The Sushi Box FX Secret Society

[Sushi Box FX]

I'm have absolutely zero experience in making pedals but it's always fascinated me so I've workshopped ideas in my head on what I'd try to do as a pedal maker if I ever got time to get into the craft (weird? idk). Being a bassist/guitarist that uses the same pedalboard for both, I always thought it would be a great idea to design pedals in exactly this way -- just have a bass mode and a guitar mode on a toggle switch! However, whatever that entails in regards to circuit design is completely foreign to me.

I can confidently say if you end up doing that though, I'd definitely be interested! Do you know if changing the tonestack that is normally part of the circuit to baxandall would also change up the voicing of the pedal and make it something it's not? I really have no idea on this stuff so that may be a silly question -- but is there some secret sauce in the tonestack on something like this?

Changing the tonestack can sometimes affect the feel of the pedal, and if you're going from an inflexible tone control (like the Soldano single knob tone) to a more flexible tone control (like a Baxandall) it can open some new sounds that weren't originally available.

As for really affecting the overall "sound" of the pedal, it depends on where the tonestack is in the circuit. In the majority of my pedals (Underground Accelerator, Slampegg, Black Eye, JC Emerald, Lab Rat, even Fluffy Kitten) the tonestack is at the very end of the pedal, so your gainstages will be untouched if you change the tonestack. However if we look at Dr. Wattson, the tonestack actually comes before the last gainstage, which means whatever changes you make to the tonestack are going to affect how the last gainstage responds.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Oh and all this reminded me, I was thinking about doing a JC Emerald with a bass/guitar switch as well, as that one has an excellent overall tone but is definitely more favorably voiced for guitar. I'll see if I can throw that one together soon-ish.

 

[bassbrad]

So if I were to redesign the Black Eye to be more bass-friendly, it would probably have a Baxandall tonestack, right?

When @johnk_10 redesigned the Systech Overdrive he added an active Bax stack that is very effective, adding a lot more flexibility than a passive stack ~ perhaps that could be considered.
SystechOD

 

[Sushi Box FX]

When @johnk_10 redesigned the Systech Overdrive he added an active Bax stack that is very effective, adding a lot more flexibility than a passive stack ~ perhaps that could be considered.
SystechOD

Unfortunately you can't really do active EQ with tubes, you can just take a passive EQ and wrap it in tube stages.

 

[dedpool1052]

Oh and all this reminded me, I was thinking about doing a JC Emerald with a bass/guitar switch as well, as that one has an excellent overall tone but is definitely more favorably voiced for guitar. I'll see if I can throw that one together soon-ish.

I know whatever mods ya did to my buddy @bullitproof 's JC, he really likes it now.

 

[mmbongo]

Mmkay, I'm officially using the UV printer to color-code my EEPROMs for digital builds. I have two Glass Butterfly builds ready to go on my board now, one dedicated completely to reverb, the other (pictured) with a variety of modulation effects.

Also if I decide to offer Glass Butterfly as a standard offering this is what the artwork will look like. I found that if I do multiple passes and print the artwork 3-4 times the colors pop a lot better against the raw background.

View attachment 4826563 View attachment 4826564

That may be my favorite full color artwork this side of the Slampegg! That is fantastic!

But I've said it once and I'll say it again...that would look fantastic on sparkle white!

 

[Sushi Box FX]

I know whatever mods ya did to my buddy @bullitproof 's JC, he really likes it now.

Yeah I'm kind of glad he asked for it, it gave me an excuse to play with some mods for it that I'd like to incorporate into a bass setting. I'm happy with how it came out.

But I've said it once and I'll say it again...that would look fantastic on sparkle white!

Agreed, I thought about powdercoating the ones I made for myself, but my whole board is color print over raw, so I didn't want them to look out of place

 

[all_sixes]

Unfortunately you can't really do active EQ with tubes, you can just take a passive EQ and wrap it in tube stages.

How do you do a bax stack on something in the case of the Lab Rat and what we're talking about with the Black Eye? Might be a stupid question, but genuinely curious about something I don't really understand and it's pretty cool to be able to discuss with somebody that knows.

 

[dedpool1052]

Yeah I'm kind of glad he asked for it, it gave me an excuse to play with some mods for it that I'd like to incorporate into a bass setting. I'm happy with how it came out.

Soooooo,
User verified mods?

 

[Ryan L.]

Oh and all this reminded me, I was thinking about doing a JC Emerald with a bass/guitar switch as well, as that one has an excellent overall tone but is definitely more favorably voiced for guitar. I'll see if I can throw that one together soon-ish.

Shut up and take my money!!

 

[dedpool1052]

@Sushi Box FX
I just acquired a sub-mini tube version of the Sunnday Drive.
The X version says it's an "always on" preamp, but the OG-mini has two foot switches.
I assume it's "on/off" and "boost", based on labelling, meaning the OG SD is not "always on".
Is this correct?

 

[dedpool1052]

Figured it out.
But.

It seems to have an issue.
Runs fine for about 5 minutes.
But if you click it off, then back on, it's really quiet, with some fuzzy/static noice.

 

[Sushi Box FX]

How do you do a bax stack on something in the case of the Lab Rat and what we're talking about with the Black Eye? Might be a stupid question, but genuinely curious about something I don't really understand and it's pretty cool to be able to discuss with somebody that knows.

Pretty much like this:

Figured it out.
But.

It seems to have an issue.
Runs fine for about 5 minutes.
But if you click it off, then back on, it's really quiet, with some fuzzy/static noice.

Is it consistent, like every time you pull power and cool down then power it up again it runs for 5 minutes then quits? If so it sounds like a heat-related issue, likely a solder joint failing as it heats up past a certain point. PM me if you want me to take a look at it.

 

[dedpool1052]

Pretty much like this:

View attachment 4827279


Is it consistent, like every time you pull power and cool down then power it up again it runs for 5 minutes then quits? If so it sounds like a heat-related issue, likely a solder joint failing as it heats up past a certain point. PM me if you want me to take a look at it.

I'll investigate further tomorrow, and update you.
Heat-related sounds accurate, as it's fine initially, then dips.
After some more testing tomorrow, I'll PM you.

 

[Jamie Hale]

For the September builds, I think I am checking my email about every hour hoping for a shipping update!

 

[Sushi Box FX]

For the September builds, I think I am checking my email about every hour hoping for a shipping update!

I can give a quick September batch update:

I've finished final assembly and testing for everything, and it's all done. All that's left is adding LEDs and knobs then boxing them up and shipping them out. You should see a shipping update tonight.

 

[lomo]

Forgive my 'lektronic ignorance, but what are the tubes doin' in the Butterfly? Is it kind o' like a More with multi-modulation capability? And now that we're all watching the detective, can you remind me/us what that's about?

 

[Sushi Box FX]

Forgive my 'lektronic ignorance, but what are the tubes doin' in the Butterfly? Is it kind o' like a More with multi-modulation capability? And now that we're all watching the detective, can you remind me/us what that's about?

So the heart of the Glass Butterfly is the FV-1, the same digital processing engine that powers Echosaurus. Digital devices like this need signal conditioning on the input before they're processed and signal conditioning on the output after they're processed. Typically this is done with op-amps, and this is how Echosaurus and the previous Robot Butterfly did it. Glass Butterfly simply replaces the op-amp stages with tuned tube stages.

What does this accomplish? Basically you're getting the signal conditioned in the same way, but with the additional benefits of tube tone. Was this necessary? Not even remotely, but I think it sounds pretty good. Is it worth the additional cost and size over a solid-state digital unit? It certainly is to me, but obviously YMMV.

As for Detective, that's my two-channel Hiwatt-based preamp prototype. You essentially have an Elementary on one channel and Dr. Wattson on the other channel. Another one of those things that not everyone need, but enough people asked for that I decided to try it out, and I like how it came out. It's pending 3rd party testing which will hopefully happen soon (I still need to put it in an enclosure), but I hope to have it available for the November batch.

 

[eeyorebass]

Forgive my 'lektronic ignorance, but what are the tubes doin' in the Butterfly? Is it kind o' like a More with multi-modulation capability? And now that we're all watching the detective, can you remind me/us what that's about?

I see what you did there...

 

[Jamie Hale]

Now the Detective makes sense! Perfect name. Can’t wait!