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Hi everyone,

I built a GCFX Fluffgirl a while back and really dig it. Well, someone came over to check out another pedal, asked about the Fluffgirl...they had to have it - and next thing you know I am feeling a little less funky.
I picked up a Rocktron Heart Attack because I had heard it was basically a Bassballs clone. Here is what I did to it to get it towards Fluffgirl status.

First, I wanted to add a volume control to balance out the boost from switching on the distortion.
R21 was replaced with a 50k audio pot. I did have to cut a trace between C4 and R21. Lug 3 wired to the negative end of C4, lug 2 to the point where R21 met C4 and lug 1 to ground.
I did not attempt to change the bypass switching, you may have to alter your wiring slightly if you do go with another switching method

R3 and R5 should be removed and replaced with one B5k pot for your Balance control. Wire the middle lug to one of the pads where the two resistors meet (follow the circuit traces). Wire one outside lug to the other pad where R3 was and then the other lug to where R5 was.

R12 can be removed and replaced with a C500k pot wired as a variable resistor and a 47k resistor wired in series connected to ground as your Decay control.

I hope my explanation made sense. Check out http://www.grindcustomsfx.com/product/gcfx-fluffgirl/ for the schematic and it will be more clear

The enclosure is easy to work on and take apart. All parts are through-hole. I had to place my new controls on the sides which I normally wouldn't prefer to do. I might have tried to be more patient and placed them elsewhere if I had 9mm pots in the values I needed, but I was too interested in the grimy sounds I could be making to wait for parts.

Hope this helps someone looking to give some love to what seems to be a sleeper pedal. Many thanks to the GCFX crew for sharing their very cool sounding project.

Thanks to forum member the3secondrule for offering these PCBs! Jeremy has a lot of cool dirt circuits available (with pads for board mounted pots  yes!)
Thanks to flanagan0718 for the knobs, Mike always sends cool extras 

So, I've built a bunch of pedals in junction boxes. What could I do different? How could I improve?
One of the things that bugged me about the regular covers was the dirt/dust that would get into the pedal through the holes where the screws secure the cover to the box.
So I came across these covers that have a gasket and the holes are just big enough to let the body of the screw pass through. I'm still too stubborn to build with only Hammond style boxes so this helps 

This circuit is a copy of the Roger Mayer Voodoo Bass. Was planning on this being a bass only pedal, but I really like how it sounds with guitar. When I first plugged in I thought it lacked volume, sounded gated and was I heard weird filtered frequencies in the background...I forgot a resistor. Can you guess which one? Of course, the only one that isn't metal film.
50kC pot for Gain works great. Used OP07 for the op-amp. Probably won't change it unless an LM308 lands in my lap.
Cheers friends!

Looking for recommendations for delay pedals that interact well with a KROK feedback looper.
Schematic below

I've tried a number of commercial and DIY (PT2399) pedals that do nothing when the feedback pot on the KROK is turned up. I'm aware everything in the signal path makes a difference. For example, with a filter in front of the KROK, sometimes things are more tame.
Wondering if anyone has any positive experiences they can share. Post your commercial or DIY recommendations. Thanks!

So far I've had the intended effect with a:
Digitech Digidelay
Akai Headrush
Lectric-fx Memento

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/mrnico/media/Feedback20loop.gif.html

Hi friends,

Here's a mod that is originally from Nevin of Fruitsnake Bends:
http://reade2016.wix.com/fruitsnakebends

He gave me permission to post this along with my findings.

Here's what he had to say:
"The modification itself is actually very simple; an SPST switch is soldered between two points on one of the ICs, creating a controllable short-circuit. If you open up the 1002 and hold it with the output to your left, looking at it from the bottom, the IC that you want to address is the third from the left in the top row. Look at the leftmost row of pins on that IC, and count the pins starting from the bottom and moving to the top (the pin closest to the pedal casing should be number 8 ). Solder pin 2 and pin 7 to the switch, and you're done!"

As I experimented with this bend, I found that connecting pins 4 and 7 (going by Nevin's numbers) also created a similar but distinctly different sound.
I used a SPDT on/off/on toggle with the middle lug of the switch connected to pin 7 and one outer lug to pin 2 and the other lug to pin 4. This way you have your regular sound and two lofi bit-crushed rhythmic pitch-shifting modes.

I'm adding a video, but as you can probably tell, there are way more sounds to be found. Especially when the Repeat Hold button is on and you start turning the time knob. An easy way to lose a couple hours.

Hi!
Here's my Muff Gun V1.1 build on Hexjibber's board







Initially I was worried about having a noisy pedal considering the Musket is an LPB-1 into a Big Muff. However, for being what it is, it's incredibly quiet unless I crank the Pre and Gain controls.
I used a 470uf cap across the power supply jack. I also used BC550B transistors for the Muff stages. I think those were a couple tips for a quieter Muff I read at FSB. Though if I was worried about noise that much, I suppose I could have used different caps instead of ceramic nearly throughout.
Right now I'm liking how this sounds. Was playing for a minute and just had to start coping some J Mascis riffs. I put my bass though this and was loving the low and slow waves shaking my internal organs.
Thanks for the PCB. I've always been down with BMPs, but built a couple I never bonded with. This version with all the bells and whistles will stick around.

Somehow I've managed to build more pedals than months have gone by so far this year.


First off:

Madbean Cavedweller V1 with a momentary switch to select between two different times.
I had tried a momentary switch that put a 47k in series with the time pot on my CDII. Some really cool spacey effects are possible. So, why not try and make it variable? Also, the box was already drilled and needed another feature. Practicality can sound pretty inspiring sometimes.



Next up are the Tim Escobedo PWM twins. These two blue-eyed beauties (just like their father!) also feature a low-pass filter just before the output cap.







But wait, there's more junction box jammers. Yet another FY-2 with Mark Hammer's 3-way tone switch and a mids control. BC338 transistors get the job done. Got a little sloppy with my components layout, but everything works and there's no noise to speak of (except when I hit the strings and it sounds like a beehive is going to implode).





Lastly, if you're still reading this, is a rebirth of the very first Hammond style box I drilled about 9 years ago. It was originally a Tonepad D+ circuit (that has been rehoused), but is now a resonant lpf. Fun on the bass and really neat to put after an oscillating delay (I'm looking at you Cavedweller) and tweak the controls to manipulate the drones without going deaf. The usually paint and destroy method - now with black light flashbacks! Used the closest size of already cut vero to what layout called for, so some kludges were necessary.
Layout:  http://guitar-fx-layouts.42897.x6.nabble.com/Resonant-Low-Pass-Filter-Request-td15612.html
Schematic: http://electro-music.com/forum/topic-51780.html









Thanks for all your inspiration this year. Frijoles locos!

Hello again friends,

Finished up a couple of builds this weekend.

First is the Tim Escobedo Jawari. This has been one of my favorite circuits since I started building. I've messed around with it in various ways (adding buffers, boosts, filters, 40106 based drones to play along with), but have decided that simplicity is perfection. Instead of tinkering with it, I just need to play with it. That's the point, right?


Built this into a junction box I painted with Dupli-Color spray truck bed liner. I've always had a love/hate relationship with the stuff. It looks cool, but it always seems to chip and come apart even with careful prep.










Next build is a common one, but my first 1590A. A rullywow Fo Sho. Thanks for sharing the PCB on OshPark! Gold hammered Rustoleum spraypaint. It was a fun exercise in "measure twice, cut once". I think I'll take on another 1590A when I get the chance.

Built a couple of the OG Cave Dwellers over the years and have always been curious about the dual PT2399 version.
Flanagan0718 whipped me up a cool black PCB and I got to work. Had some trouble with this circuit boosting volume and acting a fool, but over the period of a month or so, I kept coming back to it and finally got it going. So don't give up!

Built in my go-to enclosure for personal builds, a simple junction box. No gut shots, built with a bunch of pre-cut spare wires and we all know what spaghetti looks like.



Controls from left to right: Time, Mix, Dwell

Momentary footswitch places a 47k resistor between lugs 3 and 1 of the Time control

Just a couple variances from the schematic:
R1: 680k
R2: 560k
R20: Empty
R12: Lowered, perhaps too much...might play with the value.

Hi friends!

This is the third (and possibly final) Shin-Ei FY-2 Companion fuzz I've built. This is also my first completed build since I started posting here.

Mark Hammer is a champion of this circuit and has some great mods for it.

I added his 3 way tone control, a mids control and a bass control (which is subtle)



Here's the thread that image was posted in

The first time I built one of these I used Mark Hammer's "Bottom" switch to control bass. On this build I replaced the 100k resistor in parallel with the 0.047 cap with a 100k pot. Both are subtle, but I decided I'd rather have it than not. This idea came from Luciferstrip from a thread on diystompboxes.

Here's the schematic with the mids control:


I've always wired up the Fuzz control as in the first schematic, Fuzz Rite style. Wired this way it allows the stock buzz to pierce through or for a much more muffled tone.
The FY-2 is known for low output. I think it gets loud enough, but it never "boosts". Adding the mids control adds some volume back, but also turns the FY-2 into something different than the original. Fun option though, no doubt.
The 3-way tone switch is where it's at though. Really makes the FY-2 something special. Thank you Mr. Hammer! Really enjoy the versatility of this one so much it might actually be the last fuzz I build, it sounds great on guitar and bass.
(Don't worry, I've done many others and will probably do one or two more!)

This build wouldn't exist without some great members here. Flanagan0718 traded me the enclosure, the knobs and a 3PDT PCB. The enclosure was a white blem from PPP I believe. Tcpoint also provided the stomp switch and jacks when I purchased a PCB for a different project from him.
I hit this one with a brown spray can and then used steel wool in a circular motion to reveal the original coat of paint underneath.

Hi friends,

Having some trouble with my Cave Dweller Dub. Heavily distorted output, volume is much louder than clean signal.

http://madbeanpedals.com/projects/CaveDweller/CaveDweller.pdf

Modifications: 680k for R1, 560k for R12, socket for R20 (though leaving it out or putting 180k didn't fix the problem), R19 uses a couple resistors in series and doesn't quite add up to 620R, but it is close. I am using the MIX mod.

Voltages:

DC jack: 9.19 V

REG output: 5.06 V

Q1
C: 29.5 mV
B: .590 V
E: 2.528 V

Q2
C: 28.8 mV
B: .589 V
E: 2.521 V

IC1
1: 5.06
2: 2.52
3: 1.5 mV
4: 1.3 mV
5: 2.908
6: 2.528
7: .940
8: .947
9: 2.528
10: 2.527
11: 2.527
12: 2.529
13: 2.526
14: 2.524
15: 2.626
16: 2.529

IC2
1: 5.06
2: 2.527
3: 2.3 mV
4: 2.3 mV
5: 2.94
6: 2.521
7: .863
8: .830
9: 2.521
10: 2.528
11: 2.528
12: 2.520
13: 2.528
14: 2.529
15: 2.698
16: 2.529

I know it's a small amount on pins 3 & 4 of each IC, but I'm thinking there should be no voltage there.
I can post photos of my build if needed. Thanks a ton!

Is there a way to alter the wave shape of the LFO on the Zero Point Micro?
I've tried to compare it to other LFO schems, but haven't figured it out yet. Thanks!