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Who here has modded/built an EHX Small Clone?

sunbeast

sunbeast

Supporting Member
Jul 19, 2006
15,402
15,573
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Denver, CO
emptypalace.bandcamp.com
#1
I just bought a used Small Clone to mess around with modding during the gloomy winter months, and was hoping for some feedback from people that have done it in the past! Only $50 dollars for the pedal and less than $15 in parts= priceless fun IMO!

At the moment I plan to add:
- a depth pot,
- a delay time pot/ delay time capacitor change (this should ideally get into similar territory as the DEEP mod with the AnalogMan Chorus) ,
- a feedback/regeneration pot for the delay,
- an effects blend (or possibly just effects level) pot,
- an internal gain pot (to balance out the volume for changes in the previous)
- possibly an LFO clock capacitor selector switch to change the speed
- possibly a stereo out switch (to allow seperate outs for effect and dry signal)
- possibly an added flanger setting (although this will mostly be accomplished by adjusting the previous mods the right way)
- possibly a mod to limit/attenuate lower frequencies on the effected signals to prevent muddiness- I haven't found the ideal method for this one yet...

I have done a fair amount of studying on the internet from various resources, and have found a few different methods of achieving a few of the different mods. I have a few questions for those with real world experience here...

- For those who have done the Depth pot mod- I have seen one method that uses a 100k linear or audio pot simply in place of the stock depth switch, and then the popular SC clone schematic that uses a 10k pot and changes/removes some of the circuit values- I'd like to hear upsides/downsides from anyone who has tried one or the other (or both). I have heard some say that A is more versatile than B and so forth...

- For those who have added a blend pot or effects level pot- what have been the ups/downs of that for you? any suggestions? I was aiming more towards a blend pot idea so I could get more into vibrato territory if I wanted by removing the dry signal, but I have a feeling that this method might be slightly less smooth in function than simply putting a variable resistance on the effects signal by itself. The added internal gain pot afterward should help compensate some, but I won't really know til I try! Opinions?

- For those who have done a delay time mod- anyone try using the pot vs. a switch? My understanding is that the DEEP/THIN/NORMAL switch on the Analogman Clone Chorus is just a delay time capacitor selection, but it seems like a pot would give a nicer range. Any opinions?

- Anyone know a good way to add an attenuation to the bass on the effects signal only? Would it be possible to do this before the modulation section, or would it be better after?

- Any other cool Small Clone modification ideas or tips?

Thanks,
Karl
 
#4
rob_thebassman said:
why not save up $250 for an analog man mini chorus with fixed deep and blend
Click to expand...

Because this way I save around $190, get to have fun with experimentation + doing the work myself, AND get a whole slew of wild sounds that the Analogman can't. His pedal is just a Small Clone clone in itself, with variations of these same mods that have been common knowledge for years- as far as I know, he didn't come up with any of them on his own, he just found his own favorite way to implement them the same way I plan to do for myself. His clone almost certainly uses better components than mine will and has time and years of tweaks on its side (I would hope so for that price!), but I'd like to actually learn a thing or two by building one myself. Plus I happen to like lots of knobs and switches to tweak with, which his lacks!
 
#7
Thought I would update now that I have done a few of the mods.

I added the depth pot- I tried a 100K audio pot first, and the 10K definitely seemed to work better here. Can go from no depth, to just on the brink of being able to hear a chorus underneath the note, to full on warbling. Pretty cool!

I added a delay time control as well as switching out the delay capacitor. I originally put in a fixed 270pf cap in place of the stock 150pf, but found that the extra noise through most of the sweep of the delay pot from the longer delay time neccessitated a few more options. I ended up putting on a switch to choose between 270pf, 100pf, and around 73pf (which is with the other two caps in series). Along with the delay pot this gives me a very wide range of different tones, from very deep to very thin. I also tried a 550pf in there for the hell of it- the delays were in the slapback range, but the noise was a pretty loud wash or wave that would have made it unbearable for anything apart from ambient music (to be honest, I may add that cap as an option again just for fun!). The 100K linear pot seems to work just fine as the delay pot, I seem to get a good range across the entire sweep with no "dead spots" in effect at either end.

The next parts I plan to tackle are the blend control and overal volume control. Depending on how this works out I may not need the gain control, but I really haven't thought about the best way to implement the blend yet. I know I want to be able to mess with the entire range between completely clean and completely chorused, but have a feeling that the extremitites in either direction on the pot will be pretty noisy and possibly gainy if I go about it the way I had originally planned. We'll see!
 
#8
Sunbeast (in 2010) posted mention some mods he was doing to his EHX Small Clone.
I too have done the simple depth mod (replace depth switch with 100k pot) and that works great.

Does anyone have links to good instructions or circuit diagrams with the details of the various small clone mods?

I'm especially interested in mods to set a filter threshold remove the chorus from affecting the very low octaves of my 5 string fretless.

The bottom end freqs are where a typical guitar oriented chorus starts to mud-out so having a variable parametric (pot controlled) filter (like some of the more expensive chorus or chorus/flange/trem combo unit) who be very sweet.

-Thanks in advance to all for reading!!
 
#9
I can't help with that particular mod, but I can see where you are coming from with it- having the Blend control definitely helps with that a bit on mine, as I can keep the chorus fairly deep but subtle at the same time (if that makes sense). The Delay Time mod also seems to help me dial in a more or less muddy sweep, though it can be a bit touchy. This issue is one reason why I think this pedal: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] is a genius idea for bass. At the moment I have an Iron Ether Polytope on its way to me, which has a built in adjustable high-pass filter for the effect- if that pedal doesn't fulfill my chorus needs as I hope, I will probably return to my Small Clone and may well eventually try out one of those SFX crossover/mixer pedals as I could see many great uses for one. For what its worth, I haven't fallen out of love with my Small Clone (though I need to go in and clean up my mods a bit- 6 pots and two 3-way switches was a bit much to cram in there cleanly with my novice skill level!), just fallen in love with my Iron Ether pedals and the potential of the Polytope...

As far as figuring out a high pass circuit for the chorus side of the Small Clone, you should check out the DIY Stompboxes forum- Taylor of Iron Ether is an active member on that site himself and if you posted a question over there I could imagine either he (though he seems to be a VERY busy dude) or any number of other builders could lead you in the right direction!
 

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