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I've been on an SS preamp tear and, in my "travels," came across this tweedy, late '90s sleeper practice amp. No schematics found just yet, but the circuit looks simple enough from what I can gather - just a handful of resistors and caps, a couple TL072s, a plastic switched input, and an amp IC (possibly a TDA2030?) with a big honking heat sink. (The IEC on the back does suggest it takes bipolar power, as is fairly common in the preamp world.) Anyone familiar with this thing? It's out of production, but sounds great. Is anyone willing/able to trace it? If so, I'll happily hack together a PCB and/or vero layout.

Over the pandemic, I went through a period of obsessively watching tons of SNL clips from the Bill Hader/Kristen Wiig/Fred Armisen/Andy Samberg/Will Forte era. One of the top 5 was this Forte hallucination from the mid-Aughts:

https://youtu.be/4ALGL4Hm5g8

In a moment of COVID-era mindless productivity, I decided to use the skit as an excuse to test Tayda's UV printing service, which meant whipping up a drawing of its final moments in Illustrator. I'm actually pretty stoked about the results:



I tried a couple different fuzzes, but eventually decided to do a Dirtbox Layouts stripboard of Deadastronaut's monumental X Fuzz. I sold my original build a few years ago, and the circuit's almost-heavy rawkness felt worthy of Tenacious D:



I was a cartoonist/illustrator in a former life, so the fact that Tayda's printing looks great is a true delight. More esoteric pedals to come!

I'm about to do a Tayda run & need a few voltage regulators (not pumps or inverters, just the usual 3-leg guys) for some projects, so I was considering trying theirs. Any opinions? Good or bad experiences?

I never find ring mods usable, but I came across a demo for one of these guys & was intrigued. Are there any stripboard layouts available? Fabbed PCBs? Did a search, but all I could find was GGG's etch template... not a dealbreaker by any means, but also not my first choice.

I'm building a modded one of these for my Barrett-obsessed brother, but the original transistors (2n2613) are unobtainium &, though I'm comfy swapping in other PNP Ges, I'm not quite certain what hFe and leakage I should be pursuing. I've heard the circuit's not far off from the Maestro FZ-1A (which uses 2n2614s, according to Tagboard FX), which is a place to start. That said, I wanted to get a sense of what might worked for you fine folks before I go shopping. Any thoughts/suggestions?

So: I just built two Glassholes using roughly similar components. However, one is the platonic ideal of a Phasor II - even LED waves, great Boredoms-y overtones, etc. - while the other has a loping/inconsistent LED waveform &, in general, a lot more dry signal. Any sense of what could be causing these latter issues? My IC voltages for the imperfect one are very close to Bean's doc measurements, so that's not the issue. And the components are, as I said, very similar, with the following minor differences:

* Used a number of 1/4W resistors on the good build, but 1/8W on the iffy one. (Note: I measured all resistors before soldering & none were out of spec.)

* Used a 2K trimmer (at minimum brightness) for TR2 on the good build, but a 1K on the iffy one.

Beyond that, both builds incorporate the R46/D9 fix & have a yellow LED in D2. Again: any ideas?

Weird ask, so feel free to delete if it's too OT! Anyway:

I'm in the midst of planning a Roland DR55 drum machine clone &, being 40+ years old, the circuit predates MIDI. As a result, I'll need to outfit it with a MIDI-to-gate/trigger converter to run it. I saw a post on Muff Wiggler claiming to have Arduino code that does just that, but the code seems to be behind a forum permissions firewall. This wouldn't necessarily be a problem - I happily tried to register - but for some reason, MF's registration system seems to be on the fritz, meaning I can't complete my activation (i.e. the activation e-mail never seems to arrive). I'm now in that frustrating No Man's Land where I know a solution exists, but can't access it. Blah

So, the ask: Would a Muff Wiggler member be willing to copy and PM me the relevant Arduino code? If this is too off-the-pedal-path - or simply a breach of interforum decorum - no worries; I'm just casting about for a solution, not looking to cause a fuss. Meanwhile if all is cool, the code is (supposedly) here:

https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2343708

Let me know if you can help! I'd love to have this thing squared away by the time my PCB arrives 

Does anyone sell one? For some reason, this project is calling to me - I love the "non-Muff Muff" as a genre - but I can't seem to find a fabbed board at any of the usual ROG-friendly places (Fuzzdog, TH Custom, etc.). If nothing is around, I'll try the vero or perf version; that said, I'm definitely in "low risk of failure" mode & don't feel like going through the hours of troubleshooting that inevitably arise when I try to do larger/more complex stuff in those particular formats. I saw someone mention that VFE made 22/7 boards (or full pedals?) at some point in another thread... any extra info on that would be super-appreciated, too.

So: it feels like nearly EVERY time I try to build a tremolo, the thing just won't work. It's maddening. The list of builds I've attempted (and concluded in abject failure) include

+ A Frantone Vibutron (vero)
+ A Frantone Vibutron again (Effects Layouts PCB)
+ An EA Tremolo (vero)
+ A BYOC EA Tremolo (vero)
+ A GuitarPCB EA Tremolo (PCB)
+ An EA Trem I won in a PIF (I think?) a year or two ago (PCB)
+ A Schaller Tremolo (vero)

The EA trem was for my brother, and he definitely looked at me cockeyed after the fourth attempt. And I don't blame him! Given that the EA trem is such a standard DIY project, my failure rate is almost embarrassing. It's not all bad - I did manage to get a Fuzzdog EA Trem sorted, though it's very finicky and weird about true bypass. Many moons ago, I also got Jon P's Cardinal trem to work and it's nice, though more helicopter-y than what I tend to use for most songs. Still, I don't understand my problem here. Why is this such a blind spot for me? I mean, for example, I spent three hours on the aforementioned Schaller this afternoon. And, despite judicious use of isopropyl alcohol and component measurements up top, it's not producing sound. (I went into full-on troubleshooting mode, too: I checked the entire thing for continuity issues, looked for cold joints, reflowed the whole mess, rewired everything, replaced pots, scored the lines between strips, and recorded voltages. Weirdly, I had the exact same issue with a Lemon Drop build later in the day, so who knows what's afoot... maybe the problem is veros? But I have completed plenty of functioning veros, as well as failed to make plenty of trem PCBs work. And as far as I can tell, continuity is solid on my offboard wiring...)

I'm not kidding when I say this is maddening. I don't have EE level skills or anything, but I've made something like 50 pedals/projects, including complex BBD things, phasers, autowahs, like 10 overdrives, 20 fuzzes, PT2399 delays, reverbs, Ruby amp variations, a Deacy amp, 5 or 6 microphones, and stuff for touring friends. Trems seem to be my kryptonite; outside of the opto realm, it feels like I'm cursed. Does anyone else have this problem? What do you think the issue is?

On a related tip: if anyone has a functioning-but-unboxed Vibutron circuit at a reasonable price, I'll take it off your hands. There's no pride left here... I just want a nice trem w/a sinusoid option, and I have a box drilled and waiting for a finished circuit.

This is more a reinforcement question, but: what is the polarity on Love My Switches' generic thinline DC jacks?

https://lovemyswitches.com/thinline-2-1mm-dc-power-jack/

Looking at the Lumberg build doc elsewhere on the site, it looks like their long lug is + and short lug is -. However, the doc Lawrence provides for the cheap equivalent (that is, the version I have) is confusing, and I'm not clear if it's a 1:1 clone. My only experience wiring the jack thus far was for a Punch Amp build: going from a DIY Stompboxes thread, I wired it as noted above and ended up cooking an IC. After replacing the IC and switching to a battery pack, it was fine, but I'm now a little gunshy about using another cheap thinline. Before trying again, I just want to make absolutely sure the issue wasn't reversed polarity.

I've been futzing with putting a tremolo into a Ruby amp circuit and I want to be able to bypass it using a toggle. I've tried to replace the usual 3PDT latching stomp with an ON-ON 3PDT toggle, but it seems to kill the trem. My working theory is that I should be using an ON-OFF toggle instead. Is this correct? Or could there be some other issue I'm not seeing? The trem works just fine when not attached to a toggle switch, so I know it's not the circuit.

Does anyone have the 2014 Retrograde build doc? Or at least have a sense of how it differs from the 2016 variation? I'm building a 2014 PCB for my dad and just realized there's an extra resistor that's no longer accounted for.

https://proguitarshop.reverbsites.com

Looks like Andy will still be making demos for Reverb, but it's still a shame.

Have any of you bought these? Are they real WIMA caps? And are they within spec?

After a few (read: three in a row) likely Tayda-related vero non-starters, I started to feel like I should invest in some variant of the Peak DCA55; I had this vague suspicion that my caps (and maybe my resistors?) were dead, off spec, or some calamitous mix of both. Not having the cash for an actual Peak, I snooped around eBay and landed on this ~$15 guy:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cased-12864-Mega328-ESR-Meter-Transistor-Resistor-Diode-Triode-Capacitor-Tester/201871158671?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

It arrived yesterday and, as far as I can tell, it's a winner. It precisely detected ESR and some modest variations in some 22uF elec Tayda caps I had lying around, as well as the size/tolerance of a few resistors and the name/designation of a couple transistors. The internal library is open source, and there seems to be a small connector onboard for possible firmware updates. I bought the "boxed" version and I would suggest that others do the same, as it's otherwise just an LED screen and a PCB connected by a cheap ribbon cable. It runs on a 9v battery and goes to sleep when you're not using it. As far as provenance goes, I think it's somehow related factorywise to the inexpensive oscilloscope people were talking about a month or two back - like the oscope, it has a number of "clones"/rebadges kicking around the web.

Hopefully this will be useful to someone! I've been hankering for a Peak since I started this hobby, but the "Mega328" is a perfectly serviceable alternative (for now). 

Has anyone ever reverse engineered the Skreddy Echo? My guitarist has one and it's by far the best sounding PT2399 delay I've heard - it beats my Multiplex Jr. and virtually any YouTube demo I've come across, both in terms of tone and softly noisy repeat oscillations. I've recently realized that, thanks to the fact that I'm nearly 3 years deep into this hobby, most of my Base Pedals - OD, distortion, phase, chorus, boosts, buffers, fuzz, trem - are covered several times over*, and I foresee an Aquaboy DM-2 build on the horizon. But I'm still lacking a tape-ish delay I can believe in. Any thoughts?

(*Not that this matters - I still have like 10 pedals on deck, about 3/5 of which are ODs/fuzzes/distortions.)

I'm in the midst of trying (for the third time!) to build a PNP fuzz face - well,  aRoger Mayer Classic Fuzz on a GPCB Great Balls of Fuzz board anyway - with a voltage inverter, and this time I invested in the Road Rage instead of going down some quixotic vero path. However, I'm having the same issue I always seem to have: the effect won't turn on.

I've wired and populated the Road Rage correctly, including checking for cold solder joints/reflowing, and my multimeter reads ~9v at the +DC input pad. It also reads ~9v at the +9 out pad, which would be great if that was what I was using; unfortunately, I'm trying to use the -9 out pad, and it reads absolutely nothing there, no matter how I use the probes (black at G, red at + or vice-versa).

Because the RR seems not to be working (yet), I'm not sure if the fuzz circuit itself is causing any problems, though I plan to hook up a 9v battery later today. In the meantime, could anyone hazard a guess as to what's up with my RR? Or give me a better sense of how to troubleshoot it? All thanks in advance 

I'm in the midst of doing a multi build where two effects (EA Trem, old Rub-A-Dub verb w/BDTR-2H) are traditionally powered at 9v and the other thing, a Ruby Bassman amp, works best at 12v. My plan is to decouple the shared power with a daughter board, but I had two questions:

a) Will the two effects circuits be negatively affected if I run them at 12v?

And, if so...

b) Does anyone know how to step down from 12v to 9v using a regulator?

Multis are definitely a brave, head-scratching new world for me, so any light you folks could shed would be welcome 

Can my one suggest a trem circuit that's similar to the smooth, harmonically rich one in Vox's AC15 & AC30? I've missed that loping, tubey sound ever since I sold my AC15.

Back when I was more Gearslutz than DIYSB/Madbean, I had my eye on this pedal/pre - it seemed like a (somewhat) elegant, versatile alternative to shelling out for a Neve pre clone - but it sort of fell off my radar until this week, when Tape Op gave it a glowing review.  My interest is definitely rekindled, but, given that it's $400 for an analog pedal, I'm inclined to try and build one myself.  Does anyone have a schematic?  Or a gut shot of the PCB?  I can breadboard and prototype from there; I just need something to get me started, if possible.