(This was original posted on the PedalPCB forum, but folks around here have been helpful in my quest to learn how to work with FV-1 pedals, so figured it would be good to post here too.)
"I'll just build you a double pedal", he said. "It will be easy", he said.
Last year I built an older PedalPCB Arachnid pedal with a custom EEPROM for my wife/band mate to use with her Nord Electro keyboard. She has really enjoyed it, but two things always stuck out to me:
- The non-rotary mode knob of the older board resulted in her having issues finding the right patch between songs
- 90% of the time she's got a delay running after her Arachnid no matter the patch
The first point is easy, as I can just build a new board with the 2019 revisions. While I'm at it, why not just build a second one with a delay, but maybe some other things too for extra fun? Thus, this beast was born:
(https://dogisblue.com/images/pedals/double-arachnid-2017-04-17_01.jpg)
I haven't finalized the patch selection yet. Right now it's a mix of an EEPROM from PedalPCB and another filled with random patches from SpinASM forums (there are some fun, weird ones out there).
Some hopefully useful additions include:
- Toggle switch to select the order of the 2 PCBs
- Send/return jacks for an effects loop (inserted after the 1st PCB, so less useful when the order is flipped)
- Master bypass stomp (middle switch) that bypasses the entire thing (including effects loop)
(https://dogisblue.com/images/pedals/double-arachnid-2017-04-17_02.jpg)
Many mistakes were made along the way, like:
- Not checking the build doc and assuming all pot values were the same as the old board---it was a real pain to realize I'd used B100K for the mix pots on both well after I'd gotten to the boxing up stage.
- Assuming the effects loop would be easy to insert, but forgetting that I'd also decided on the order switching toggle. This resulting in a lot of trial and error
- Would probably prefer LEDs on the order switch toggle, but couldn't be bothered with the extra wiring
In any case, I tried it on guitar last night with my original PedalPCB Octagon in the effects loop and it sounded great:
(https://dogisblue.com/images/pedals/double-arachnid-2017-04-17_03.jpg)
Now to spend some time choosing patches!