I kept myself in 9 volt batteries back in the '70s with the Radio Shack Free Battery of the Month Club card. I had about ..a quarter mile of that four conductor phone wire. I am totally musically impaired, so it always sort of amazed me to see someone get music out of an instrument...
R.I.P Radio Shack. I miss the walls of components and connectors. I thought I had bought every possible audio cable they had in stock. I was wrong. It was so easy to go to the mall and get whatever I needed within an hour back then. Now it's at least a day away - at best. Great series Looking forward to more! :D
Yes, I frequently got stuff from Radio Shack for electronics projects in the 1980s. Used many of those blue plastic boxes. Being in the Silicon Valley, there were also numerous surplus electronics parts stores with an incredible array of neat stuff. Those were good times for tinkerers! I still use a Fluke 77 multimeter that was awarded by my employer in appreciation for a very difficult custom electronics test instrument project. Have only changed the 9V battery once since new in 1987!
Schematic? Walk-through? O'scope trace? What *is* fuzz? What other pedal or distortion options are out there? I really need this to be a long series... Thanks!
@BobC Totally agree. Going down memory lane with Radio Shack is fine (my first stuff started there too), but I'd really like to learn *about* pedals. There is much to be said about the circuits behind (inside) a pedal, and the how & why it works the way it does. Please, Fran!
Most all RadioShack stores in the USA are closed. It’s a shame. I get it that they had to compete with the online market which is hard to do considering the competition has almost no overhead. The thing I liked about having three of them in our area wasn’t the price. I enjoyed the convenience. If I was missing a part with a project, RS was just a few miles away. Bought many PCBs, Project boxes, LEDs, OPAMPs, capacitor/resistors/pots/buttons it’s not even funny.
There is still one in Tehachapi, Ca and to my surprise, this week (it's Sep 21, 2020), I found another in Cedar city Ut. I think we need to start a radio shack sighting blog just like bigfoot LOL! 😂
Back in the 80s when I got into electronics we had Tandy which was what RadioShack was called here. So I recognise almost all the bits in your pedal. It was a great time with so many projects to build from magazines. Sadly those days are gone, Tandy went belly up and more recently Maplin too. Shopping online while cheaper just doesn’t have the same feel as browsing the shelves in the local electronics shop. I’m some shops, like the original watford electronics, you could go in and chat about the products, and learn from people who had been enjoying electronics in years. Thankfully we still have channels like yours, big clive’s and Dave EEVblog to ge our fix. Keep up the good work Fran, I look forward to seeing more of your pedal designs stripped down. Not because I play guitar, I am quite terrible at that, but because I enjoy seeing how these things work.
I build my first pedal in the same housing. There wasn't much choice other than Radio Shack for parts back in 1989. The alternative was scouring a Goodwill or garage sales for a suitable housing
Oh yea! This brought back so much nostalgia for me. I used to walk into RadioShack. No idea what part numbers or catalog numbers. It was more of if they had it in stock that day, and it looked like something I could use, I would get it. And then spend a lot of time having fun building things with it. Often I would take things I already built apart to borrow parts as needed. I never really got anything built, but had so much enjoyment. Ah. and that "RadioShack smell"!.
I’ve built many things with those parts! Made a headphone amp for guitar in that very same case. Still have those knobs too. Their catalog number 276 was my street address in the house where I grew up. 😁
Super cool! Those parts sure bring back memories. I never made a pedal, but I made a guitar practice amp using a Radio Shack-sourced LM386 and pretty sure some of that perfboard and other parts! Funny - it made EXACTLY that same buzz, but at the time I didn't realize why. :D Hoping for more of these, definitely!
I"m glad to hear I'm not the only person using telephone cable for my projects. I got a 500ft roll of it for $8 at a discount store a few years ago and it changed my life using new wire instead of just wire salvaged from devices.
Brings back fond memories of the local RadioShack. I spent so much time hunting for stuff in their messed up parts drawers that one day I just reorganized them all and put all the parts in the right bins. Made finding stuff in the future so much easier. RadioShack.com still sells toggle switches with the classic red and black ON/OFF plates and what looks like identical knobs with blue inserts, but they no longer have coordinating blue plastic boxes. Sigh. Makes me wanna cry.
I like your Strat... watching anyone sitting around noodling and strumming just for fun...one of life's pleasures :-). New here so I hope to track down more of you playing around.
I miss radio shack, you still love going there, I used to repair old electronics, there's a couple of magneto timers for a friend of mine who was a airplane mechanic
I‘m really excited for this new series! I built a tube overdrive after a tutorial online and always thought of building an original pedal at some point. I would love to see more of your work and hope to learn a lot from you. Greetings from Germany!
Good old RadioShack. Even if the parts were crazy over-priced, it was nice to head down there on a Sunday morning and buy that packet of transistors to get that project going...
There used to be a Radio Shack store here in Darwin NT Australia, but it got bought-out by the same company that bought out Dick Smith Electronics, and sadly, those stores are no longer around, I used to be able to buy lots of cool little bits and pieces of electronic parts, as well as some very handy books by Forest Mims III, I miss those days.
There was a little business pc shop in the late 80's in cardiff. They sold c64 games (one small rack but always the latest) so i used to frequent it. I dont know what the smell was..plastic tile carpet/glue. Cardboard boxes full of 286 pc's and cling wrapped floppy disks.. maybe all those joysticks with the grease. but it had such a specific weird smell i just loved. ..it meant games..it was part of the commodore memory. Part of the birth of pc's. Can still smell it almost 😅 weird lil store.
Fran this video was freaking awesome! I've only recently come across your channel within the past few months and I just wanted to say as someone who not only studying to be an Electrical Engineering major at Temple University because of my love for pedals, but is also someone who has been questioning their gender, heavily considering transitioning, thankyou for being you and making content like this, you're honestly such an inspiration to me and probably a lot of other people out there. I'd love to see more videos like this and maybe hear more about some of the theory you use/your thought process about how you come up with these things as well!
hey i just wanted to pop in and say that you should do everything you can to live comfortably in your body! i know i’m just some rando on the internet but you’ve got my support :) i’m sending you big love
When I had my 3 paper routes I'd always go the strip mall and put my money in TCF and Radio Shack, eventually even buying my first TRS-80 there. BTW the perfect switch for the foot pedal was available at the time as a vacuum cleaner pedal for Kenmore canister vacs. I think it'd fit in that same sized hole, too.
Thank you, Pedal Mom. Radio Shack items were sold thru Tandy Electronics here in Australia. I recall the TRS-80 computers they sold. Great video, Fran. Love your work.
Nice video. Yeah I do miss Radio Shack. You needed any electronic gismos or parts and they most likely had it. I bought my Minimus 11's back in 1982. I still have them.
I found a big roll of telephone hookup cable in a derelict house so I was using it for everything for years including a headphone extension cable I still use. That soldering looks like mine.
Very cool! I built a lot of little things back in the day with Radio Shack parts! ;-) With some of my most early creations I didn't have a drill or bits so to make holes in the plastic boxes for controls I just used the soldering iron to melt holes! 😂☺
this is the first video of yours I have watched and you are really a trip!! I'm going to have fun catching up on all your videos Fran! btw I am also a guitar player .
Cool vid thanks for sharing Fran. I built something similar in the 80s with all RS parts. I had the similar RS black plastic case with the metal cover. I used the Craig Anderton circuit from Electronic Projects for Musicians which used a dual op amp to create the fuzz effect. I also used to leave the batteries in it too long just like you.
That moment when you realize that fran's 26 year old Radioshack parts prototype looks better than our current prototypes/projects made of ebay/aliexpress parts. Great relic!
Love the shirt, the soldering iron-engraved lettering, and of course the great sound. Naturally, even Fran's prototypes are works of art (on the outside at least). Cool.
Cool ! I used to make my own MXR distortion + copies/variations .... They were always my fav.... The hardest part to find was the DPDT push button sw., which I often just stole out of other effects units. Radio Shack had the perfect size metal project box too. Ahh the good old days. 😆
We'd tell customers buying phone cable for telephone work, "Remember, Line 1 is Christmas and Line 2 is Halloween," to help them remember colors for the inner and outer pair.
I kept thinking "is she going to play?" for us and Pedal Mom did not disappoint.
Definitely did not disappoint!
I thaught I was going to hear bull in the heather sonic youth
I kept myself in 9 volt batteries back in the '70s with the Radio Shack Free Battery of the Month Club card.
I had about ..a quarter mile of that four conductor phone wire.
I am totally musically impaired, so it always sort of amazed me to see someone get music out of an instrument...
YES I AM PUMPED FOR THIS SERIES!!!
R.I.P Radio Shack. I miss the walls of components and connectors. I thought I had bought every possible audio cable they had in stock. I was wrong. It was so easy to go to the mall and get whatever I needed within an hour back then. Now it's at least a day away - at best. Great series Looking forward to more! :D
It's a real treat to see the original! TY very much Fran!
Yes, I frequently got stuff from Radio Shack for electronics projects in the 1980s. Used many of those blue plastic boxes. Being in the Silicon Valley, there were also numerous surplus electronics parts stores with an incredible array of neat stuff. Those were good times for tinkerers! I still use a Fluke 77 multimeter that was awarded by my employer in appreciation for a very difficult custom electronics test instrument project. Have only changed the 9V battery once since new in 1987!
rock on pedal mom!!!
Schematic? Walk-through? O'scope trace? What *is* fuzz? What other pedal or distortion options are out there?
I really need this to be a long series... Thanks!
@BobC Totally agree. Going down memory lane with Radio Shack is fine (my first stuff started there too), but I'd really like to learn *about* pedals. There is much to be said about the circuits behind (inside) a pedal, and the how & why it works the way it does. Please, Fran!
What is fuzz? Baby don't hurt me. Don't hurt me no more.
That little 15 inch speaker sounds HUGE! Amazing tone. ✊🏽😌
I miss the shack I went to Costa Rica in March and to my surprise they have radio shacks up and running brought me back
Most all RadioShack stores in the USA are closed. It’s a shame.
I get it that they had to compete with the online market which is hard to do considering the competition has almost no overhead.
The thing I liked about having three of them in our area wasn’t the price. I enjoyed the convenience. If I was missing a part with a project, RS was just a few miles away. Bought many PCBs, Project boxes, LEDs, OPAMPs, capacitor/resistors/pots/buttons it’s not even funny.
There is still one in Tehachapi, Ca and to my surprise, this week (it's Sep 21, 2020), I found another in Cedar city Ut. I think we need to start a radio shack sighting blog just like bigfoot LOL! 😂
@@K3vinK Same!
There are still a few franchised Radio Shack stores still in business around the US! My new go to place for DIY electronics is Micro Center!
Back in the 80s when I got into electronics we had Tandy which was what RadioShack was called here. So I recognise almost all the bits in your pedal. It was a great time with so many projects to build from magazines. Sadly those days are gone, Tandy went belly up and more recently Maplin too. Shopping online while cheaper just doesn’t have the same feel as browsing the shelves in the local electronics shop. I’m some shops, like the original watford electronics, you could go in and chat about the products, and learn from people who had been enjoying electronics in years. Thankfully we still have channels like yours, big clive’s and Dave EEVblog to ge our fix. Keep up the good work Fran, I look forward to seeing more of your pedal designs stripped down. Not because I play guitar, I am quite terrible at that, but because I enjoy seeing how these things work.
I build my first pedal in the same housing. There wasn't much choice other than Radio Shack for parts back in 1989. The alternative was scouring a Goodwill or garage sales for a suitable housing
Oh yea! This brought back so much nostalgia for me. I used to walk into RadioShack. No idea what part numbers or catalog numbers. It was more of if they had it in stock that day, and it looked like something I could use, I would get it. And then spend a lot of time having fun building things with it. Often I would take things I already built apart to borrow parts as needed. I never really got anything built, but had so much enjoyment. Ah. and that "RadioShack smell"!.
Fantastic.... Just love the guitar face Fran.... Classic.....
I now just found out she plays guitar also. Brilliant.
Hi Frannie, Bought my daughter a Frantone way back when...she is big into guitar...LOVE GOOD Guitar. particularly Bluegrass...
Thanks for showing that 1996 Frantone.
I’ve built many things with those parts! Made a headphone amp for guitar in that very same case. Still have those knobs too. Their catalog number 276 was my street address in the house where I grew up. 😁
lovely to see you smiling again
Wow, I didn't realize Fran rocked so much!
Super cool! Those parts sure bring back memories. I never made a pedal, but I made a guitar practice amp using a Radio Shack-sourced LM386 and pretty sure some of that perfboard and other parts! Funny - it made EXACTLY that same buzz, but at the time I didn't realize why. :D Hoping for more of these, definitely!
I"m glad to hear I'm not the only person using telephone cable for my projects. I got a 500ft roll of it for $8 at a discount store a few years ago and it changed my life using new wire instead of just wire salvaged from devices.
Holy moley it still works! Not only that but it sounds great!!
Excellent debut of the Pedal Mom series! I remember picking up everything for my projects from Radio Shack back in the late '70s and early '80s...
Brings back fond memories of the local RadioShack. I spent so much time hunting for stuff in their messed up parts drawers that one day I just reorganized them all and put all the parts in the right bins. Made finding stuff in the future so much easier. RadioShack.com still sells toggle switches with the classic red and black ON/OFF plates and what looks like identical knobs with blue inserts, but they no longer have coordinating blue plastic boxes. Sigh. Makes me wanna cry.
Was hoping she would play it for us!
Working at RadioShack in the late 90's early 2000's and being a DIYer that box was a trip down memory lane👍👍👍
GREAT !!! loved it Fran, keep up the wonderful videos...
gibson thunderbird playing through a frantone fuzzbox and hiwatt headamp...sweeeet!
We love your new series :) and agree with others about wanting to know more about what makes pedals go :b
If it wasn't for your pedal designs I'd have zero idea who you are. Keep being Fran.
Sound is beautiful.
I like your new starting theme "Frantone Eletronics" at the beginning and it sounds funny like it was out of some comedy.
Seeing part one of this series makes me really happy.
:)))))))))))))
I like your Strat... watching anyone sitting around noodling and strumming just for fun...one of life's pleasures :-). New here so I hope to track down more of you playing around.
Sounds great! Can't wait to hear more from PedalMom!
I miss radio shack, you still love going there, I used to repair old electronics, there's a couple of magneto timers for a friend of mine who was a airplane mechanic
Here from the UAP (UFO) video, and, dang.. fran... You'r a rad ladie! The world needs more folks like you!
I miss Radio Shack. When I was a kid, I made an entire recording studio out of "Realistic" and "Tandy" stuff.
Fran, THANK YOU for playing some music!! I enjoyed that!
OMG, Fran is a pedal pusher! She's the Pusher woman! I'm Glad I like to hear & watch her play!
so so happy this channel exists :')
those were the days that I loved RadioShack I still have a lot of those Poly capacitors
"Radio Shack." I seem to remember that electronics/parts store along with Blockbuster Video, Borders Books amd Computer City. Those were the days.
I‘m really excited for this new series! I built a tube overdrive after a tutorial online and always thought of building an original pedal at some point. I would love to see more of your work and hope to learn a lot from you. Greetings from Germany!
Good old RadioShack. Even if the parts were crazy over-priced, it was nice to head down there on a Sunday morning and buy that packet of transistors to get that project going...
Love the song at the end.
There used to be a Radio Shack store here in Darwin NT Australia, but it got bought-out by the same company that bought out Dick Smith Electronics, and sadly, those stores are no longer around, I used to be able to buy lots of cool little bits and pieces of electronic parts, as well as some very handy books by Forest Mims III, I miss those days.
Oh Remember Radio Shack with the monthly Free Battery....Now little Jam song on the End, Now it going to be stuck in my head all day...
Yes to Radio Shack smell. I also miss my TRS-80 Model III.
Wow! I miss Radio Snack. I worked there for a few years while going to college.
Looks like a Fender Mustang. 67 or 68. Love it.
There was a little business pc shop in the late 80's in cardiff. They sold c64 games (one small rack but always the latest) so i used to frequent it. I dont know what the smell was..plastic tile carpet/glue. Cardboard boxes full of 286 pc's and cling wrapped floppy disks.. maybe all those joysticks with the grease. but it had such a specific weird smell i just loved.
..it meant games..it was part of the commodore memory. Part of the birth of pc's. Can still smell it almost 😅 weird lil store.
Fran Blanche Shoegaze Queen!
Keep up the great work Fran! Cool 😎 fuzz
So satisfying to see and hear you play!
Fran this video was freaking awesome! I've only recently come across your channel within the past few months and I just wanted to say as someone who not only studying to be an Electrical Engineering major at Temple University because of my love for pedals, but is also someone who has been questioning their gender, heavily considering transitioning, thankyou for being you and making content like this, you're honestly such an inspiration to me and probably a lot of other people out there. I'd love to see more videos like this and maybe hear more about some of the theory you use/your thought process about how you come up with these things as well!
Have you seen Polk Salad Annie?
ruclips.net/video/s6sh_FPUicA/видео.html
hey i just wanted to pop in and say that you should do everything you can to live comfortably in your body! i know i’m just some rando on the internet but you’ve got my support :) i’m sending you big love
When I had my 3 paper routes I'd always go the strip mall and put my money in TCF and Radio Shack, eventually even buying my first TRS-80 there. BTW the perfect switch for the foot pedal was available at the time as a vacuum cleaner pedal for Kenmore canister vacs. I think it'd fit in that same sized hole, too.
Buzzin to see you're doing videos on the pedals now too:)
Thank you, Pedal Mom. Radio Shack items were sold thru Tandy Electronics here in Australia. I recall the TRS-80 computers they sold. Great video, Fran. Love your work.
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a Bear!
I love good fuzz pedals.
Congratulations 👍
Nice video. Yeah I do miss Radio Shack. You needed any electronic gismos or parts and they most likely had it. I bought my Minimus 11's back in 1982. I still have them.
Sounds great Fran! I’m looking forward to more pedal videos.
Hey. Just wanted to let you know. You’re awesome. Just mind-blowingly awesome.
Fran rocks! Always entertaining and informative
Impressive prototype, and patience gone into the engraving Fran.
Wow...all the memories this video has brought back!
The Shack and I were lovers for a very long time...the longest relationship I've ever had :)
I found a big roll of telephone hookup cable in a derelict house so I was using it for everything for years including a headphone extension cable I still use.
That soldering looks like mine.
This lady rocks! Ride on Fran ;-)
Wow, I remember all those parts. Did so many things with those blue cases. A few of them even worked. :D
Hard Rock on the bench with Fran ...
FuzzyWuzzy was a bear, FuzzyWuzzy had no hair, FuzzyWuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he!?!!
What would have been cool, would have been fur all around. Kinda like the Kustom amps out of the seventies.
I have a couple of those blue boxes and now I remember where I got them.
Haha love the guitar face Fran and the pedal👍
Very cool! I built a lot of little things back in the day with Radio Shack parts! ;-) With some of my most early creations I didn't have a drill or bits so to make holes in the plastic boxes for controls I just used the soldering iron to melt holes! 😂☺
Like the video, loved it. Was waiting for the lab lights to dim or strobe when you began to play.
Radio Shack is online now, but it isn't like it used to be when you walk into the store. I miss going there.
Very Good Fran!
Still sounds REALLY good.
Guitar Face: 9:03 - 9:09 Rock On Fran !!!
this is the first video of yours I have watched and you are really a trip!! I'm going to have fun catching up on all your videos Fran! btw I am also a guitar player .
love the video fran!!
I just saw you Fran on The Pedal Movie. :-)
That was great, thanks.
Fascinating!!!! Newb to the channel. So much knowledge and skill. Subscribed!
Cool vid thanks for sharing Fran. I built something similar in the 80s with all RS parts. I had the similar RS black plastic case with the metal cover. I used the Craig Anderton circuit from Electronic Projects for Musicians which used a dual op amp to create the fuzz effect. I also used to leave the batteries in it too long just like you.
I still say you need to develop FranTone DIY pedal kits I know I would by them!
That moment when you realize that fran's 26 year old Radioshack parts prototype looks better than our current prototypes/projects made of ebay/aliexpress parts. Great relic!
Love the shirt, the soldering iron-engraved lettering, and of course the great sound. Naturally, even Fran's prototypes are works of art (on the outside at least). Cool.
Fun video! Recently discovered your channel, love it!
That collared shirt is way too formal for Yotube!
That's what makes it punk ma dood. I dig it lol
This is awesome!
That's really awesome to see! :D
Love the pickguard!
That was awesome!!! Great tone!!
Yeah! Finaly!
Great video, Fran!! Are you going to build more FRANTONE pedals in the future?
Cool ! I used to make my own MXR distortion + copies/variations .... They were always my fav.... The hardest part to find was the DPDT push button sw., which I often just stole out of other effects units. Radio Shack had the perfect size metal project box too. Ahh the good old days. 😆
The DPDT push buttons are way easier to find online than back in the early 1990's
@@timmooney7528 Yup .... Late 80's even .... No interwebs 😆 as we now know it.
We'd tell customers buying phone cable for telephone work, "Remember, Line 1 is Christmas and Line 2 is Halloween," to help them remember colors for the inner and outer pair.
Sounds legit 👏👏👏 I still want one.
Brian May-esque riffs there, fantastic stuff Fran! I'm gonna have to dig out my bass now and jam along with you.
8o)