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been on a minor build spree lately, these two are from this week. 

foxx tone machine been sitting in a drawer for a year on vero but i decided to properly finish and box it.  happy with the decision, it sounds huge!

the harbinger took a bit of work to source + build + calibrate but it's excellent.  really fun to play and constantly entertaining knowing there's a little light globe in there having a party. 

scratched the decal after clear coating as usual.  also wired the speed pot backwards.  DIY LIFE

sup folks

never really been into wahs but been asked to play some RATM so did some shopping around and got a second hand crybaby last week.  i've done a couple of mods including true bypass with an LED using a usual tayda blue 3PDT switch.  it works fine but the spacing is not perfect and even mounted at the lowest point where i'm able to trigger the switch, there's still a clicking in normal use when putting the toe down.  the felt pad touches the top of the switch and because it's noisy you can hear it.  it's not a big deal but is a bit annoying, and the actual switching needs more force than i'd like, need to be standing up. 

i was looking into other options and to keep the LED it seems to be:

• mess with the rubber stoppers and felt switch
• low profile switch eg: https://lovemyswitches.com/3pdt-latched-foot-switch-low-profile-solder-lugs/
• 'soft' 3PDT switch
• relay bypass

i think the relay is the nicest, but i've never built one.  before i buy all the bits, has anyone tried it and have an opinion about whether the travel would work for a wah?  ie there's about 1mm of actuation between normal toe down and a 'hard' press for turning the pedal on.  can this be dialed in with the momentary switch or will it be a pain in the ass?  i'm envisaging a switch where the toe down motion taps it slightly but it won't make noise and it won't be enough to trigger it. 

many thanks for any input, waka waka

(messing with the sound options has been fun also, if i can sort out this switching i've got some idea to make a nice version from scratch)

hey folks

trying to bash my way through learning how to use eagleCAD and ordered a couple of small PCBs from china.  first pedal attempt is a tonebender mk ii professional (this schem: http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/mkII.php) because i have a whole bunch of russian transistors and been meaning to make one for a while.  i was genuinely not expecting it to work at all but damned if it didn't fire up first shot.  it sounds pretty decent to me, quite nasty, raw and lots of sustain.  but i don't know exactly what it's supposed to sound like.. might be horrible.  i'm sure i need to audition transistors properly, next step is building a little proper gain/leakage tester and sorting them all into buckets.  also want to try and include a voltage inverter to put in LED and DC jack.

anyway really cool fun!  still a LOT to work on (eagle is so fiddly i have little idea what is going on most of the time) but a nice different ballgame from vero.

last pic is with the other russian Ge builds, a fuzz face and a rangemaster.  carved all the stamps.

hello

just finished another build from pedalPCB - i've tried messing around with the FV-1 before including on breadboard but this is the first time i've made a proper build with it.  great pedal!  the included reverbs are very nice.  having 8 possible effects in the one box is pretty amazing.

also first time trying tamiya model paint underneath, and a full face laser waterslide decal wrapping around the top of the box.  it was fun, the paint is intense.  too impatient to get it perfect, the decal broke in a couple of spots, but it seems pretty durable under the clear coat.

next step is buying some EEPROMs, copying some more existing programs and trying to program my own.  i love the OBNE dark star so i'm going to try and copy that (possibly by.. just copying the EEPROM)





with its buddy

heyo

had this board sitting populated for ages but finally got the pots and enclosure last week.  great PCB layout from pedalpcb, super neat to build.  it sounds FANTASTIC - heavy, rich, smooth, etc and can get very boomy with the 'tight' rolled off.  not as gritty/nasty as the VH4.  internal gain pot is still set to minimum i haven't played with it yet.

wasn't sure what to do with finishing so i tried paper and mod podge for the first time.  not bad, pretty rough and ready, paper was too thick (can see on the edges and around the LED hole especially) and mod podge a bit coarse but hey it's not going to market.  next build i am going to try decal and a light coloured enclosure, maybe envirotex.

tl;dr excellent board, definitely recommend

cheers!

hey folks

currently building the FV-1 project from DIY stompboxes and i'm stuck at the point of programming the 12F683 PIC it uses to convert pot values to pin voltage for the FV-1 program select pins.

i have the code in what i guess is assembly language,

Code Select Expand

;3 bit glitchless A2D converter
;Version 1 05/09/2011
;          __________
;   VDD ---|        |--- VSS
;       ---| 12F683 |--- Bit 0
; CV In ---|        |--- Bit 1
;       ---|________|--- Bit 2

    list   P=PIC12F683
    #include "P12F683.INC"
     __config (_INTRC_OSC_NOCLKOUT & _WDT_OFF & _PWRTE_OFF & _MCLRE_OFF & _CP_OFF & _IESO_OFF & _FCMEN_OFF & _BOD_OFF)
     
    cblock 0x20
    new
    current
    count
    endc

    org 0

Start:
     banksel GPIO
     clrf GPIO          ;clear GPIO
     movlw 07h
     movwf CMCON0       ;turn off comparators
     banksel TRISIO
     movlw b'00010000'  ;set pin3 as input rest as output
     movwf TRISIO
     banksel ANSEL
     movlw b'00011000'  ;set pin3 as analogue input (AN3)
     movwf ANSEL
     banksel ADCON0
     movlw b'00001101'  ;turn on ADC on AN3 left justified
     movwf ADCON0
     
Mainloop:
    nop                 ;wait for a bit
    nop
    nop
    nop
    nop
    nop
    nop
    nop
    nop
    nop
    nop
    nop
    banksel ADCON0
    bsf ADCON0,GO       ;Do ADC
    btfsc ADCON0,GO
    goto $-1

    banksel ADRESH
    movf ADRESH,w
    movwf new           ;write upper 8 bits to new register
    swapf new,f         ;swap upper and lower bits
    rrf new,w           ;move 1 step to the right bits 5,6,7 now in positions 0,1,2
    andlw b'00000111'   ;clear 5 upper bits
    movwf new           ;write back to new register
    subwf current,w     ;subtract from current value
    skpz                ;skip next line if zero ie:- new = current
    goto counter        ;if new <> current goto counter
    movlw b'11111111'   ;reset count to 255
    movwf count
    goto Mainloop       ;back to the start

counter:
    decfsz count,f      ;deduct 1 from count, if count = 0 skip the next line
    goto Mainloop       ;if count > 0 go back to the start
    movf new,w          ;if count = 0 move value of new to current
    movwf current
    banksel GPIO
    movwf GPIO          ;and send to GPIO
    goto Mainloop       ;back to the start

    end

and i have etched a SOIC adapter with the pickit2 hooked up, and i've installed the MPLAB software, it seems to read the PIC fine.  but i have no idea how to compile the hex aside from copying the code into an MPLAB project source folder and hitting 'compile' which.. doesn't work.  i don't know if i need to set up the PIC differently first, or am missing some configuration type files, or have the wrong language, or location.

anyone got any advice as to programming these things?  i've been kinda slamming my head into various online resources but i lack the knowledge to know where i'm even going wrong and it's pretty overwhelming.  my programming knowledge extends to messing around with an arduino briefly.  i've been interested in the relay bypass threads and checked out coda effects' great write up but can't seem to apply to this PIC.

i would post in the DIYstompboxes thread but it's already a million pages long and would rather work it out first then post the answer there for any foragers.

many thanks for any assistance!  any pointers at all appreciated, my next bet is to start from scratch learning to program some simple LED blink type code onto the PIC to see how it works and then try and sorta reverse engineer the pot conversion code from there.

hey folks

been sitting on this PCB for quite a while (thanks andlord!) and had circuit plus enclosure in various states of half done but never had the time to drill and finish it all up.  finally did so today.  it sounds MASSIVE and all round great, nice at all settings so far.  the low end available with the deep control is just.. woah.

mine isn't shielded at all and i don't know if it's this plus the design or what but it squeals past 12 gain.  vanishes if i put a buffer in front so i'm tempted to just leave it, i use the SDD preamp a lot anyway.  i have another PCB which i might build up for troubleshooting purposes.  the offboard wiring of 7 pots is a minor pain and it's a tight squeeze in the enclosure but overall the build is straightforward.

left the etch in for way too long, i usually go too short so wanted to try deeper etching.  which worked, but so did the ferric through the toner.  another one for the 'home made look' pile (ie all of them haha).  had fun with the spraypaint though.

got a friedman BE-OD to box up next weekend so high gain is sorted i think

hey folks

got a little bunch of russian germanium PNP transistors from small bear and been playing around with some of them making a fuzz face for the first time.  they aren't super high gain (almost all <100) so it's not a wild fuzz but it sounds nice and i have had a tonne of fun playing with the circuit and making this build.  as per usual learned a whole bunch of things for next time.

been meaning to try stazon ink for a while and was looking at options for getting rubber stamps printed, but went through a craft shop yesterday and ended up hand carving letters and a bear which came out so much more 'bear like' than i was expecting that i started laughing when i saw it.  the stamp on the actual build failed a few times, it's much harder to stamp big things on a smooth surface i discovered. 

i hope google translate hasn't let me down on the name.

might build a bunch more as gifts etc, i've got a whole lot more transistors coming from actual russia now.

no LED or power jack for laziness / authenticity? reasons.  also decided against putting the bias knob outside as per sunface, just because i like the simple 2 knob look.

cheers!





bonus stamp carving

hey all

looking at making a small bear order and i see that FV-1 chips and belton bricks are basically the same price.  i've had a look around but it's pretty confusing - are there any simple, 'drop the chip in' reverb circuits for the FV-1?  using the algorithms that are pre-programmed into the chip?  like the equivalent of the rub-a-dub reverb for the belton brick.

obviously the surface mount makes a difference and i understand (vaguely) there are a bunch more things that can go wrong with an FV-1 circuit due to noise etc.  and way more possibilities for interesting effects.  but would love a straightforward, does what it says on the tin hall / room reverb to contrast with the spring feel of the beltons.

many thanks for any leads.  i've searched quite a bit on this but it seems a lot of detailed projects around the development board and equivalents..

hey folks, did a bunch of vero builds this week, tried some new things, some substantially more successfully than others.  but all pedals fired up first time which was very satisfying.  they sound excellent too can recommend all of them. 

apologies for huge pictures trying to resize them broke my mind

cheers!

---

lunar module with BC109Cs.  wasn't sure how to finish reverse etch, didn't feel like spray painting and instead got carried away with gold paint pen.

works great and sounds roaring.  but the small potentiometers are real sketchy, didn't think it through and should have used panel mount pots.  trying to figure out if i can brace them into the enclosure.




reverberation machine with an added momentary feedback switch.  toner transfer because cbf etching and i like that it looked like a library photocopy.

things to never do again: use a mini switch where all six lugs are needed.  also that trimpot.  my shame.  it sounds great, though a few gremlins i probably need to go over it.




demo tape fuzz.  just went a bit ham here.

mod podge festival on the inside back cover.  also, sound wise this pedal kicks so much ass.  i love it.




jan ray / timmy.  first try on the gold paint pen for fun.  jeez i really fucked up a bunch on this enclosure.

really nice pedal to make though.  sounds super pleasant, the EQ is a little light on but this might just be at low volumes.

ok!  so over the last week-ish i made some vero pedals

was blown away by this wonderful build posted a little while ago so did what anyone would do, blatant copying with a substantial drop in quality.  also first time doing 'normal' etching as opposed to reverse and paint.  far from perfect but was nice to do.  used a rolling pin on the transfer and will definitely keep doing this.

clari(not) - goofy effect with a quite huge range of sounds.  took a couple tries and a bit of head scratching to get going, and is a slightly temperamental thing.  so much fun to play, i have been loving the (very) worn VHS vibe of travis picking with a bit of detuning and no doubt pissing off my neighbours by zoning out for ages doing so.  quite a useable fuzz on its own with the delay off.

fuzz factory - i've had the vexter version for a while, and A/Bing with the vero i was surprised to find it's about a 80-90% overlap which is pretty cool.  the vexter is less noisy and wild (!?), and the stab/voltage starve on the vero doesn't work perfectly, even at full voltage with the drive on full it shrieks (hence name).  have to back the drive off to 3o'clock to get it to stop.  i'm going to try and breadboard a circuit at some point to test more thoroughly.  most interesting part, i ordered a germanium matched pair and put them in there, then tried throwing in some 75c 2N3906 silicon transistors.  was expecting it to sound horrible but.. it sounds really, really similar on almost all settings.  certainly enough to be useable, so i'm going to try using the AC128s in something less crazy.







offboard wiring is still my nemesis but slowly improving.  learned a bunch doing these.  also first time putting a battery in (fuzz factory, not in the picture) i figure that's the one pedal where it lasts basically forever and cuts the noise from a power supply.

finally a civil war-ish big muff from last weekend.  socketed most everything to be able to experiment.  i still will tweak some values for a bit more bass and the diode stages are somewhat random (LED + silicon) but it sounds pretty freakin excellent to me.  the mid switch adds a lot.  was a very interesting exercise.

had meant to make all black enclosure with raised black lettering but the etch wasn't deep enough and i don't think it would have worked anyway.  i kinda like the not-properly-cleaned etchant look so left it as is.  extremely questionable calligraphy skills.





cheers!

hey folks

finished this pedal today.  been a big week of building after about a month off - finally sent out big parts order, and just got the packages from tayda and small bear so i have a lot to do..

the build of this one went almost perfect from the circuit side, but the etching gave me trouble and there was too much paint for the (lack of) depth of the etch.  oh well.  i still love ya little guy.  i thought i might have to audition various PT2399s but they worked fine first time.  i've never built using them before.

really nice circuit, love the sound and the PCB design is fantastic.

next up is the slow loris rat and a preamp from aion, and probably a couple of vero builds.  i got a belton brick i really want to build an interesting reverb with.

cheers!

hey folks

played this pedal in a guitar shop and really enjoyed it, plus the one knob design is hilarious.  saw the vero design on tagboard, super small circuit and already had some LM386 ICs around so built it on vero a few weeks ago.  finally got around to etching and boxing over the weekend.  few errors in the etch and layout and not the cleanest soldering/wiring ever but hey i like it and it sounds ludicrous.  lots of fun. 

also had two madbean PCBs arrive last night so many thanks brian and on to the next ones!

cheers!

hey folks

had a lot of fun (and many mistakes) making this, my first pre-fab PCB, first etch and first proper enclosure with a stomp switch.  learned heaps and keen to move on to the next one!  i love how much problem solving and general mixture of creativity and tech is involved.

many thanks to this forum for etching and painting tutorials in particular.  i did a bunch of reading here and around while gathering parts.

cheers!