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Any DIY pedal builders on TB? Strut your stuff!

#621
Yay, back up and running. Built these during the server fire. The Pixel is awesome, sputtery , gated 8. Bit fuzz. Love it. The other is an Arduino project that drove me insane. I’m not good at coding and this code had a couple errors in it . After a couple months of research I got it going. It is a midi aux switch box that works in conjunction with my Morningstar MC 6. The Morningstar has 12 buttons per bank. A thru F are accessible on the fly . You need to assign one of those buttons or have an AUX switch to set up a page button to access G thru L. I didn’t really need it as I have a 3 button aux switch to do my Page and Bank UP / Down but it was a fun project and I can make use of it.
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#622
TB servers and my soldering iron tip became toasted on the same weekend. I struggled to complete a small mod project of adding diode clipping options to an EHX Hot Wax. Drilled a 2-pole 4-position rotary switch into the unused area of the enclosure. Now I need to add barefoot buttons to work the footswitches.
I was surprised to find the largest electrolytic cap had popped it's top. The capacitor's entire casing lifted off of it's base. This pedal is only one year old and has only been used with a standard EHX power supply. Swapped out the 220uF cap while performing the mod. It was a nightmare trying to desolder with a dying tip.

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#624
Also finished my desktop Engineer's Thumb compressor build... filing out for the female XLR was a real pita and to make it worse I got it on the wrong side but it's staying there :) Just need a couple of caps to block phantom power on the output XLR and it's done. Already been used for recording and having i/o on the top surface is very useful.
 
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#626
I put in another order at Tayda (mostly for enclosures), and my first order at LovemySwitches. The Tayda will probably take forever to arrive, so I'll have plenty of time to get these boards populated and tested.

Anyone who has built a PedalPCB Delegate compressor, how did you orient the LED and LDR?
 
#629
AudioTaper said:
I wish they had laid it out better. I was browsing online and found this
View attachment 4229021

It looks like most factory pedals use an all-in-one part. That would have been a lot easier....
Click to expand...

I've used VTL5C3 optocouplers in a few builds but I tend to go with what's spec'ed... with a white LED I don't think I'll worry about taping it up but I have done with some of the Lovetone clones I've built.
 
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#632
ficelles said:
This one (Lovetone Doppelganger clone) specs the LEDs face on to the LDRs, thinking of doing the same in my Delegate build now...
Click to expand...
I was thinking the same. I'll probably trim the plastic lens down so it fits in the footprint on the board. I've sanded them down before, it's fine as long as you dont damage the metal parts and bond wire. I'll post a pic when I get it done.
 
#633
AudioTaper said:
I was thinking the same. I'll probably trim the plastic lens down so it fits in the footprint on the board. I've sanded them down before, it's fine as long as you dont damage the metal parts and bond wire. I'll post a pic when I get it done.
Click to expand...

I was thinking maybe I'd leave the LED as is it but bend the LDR over on longer pins so it's facing downwards... I got a pack of 10 so I can try a few options.
 
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#634
For DIY vactrols, I've got a variety of small caps such as bicycle tube caps (same Schraeder valve-cap as on cars).
Two caps, drill or melt two pin holes in each for the legs of the LDR/LED, insert the LED and LDR each into a cap, then glue the caps together and
with a bit of opaque black rubbery goo around the lead holes, no light gets in or out.
BAM! Instant DIY-Vactrol.




For the Cowgirl build, since I didn't have the correct LDRs to begin with, I didn't "vactrolise" the build. Instead, I used a big fat square red LED, painted the sides with nail polish and I felt-markered the cathode/anode orientation on top of that so I can try out different colours for the LED (socketed and the LDRs are socketed too for further experimentation).

cowgirl0-jpeg.jpg



I've been collecting Vactrols for a while now, for those builds where DIY-vactrols won't suffice.
 
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#635
Pixel is a cool sounding gated fuzz. Low parts count makes it a good stripboard candidate. Added to my ever growing DIY to-do list.

I've also wanted to build a optical compressor or envelope filter, but haven't found any VTL5C3's in stock or learned how to roll my own.
 
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#639
Kastle Bass Driver DI v.3.1
Clone of one of my favorite pedals in a vertical side-jack layout. XLR jack was a tricky fit. Sawed the corners off of the mounting plate and filed to shape.
I couldn't find any information about Kastle. Google search takes me to unrelated Bastl Kastle synths, where there are many tempting DIY projects if I ever go down the rabbit hole of modular synthesizers.

Sounds like a BDDI, painted to look like a VT

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#640
derlewine said:
I just completed a build on a fuzz pedal (the rock bottom) for a friend and shipped it off last night. It came out great!
View attachment 4229941 View attachment 4229942

The pedal itself sounded so good and kept so much bottom end that I’m making another for myself and I’m quite excited with how the case is turning out:
View attachment 4229944 View attachment 4229945 View attachment 4229946 View attachment 4229947 View attachment 4229948
Click to expand...
Cool paint!
Do you have any gut shots to share?
 
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