The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[Sushi Box FX]

so you know - soft switches are far from perfect either. I paid a premium to a TB builder for years for relay bypass switches and they are some of the ones that pop the most in my setup. Quality is quality and crap is crap. If I absolutely had to choose, I’d probably opt for soft switching but really I’d just prefer quality switching.

My main draw to soft switching is flexibility. There are a lot of different ways to do it, but I would prefer a microcontroller-based option so I have more control of the circuit. Relays themselves sometimes have switching noise as well, but a common method with microcontrollers is to mute the input and output of the circuit for a handful of milliseconds during switching so any pops would be muted. With a microcontroller the amount of time this mute would occur for is a single line of code to tweak, so I could play with finding the right balance of long enough to mute the pop but short enough that there isn't an audible delay in the signal.

This is all just an idea at this point, not something I'm likely to make standard any time soon, but something I'm starting to consider based on the bad mechanical switches I've had to deal with lately.

On a similar note I'm also considering moving to board-mounted jacks so I don't have to deal with sourcing the Lumberg 1/4" jacks that seem to disappear from the earth a couple times a year. Not something I'm planning to do immediately, but something I'm considering looking at.

 

[ahbass2500]

My main draw to soft switching is flexibility. There are a lot of different ways to do it, but I would prefer a microcontroller-based option so I have more control of the circuit. Relays themselves sometimes have switching noise as well, but a common method with microcontrollers is to mute the input and output of the circuit for a handful of milliseconds during switching so any pops would be muted. With a microcontroller the amount of time this mute would occur for is a single line of code to tweak, so I could play with finding the right balance of long enough to mute the pop but short enough that there isn't an audible delay in the signal.

This is all just an idea at this point, not something I'm likely to make standard any time soon, but something I'm starting to consider based on the bad mechanical switches I've had to deal with lately.

On a similar note I'm also considering moving to board-mounted jacks so I don't have to deal with sourcing the Lumberg 1/4" jacks that seem to disappear from the earth a couple times a year. Not something I'm planning to do immediately, but something I'm considering looking at.

If you go soft switching, please make it allow default to pedal on (usually done by applying power while holding button down to toggle default on/default off on power up). I have had some that incorporate this feature (like Empress and Cali76 Comps) and some that do not. I like preamp/comp pedals to default to on. Easy to do with a mechanical switch. Not always incorporated as a feature on soft switch pedals.

 

[JKos]

Could it be a difference between make-before-break switches vs. break-before-make switches?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Could it be a difference between make-before-break switches vs. break-before-make switches?

I wouldn't expect so, I don't think I've ever seen a make-before-break footswitch, they're generally break-before-make. Also it hasn't been every switch in this batch, so it seems like more of a quality control issue, which I understand, but the ones I get from this distributor seem to have more bad ones than I've had from others.

 

[DrHooper]

If you go soft switching, please make it allow default to pedal on (usually done by applying power while holding button down to toggle default on/default off on power up). I have had some that incorporate this feature (like Empress and Cali76 Comps) and some that do not. I like preamp/comp pedals to default to on. Easy to do with a mechanical switch. Not always incorporated as a feature on soft switch pedals.

Just a data point:
I work for Supro Amplifiers. The Supro pedals use an ATTINY for soft switching, and have a boot option to start in the 'Engaged' state. IIRC, it was a single line of code to add that boot option. Dead silent switching (mostly, at high gain, nothing is silent!)
I've built a few VFE pedals lately, and I really like Peter Rutter's soft switch set-up. He uses a PIC controller, and offers an option to make the switch momentary or latching.
The Klein Bottle I just built (and am adding MIDI control to, with a QT PY RP2040) has the option to, when a loop is on, if you stomp and hold the switch, the loop send is turned off, while the return is left open for as long as you hold the switch, allowing you to manually manage the (reverb, delay, whatever) trails.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Just a data point:
I work for Supro Amplifiers. The Supro pedals use an ATTINY for soft switching, and have a boot option to start in the 'Engaged' state. IIRC, it was a single line of code to add that boot option. Dead silent switching (mostly, at high gain, nothing is silent!)
I've built a few VFE pedals lately, and I really like Peter Rutter's soft switch set-up. He uses a PIC controller, and offers an option to make the switch momentary or latching.
The Klein Bottle I just built (and am adding MIDI control to, with a QT PY RP2040) has the option to, when a loop is on, if you stomp and hold the switch, the loop send is turned off, while the return is left open for as long as you hold the switch, allowing you to manually manage the (reverb, delay, whatever) trails.

Awesome, thanks for the info I would be likely to use ATTINY as well, I've used them in the past and am a lot more comfortable coding them, I just never really dug into PIC.

I would lean toward non-latching relays so if power fails the pedal goes straight to bypass instead of needing to be switched back off. It takes more current as you have to hold it on, but I have tubes in there, nobody is using batteries for my pedals. I think I only ever did soft-switching once, and the guy commissioning the build requested that it start in engaged state, no issue there at all. Makes sense to me.

 

[andare]

On a similar note I'm also considering moving to board-mounted jacks so I don't have to deal with sourcing the Lumberg 1/4" jacks that seem to disappear from the earth a couple times a year. Not something I'm planning to do immediately, but something I'm considering looking at.

Glad to hear I'm not alone in the endless search for Lumbergs.
I thought board-mounted jacks were a bad idea because of the mechanical stress they can transfer to the board? Or is it an unnecessary concern?

 

[mmbongo]

Glad to hear I'm not alone in the endless search for Lumbergs.

Search over.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Glad to hear I'm not alone in the endless search for Lumbergs.
I thought board-mounted jacks were a bad idea because of the mechanical stress they can transfer to the board? Or is it an unnecessary concern?

I would want to do some testing before committing to it for customer builds, but I feel like with the board mounted pots attached to a perpendicular mechanical face from the jacks there would be enough support that mechanical stress wouldn't be an issue. The vast majority of commercial pedals use them simply for cost and manufacturability, so they can't be that bad as long as the design is solid.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

THERE AREN'T ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY. I NEED MORE TIME.

That is all. Thank you.

 

[andare]

Search over.


View attachment 4603761

Mmkay!

 

[el murdoque]

THERE AREN'T ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY. I NEED MORE TIME.

Are you only complaining or are you going to do something about this?
If you start a petition, I'll sign!

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Are you only complaining or are you going to do something about this?
If you start a petition, I'll sign!

Unfortunately the only thing that would solve the problem would be slowing down the rotation of the earth to consistently extend the day. I think 26 or 27 hours would be sufficient. Aside from the logistics of actually doing this (which is of course absurd) I'd imagine that would affect a good many things that I don't want to mess with (decreased centrifugal force, etc.), so probably best to leave well enough alone.

My stack of repairs and mods has now increased to 8, which is affecting how quickly I can turn things around, so if you've been waiting on a repair or mod that's why. Trying to balance getting enough sleep and getting enough done usually means I don't get much done and I'm still tired. I was only able to get an hour of time at the workbench last night, which was frustrating.

 

[NKBassman]

THERE AREN'T ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY. I NEED MORE TIME.

That is all. Thank you.

I feel ya on this. I don't even have the hours to play bass right now.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Just got a notification that one of my suppliers got Lumberg 1/4" jacks back in stock. I have 150 heading my way, so they don't have much stock anymore.

 

[el murdoque]

Unfortunately the only thing that would solve the problem would be slowing down the rotation of the earth to consistently extend the day. I think 26 or 27 hours would be sufficient. Aside from the logistics of actually doing this (which is of course absurd) I'd imagine that would affect a good many things that I don't want to mess with (decreased centrifugal force, etc.), so probably best to leave well enough alone.

Maybe we could actually solve more than one problem by ever so slightly nudging the planet on a larger orbit.
If you calculate it right, and slow the earth rotation accordingly, we could keep the calendar as is, and only need new watches (or new firmware for the smarter ones).
By increasing the distance to the sun, we'd decrease temperature and solve global warming while we're at it.
And neither you nor me would have to re-read our posts and then realize that a significant portion of those meager 24h have been spent by writing this, instead of doing something more productive ;-)

I'll go and run after my schedule now.

 

[andare]

Unfortunately the only thing that would solve the problem would be slowing down the rotation of the earth to consistently extend the day. I think 26 or 27 hours would be sufficient. Aside from the logistics of actually doing this (which is of course absurd) I'd imagine that would affect a good many things that I don't want to mess with (decreased centrifugal force, etc.), so probably best to leave well enough alone.

My stack of repairs and mods has now increased to 8, which is affecting how quickly I can turn things around, so if you've been waiting on a repair or mod that's why. Trying to balance getting enough sleep and getting enough done usually means I don't get much done and I'm still tired. I was only able to get an hour of time at the workbench last night, which was frustrating.

I'm impatiently waiting for my chance to place an order for a Space Heater but get some sleep, man

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I'm impatiently waiting for my chance to place an order for a Space Heater but get some sleep, man

I heard about this thing called a "work-life balance," what is it and should I buy one for the lab?

Seriously though I'm trying. My brain doesn't like sleep, but my body does, so they fight about it a lot and my brain has been winning the last 20 years or so.

Basically my priorities right now are

1. Finish the repairs and mods that are piling up on my shelf
2. Verify as many handwired designs as possible so I can offer them in April
3. Open April ordering
4. Gondwana

Now that I have 1/4" jacks secured I should be able to get everything else I need for April so I'm not worried about that, but I've been promising handwired for April so I want to be able to offer as many as I can. Currently the only ones 100% verified with zero problems are Lab Rat, Space Heater, and Slampegg. Worst case scenario I'll apologize for the delay and just make those the only handwireds for April with the rest coming whenever they're ready.

 

[4Mal]

I heard about this thing called a "work-life balance," what is it and should I buy one for the lab?

Seriously though I'm trying. My brain doesn't like sleep, but my body does, so they fight about it a lot and my brain has been winning the last 20 years or so.

Bad idea... accumulated sleep deprivation is seriously not good for most people... Add family and health up at the top of your priorities list above.

(even if it means May for my HWSlampegg) ;-)[/QUOTE]

 

[4Mal]

Anyone care to share some Dr Wattson settings. I'm starting with bass at noon, mids and treble all the way up. seems odd but with my fretless P that is a pretty dark but decent rock tone.

observations based on very limited testing.

The tone stack seems to be the opposite of the RCA.
Bass all the way down cuts all the signal.
Mids maybe passive cut only. All the way up is no cut (I think)
Treble and mid are affected by the amount of bass passing though...