A question for all pedalbuilders

[WinstonNilesRum]

I want to get into building my own pedals. I'm planning on starting off with some fairly simple clones but eventually I want to be able to do a few mods and even build some from scratch.

I had an idea for a tone control which, if it works would make for an incredibly versatile overdrive/fuzz. Only problem is, I haven't got the slightest idea how to do it or if its even possible! The idea is to have 5 knobs: volume, drive and then three knobs that will control the character of the dirt. First, a contour control: turned fully counter-clockwise would result in a scoop and fully clockwise would result in a hump. Noon will get you a flat response. Second, a frequency control: this would change where in the frequency range the scoop/hump occurs. So, with the contour up and frequency down, you get a bass boost, contour up and frequency up, you'd get a treble boost, contour down and frequency down would get you a bass cut and contour down and frequency up, you'd get a treble cut. Obviously these would be extreme settings, the knobs would be most useful in sculpting the midrange frequencies.

Finally a 'clean' knob would determine what part of the signal is affected. Fully counter-clockwise leaves the bass clean and distorts the higher frequencies, noon affects the whole signal and fully clockwise would leave the high frequencies clean and distort the bass. I'm thinking a bit like the 'cross-over' control on the Fender Sublime but mirrored for the higher frequencies if that makes any sense..

I need to stress that this is all theoretical and I'm certainly not asking anyone to build such a circuit for me. I'm just looking for your professional opinion on whether or not such a thing is possible. If, in your professional opinion, you think I'm on crack, feel free to let me know

 

[father of fires]

I want to get into building my own pedals. I'm planning on starting off with some fairly simple clones but eventually I want to be able to do a few mods and even build some from scratch.

I had an idea for a tone control which, if it works would make for an incredibly versatile overdrive/fuzz. Only problem is, I haven't got the slightest idea how to do it or if its even possible! The idea is to have 5 knobs: volume, drive and then three knobs that will control the character of the dirt. First, a contour control: turned fully counter-clockwise would result in a scoop and fully clockwise would result in a hump. Noon will get you a flat response. Second, a frequency control: this would change where in the frequency range the scoop/hump occurs. So, with the contour up and frequency down, you get a bass boost, contour up and frequency up, you'd get a treble boost, contour down and frequency down would get you a bass cut and contour down and frequency up, you'd get a treble cut. Obviously these would be extreme settings, the knobs would be most useful in sculpting the midrange frequencies.

Finally a 'clean' knob would determine what part of the signal is affected. Fully counter-clockwise leaves the bass clean and distorts the higher frequencies, noon affects the whole signal and fully clockwise would leave the high frequencies clean and distort the bass. I'm thinking a bit like the 'cross-over' control on the Fender Sublime but mirrored for the higher frequencies if that makes any sense..

I need to stress that this is all theoretical and I'm certainly not asking anyone to build such a circuit for me. I'm just looking for your professional opinion on whether or not such a thing is possible. If, in your professional opinion, you think I'm on crack, feel free to let me know

Well start here: diystompboxes.com

Read and ask questions. What you want to do is quite doable but you might find it is unnecessary (through extensive experimentation).

There are no shortcuts. You need to figure out how other people have done something similar and go from there.

 

[erock138]

Personally, I'd get a few builds under my belt before designing my own, even though your idea is very doable, (And may have something similar in the DIY world. Build your own clone is a very good forum as well, and good products. Mammoth electronics also is where I get my supplies from, all around good seller. Geofex is also a great website.


It'd also probably be easier to take an existing pedal, and just mod it to taste. Runoffgroove.com has some excellent designs (for free)

Feel free to PM me, I can help with any questions you have/point you in the direction.

 

[Derek Balonek]

Your idea is doable. I'd suggest learning and working up to it, since it can be a bit complicated. Look up parametric bandpass filters for the mid knob. "Tilting EQ" will get you started on the clean knob, but it will be a bit more complicated since you're routing the frequency band instead of just cutting it. I think it just involves putting what normally would be sent to ground into the clipping stage. Also, you're going to want to make it at least a 4-pole filter to avoid snippets of the wrong band getting through.

 

[BogeyBass]

If, in your professional opinion, you think I'm on crack, feel free to let me know

Your on Crack....

You could do everything you proposed but half of it is not needed.

Take a old rusty crusty Fender Bassman 100.
Recap it, Replace the tubes. Turn it all the way up into a 2x15

that is distortion,
no clean blend no active EQ no contour.....just distortion

otherwise it takes time and reading to design circuits, and a sore neck from being at the bench all day.
If your looking for Active tone control or adjustable filters Peavey already did what you asking for.
Otherwise try building a Vintage Pro Co rat or Marshall Governor.
Learn how to Mod basic filters used in Distortion stages.
Understand basic Single Ended power supplys.
and weed threw all the BS tone magic tricks, diode tricks or any other BS tricks that the net seems to push.

Then when all else fails get a rusty crusty Fender Bassman 100
recap it, retube it... turn it all the way up into a 2x15.

 

[Taylor Livingston]

First, a contour control: turned fully counter-clockwise would result in a scoop and fully clockwise would result in a hump. Noon will get you a flat response. Second, a frequency control: this would change where in the frequency range the scoop/hump occurs. So, with the contour up and frequency down, you get a bass boost, contour up and frequency up, you'd get a treble boost, contour down and frequency down would get you a bass cut and contour down and frequency up, you'd get a treble cut. Obviously these would be extreme settings, the knobs would be most useful in sculpting the midrange frequencies.

This is not only possible, it's pretty much the standard parametric EQ:

Simple, Easy Parametric and Graphic EQ's, Plus Peaks and Notches

Your contour control is normally just called boost/cut.

Finally a 'clean' knob would determine what part of the signal is affected. Fully counter-clockwise leaves the bass clean and distorts the higher frequencies, noon affects the whole signal and fully clockwise would leave the high frequencies clean and distort the bass. I'm thinking a bit like the 'cross-over' control on the Fender Sublime but mirrored for the higher frequencies if that makes any sense..

This is certainly possible but you'd need to define more clearly what you want to happen in the middle of the control. If you only care about the two extremes, a dual-gang pot can control the input gain from two paths, one lowpass filtered and one highpassed. But in the middle you'd just have moderate input gain for both bands. If you want the middle to just distort mids, then you would probably get good results by simply using one of the parametric EQs from above in front of your distortion element, then add in the clean signal.

To actually get 100% of what you want, you'd want to use a dual-gang pot to control another gyrator EQ which is set to cut on your clean signal, but I doubt you'd find this necessary in practice.

There are lots of circuits out there using the concept of pre- and post-distortion EQ, so I would recommend studying all of the distortion schematics you can find to avoid having to re-invent too much. Then you can get straight to tweaking them to your taste. Geofex.com is a great place to start.

 

[WinstonNilesRum]

Thanks everyone! It looks like I have my work cut out for me but that's okay. I'm planning on starting off with a bunch of clones and then some simpler mods and tone circuits before I try something this complex. In the meantime, I'm gonna start reading!

 

[WinstonNilesRum]

This is certainly possible but you'd need to define more clearly what you want to happen in the middle of the control. If you only care about the two extremes, a dual-gang pot can control the input gain from two paths, one lowpass filtered and one highpassed. But in the middle you'd just have moderate input gain for both bands. If you want the middle to just distort mids, then you would probably get good results by simply using one of the parametric EQs from above in front of your distortion element, then add in the clean signal.

To actually get 100% of what you want, you'd want to use a dual-gang pot to control another gyrator EQ which is set to cut on your clean signal, but I doubt you'd find this necessary in practice.

Hmmm, I didn't think about distorting just the mids, what I had in mind was that at noon, the whole signal would be distorted.

 

[Taylor Livingston]

Ok, so then you can do that by splitting the signal, lowpassing one path and highpassing the other path, and controlling either output volume or input gain of each side with half of a dual-gang pot. The two wafers of the pot will be wired opposite of each other. I believe you can find pots that have a "blend" taper, which means that each side maxes out in the center of its throw.

The choice of whether to control input gain or output distortion volume will be one you'd probably have to hear first to decide.

I definitely concur with your idea to start out with some clones and do all kinds of mods. I don't necessarily agree with everything BogeyBass says above, but one thing on which we definitely agree is that you should always use your own ears to decide what's good. Not every mod concept is BS, but not everything you read is legit either. Don't take anyone's "authority" on what you should be hearing.... except mine of course!