Rehousing pedals - Who can do this?

[AinsleyWalker]

So I've seen a few really cool pedal rehousing jobs done in the US recently and I was wondering if anyone knows of where to get this kind of thing done in the UK?
Alternatively, is this kinda possible as a home project for a beginner such as myself? Links to parts or kits would be great.

Example: This is an example of someone rehousing a Boss OC2. In this case they've removed the second octave.
 
(source: https://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Other-Pedals.html ) 

Edited May 29, 2019 by AinsleyWalker

[Bigwan]

I think the answer is - it depends. On your skills mainly. I'll be honest and say if you have to ask the question you shouldn't be attempting it yourself...

But if you're interested in giving it a go, start with building some basic pedals yourself to get a feel for things before you attempt rehousing something made by somebody else, which is typically more difficult that building from scratch yourself.

Have a look at pedalparts.co.uk for a start. Also look at the DIY pedal thread here.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Bigwan

[AinsleyWalker]

21 hours ago, Bigwan said:

I think the answer is - it depends. On your skills mainly. I'll be honest and say if you have to ask the question you shouldn't be attempting it yourself...

But if you're interested in giving it a go, start with building some basic pedals yourself to get a feel for things before you attempt rehousing something made by somebody else, which is typically more difficult that building from scratch yourself.

Have a look at pedalparts.co.uk for a start. Also look at the DIY pedal thread here.

Yeah sounds like a good idea, doing it myself wasn't something I was seriously considering, but was still interested in whether it would be a big job or not.

Thanks for the advice and info!

[Daz39]

@GisserD developed a smaller rehousing for the Future Impact; he might be worth speaking to.

[BigRedX]

The example in the OP just makes me want to ask "why?"

Boss pedals are some of the most robust and economically designed pedals ever created, so why anyone would want to rehouse it is beyond me. I suppose if you wanted to fake it to make it look like a boutique pedal, but then it really needs the graphics to be designed by a 5-year old and to move either the input or output sockets to a less practical position.

[ped]

Fun? 

[Matt P]

the pedal in the OP (OC-1) isn't actually a re-housing, it's a clone of an oc-2 built from the original schematic with the second octave omitted.

i've looked at re-housing a pedal and didn't get much past the initial thought stage, so many pedals are built with the controls and input/output all soldered directly to a pcb, this means that either they need modifying to put them on remote wires or the holes in the new enclosure need to be incredibly accurately drilled to get it to all fit without putting stress on the soldered connections.

i think the suggestion of building some pedals from kits or from scratch is the best one, there are plenty of kits available for clones of so many of the popular pedals.

[GisserD]

55 minutes ago, Daz39 said:

@GisserD developed a smaller rehousing for the Future Impact; he might be worth speaking to.

if the OP has a specific pedal in mind that has some space inside that could be reduced then im up for another project. However, my electronics skills are virtually non existent so you would have to do all the rewiring/rebuttoning legwork yourself.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

The example in the OP just makes me want to ask "why?"

Boss pedals are some of the most robust and economically designed pedals ever created, so why anyone would want to rehouse it is beyond me. I suppose if you wanted to fake it to make it look like a boutique pedal, but then it really needs the graphics to be designed by a 5-year old and to move either the input or output sockets to a less practical position.

I have a few Boss pedals ancient HM2 & BEQ7 plus a TU3.

While they are great, losing that stupid little screw on the front would be a 'good thing'.

[Bigwan]

1 hour ago, BigRedX said:

The example in the OP just makes me want to ask "why?"

Boss pedals are some of the most robust and economically designed pedals ever created, so why anyone would want to rehouse it is beyond me. I suppose if you wanted to fake it to make it look like a boutique pedal, but then it really needs the graphics to be designed by a 5-year old and to move either the input or output sockets to a less practical position.

True bypass, top mounted jacks, omitting/deleting controls that usually remain fixed, adding expression functionality, going to a smaller enclosure, adding a blend, clipping mods... I could go on...

I don't think the OP was specifically targeting Boss btw although the OC2 is the most rehoused pedal I've seen, usually (as previously mentioned) to delete the -2 octave control.

[bobbass4k]

It's a fairly simple job, depending on what you want putting in where nand why. A lot of pedals are the size they are for a reason though, i haven't seen that many professional pedals recently that have acres of pointless space. There's other reasons to do it though, some great circuits come in flimsy plastic cases (*cough* Behringer *cough*), or if you want controls rearranged, true-bypassing etc. 

The sticking point will be graphics, most of us DIYerrs can't match the finish on professionally produced pedals (silkscreening is very expensive and time consuming for one offs or small runs so most of us don't bother). But if you were flexible on graphics it might be an option. We'd need to know more specifics though.

[weefunkateer]

You should have a word with Max at SFX who does custom builds as well as re-housing - he's a good egg and is clear about what's do-able and what isn't when you fire my harebrained your schemes at him: http://sfxsound.com/customshop

[BassThing]

8 hours ago, BigRedX said:

The example in the OP just makes me want to ask "why?"

I was thinking that, maybe he follows the boutique crowd and was embarrassed at liking a Boss pedal?

[ahpook]

7 hours ago, bobbass4k said:

The sticking point will be graphics, most of us DIYerrs can't match the finish on professionally produced pedals (silkscreening is very expensive and time consuming for one offs or small runs so most of us don't bother).

Not all pedal DIYers want to !

Each to their own of course, but I've no problem with the finish on the pedal as long as it works OK, and I quite like pedals that look like they were cooked up in a lab and labelled with a Sharpie !

[Deedee]

On 29/05/2019 at 12:18, AinsleyWalker said:

So I've seen a few really cool pedal rehousing jobs done in the US recently and I was wondering if anyone knows of where to get this kind of thing done in the UK?
Alternatively, is this kinda possible as a home project for a beginner such as myself? Links to parts or kits would be great.

 

Speak to Nick at NGS Custom (search NGScustom on Facebook to see his work). Based in the UK, he'd be able to do anything like this for you and he also makes his own brand of pedals.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

Prototype 3D printed pedal case.

It takes over 13 stone.

[AinsleyWalker]

7 hours ago, BassThing said:

I was thinking that, maybe he follows the boutique crowd and was embarrassed at liking a Boss pedal?

Haha not at all! I just thought this example of the Boss OC2 clone looked cool! 

[kingforaday]

It all depends what you’re trying to do really but for me I had to do it in order to fit something on my board...

 @bobbass4k evidently you have never come across the GK Diesel Dawg!! It’s huge and unnecessarily so... 

I rehoused it, the pic and the board it’s on shows why I did it. The hardest part (other than trying to carve out a square hole for the DC input - bit of a bodge job) was finding smaller housing that could accommodate it. 

[Wilson_51_]

I had looked into rehousing one of my boss pedals quite a while back and it is doable it is justa lot of work for very little gain. when i was looking at rehousing one i found that i would have had to rewire all the pots, jacks and switches, so in the end left it as it was.

[Teebs]

On 31/05/2019 at 17:52, Stub Mandrel said:

Prototype 3D printed pedal case.

It takes over 13 stone.

And looks like it weighs 13 stone!