Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[simon88wilson]

In addition to what everyone else has said, let me add get a decent solder station/iron. Speaking of which, what are you folks using? I’m overdue for an upgrade.

i've got a Hakko FX-888D

read a few good reviews and one came up at a good price.

 

[rutrho]

i've got a Hakko FX-888D

read a few good reviews and one came up at a good price.

I picked one of those up recently when I had a ton of amp repair stuff coming up and its a great iron.

 

[xJasonSmithx]

I have the cheapest Radio Shack iron it probably cost like $15 back when Radio Shack existed. It works fine but I want to upgrade at some point.

I will also add that I sat on a BYOC kit for like 10 years because I was too nervous to jump in. I finally had a friend urge me to take the plunge and it really wasn't nearly as scary as I had built it up in my head. I really kicked myself for putting it off that long.

 

[themarshall]

I’m currently using a “$15 cheapie” iron. I have to spend a tremendous amount of time profiling, cleaning and tinning the tip, and I still burn things from time to time. I’m ready to upgrade. A couple EE friends suggested a Hakko 936 clone
but getting quality tips.

 

[kleinenenten]

I’ve got a simple Weller station. Can’t remember the exact model. Much better than the Harbor Freight one I started with, but nothing fancy. Pretty much use it for minor fixes or cap swaps. I’m an amateur at soldering, at best, so don’t feel the need to upgrade.

 

[Jolagh]

Im using a weller as well. Its old probably from the mid 80s. It doesnt have a temp control but it seems to just work. Though i tend to move pretty quick when soldering so that could be why i usually dont have a problem woth getting poopie too hot

 

[Novarocker]

I got my dad's iron. I have no idea what brand or anything but it works for the time being. Definitely looking for another, thanks for all the suggestions.

Been busy as hell redoing my kitchen and starting that prototype these last few weeks...I did finally get a chance to pick up some Slinky flats though, love em to say the least. Hope they're still this good when they break in. Here's my piece on em:

I've yet to break mine in, but I love em.

I'm a dedicated hybrid Slinky user. Not sure I've used another brand/kind of strings in at least a decade. Loved how the rounds sounded and even liked them when they started to die, plus they were cheap and they lasted a while for me.

Was curious how the flats were and I'm massively impressed. First flats on a bass I've owned, though I've played flats plenty before.

I bought the same gauge (45-105) as my rounds and I would say they're a little bit higher tension. But not to where you'd want to go to a different gauge if you're particular about it, IMO. Also the sound before being broken in is impressive.

Honestly besides having a little more flatwound thump, they do sound close to the rounds to me. The highs are where they're different. I'd say harsher, but not more intense. Not bad, just noticably different than the rounds that were a little worn in. Very bright, to the point that I didn't even change the high setting on my amp and I like bright highs.

@gfen sneezing bourbon out your nose sounds nuts! Couldn't imagine it.

all pickups should be humbucker-sized, to make swapping easier.

That would be just about the greatest thing ever.

Yea the Modded HM2 (6 knobber) I basically changed the EQ bands to the point where its off from the original HM-2 sound. The Tyrant, The Nihilist (in all its forms) and the new Modified Heavy Metal all either use the same original EQ points or in the case of the Tyrant which had slightly modified EQ points but very close to the original). The HM-2 sound is 95% the EQ.

Alternatively, you could build an hm2. I could make some more kit pcbs for people who just want to build one.

That would be really rad, but I doubt I'd have the time anytime soon.

I've built eurorack synth kits. Pedals, especially fuzz/distortion/OD are usually pretty simple compared to those. Start with a boost or fuzz with few parts.


And Khemmis too.

That's sick. One day I'd love to go deep into synths...


Oh and sorry all for such a long ass post. Feels like I've been gone for a week or more.

 

[xJasonSmithx]

I just traded my Sunn 215BH and a little cash for a 70's Ampeg 8x10 that is in need of some serious rehab. I started a new thread to document my progress.

70's Ampeg 8x10 Restoration

 

[Kriegs]

In addition to what everyone else has said, let me add get a decent solder station/iron. Speaking of which, what are you folks using? I’m overdue for an upgrade.

This is what I use https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51...tion/dp/B000BRC2XU?ref_=bl_dp_s_web_930652001

Man, if I can build pedals anyone can. Just take your time and read the instructions very carefully and you will be fine.

I am very new to soldering, so my trepidation comes more from munging up the soldering part, not so much the actual putting the correct components in the right place, etc.

 

[br1qbat]

This is what I use https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51...tion/dp/B000BRC2XU?ref_=bl_dp_s_web_930652001


I am very new to soldering, so my trepidation comes more from munging up the soldering part, not so much the actual putting the correct components in the right place, etc.

The good news is most of the cost components-wise goes to the enclosure, switch and pots. Everything else is stupid cheap. For starters build a simple 1 knob fuzz. If you completely make a mess of it, its probably less than $10 in parts

 

[br1qbat]

Oh, and speaking of soldering, I finally got around to putting in a push-pull pot on my jazz for series/parallel. Those Model J's are super thick in parallel mode.

Have yet another drummer audition Thursday. This guy has made all the right noises so far and wasn't gun shy about setting up a jam. Hoping he's 'the one'

 

[gfen]

To add to the HM2 love going on around here, I ended up buying someone's clone (SRC Edgelord, great name terrible box) built off a Dunwich 4 knob PCB from Guitar Center because I had store credit, so hopefully we'll see how well it sounds in a few days.

If people are still curious, there's a Dunn HM2 clone, the Hierophant, sitting in their used section for $130, too.

 

[simon88wilson]

I am very new to soldering, so my trepidation comes more from munging up the soldering part, not so much the actual putting the correct components in the right place, etc.

If that’s the case You could start off by getting some vero/strip board and a bag of Resistors

It’ll cost you next to nothing and you can practice a bit first.

Or just jump straight in and take your time. Good luck!

 

[Kriegs]

If that’s the case You could start off by getting some vero/strip board and a bag of Resistors

It’ll cost you next to nothing and you can practice a bit first.

Or just jump straight in and take your time. Good luck!

I got some spare wire, a bunch of through hole components and a couple of through hole boards from work to practice on. I'm going to spend some time each night during this week practicing on those and then tackle the The BYOC Confidence Booster (a simple inline boost & buffer) to start with and then [insert trumpet fanfare here] ... The Swede!
I'll keep you entertained/ informed with updates and the end results

 

[rutrho]

I figure Ill toss some of my work up here, lol. I just got done building 2 GGG muffs for a couple of my friends. The builds themselves are pretty stock other than a bunch of diode switching options for both sets of diodes. I got lazy and opted to not add a bypass switch for the tone stack on the two I whipped together this weekend.
Currently both pedals are wired up in ghetto cardboard form boards to make wire routing cleaner. The layout of the controls/jack on this form board is the same as the enclosure, so doing a little prep work like this can make wiring a lot easier.
If i were doing a larger production run, say 10 or more, I would make a very simple form out of AL for building them on. As it is i might do similar a similar form board for A, B, BB and D size hammond enclosures as it makes prototyping a lot easier.

Backside of #2:

Front side of #1:

 

[gfen]

So, stupid question time but I've always been curious: When you have LEDs in a circuit like that, do they receive enough energy to light up or is it doing whatever it does to the sound simply by existing and they don't flash?

 

[rutrho]

So, stupid question time but I've always been curious: When you have LEDs in a circuit like that, do they receive enough energy to light up or is it doing whatever it does to the sound simply by existing and they don't flash?

Not a stupid question at all! They have a higher forward bias V than common silicone diodes like a 1N914 or similar. A lot of Ge diodes end up with with a forward bias V thats a bit lower then Si diodes. What this means is that different amounts of the waveform gets hacked off by the clipping diodes in the usage of a distortion pedal.

I ended up using 3 types of diodes on these two pedals each with a different V.
The LED's ended up being around 1.6v, with the Si diodes being around .65v and the Ge diodes being around .26v.

When I was building those up yesterday I dug through one of my parts bins for some other diodes and found some old Ge diodes that had a forward bias 10682678 of .26v. WOOHOO! So I have the Si diodes and the LED's on one DPDT on-off-on switch and the Si and Ge diodes on the other DPDT on-off-on switch.
Tons of options! I'm going to be going back into the muff I have on my board and adding those mods to it as they sound GOOD.

 

[themarshall]

I smiled when I saw your cardboard mockups. I do the same thing, down to the pencil layout lines. I prefer LaCroix Pampelmousse boxes, though - just sound better.

Have you tried removing the first set of diodes completely?

 

[Kriegs]

Newb question...
Are you saying that LED's on pedals can effect the sound/ tone that they provide?

 

[rutrho]

I smiled when I saw your cardboard mockups. I do the same thing, down to the pencil layout lines. I prefer LaCroix Pampelmousse boxes, though - just sound better.

Have you tried removing the first set of diodes completely?

The switches are center off, so there are three options for each set of diodes.

It begs the question... what is the best fizzy(fuzzy?) water for metal?