• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

DIY Effect Makers (club?)

#41
so i found out that my second attempted build was soldered well enough to work! The IC chip was bad, go figure...at least, that's my best guess. i ran a jumper from the in to the out pad on the IC's socket, and signal is passed through, so i take that to mean the IC is messed up somehow. I'll find out tomorrow with a trip to the shack for another.

how delicate are ICs, anyway? I don't think i did anything harsh to it...
 
#43
bassk81976 said:
so i found out that my second attempted build was soldered well enough to work! The IC chip was bad, go figure...at least, that's my best guess. i ran a jumper from the in to the out pad on the IC's socket, and signal is passed through, so i take that to mean the IC is messed up somehow. I'll find out tomorrow with a trip to the shack for another.

how delicate are ICs, anyway? I don't think i did anything harsh to it...
Click to expand...

Sockets are always a good idea with ICs... or an ESD safe soldering iron.

You have to make sure your soldering iron is hot enough that you can make those joints in just a few seconds.
 
#46
Great to see some DIY-lovin' around here :)!

I would also recommend using sockets but reading about the static electricity when using them, I'd better start being a little more careful with future builds. So far, I haven't encountered any trouble though.

I only recently came across the whole DIY scene but I'm afraid it is quite addicting :). So far I have built:
- Wooly Mammoth
- Mad Prof. Sweet Honey Overdrive (great on bass by the way!)
- Loop Switcher
- Power Supply

Plus, the ever-expanding GAS-list:
- Maestro Phaser
- Demeter Trembulator or Brownface Vibrato
- Mad Prof. Snow White Auto Wah
- Another fuzz

Oh dear, this is getting out of hand ;).
 
#47
DerHoggz said:
ICs can be damaged putting them into their socket if there is some static electricity. I read that you should hold the ground of the circuit with one hand while you pop it in.
Click to expand...

good idea! I'll be sure to do that with the new one i get today.

Tim Raats said:
Great to see some DIY-lovin' around here :)!

I would also recommend using sockets but reading about the static electricity when using them, I'd better start being a little more careful with future builds. So far, I haven't encountered any trouble though.

I only recently came across the whole DIY scene but I'm afraid it is quite addicting :). So far I have built:
- Wooly Mammoth
- Mad Prof. Sweet Honey Overdrive (great on bass by the way!)
- Loop Switcher
- Power Supply

Plus, the ever-expanding GAS-list:
- Maestro Phaser
- Demeter Trembulator or Brownface Vibrato
- Mad Prof. Snow White Auto Wah
- Another fuzz

Oh dear, this is getting out of hand ;).
Click to expand...

very nice, how's the power supply? I want to make one but i'm afraid of dealing with AC... want a band/number?
 
#51
Number please!

Pedals I've built for myself and others (off the top of my head): DOD 250, Big Daddy, Obsidian, Flipster, LPB-1, Blender (buffered effects loop with blend function).

Amps: Little Gem and Noisy Cricket. Those count, right? They're simple enough to not count as a real amp. The Noisy Cricket sounds fantastic with bass, provided there's no backround noise drowning it out :D

Planning stage: Green Russian Big Muff.
 
#52
g&lplayer said:
Where did you find out how to make the wolly mammoth? Was it the actual wooly mammoth or just a clone? How tough was it to do? (Say....for a beginner..?)
Click to expand...

There's a huge thread over at fsb.org
Invalid Link Removed

Barry at guitarpcb.com offers a pcb for it, which is the route I'm going to take. I haven't actually built it yet, but it looks pretty easy.

I can't speak to how accurate of a reproduction it is, as I've never had my hands on an original. But I'm pretty sure it'll be close enough for my needs.
 
#53
Erik Schieffer said:
There's a huge thread over at fsb.org
Invalid Link Removed

Barry at guitarpcb.com offers a pcb for it, which is the route I'm going to take. I haven't actually built it yet, but it looks pretty easy.

I can't speak to how accurate of a reproduction it is, as I've never had my hands on an original. But I'm pretty sure it'll be close enough for my needs.
Click to expand...

I used Madbean's pcb, and it sounds pretty close. The important thing with the WM is the gain, or hfe of the transistors. They need to be around 150-200, or it will not sound right. I got mine from Small Bear, and they were perfect.
 
#54
oerk said:
Number please!

Pedals I've built for myself and others (off the top of my head): DOD 250, Big Daddy, Obsidian, Flipster, LPB-1, Blender (buffered effects loop with blend function).

Amps: Little Gem and Noisy Cricket. Those count, right? They're simple enough to not count as a real amp. The Noisy Cricket sounds fantastic with bass, provided there's no backround noise drowning it out :D

Planning stage: Green Russian Big Muff.
Click to expand...

are the little gem and noisy cricket lm386-based amps? I'm using that chip in a crazy fuzz pedal right now, wth a volume pot afterwards, haha. After i go buy a new IC for it (that's the one that frizzled out on me), i'll try plugging it straght into a speaker to see how it sounds..definately gets loud through an amp!

brown-grey-red (#18): oerk
 
#55
bassk81976 said:
are the little gem and noisy cricket lm386-based amps? I'm using that chip in a crazy fuzz pedal right now, wth a volume pot afterwards, haha. After i go buy a new IC for it (that's the one that frizzled out on me), i'll try plugging it straght into a speaker to see how it sounds..definately gets loud through an amp!

brown-grey-red (#18): oerk
Click to expand...

Yep both LM308 based amps, very similar thing going on with the DAM Sonic Titan pedal too.
 
#56
ok, so i bought a second ic...which isn't working right, either. It only puts out a faint buzz, with electronic pops if i literally slap the strings... completely different behavior then when i had it on the breadboard. would it be my ground solder connection, then? Like i said earlier, when i run a jumper form the in to the out socket slot it functions perfectly, but that would ignore a faulty ground solder for the socket..but it looks good.
 
#58
best picture i could get of the solder side...sucks to only have a phone camera..

2i70jns.jpg


the two horizontal ones, i have checked over very carefully, they are NOT touching at all. will look for my girlfriend's better camera...
 
#59
ahha! I got it to work...kind of.

I had the circuit sitting on my carpet, and it didn't work. set it up on my table, and it works! Kind of...not like it did on my breadboard. Whenever there isn't signal coming through, at a strong enough volume, it puts out white noise. So, all the notes fade to white noise. A cool sound, and an idea i had for a pedal, but this wasn't supposed to be it.. any ideas? And why would the carpet mess it up?

I didn't have it on carpet when i plugged the ic chip in, by the way
 
#60
bassk81976 said:
best picture i could get of the solder side...sucks to only have a phone camera..

*snip*

the two horizontal ones, i have checked over very carefully, they are NOT touching at all. will look for my girlfriend's better camera...
Click to expand...

If you give us a link to the schematic, the layout you used & better pics of both the solder & component side we might be able to help. :)

@topic:
I built: Blender, Fuzz Face, Transitorised Muff Fuzz, Demeter Compulator Clone, 80's Rat, DOD 250, Hjart Muller Bass Drive, OpAmp Big Muff, Civil War Muff, Headphone Amp, Box of Rock and atm I'm working on the ROG 22/7 (also a Big Muff variant, although it's using a CD4049UBE). :)
Oh...and I also fixed a friends TS9 that I f*cked up... :D
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back