News:

Forum may be experiencing issues.

Main Menu
Menu

Show posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

Show posts Menu

Messages - pikervs

#1
I do not possess any commercial pedal, but my guitar teacher does and I particularly dig 3 of his effects.
1) Budda Budwah
This thing has a HUGE tone, really fat and powerful. If the Crybaby sounds like a newborn baby crying, the closest thing the Budwah sounds like is the All Blacks doing their signature haka dance.
2) Carl Martin Chorus XII
A great chorus. Both in mono and stereo mode it just sounds great; best pedal I've heard, second only to the Roland JC-120 built in chorus.
3) Carl Martin Plexitone
The High Gain section is good, and so is the boost (which is put after the drive section), but the reason I really like this effect is the crunch channel: it is punchy and not muddy at all and it does not mask the tone of the guitar you use.

Anyway, I should mention I own a Zoom G5 digital multi-effect unit. It's really great for what it's worth: the only simulations that I do not like really much are the overdrives, some really high-gain distortions and some amps. The crunchs it has sound good though.
#2
oh. my. god.
I can't even begin to describe how much this project, nay, this GODSEND, will mean to me. madbean, you little genious, you!
there's nearly everything I could ask for in it! it's only missing the Zero Point delays (but I have a feeling the YubDub will be just as good as a project), the Pearl Octaver (I can live without it though), the vintage Fuzz Face (but there's TONS of other fuzzes I can totally work with there), the ehx and mxr flangers (this is a bit of a letdown but I already have a nice electric mistress layout so I can't complain) and the Phase 90 (but there's plenty of layouts for this plus there's the phase 45 in here)!
thinking about the etchers is such a nice thing to do... oh god, I'm dropping some massive spaghetti, am I not?

I have some questions:
1) when is all this going to be released to the public? (I bet you saw this question coming ahah)
2) is the Boneyard (Carl Martin Plexitone) going to be the 3 channel version (boost, crunch and hi-gain)?
3) will you add any other Paul C. inspired effects to this, given you included a FatBastard clone?
4) will all the old files still be available?

Looking forward to it! (and looking forward to an answer as well ahah)
#3
Open Discussion / Re: home etching boards layouts
May 01, 2014, 12:37:06 PM
Oh, it's not that I want to save money by building pedals instead of buying them, but I certainly don't want to overspend funding a hobby (even if it helps with my guitar playing) by making a big muff clone for 150 dollars :-[
Also, the ability to build effects that are no longer available or even original projects is something I deem really satisfying. That's why I do this.

Kudos to twin65. I knew some of those sites (doctortweek and musikding) but I never heard of the others; gotta go check'em out.
#4
Open Discussion / Re: home etching boards layouts
May 01, 2014, 10:59:50 AM
Ah, so you received the PM! Ahah, no problem, I gave a look and then figured your answer out myself! In the process I stumbled upon your open projects (and one of those is incidentally a univibe) and they're quite interesting for someone who is learning Eagle like I am. I TOTALLY get the fact you want to make money off your work: you put time, effort and money on those projects.
Like I said before, maybe I'll place an order when the new projects are released, since the modulation and echo effects are the ones I'm particularly interested in and it sounds like the Zero Point Super Deluxe 2 will be a great effect. Then again, maybe not ahah. It depends on how much I have at my disposal (I have to order a speaker from Weber for a cabinet I have to build).

@Clayford
No worries. It happens to everyone. It's the classic situation where you would want to count up to ten before speaking... well, actually, typing ahah
#5
Open Discussion / Re: home etching boards layouts
May 01, 2014, 09:20:53 AM
I'm not concerned about the stuff I can find on Mouser (the people there have an Italian branch). I'm more worried about stuff is only available from sites like Smallbear (some specific ICs for instance). It's not too big of a problem, but thanks for hel anyway.
#6
Open Discussion / Re: home etching boards layouts
May 01, 2014, 09:04:00 AM
No, I don't want to enter the commercial side of the thing (and if I did I wouldn't use someone else's work, for sure!). Maybe I could build a pedal for some friends that do not have the skill and/or time to do it themselves, but that's it.
Jacob's advice is actually great. I could home etch some boards and order the more complicated ones off the website! Welp, gotta start saving...


P.S.
I didn't even get started on the parts side of the thing! Lots of stuff is only available from smallbear, so that's an awful lot of other taxes to get those... the more one can save maintaining quality, the better. It's a hobby, after all.
#7
Open Discussion / Re: home etching boards layouts
May 01, 2014, 08:41:26 AM
Pietro, before going on insulting people, I think you should gather some information first. However, I admit I misscalled the VAT: in the USA it's known as the sales tax.
Let's suppose you make a 200 dollars order from a seller in America, and you live in Italy (taking shipping into account). Once it arrives in Italy you've got to pay the importing taxes (+5%) reaching 210 dollars, then the Italian VAT (+22%) reaching 256.2 dollars, then the customs fixed tax (+7.63 dollars), making a total of 263.83 dollars. If the seller is gentle enough to remove the american sales tax (why would I pay that? I don't live there. also, the seller is unaffected by this, profit-wise) this total drops to 238.21 dollars. It's not much, but it's something (especially now that money's tight). Also, in a lot of situation the importing taxes rates skyrocket for no good reason, so having a low total could end up saving MUCH more.
I hate to look like the penny-pinching guy, but I also hate to be insulted when I did no harm.
As per Clayford, I'm curious to know what you edited out ahah
#8
Open Discussion / Re: home etching boards layouts
May 01, 2014, 07:48:48 AM
Thanks for all the replies :)
FYI: I heard that with DHL and the likes the problem at the customs is reduced... also, I think Madbean could take the VAT off international orders without losing any money.
I could order some of the more complicated PCBs in the future, but I think that I'll stick with the home etched ones for the time being.
#9
Open Discussion / Re: home etching boards layouts
May 01, 2014, 05:54:22 AM
I have some knowledge on how to use Eagle actually... if I reproduced the two layers of Madbean's projects as etchable layouts and then proceeded to transfer them on the two sides of a fr4 board and drilled and wired the vias wouldn't the result be the same?
#10
Open Discussion / Re: home etching boards layouts
April 30, 2014, 02:05:42 PM
It's not that I don't want to buy Madbean's PCBs! The fact is I live in Italy, so I would have to wait a really long time (even months) for an order to arrive and I also could end up paying up to 3 times (or even more) the actual value of my order if I take into account shipping, the Italian V.A.T. (22%) and other ridiculous taxes the people at the customs office could apply to my package!
However, is it possible to have the layouts for making double sided circuits? I think I can make some decent vias if I solder a jumper using stranded wire in the pcb holes...
#11
Open Discussion / home etching boards layouts
April 30, 2014, 06:17:23 AM
Ok, here's the deal: I really like the madbean projects and I also like to etch my own boards, but some projects (like the Harbinger One, the Pork Barrel and others) do not have an etchable layout that I can use for the toner transfer method.
How can I get those layouts?
#12
Introductions / Hello everyone
April 30, 2014, 06:08:41 AM
Hi!
Fellow builder from Italy reporting in!