DIY Effect Makers (club?)

[xray]

if you can't read your band...you can't read your band?

I dunno..i feel like there's gotta be some cheesy pun somewhere

I like it - very unique and the non-member won't have any idea who we are As good as the βΘИΞКЯŲŜĦÏИĞ Tone Club symbols.

From now on I'll be known as brown-brown-red.

 

[NateS]

my next build will be the noisy cricket

http://www.beavisaudio.com/projects/NoisyCricket/MarkII/NoisyCricketMarkII_RadioShack_Rev2.pdf

going to also wire a 1/8" jack output for when i want to use it as a headphone amp. Should i wire a switch to choose, or is it ok to have both live?

 

[xray]

I've collected quite a few Sovtek Black Muffs that I'm tweaking to get that quality fuzz tone - Ry's has come the closest and I believe I have the prototype that he based his new offering off of!! The oscillator switch is a killer add!

 

[jschwalls]

I really enjoy building/modding pedals

most of my work is done for guitarists, so overdrives and wahs are my thing....

although I did build a supurb distortion for bass based on the DS-1 circuit...

Jon

 

[NateS]

awesome. thou, jschwalls, hast been dubbed red-grey-red. Or #28. your choice.

this is really helping my recalling skills of resister bands. Yo know what really helps you learn? the 500 pack from radioshack. So many random values....

 

[dune2k]

this is really helping my recalling skills of resister bands. Yo know what really helps you learn? the 500 pack from radioshack. So many random values....

I got a little paper card thingy for that....very helpful if you don't know the color codes & just want to check one resistor.
I recently built an IC Big Muff and really dig it's tone, but it's sucking low end as hell. I already checked the RC-filters and they all go below 30Hz or so. Any further ideas? (I dislike clean blends, they just sound weird...)

 

[chicago_mike]

resistor color code chart for iphone here.

 

[Tim Raats]

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



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

I'd like to join the club if my very limited experience so far is enough to qualify!

The PSU works great so far. I actually share your concerns about working with AC, so I went for a bit of a intermediate solution: the AMZ PSU: http://www.muzique.com/power.htm
So far, there has been noticeable improvement over daisy-chaining the whole rig: no hum whatsoever. Since it is essentially an individually regulated daisy-chain I don't think it will remedy groundloops (that would be some black magic if it would ).
If you have any questions about the PSU, feel free to ask/PM!

 

[rratajski]

I've collected quite a few Sovtek Black Muffs that I'm tweaking to get that quality fuzz tone - Ry's has come the closest and I believe I have the prototype that he based his new offering off of!! The oscillator switch is a killer add!

Nah, it just has some mods on it. Close, but no cigarello.
Different tone stack, different components in the circuit, different muff type.

 

[NateS]

I got a little paper card thingy for that....very helpful if you don't know the color codes & just want to check one resistor.
I recently built an IC Big Muff and really dig it's tone, but it's sucking low end as hell. I already checked the RC-filters and they all go below 30Hz or so. Any further ideas? (I dislike clean blends, they just sound weird...)

i have a little card thingy as well, which was useful as i sorted and labeled all of those 500 resisters! By the end i didn't need the card!

I'd like to join the club if my very limited experience so far is enough to qualify!

The PSU works great so far. I actually share your concerns about working with AC, so I went for a bit of a intermediate solution: the AMZ PSU: http://www.muzique.com/power.htm
So far, there has been noticeable improvement over daisy-chaining the whole rig: no hum whatsoever. Since it is essentially an individually regulated daisy-chain I don't think it will remedy groundloops (that would be some black magic if it would ).
If you have any questions about the PSU, feel free to ask/PM!

Very nice, i assume you bought the pcb? Did it go together smoothly? And of course, if you've built diy effects, then you can join.

red-white-red (#29): Tim Raats
orange-black-gold (#30): rratajski (Fuzzrocous Pedals)

 

[Tim Raats]

i have a little card thingy as well, which was useful as i sorted and labeled all of those 500 resisters! By the end i didn't need the card!



Very nice, i assume you bought the pcb? Did it go together smoothly? And of course, if you've built diy effects, then you can join.

red-white-red (#29): Tim Raats
orange-black-gold (#30): rratajski (Fuzzrocous Pedals)

Thanks for the bands/number!

I did buy the the pcb and it was great to work with. After payment you receive a link with additional information and a few possible mods. The build actually convinced me to try my hand at etching my next prints. Vero is quite alright but pcb went a lot smoother! If anyone would have any etching tips/tricks, they're very welcome !

 

[chicago_mike]

over at freestomboxes is a diy El Grande fuzz. I might build one.

 

[NateS]

So, i've been reading up on LEDs used as clipping diodes, and i have a few questions that i can't answer for myself on a breadboard currently...damn lack of money and supplies.

I understand that an LED's clipping threshold s much higher than other diodes, causing them to generally be smoother because they have fewer wavepeaks that they actually clip, and more passes through untouched. I've also read that it is rarely hit with enough energy to actually make the LED light.

BUT...

what if i designed a fuzz, running the signal through multiple transisters or a darlington pairs, until the waveform is large enough for the LED to cut the signal down to a square-wave-ish shape. Wold this impart enough energy to make it light up? Just curious...

 

[Taylor Livingston]

You can definitely light up an LED with audio. Since you're messing with a 386 already, it's actually a better way to do that since it can amplify quite a lot. Some crude envelope detectors use this exact method, 386 into LEDs. Often people use 2 LEDs in opposite directions since one LED will only light during half of the wave cycle.

If you're trying to get "smooth" clipping, it's not the direction to go. LEDs clip later, but they clip harder in my experience. And using the 386 to amp that much will get it clipping as well.

 

[NickInMesa]

Anybody played with germanium fuzz? I ended building a Fuzz Face clone that made a guitarist drool but I am still looking for a good bass-specific schematic.

Also has anyone built a Wooly Mammoth clone? I've heard they are barely worth the $300+ but as a $30 DIY they are fairly decent.

I also got a black Russian Big Muff Pi box, the PCB is gone. Maybe a rehouse, who knows? I think rehousing is a bad idea, especially when you have a cool enclosure with cyrillic and mojo.

I would like to reproduce the sound of the black Russian with components as close as the original. Does anybody know where to find the *exact* list of components? I know I will not get too close but the closer the better.

Thanks all!

 

[NateS]

You can definitely light up an LED with audio. Since you're messing with a 386 already, it's actually a better way to do that since it can amplify quite a lot. Some crude envelope detectors use this exact method, 386 into LEDs. Often people use 2 LEDs in opposite directions since one LED will only light during half of the wave cycle.

If you're trying to get "smooth" clipping, it's not the direction to go. LEDs clip later, but they clip harder in my experience. And using the 386 to amp that much will get it clipping as well.

so, are you saying it would flicker? That'd look cool For what it's worth, i'd like to mount this LED to the outside if possible, so the pedal flashes as i play. as far as how hard or soft it clips, either is fine with me.

 

[Taylor Livingston]

You wouldn't see it as flickering since it's happening at the frequency you're playing (with bass because of harmonics, the slowest it'll flicker would be 80 times a second or so, too fast to be perceived). It'll just be dimmer.

 

[karter2000]

Also has anyone built a Wooly Mammoth clone? I've heard they are barely worth the $300+ but as a $30 DIY they are fairly decent.

I've built one using Madbean's pcb and layout. It turned out pretty good, but as I said earlier the gain of the transistors is important. WM clone pcb's are also available at www.guitarpcb.com.

 

[NateS]

You wouldn't see it as flickering since it's happening at the frequency you're playing (with bass because of harmonics, the slowest it'll flicker would be 80 times a second or so, too fast to be perceived). It'll just be dimmer.

i tried it out, wired in first a yellow then an ultrabright white LED, and it changed the sound interestingly. Significantly cut the volume, which was a big plus ( i might not need a volume pot with a diode in there), but made it less synthy. Plus, the LED didn't light up at all that i could tell - the room s pretty dimly lit

 

[Taylor Livingston]

Search DIYSB for clari(not) (actually I think Doug misspelled it "clai(not)" in this post).