How to make an onboard Punch Factory?

[Mr M]

Strange question isn't it?
Well I'll be putting together a new bass from parts (with a carvin neck etc.)
As I almost always use my Punch Factory compressor (bad technique, lazy me )
I’m planning to put PF in that bass that I’ll build. Maybe a crazy idea but I thought why not to have a pedal that I always use, built in the bass.
I wrote an email to technical guys of Aphex that returned no answer yet. Here is what I wrote. If anybody can help me with my questions, I'd be grateful.
If it is doable, I'd like to do this, I am aware of its disadvantages so no need to remind it
I am not knowledgeable about electronics, so some questions may sound silly, sorry.

If possible I’d like to take “the PF board” out of the metal enclosure, put it inside the control cavity of the bass, have a mini toggle to switch the PF on/off, with the red LED indicating if it is on or off; to have the sound level LEDs and to have the drive knob to adjust its level:

First of all I’ll use passive pickups and I will power the PF by battery.

1. Instead of 3PDT switch I’d like to use a mini-toggle to switch on and off the on-board PF. Is it doable? What kind of toggle will I need? Any other Resistor/Cap etc. that I should solder at 3PDT switch location?
2. I'd like to to have "only" the drive knob. As I will always leave the volume at maximum (or any other level that you’d suggest). Can I take out the PF volume pot? Any Resistor/Cap etc. that I should solder?
3. If possible I’d like to use the LEDs showing the sound level. Can I desolder it and place to a distant place from the circuit board and connect to the board with wires? If this is not doable, can I cancel its operation? (as I won’t need colorful LEDs inside the control cavity) How?
4. Will I need to ground any part of the pedal board?
5. How can I cut the power off, to prevent fast battery consumption, as the pedal will be connected all the time?
6. I won’t need the input and output jacks of the pedal. How can I connect the wires coming from the bass passive circuit to the board? And how can I connect the board to the jack of the bass?
7. As I will not use an adapter, I’d like to take of the DC power input. Is it doable? How?
8. If I put the “DI out“ next to the jack of the bass, is connecting the “DI out“ with wires to the board, enough? If not, I will just take the “DI out” off the pedal board and I will not be able to use the DI property of PF.

I can at worst use the layout of the pedal knobs and place the board inside the control cavity under the bass body, drill the holes at the obligatory locations, leave all the switches (even the ones that I will not change) on the pedal board at the correct places, and inside the control cavity of the bass connect the wires coming from the pickup to a jack first, than plug a short instrument cable to that jack and to pedal, do the same thing for the output of the pedal as well. This will do the job but if you can help me and the things I’ve asked are doable, I’d like to do it in perfect way.

Thanks

[Downlowd]

I emailed them about where to obtain some parts that broke on mine...never heard back. I was dissapointed in their customer service. I love my PF too.
You have an interesting idea...probably more trouble than its worth. I am interested to see the final result.

Also, I find that if I set my volume more than about 3/4 I overload the input of my amp.

Good luck.

[cheapbasslovin]

From the little electronics work that I have done, this sounds like you are setting yourself up for a NIGHTMARE.

IIRC the parts on a Punch Factory are all board mounted, meaning you would have to de-solder them all from the board in order to do what you are talking about (jacks, switches, leds, all of it). If you're OK with that then the next step is to be willing to destroy your PF. If you don't have much experience soldering, this is a likely possibility. If you have a little experience then this is still a possibility. If you're OK with that, then:

A 3pdt switch is the same if it is a toggle or PB.

I don't recommend not having a volume control on an active device, that just seems to me to be asking for trouble. But if you insist, the measurement of the pot should be marked on the bottom of it. Full volume will likely be a short from the center terminal to the right terminal, and a resistor equal to the pot measurement between the center terminal and the left terminal. If you want to bring the volume down, then any combination of the total pot value across the two terminals will do (example for 100k pot: 80k to the right and 20k left or 50k and 50k, etc.)

You can bring the LED out, but LED's are polarity sensitive so you will need to be careful not to reverse that. You will have to figure out how to mount it without it falling back yourself. And that's a lot of LEDs to mount.

The grounding points on the input/ output jacks will need to be grounded, but that should have been part of your bass design anyway. ::EDIT:: Your jacks should be grounded to the bass sheilding system, that is all the grounding you will need. It is just as if you had plugged it in outside of your bass.

Power is cut off from a pedal using a TRS (tip ring sleeve) jack. The tip has the signal, the ring has the power line that requires grounding (usually negative), and the sleeve is connected to casing of the pedal (ground). The connection to ground is made by having a 1/4" mono jack make the connection between the ring and the sleeve. If you want an additional switch you can break that connection again and run it to a switch in series. ::EDIT::If you decide to just mount the whole thing inside, you can use a TRS plug wired out to a TRS jack and it will work just as the pedal always has.

I can't describe #6 very well, but if you can't figure this part out with some basic research, you need to scrap this project immediately.

You can probably take the DC connector out, but it is likely small enough that it wont matter that much.

Yeah, the DI thing will work. Number 6 is pretty much the same.

All of this stuff I believe to be 100% true. If I got stupid somewhere I fully expect someone to call me on it (bongo, where are you )

Good luck, if you pull it off, I want to see pics.

[Swimming Bird]

Sounds cool, but this is a terrible idea for a first project.

If you're intent on doing this mod yourself, go buy a pedal kit (or two) from BYOC or GGG to cut your teeth. I think it'll help answer a bunch of your questions in the best way possible.

Also, I would be careful about replacing a potentiometer with a short circuit -- the pedals I've modded almost always use all three connections on pots, and it isn't necessarily obvious what a component is doing unless you have read (and can read) the circuit diagram.

If you just remove the housing and replace the switch with no other work... it sounds like it could work if you're careful about making the new cavity and drilling. I would just solder the wires that go to the output jack of the bass to the input wires of the PF. If you try to use a 1/4" here, well, I think that's just asking for trouble.

Good luck.

[cheapbasslovin]

Originally Posted by Swimming Bird

Sounds cool, but this is a terrible idea for a first project.

If you're intent on doing this mod yourself, go buy a pedal kit (or two) from BYOC or GGG to cut your teeth. I think it'll help answer a bunch of your questions in the best way possible.

Also, I would be careful about replacing a potentiometer with a short circuit -- the pedals I've modded almost always use all three connections on pots, and it isn't necessarily obvious what a component is doing unless you have read (and can read) the circuit diagram.

If you just remove the housing and replace the switch with no other work... it sounds like it could work if you're careful about making the new cavity and drilling. I would just solder the wires that go to the output jack of the bass to the input wires of the PF. If you try to use a 1/4" here, well, I think that's just asking for trouble.

Good luck.

Truth be told I think this whole thing is asking for trouble. I agree with Swimming Bird about this being a first project. Go buy a used DOD, Boss or older EHX pedal and hack and whack on that for a while before trying to massage a pedal you use and like into a place it wasn't designed to be. If this is coming off as cranky or condescending then I apologize, but losing a pedal you like would suck.

[cybersnyder]

The Punch Factory eats batteries. I'd keep it on the floor where it belongs.

[keb]

I hate to sound negative, but I have to agree with the others -- too much potential for trouble with this project. I can understand the appeal behind it, but it's just in the way the Punch Factory itself is designed and built (it's not too deconstruction-friendly) that makes this a potential heartbreaker.

The BYOC route mentioned earlier might be a better idea. They have an optical compressor kit: http://www.buildyourownclone.com/opticomp.html

[bongomania]

Yep. On top of all that, I have to say there are many better optical comps than the PF, and I'd be horrified to hear of somebody actually building a custom bass around one. The BYOC route is a much better idea.

I think the reason Aphex didn't respond is not because of poor customer service, but because the idea you described is (a) doomed, and (b) probably against the wishes of their lawyers and managers for any employee to advise a customer how to drastically modify and re-package one of their products.

[Mr M]

Thanks for all replies and thanks for politeness, I was expecting harsh comments about this
Yes this will (or would ) be my first experience on modding a pedal. I am OK at soldering though.
I actually have 2 PF, one bought with that idea in mind, with a non-mint condition case. So if at the end of the day I'll lose it, so be it, no problem. But prior to this I'd like to ask if anybody tried the BYOC opticomp, is it a good compressor? It may be better to go that way as I won't have to de-solder anything.

I can read circuit if I return to my notes and try to remember (I am an engineer, not electrical but I had basic engineering classes) but as I told before I am toooooo lazy to do that that's why I asked (I was never brilliant at electricity subject)

After your comments I see that there is no short way and I have to study all that circuit thing to make something different. But I'd like to hear about BYOC compressor too which may shorten the way.