BYO Blueberry

megadan · #1 03-04-2009, 02:33 PM

I love this pedal in theory, but it is $$$$....

has any one had any success in cloning one, or a similar circuit?

Koeda · #2 03-04-2009, 02:40 PM

Happy with a modded Boss BD-2 using the clips of that as an inspiration.... Like it slightly better than the 'Badder Monkey'. Been meaning to post some clips for comparison to the BB, somewhere on the list to do that....
David

Final recipe is here:
pedal mods

katri · #3 03-04-2009, 03:09 PM

To my knowledge nobody has cloned the BB due to the fact that the circuit is covered in a mass of epoxy which makes seeing the circuit impossible.

rcubed · #4 03-04-2009, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katri

To my knowledge nobody has cloned the BB due to the fact that the circuit is covered in a mass of epoxy which makes seeing the circuit impossible.

I heard about this. Is only the top covered? If not, then it could be possible to figure it out the schematic. But if you got a few of them together I bet you could figure out the component values/type of component used.

katri · #5 03-04-2009, 04:55 PM

From the pics I've seen the whole inside of the pedal, apart from a bit for the battery, is filled with black epoxy stuff.

Swift713 · #6 03-04-2009, 05:00 PM

Yes, it is. And who would butcher their $300 holy grail of overdrive in order to rip off the design from the genius who made it? If he wanted us to clone it he would't have put the goo on it.

whoatherechunk · #7 03-04-2009, 05:06 PM

yea but i bet if someone butchers that pedal and clones it.....they can make bank.

Toasted · #8 03-04-2009, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoatherechunk

yea but i bet if someone butchers that pedal and clones it.....they can make bank.

They can also send their eternal soul to hell too!

Swift713 · #9 03-04-2009, 05:18 PM

I actually think Bongo was looking into this for some reason, tsk tsk.

whoatherechunk · #10 03-04-2009, 05:32 PM

not tsk tsk....more like hooray hooray.

megadan · #11 03-04-2009, 06:05 PM

Hmm, I've heard of people doing that before. I guess it kinda make sense but it's not very open source...
if it wasn't gooped and people saw it and realized it was basically a tube screamer clone (or whatever) with a few mods, it might not be worth as much anymore.

I was considering this pedal before, despite the cost, but that's just not an attitude I share, so I guess I'll look for something else.

If I had $300 to spare I might think about getting and taking it apart.

bongomania · #12 03-04-2009, 06:53 PM

My Blueberry developed some functional problems so I decided to see if I could fix it, as I'm handy that way. The entire interior is a solid cubic mass of black rubber goo. It has taken hours of careful excavation to get close to making the components and circuit visible in any useful way.

I do need to figure it all out in order to make the needed repairs. And as a circuit-y guy I want to know how it works, and I can't help but think about copying it.

I'm aware of the "burning in hell" aspect of making that info available to the public.

My current inclination is to work on it until I can not only repair it, but actually develop my own variation on it, which would ideally have enough changes to be legitimate for publication or marketing. But I'm under such a load of schoolwork that odds of me getting to that point anytime soon are very slim.

Just so it's clear to the casual "why not copy" crowd, not only is the circuitboard completely encased in a tough block of difficult-to-remove adhesive material, but Bjorn also sanded the markings off of most of the components that had markings, and he's made it known that the circuit contains dummy segments and "Easter eggs" specifically intended to mislead potential copiers and make it clear to him (upon seeing the product) who may have directly copied his circuit.

Koeda · #13 03-04-2009, 07:24 PM

Pic of the goo can be seen here:
BJFE Blue Berry v. Fulltone Bass-Drive MOSFET v. H.B.E. Hematoma
David

excane · #14 03-04-2009, 07:27 PM

That is solid goop in nad's photos? That looks more like foam padding.

yeoldefortran · #15 03-04-2009, 07:41 PM

I have to admit, even though I understand why he did this (to stop evil-doers like myself and others in this thread), this turned me off about this pedal when I found out. Investing $300-$400 in a pedal is difficult, but investing that much in a pedal that I have next to no hope of fixing if it breaks... Not interested.

Well. Less interested...

whoatherechunk · #16 03-04-2009, 07:45 PM

yea! that's what i thought too!

Quote:

Originally Posted by excane

That is solid goop in nad's photos? That looks more like foam padding.

rcubed · #17 03-04-2009, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

Just so it's clear to the casual "why not copy" crowd, not only is the circuitboard completely encased in a tough block of difficult-to-remove adhesive material, but Bjorn also sanded the markings off of most of the components that had markings, and he's made it known that the circuit contains dummy segments and "Easter eggs" specifically intended to mislead potential copiers and make it clear to him (upon seeing the product) who may have directly copied his circuit.

He's smarter than I thought then. I'd do the same. But when you have an engineering degree, that's not a problem.

Sanding off of component numbers is common practice. We do that at work. If you can figure out what the IC does or measure the component values, then you can get close. I wish I had a space $300 or I would take one for the team.

whoatherechunk · #18 03-04-2009, 07:49 PM

hell......i say 30 tb members jsut donate 10 bucks each and give it to you. hahahah

rcubed · #19 03-04-2009, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by excane

That is solid goop in nad's photos? That looks more like foam padding.

+1.

But if it is goo, some MEK should be able to take care of it.

bongomania · #20 03-04-2009, 07:56 PM

There's a thin foam pad on top of the goo to give it a flat shape. Peel off that thin foam pad (not actually easy at all) and what's underneath is a block of foam rubber adhesive that completely seals around every surface of (including underneath) every component.

I thought about using a powerful solvent, but then I figured the solvent would eliminate any resistor stripes or other markings that might not already have been removed.