So here are a few pedals I really enjoyed building in the last 2 or 3 months. The three of them are for me and required a good amount of planning and patience.
First is yet another Dirtbaby! :D (now I got 2 of them)
I read countless times that it was impossible to use the taptation ICs and keep the modulation, so I decided to just give it a try! :D And it works absolutely beautifully. I had to go through 6 good PT2399s to find one that would keep in time with the tap tempo AND not produce too much noise above 700ms. Not counting the 10 or so I got from Tayda or other more respectable sellers.
So it's a fully functioning Dirtbaby with
- tap tempo (JMK mini board - no subdivisions. I can pretty much tap dotted eighth anyways)
- external tap jack
- 3 position tone switch
- relay bypass (1776 board)
- slam switch (the 2nd footswitch has 2 switchable functions)
- slam intensity trimpot (the trimpot close to the power jack)
- kill dry dip switch (next to the slam trimpot)
If anyone is interested, I modded a couple values in the 2016 edition Dirtbaby:
- C13 lowered to 10nf for a slightly brighter sound, C12 raised to 150nf for a little less noise, R4 is 22k, R35 is 56k, R37 is 120k.
- The 3 position tone switch adds 1nf or 2.2nf in parallel with C10 for a slightly darker and then much darker sound.
- The depth pot is A100k cause I find the range more pleasant (especially since R37 is a lower value)
- C3 is a standard electro with positive leg going to R37. R38 is a jumper. I still had a bipolar when I took the picture. I thought it'd help with the tap tempo/modulation issue. So far there hasn't been a problem!
Next is an Afterlife with sensitivity mod (thanks Jon Patton)
I had to use a relay bypass board (my 1st time in a 1590a) cause it was popping a lot with a regular 3pdt. Otherwise stock.
And finally a VFE Pale Horse on vero!
Let me say it is the very best overdrive I've built and played with. It can do everything a TS9 and a Timmy can do and then some. It has much more gain on tap, and all its range is lovely. It's absolutely amazing. Only thing is if I turn all the knobs cw it starts squealing. But why would I do that... And a simple buffer stops the squealing, so that'd be an option.
Instead of the compression pot I chose a 3 position clipping switch: 2xred leds, 2x1N914, 1x2N7000.
The enclosure is from Tayda, and because the top left corner is a little odd they gave me a discount on another order. Nice.
Very nice builds! Love that crowded Dirtbaby.
Tap Tempo Dirtbaby is awesome! Good job making that work!
All impressive, but the Dirtbaby blows my mind!!!
Quote from: dan.schumaker on February 02, 2017, 12:49:18 PM
Tap Tempo Dirtbaby is awesome! Good job making that work!
It was actually very easy... I replaced the resistor going from pin6 to the modulation section with a jumper, and connected the taptation board directly to pin6, and that was it!
Thanks guys! :)
By the way, the Afterlife looked way better internally when it had a 3pdt, the wiring was much cleaner, but the popping was too much for me so...
(and for those wondering, on the Dirtbaby, the voltage regulator is underneath the board)
The Dirtbaby is just ridiculous! Sometimes I've put off by over complicated stuff/adding too many option, but that really seems like it would all be useful and utilized often.
Great stuff!
All lovely! Particularly the Dirt Baby. How did you secure your vero board?
Thanks guys!
Quote from: mrclean77 on February 02, 2017, 05:20:31 PM
Sometimes I've put off by over complicated stuff/adding too many option, but that really seems like it would all be useful and utilized often.
Yeah I totally understand that, and that was actually my point with this build, to have something very practical, that would pretty much end my delay search. I have a Line6 Echo Park for its tape and digital modes but that's it... ... well... for now anyways! :) (still want to build my Aquaboy with modulation ahah)
I drilled holes in the backplate to access the kill dry dip switch, the slam intensity trimpot and the onboard delay volume trimpot (useful when in kill dry mode)
Quote from: Aleph Null on February 02, 2017, 06:02:55 PM
How did you secure your vero board?
On the Pale Horse? On the top left of the veroboard there's a little plastic thing (can't thing of the name), that is glued to the pot underneath. Otherwise some of the wiring is solid core, so that helps too.
The DirtBaby is really quite a work of art. I love the jigsaw puzzle of how you fit all of those things in there!
Awesome!! May try some (or all!) of these mods on my 2nd dirt baby build (the first one went straight onto my gigging board and hasn't left since).
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
These are beyond slick. Great work at getting all those features in the Dirtbaby.
Thanks guys! :)
Timko > yeah it was quite a fun puzzle to solve. I should have taken pictures of the process. Started with the footswitches then the tap jack on top of the switch (so very tight!) then tap tempo board and relay bypass, and finally the already prepared main board with leads going to the tone switch and to the toggle switch for slam switch. A tall BB enclosure would have been way easier, but the challenge was nice!
rumbletone > yep, I fell in love with the Dirtbaby immediately too. My favorite PT2399 based delay. :)
diablochris6 > thanks, means a lot coming from you!!
These look great! Stylish outside and nice and tidy inside.
Are these the new colour enclosures from Tayda?
awesome builds - well done
Quote from: Addy Bart on February 26, 2017, 11:59:34 PM
Are these the new colour enclosures from Tayda?
Thanks! And yeah all three come from Tayda. For the price the quality is really good.
Thanks Philthy!
It's funny you mention the squeeling with the Pale Horse. I owned an early model Pale Horse a few years ago, and recall it squeeling when everything was turned up. I think this is a normal experience with this circuit.
Great work!
No idea the cause but I've had this happen with a hot cake and solved it by swapping ICs (entirely different type, it was IC model specific in my case).
Quote from: ShredderNemo on March 02, 2017, 04:47:03 PM
It's funny you mention the squeeling with the Pale Horse. I owned an early model Pale Horse a few years ago, and recall it squeeling when everything was turned up. I think this is a normal experience with this circuit.
Good to know, thanks!
Yeah sometimes swapping ICs works. I had a squealing Demo Tape Fuzz that stopped squealing with an IC swap. In this case though it didn't work. But it really isn't a problem. The sound with all the knobs at maximum is just not usable!
Hey Boba7, thanks for paving the way! I'm about to tackle a Dirtbaby Tap Tempo with Guitarpcb.com's Tap tempo board.
I was curious about your C3 comment about the positive leg going to R38 (jumper)
Is this diagram how to wire it? (Attached picture)
Doesn't that mean R37 will not be connect to anything?
Please, let us know, thanks!
Quote from: jonyoungyi on April 19, 2017, 06:13:57 PM
Hey Boba7, thanks for paving the way! I'm about to tackle a Dirtbaby Tap Tempo with Guitarpcb.com's Tap tempo board.
I was curious about your C3 comment about the positive leg going to R38 (jumper)
Is this diagram how to wire it? (Attached picture)
Doesn't that mean R37 will not be connect to anything?
Please, let us know, thanks!
Oups I think I meant the positive leg goes to R37! And R38 is a jumper.
Don't forget to ground pin7 of the digital pot if using the Dirtbaby modulation and not the tap tempo board modulation.
Awesome, thanks for the help! I appreciate it! Excited to build this!
Hey, what is that 1590A relay bypass board?
Quote from: kinski on April 23, 2017, 03:16:59 AM
Hey, what is that 1590A relay bypass board?
http://diy.thcustom.com/shop/miniature-relay-true-bypass-kit/ (http://diy.thcustom.com/shop/miniature-relay-true-bypass-kit/)
Thought I'd update my Dirtbaby Tap Tempo build. Sadly, it didn't work well. I wasn't able to find a good PT2399 chip that didn't have white noise and sync'd with the tap tempo lights. Must have tried like 25 of them...
Everything else worked though! The tap, modulation, everything! No lfo bleed either, but that might be because I used RG174 shielded wire on my INs and OUTs.
I did notice the Feedback control, at max, would feedback like crazy, but also increase the volume to unbearable decibels! Worst I've ever heard.
Am I completely out of options? Is it my circuit that's causing the PT2399 to sound terrible?
This was going to be my V3 of this Reverb + Delay, but V2 sounds a lot better :(
Quote from: jonyoungyi on April 28, 2017, 04:09:02 PM
I wasn't able to find a good PT2399 chip that didn't have white noise and sync'd with the tap tempo lights. Must have tried like 25 of them...
All PT2399s have white noise, especially past 300 or 400ms! That's why I put a tone switch, to darken the sound (3 position) and achieve longer delays without too much noise. Or you could have a look at how the De Profundis or the Hamlet delay do it.
I raised the value of C12 (from 100n to 150n) cause I think it helps with the noise too.
Quote from: jonyoungyi on April 28, 2017, 04:09:02 PM
I did notice the Feedback control, at max, would feedback like crazy, but also increase the volume to unbearable decibels! Worst I've ever heard.
My build will oscillate for sure, but not that loudly. You can try a pair of back to back 1N4148 from pin 1 to pin 2 of the feedback pot, it will limit the volume of oscillation. If it's too much limiting, then try a pair of red leds.
Also R4 is a larger value in my build, which helps.
Where do your PT2399 come from ? None of the ones I got from Tayda worked with the taptation chip, they couldn't sync. The good ones I got from Musikding sync better, some of them perfectly, some of them just well enough.
Oh, also, WOW that looks like an INSANE build!! We need a proper build report with gut shots!!
Dude, thanks for the replies and suggestions, I appreciate it!
Oh, I forgot to mention I'm using Madbean's 2015 dirtbaby. I compared the schematic and they were almost identical with just a few resistors/caps in different parts of the PCB.
I should also mention that I only did the following mods:
C13: Nope
C12: Yup, to 150nf
R4: Yup, to 22k
R35: Yup, to 56k
R37: Yup, to 120k
C10: Nope
C3: Yup, 2u2 to standard elec with + leg going to R37
R38: Yup, jumper
A100k: Nope, kept 100kB
haha I guess I could try raising C12 too and lower C13 to compensate for the dark tone/noise "ratio"
Thanks for the suggestion on the 1n4148 back to back! Not sure which feedback lug the negative side goes to, but won't be hard to figure out! :P
The reverb I put in the pedal is a GGG reverb with a SHORT brick and it is lacking haha My V2 I had a Tenebrion Reverb with a MEDIUM brick, which sounded so good! I guess I'll finish this off and start a V4 hahaha
I built a couple 2015 Dirtbabies and I also had noise issue with them, that was quite frustrating.
So I raised C10 to 1,5n, and more important, I ran them with a charge pump, 18v instead of 9v. And the noise was gone. I never understood why.
Then I built my tap tempo Dirtbaby with a 2016 board, and I didn't need the charge pump.
Anyways, I know you have a lot going on in your build, but if you could try it at 18v for a moment, it could be interesting (and since both the taptation and the belton brick reverb are powered off regulators, I believe --though I'm not entirely sure-- you could probably try 18v for the whole pedal)
And then I want a build report with gut shots!! :)
P.S: regarding the 1N4148, since they're back to back, there's no problem with the negative side!
(Just in case, here's my build report for a couple 2015 Dirtbabies: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=23978.0)
Dude, you have been so helpful! I'll check the specs for those 5v regulators and ICs to see if everything can handle the 18v. Worst case, I can just put a chargepump dedicated to the Dirtbaby. I should have space!
When it's all said and done, I'll post gut shots and all! It's really mess though! Those RG174 cables are a hassle...
Oh, I see what you mean by back to back!
Thanks again, will post back in a few days! *high five*
Of course, I hope you get it sorted!
Did you check the voltages too? Once I had a bad 7805 that was giving out almost 7v instead of 5v, and the PT2399 went crazy...
So! I changed the following according to your 2015 build report:
IC1: OPA2134
IC4: OPA275
18v Chargepump for Dirtbaby
It's a lot better now, but I think I still need to find a pt2399 that matches the tempo clock. I ordered some pt2399 from mammothelectronics.com They were almost $3 a pop! So I'm hoping they're tested and legitimate, but who knows, didn't bother to ask haha
I saw on your 2015 build report you used an IR9022 for IC3. Haven't been able to source one, but it looks like a TL022 or any dual op amp will do.
I'm still not liking the dirtbaby all that much, but I've read so many claiming it's a great pt2399, if not, the best. I'm assuming I messed mine up haha
I should also mention that this 2015 dirtbaby pcb is considered "defective" by madbean. He received a few pcbs from his mfg where the board thickness was too thin, so I just decided to buy it at the discounted price.
Anyway, we'll see what a TL022 and new pt2399 yields!
If all else fails, I'm going to stick a Deep Blue Delay in there!
Yeah I built a Dirtbaby on a thin board too.
I think you should still try 1,5nf for C10, as I find the sound is still bright enough (I believe upping C12 to 150nf cuts a tiny bit of treble)
I had a IR9022 on hand, I don't think a TL022 or TL062 would make a difference, it's just a good idea to use a low power opamp there.
And I do LOVE my Dirtababy haha! :)
Let us know how the "good" PT2399 work. Did yours come from Tayda?
I plugged it in last night and it is not making any delay sounds, just dry hahaha
I'm going to assume the pt2399 in there is dead... Worked pretty well a few days ago, but not no more. I had a bunch from Tayda and a random eBayer who caters to pedal builders. 10x for $6.##, but I'd say half of those were the most noisiest pt2399 I've heard.
Yeah, I just have a TL062 in there.
I'll wait for those pt2399 and change C10.
Thank you! Hoping to do a build report soon... haha