to get a kit where everything is included like Dwarfcraft's etc. It takes a lot less time than sourcing parts, waiting for multiple packages (if any) etc.
I also dig, like you said, that you know what you are getting is correct.

BYOC's prices are too high for sure. I actually can't believe Dwarfcraft can sell some of their kits for as low as they can but it rules. And the plain enclosures let the builder express themselves etc.

I say go for it! Even if you did a small run to test it out

skullservant wrote:It's nice to get a kit where everything is included like Dwarfcraft's etc. It takes a lot less time than sourcing parts, waiting for multiple packages (if any) etc.
I also dig, like you said, that you know what you are getting is correct.

BYOC's prices are too high for sure. I actually can't believe Dwarfcraft can sell some of their kits for as low as they can but it rules. And the plain enclosures let the builder express themselves etc.

I say go for it! Even if you did a small run to test it out

Yeah, I would just stick with the regular Choad Blaster enclosure at first. I'm also impressed with Dwarfcraft's kit prices. Based on what I know my parts cost is on the Choad Blaster (I'm not moving huge volume, so I don't get much bulk discount on parts right now), I'd have to charge at least $75 for the kit to justify the cost of packing up the kits and providing support.

That's not unreasonable!

skullservant wrote:That's not unreasonable!

Good. That's what I thought. The hardest part is writing up the instructions!

kevinhifi wrote:The hardest part is writing up the instructions!

You said it!

aen wrote:

kevinhifi wrote:The hardest part is writing up the instructions!

You said it!

"The Writing Is The Hardest Part"

There's a song in there somewhere.

I think $60-$80 is a fair price for a kit, and it offers people on option who might not be able to afford the real pedal and maybe want to learn something if they've never built a pedal before.

I don't think I personally fall into that category so I probably wouldn't buy one. But I might pay $20 for just the PCB and instructions/BOM. I would also pay $10 to download a schematic or layout or something even if that were already available on the web. It saves me the trouble of following a dodgy schematic and then wasting hours troubleshooting when it's wrong, and it gives me a way to support the circuit designer who deserves it.

crazynoises wrote:I think $60-$80 is a fair price for a kit, and it offers people on option who might not be able to afford the real pedal and maybe want to learn something if they've never built a pedal before.

I don't think I personally fall into that category so I probably wouldn't buy one. But I might pay $20 for just the PCB and instructions/BOM. I would also pay $10 to download a schematic or layout or something even if that were already available on the web. It saves me the trouble of following a dodgy schematic and then wasting hours troubleshooting when it's wrong, and it gives me a way to support the circuit designer who deserves it.

Hmmm...just sell the PCB and parts list as an option. The thing is, the Choad Blaster isn't all that popular yet, but it's a pretty unique circuit that gets some sounds that are different from the typical circuits out there. Making it an easy kit to build, with different levels of kit available (just PCB and parts list; PCB, PCB-mounted pots, enclosure, and parts list; full kit) may be a way to get the name out there.

In all honesty, I got into this because I'm a cheap bastard who didn't want to pay full price for anything. So I learned how to build 'em myself, and kits were a big part of that learning process.