diy pedal mod - hlep needed!

NateS · #1 07-02-2010, 11:06 PM

so, i bought a crazy stand-alone synth oscillator / effect pedal off of craigslist. I know that it's made by Bent-It, but it's bought second hand so i figured i wouldn't bother him.

it's an analog synth oscillator, he calls them opto-theremins...i dunno if that's his name for them or if its something else (i know what a theremin is).

however, it doesn't bypass, at all. If it isn't on, it doesn't transmit any sound. I know how i can use it as is, but it would be wonderful to wire in a bypass. I think i know how to do it, but would just need some clarification...i'll type out my thought process and tell me if i'm right or wrong?

it's all wired between the different plugs, no circuit board at all - i don't understand how it makes noise, but i've spent about 4 hours the last 2 days working it to make crazy noise. I finally cracked it open tonight to look at it, and i think i know what to do.

If i run a wire, not unlike the ones alreadt connecting all the pots and such inside, from the in 1/4" mono jack to the out 1/4" mono jack, would signal always pass through? thus acting as not only a true bypass, but also a 50/50 blend of unaffected tone and the synth's own crunchy munchy fuzzy goodness?

I'm all ready to go to radioshack and buy some wire and go for it, but i need to ask 1 question: which lug would i run this wire from on the mono jacket?

the jack for the input side is a mono with normally closed switch, and the output side is a mono switch (titles from this article, i dunno if it's a standard title or not)

this pedal normally generates sounds whether a pedal is plugged in or not, it only turns on when a power supply is plugged in, but i would imagine a wire ran this way wouldn't need a power, would it? either way, if this would work i would have it permanently on my pedal board so it'll always have power.

sorry for the long post, i hope someone here could help

Deepak · #2 07-02-2010, 11:37 PM

You'd need to wire in a switch to be able to bypass.

Another option is to use a bypass box and put the pedal into its chain. It would be a nice simple starting project if you've ever been interested in the electronics, and you wouldn't have to modify the opto-theremin.

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazin...ss_Lesson.aspx

NateS · #3 07-02-2010, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deepak

You'd need to wire in a switch to be able to bypass.

Another option is to use a bypass box and put the pedal into its chain. It would be a nice simple starting project if you've ever been interested in the electronics, and you wouldn't have to modify the opto-theremin.

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazin...ss_Lesson.aspx

oh, i guess i didn't mention it ( i didn't figure it'd be necessary) it does have an on / off switch. but, if the signal is always passing through tip-to-tip of the pedal, wouldn't it not matter if it's plugged in? It would, literally, be 1 long wire...

Deepak · #4 07-03-2010, 08:06 AM

When the pedal is off, yeah that would work, but when it is on you're going to have crappy tone. The electrons in your signal path want to take the path of least resistance, so they're mostly going to flow from the input to the output without going through the pedal. You wouldn't be able to hear much wet even when it is on. What signal does pass (if any!) will be further thinned out because of phase cancellation.

Believe me, you want a switched bypass. Or a blend pot. Or heck a bypass box with a blend pot that you can use with any pedal that doesn't have a well behaved bypass.