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Robot Factory Meatball clone

#61
$300 is so much more than you should be spending on this. This circuit is VERY simple...I suppose there are a few switches but they go for around $3 a pop. For $300, you could literally buy everything needed to get started in DIY, AND all the parts you need for this project [and still a lot of scratch for all the other projects you are gonna wanna build =]
This was a very easy project imo...

More info on the Meatball:

Invalid Link Removed

http://www.pisotones.com/Meatball/psst/meatball-psst.html
[this site is in spanish so you have to use google translate]

Invalid Link Removed
[this layout worked very well for me]

All in all I would rather see people get started in DIY...gl either way though
 
#63
astralis said:
$300 is so much more than you should be spending on this. This circuit is VERY simple...I suppose there are a few switches but they go for around $3 a pop. For $300, you could literally buy everything needed to get started in DIY, AND all the parts you need for this project [and still a lot of scratch for all the other projects you are gonna wanna build =]
This was a very easy project imo...
Click to expand...

its not too bad if you have been at it for a while and know whats going on, but along with the $300 you have to consider your time that you invest in things like this. If you are just starting out it will take you MUCH longer to figure this whole thing out and wire everything up, and you will most likely make a mistake and have to debug the thing, and blah blah blah

The point is, there is more to consider than just how much the parts cost. Some people don't have the free time to figure all this out, some people lack the energy to figure it all out and would just rather pay someone to do it for them.

$300 sounds reasonable IMO a lot of work goes into these things...

isnt the original meatball like $600 new anyways???

I'm all for people making things themself, I do it as well and was actually considering this project... but I really just don't have the free time right now :smug: lol

but I was investigating and I think parts came up to around $80 or so...

as for me? off to do more Abstract Math & Network Analysis homework :(
 
#65
Sound clips are in:
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1. Each link has a clean track for a second before I click on the pedal
2. then a finger style playing
3. then a slap style
4. then with a pick
5. then with the B:assmaster and POG in front of the the filter.

The end of the Mu-tron track me playing through all three filters at once.
 
#67
Wow, thanks for that!!! Very helpful. Could you tell us about the resonance control on the Meat Wad? I ask because it sounded like it was set to a higher resonance than the other two, making it sound a lot more like the Moog than like the Mutron.
 
#69
Thanks a lot for the clips! I have MXR Bass Auto Q and I wanted to buy original Mu-tron or Meatball, after listening to all those clips I don't see a reason why I have to spend 600$ on one of those pedals :) And that is good, I always blow all my money on music :D
 
#70
Thanks PRS! - the samples sound good.......

As far as resonance goes, the Meat-Wad should have a very similar range, it is just a matter of dialing it in. The one I built for PRS has an extended max decay time, and extended intensity range. Is seems like the trade-off is that it may be a bit harder to dial than the original, and I have reverted to stock values. I matched capacitors in the filter stage, which should make the filter a higher 'Q' value, but I would be surprised if Lovetone didn't do that as well........

As far as chargeing too much (again) I am not getting rich on these. Neither was Lovetone (at twice the price) because they went out of business.

As far as DIY goes, I would very much encourage any of you to look into it. I would also encourage you to spend a year building MUCH simpler projects first. A little understanding goes a long way toward getting what you want out of a circuit...........................Just my two (unsolicited) bits.

Again - thanks all, and feel free to ask any other questions you may have.

Mario
 
#71
astralis said:
$300 is so much more than you should be spending on this. This circuit is VERY simple...I suppose there are a few switches but they go for around $3 a pop. For $300, you could literally buy everything needed to get started in DIY, AND all the parts you need for this project [and still a lot of scratch for all the other projects you are gonna wanna build =]
This was a very easy project imo...

More info on the Meatball:

Invalid Link Removed

http://www.pisotones.com/Meatball/psst/meatball-psst.html
[this site is in spanish so you have to use google translate]

Invalid Link Removed
[this layout worked very well for me]

All in all I would rather see people get started in DIY...gl either way though
Click to expand...

Before I was self employed I might have agreed but after being self employed I must disagree.
Even if it only takes 2-3 hours to build at $300 you're still barely getting by after paying you're own health care, business insurance, overhead, taxes, etc.
I also don't have time to make my own pedals.

The way I see it I can sell my Mu-tron and buy 2 more pedals even after the $300 spent on the clone so I'm money ahead if you ask me.
 
#74
The samples are great, but of course there is no way to get the settings exactly identical, and there is a nearly infinite range of potential settings and tones. If I thought the samples of the Meat Wad were the only sounds I could get, I would pass on it. That "laser droplet" sound gets tiresome quickly for me. But if I thought I could dial it to have a slightly slower, less resonant sound (closer to the MuTron), I'd be into it. Any word on that subject prsbass?
 
#75
bongomania said:
The samples are great, but of course there is no way to get the settings exactly identical, and there is a nearly infinite range of potential settings and tones. If I thought the samples of the Meat Wad were the only sounds I could get, I would pass on it. That "laser droplet" sound gets tiresome quickly for me. But if I thought I could dial it to have a slightly slower, less resonant sound (closer to the MuTron), I'd be into it. Any word on that subject prsbass?
Click to expand...

At one point in time I actually had the clone dialed in to sound very similar to the Mu-tron. My preference is more slurpy than the Mu-tron can actually get. It took a lot of fiddling to get the clone dialed in but now that I understand the circuit better it's easy.
If anything I think the clone can sound very close to the meatball and mu-tron, kind of both worlds but slightly different.
The clone is more laser than the others but versatile.
Mario and I have talked about this a little and it seems like he has some theories about the controls that might make the clone less laser.
I still need more time to mess with it but I'm really liking the clone.
I guess what I'm trying to say is all three pedals have their own sound but can be very similar.

I did the recordings at a friends place so I didn't want to take up to much of his time otherwise I would have messed with all the settings on all the pedals.
 
#78
On the topic of laser.........

'Laser' (or what it means to me) is a fast, highly resonant sweep with a large amount of frequency travel. This would be equal to a maximum setting, which is the hard part. getting less sweep and resonance should not be too hard......
(I am speaking in terms of the circuit here, dialing it in may be another story altogether............)

I found a way to spread the resonance level more evenly across the travel of the pot, which would make it easier to adjust, but the sounds should all be there. for PRS, I made a few alterations to extend the 'max' settings, which can be undone.......again, I would basically be removeing the most drastic or most 'laser' settings, resulting in less over all tonal range. The trade off here (and almost everywhere else) is that it would be easier to dial.

For instance: how long does it take to dial a big muff? How many different sounds can you get from a big muff?........

Anyway, the modifications I made may have made an already less than intuitive pedal even more difficult to dial.......

I have chatted with PRS about this, and he is taking some time to decide which way to go................

there is a second fellow on this thread who should be recieving his Meat-Wad in about a week (longer shipping time to Australia....) so a second opinion may poke in soon....

Mario
 
#80
Robot Factory said:
On the topic of laser.........

'Laser' (or what it means to me) is a fast, highly resonant sweep with a large amount of frequency travel. This would be equal to a maximum setting, which is the hard part. getting less sweep and resonance should not be too hard......
(I am speaking in terms of the circuit here, dialing it in may be another story altogether............)

I found a way to spread the resonance level more evenly across the travel of the pot, which would make it easier to adjust, but the sounds should all be there. for PRS, I made a few alterations to extend the 'max' settings, which can be undone.......again, I would basically be removeing the most drastic or most 'laser' settings, resulting in less over all tonal range. The trade off here (and almost everywhere else) is that it would be easier to dial.

For instance: how long does it take to dial a big muff? How many different sounds can you get from a big muff?........

Anyway, the modifications I made may have made an already less than intuitive pedal even more difficult to dial.......

I have chatted with PRS about this, and he is taking some time to decide which way to go................

there is a second fellow on this thread who should be recieving his Meat-Wad in about a week (longer shipping time to Australia....) so a second opinion may poke in soon....

Mario
Click to expand...

Whatever comes of this paticular project, you are earning yourself some big-time mind share with this pedal junky, and I bet I'm not the only one.
 

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