The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[Lammchop93]

Oh and in case anyone was wondering where the October batch is at, all the boards have been soldered up and all the boxes have been milled now. Just need to get to powdercoating (takes quite a bit of motivation ) and engraving then I can start turning these into pedals.
View attachment 4024551
Oh and you'll notice one of them is missing, that one had a freak accident and is finished already and on its way to its new home.

I noticed the pedals had the original names on the boards too. I think that's pretty cool! what are the trim pots for? I am assuming that is not something the end-user should mess with?

 

[fivestringgecko]

Looks like almost everyone went with top mounted jacks.

Yup, 17/24 I'm looking at a wholesale dealer for the larger enclosures, and if I can get a deal on them I'll probably make that the standard and stop chargin extra for it.

Wow... I totally missed the option for top jacks when I got in on the November build. @Sushi Box FX - is it too late to add that option to my build? I sent you a message through your site about it.

Oh yeah, and sub'd to the thread.

5sg.

 

[sears]

Clearly the wrong time to ask -- after I ordered -- but what's the predicted lifespan of the tube and is it user-replaceable? I think I see mine on the picture!! If the number corresponds to your order number that is....

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I noticed the pedals had the original names on the boards too. I think that's pretty cool! what are the trim pots for? I am assuming that is not something the end-user should mess with?

Yup, all of these boards were ordered before the naming contest, so they have the original "working title" on them. When these run out all of the new boards will go to v1 (instead of v0) and have the new name on them.

The trimpot adjusts the high voltage from the power supply. I wouldn't recommend messing with it, as I set them for 200V when I box them, and 250V or above will damage the pedal. If you're REALLY into tweaking and have a multimeter and know how to use it, sure I can tell you where the test points are and you can adjust from 35V up to 240V and see what sound differences different voltages will give you. But the power supply CAN go up to 450V or so, and as I said anything above 250V will cause damage. So again, I reommend not touching it

Wow... I totally missed the option for top jacks when I got in on the November build. @Sushi Box FX - is it too late to add that option to my build? I sent you a message through your site about it.

Welcome to the thread I saw your add-on go through and updated your order, but for anyone that was wondering, as long as I haven't started working on your enclosure (too late for October now, everyhting later is still good) then it's not too late to add top jacks even after your order has been placed. I go through every order manually while I'm building, so it's easy for me to update things as I go.

Clearly the wrong time to ask -- after I ordered -- but what's the predicted lifespan of the tube and is it user-replaceable? I think I see mine on the picture!! If the number corresponds to your order number that is....

These are Soviet military tubes, so they're designed for military application, which means long lifespan. It looks like the datasheet calls out a minimum operating lifespan of 2000 hours. I've only been working with them for a couple years, but I have yet to see one fail. If it ever does fail I don't recommend changing it yourself. It's not super hard if you're an experienced solderer, but it's not super fun either. Just let me know and I'll have you send it to me (if I'm not dead by then) and I'll swap it for you.

 

[Btbp]

These are Soviet military tubes, so they're designed for military application, which means long lifespan. It looks like the datasheet calls out a minimum operating lifespan of 2000 hours. I've only been working with them for a couple years, but I have yet to see one fail. If it ever does fail I don't recommend changing it yourself. It's not super hard if you're an experienced solderer, but it's not super fun either. Just let me know and I'll have you send it to me (if I'm not dead by then) and I'll swap it for you.

Can they be mounted in a plug-in socket for easier removal?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Can they be mounted in a plug-in socket for easier removal?

In theory, yes, it's just about finding the right socket for them. I actually used to use sockets when I first started using submini tubes, but they were even less conveneient than soldering straight to the board.

I'd tell you about another socket I found, but I'd be afraid of giving away spoilers for this

 

[shaggy45]

In theory, yes, it's just about finding the right socket for them. I actually used to use sockets when I first started using submini tubes, but they were even less conveneient than soldering straight to the board.

I'd tell you about another socket I found, but I'd be afraid of giving away spoilers for this
View attachment 4025116

Do you hand solder the surface mounted parts or easy bake oven them?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Do you hand solder the surface mounted parts or easy bake oven them?

I use a reflow oven. It would take waaaayyyy too much time to do all of them by hand. I don't own a pick-and-place machine so I still put the components on the board by hand, but they get reflow soldered by oven.

 

[Lowendtech]

Do you hand solder the surface mounted parts or easy bake oven them?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

View attachment 4025190

Unfortunately mine doesn't look nearly that cool

 

[Lowendtech]

Unfortunately mine doesn't look nearly that cool

Does it make cookies. I like cookies.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Does it make cookies. I like cookies.

I have to admit I've never tried, it would have to be a special cookie to bake at the same profile as solder paste

 

[Pedalnetics]

I have to admit I've never tried, it would have to be a special cookie to bake at the same profile as solder paste
View attachment 4025266

Did you find that reflow oven to work fine as-is, or did you do the mods & custom firmware?

 

[shaggy45]

I have to admit I've never tried, it would have to be a special cookie to bake at the same profile as solder paste
View attachment 4025266

Do you find it easier to design pcbs with smd parts vs through hole? Do you end up with a lot of vias?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Did you find that reflow oven to work fine as-is, or did you do the mods & custom firmware?

Honestly it's been fine stock. The only thing I did was take the whole thing apart and replace the masking tape around the insulation with kapton tape. A lot of people said the masking tape was burning and smoking. Other than that it's completely stock. It has the typical issues people try to fix like not being able to do a bunch of boards at the same time, but I can consistently do 2 of my standard size boards, and 3 or 4 if they're smaller boards, and that's generally plenty. Each reflow cycle is only about 7 minutes anyway, and it takes me longer than that to stuff just one board, so I usually place components for two at a time, and while those two are in the oven I do the next two, and so on.

Do you find it easier to design pcbs with smd parts vs through hole? Do you end up with a lot of vias?

Sooooooo much easier with SMD than through hole. I used to be all about through-hole, but then I got a day job as a PCB designer and worked strictly with SMD, it made me realize how much simpler it is, and how many more options there are available both in component choices and routing options.

I've actually been designing some through-hole boards for a friend of mine that likes to build pedals but doesn't do designing, and it's been a huge headache. There are so many tricks in SMD that don't work in through-hole, and you can get higher component density. The biggest problem I have with through-hole is that if you have a bunch of components lined up their pads black every single layer, I can't run any traces past them and have to go around. I don't feel like I use an absurd number of vias, I think the last design I did had maybe 10.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

So this isn't the LA-1A or remotely close to it, but I wanted to share it as long as you promise not to freak out I'm getting it boxed up and will be sending it to someone that knows a lot more about compressors (you probably know him ) to get his opinions on it before I decide how/whether to proceed with it. I wanted to leave the enclosure raw to emphasize that this is a v0 prototype and nowhere near ready for release.

 

[TwototheValley]

So this isn't the LA-1A or remotely close to it, but I wanted to share it as long as you promise not to freak out I'm getting it boxed up and will be sending it to someone that knows a lot more about compressors (you probably know him ) to get his opinions on it before I decide how/whether to proceed with it. I wanted to leave the enclosure raw to emphasize that this is a v0 prototype and nowhere near ready for release.
View attachment 4025400

Engraving looks nice....even the raw enclosure has a nice industrial look to it....

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Engraving looks nice....even the raw enclosure has a nice industrial look to it....

I promise it looks less nice in person I made a couple tweaks after posting it last night and I actually really dig the sound. It's not quite on the level of LA-1A, but at least to my ears it's a pretty neat simple compressor.

 

[NKBassman]

I promise it looks less nice in person I made a couple tweaks after posting it last night and I actually really dig the sound. It's not quite on the level of LA-1A, but at least to my ears it's a pretty neat simple compressor.

I'm guessing it's an optical compressor, based on the name?
What function do the tubes serve? (that sounds kinda critical, which is not what I meant. just curious)

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I'm guessing it's an optical compressor, based on the name?
What function do the tubes serve? (that sounds kinda critical, which is not what I meant. just curious)

Correct, so I guess in that regard it is actually similar to the LA-1A. The LA-1A is basically a tube preamp with a solid-state optical compressor sidechain tacked on, and the Optipus is as well. Granted the LA-1A sidechain is a great deal more complicated, but same general concept.