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Re-Orders have arrived and are now back in stock. The following PCBs are now available: Low Rider, Weener Wah, Dirtbag Deluxe, Mudbunny, Pork Barrel and the Cave Dweller. The Double Flush did not arrive in the shipment, so I am contacting the manufacturer to find out when they will get here. I've put a tentative date down for 7.30, which is a week from today.

On note: the Cave Dweller is a rev.1 PCB. I reduced the width of the PCB by 1mm to make it fit better in the 1590A and relocated the 9v/Gnd connections for the DC jack to the top of the PCB. No circuit changes were made. The project doc has been updated to reflect these changes.

Actually, this one is pretty easy to figure out. Only notable because it is a home-made two layer board and actually sounds totally great despite the use of non-stock parts (multi-layer caps). For whatever reason, this one has a lot of even sounding harmonics...more-so than other, umm, super secret mystery mojo builds I've done.

I've done a few two layer boards like this---not really all that hard if you take your time and plan your component stuffing ahead of time.

I placed the order for some re-stocks a couple of days ago. Here's what's coming:

Cave Dweller (revised for a slightly more narrow layout)
Dirtbag Deluxe
Double Flush
Weener Wah

Also, I will be getting more Mudbunny, Pork Barrel and Low Riders which are about to go out of stock in the next few days. The shipment for all boards should arrive around 07.21.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get any new projects done on this run---the re-orders went right up to my available budget. The next round of boards will be a few new projects, though! I have at least a half dozen completed projects ready for manufacturing ATM.

105 degrees here in TN today and tomorrow. I moved from Texas to get away from this kinda thing!

This has occupied most of my week so far. My original prototype had numerous errors which kinda bummed me out. So, I decided to start over and do a single sided layout. My first attempt had the envelope detector set up more like the Meatball, with extra Attack and Decay controls. The LED drivers were pumped through a 2n3904 transistor with the base being fed by the output of the envelope. I managed to make a new mistake on this layout due to swapping an op-amp. But, I figured that out quickly and re-routed what I needed to under the board.

Anyway, this approach actually did not work out very well- The transistor seemed to be driving the LED too hard and it would sometimes "freak out". So, I removed the 2n3904 and got it going. But, the Attack and Decay controls just were not doing it for me. So, I started over again with another layout, this time setting it up more like the original. Now the envelope drives the two LEDs on the Vactrols directly and I added a Sweep control, which sets the intensity (this is Rx on R.G's "Neutron" project). That did the trick! There are a couple of other mods. I reduced the input gain a bit since at the very top of the gain it seemed to crap out. That was done just by increasing the input resistor a bit. The other mod is that the unit is true bypass, and an inverted output stage was added with a gain trimmer in case one needs a little more out. This means the input and output are now in phase, unlike the original Mutron.

Overall, I am really happy with it. The double sided layout is already done, and it is a variation of the layout you see here. The double sided layout will board-mount the pots and two switches. The rotary switch will be wired (only requires 4 wires).

The etch on this one came out really nice, even though I misspelled the name. That was probably because I rushed that like hell---I only spent an hour on it from design to finished etch. But, she looks real cool. Mostly due to the Cthulhu drawing which I swiped from the web.

I took a lot of inspiration from Haberdasher's recent Collosalus build (IOW, I stole his idea mercilessly) when putting this together. The artwork was liberated from the internet and then I added the text, etc. I dig the look, although I think I will go with all white knobs eventually.

This thing has some serious fat sounds. It will take some learnin to figure out all the settings. And, it's so damn big! But, it was a fun and challenging build.

The Meatsphere is a project on www.musicpcb.com. Great board and layout from Taylor!

So, in light of recent events (some financial hardships which I explained a month or so ago) I have slowed down project development and the release schedule for the coming months. Which is not to say that I will not be releasing any new projects or cancelling anything. More that I will not be releasing 10 different PCBs at once like this last round.

So, what I am planning on doing is trying to put out one or two new projects about every 6-8 weeks, plus restocking PCBs that get sold out. I think this is a pace I can maintain and afford...and I think that's pretty reasonable, too.

-- I WILL be re-stocking the Dirtbag. It seems there is still enough interest and demand to build it, so I'll get some more made on the next order.

-- I am still working on the new Aquaboy and Aquaboy Deluxe versions.

-- The Stage Fright, Nautilus, Harbinger, Zero Point, etc (all the stuff I've mentioned before) is still going to happen when I can get them finished and fit into the schedule.

Basically, all the big fun stuff I still really wanna get done so even if I am not giving updates regularly on them, don't take that as they are not going to happen. I'm still stoked to get a lot of these things to completion.


Anyway, if there are any questions about this, fire away and I will answer.

Finally got around to boxing this one up. I'm quite happy with it now. It's got two switches for clipping choices. One is for hard clipping and one for soft. The hard clipping selects between two red LEDs, none, and two BAT85. It sounds like a vintage / Marshall kind of choice. The soft clipping is BAT46 doubled up. This is similar to the vintage hard mode, but a little brighter. All around enough choices to make me happy. The LEDs are my favorite I think.

The actual circuit is basically the Klon, but the power section has been simplified so it runs on +/- 9v. The IC is an TLC274BCN. The LM347 also sounds good.

So, this one is done. I'll be looking to get some made pretty soon. Demo to follow.

Discontinued/unavailable projects have been relocated to the forum rather than being posted on the Projects Page. The reason for this change is I still get multiple emails a day asking me when such and such PCB can be purchased even though I have tried to make it clear certain projects are no longer available. Hopefully, this will make things more clear. All the links and info attached to each of the recloated projects are still there--just in a different part of the MBP website:

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?board=25.0

ChunkChunk, EgoDriver, GreenBean, Thunderpuss and Cupcake PCBs are now back in stock! http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/index.html

The Chunk Chunk and Cupcake are new layouts. The EgoDriver has been revised to fix the mistake from the last version (clipping LEDs did not connect to the right place). The GreenBean and Thunderpuss are unchanged.

[I did make two changes from the stock BOM:]

Q4 and Q5 were swapped on the layout pics and schematic of the Collosalus doc even though the BOM listed the correct parts for both. Just to be clear: Q4 is BC549C and Q5 is 2N5087. I have updated the layout and schematic pics in the doc. http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/Collosalus/docs/Collosalus.pdf

Also, to follow-up on some of the clock noise/ heterodyning issues I encountered with a 9v supply (as mentioned in this post): The noise appears to only have been a problem with my prototype build. I built one of the production boards (which had a couple of changes from the prototype layout) and had no problem with noise.

I did make two changes from the stock BOM: I replaced D4/D5 with 1N5817 (origin. 1N4001) and C26 with 100uF (orig. 10uF). It worked perfectly fine with my 1-Spot and had no noise at all. I also used a 1M pulldown which I did not have on my proto board, but that likely had nothing to do with the noise.

If you do run into clock noise, try those changes!

I got an email from Smallbear letting me know they made some changes to their website which may cause some of the links in the project documents to become broken. Unfortunately, I don't have time to deal with this right away. In the meantime, if you are unsure about a part/component linked up to SB in any of the build docs, please feel free to ask here for help. The issue is not on their end---it's the non-updated links in the docs.

gt2 has pointed out the the Cave Dweller PCB is just a bit wide for a straight plop down into the 1590A. I made a last minute change on the borders which appeared to be within spec (less than 1.4" wide) but as it turns out is just about 1/2 mm wider than it should be making it difficult to lay flat on top to the jacks.

Here's what to do. Place a piece of sandpaper flat on a table. Hold it down with one hand and then swipe the left side of the PCB back and forth about 10-15 strokes. Then repeat with the right side. It only takes about 10 seconds to do and it removes just enough to get the PCB straight down. Do not over-sand! 10 -15 strokes on each side is all that is needed! REMEMBER: PCBs are made up of a fiberglass backing. The dust is not something you want to breathe directly or keep in your work area. Make sure you use proper precaution when sanding (well ventilated area or using a mask), and dispose of the PCB shavings immediately.

If you don't have sandpaper, use an Xacto knife and trim the sides instead...the material can be trimmed fairly easy. This also creates a little mess to clean up, but it does not produce dust.

Starting today, I will be doing this procedure myself on the Cave Dweller PCBs before shipping them out to save customers the trouble.

The green highlighted area in the image below is about the amount that should be removed.

[the Road Rage was updated a bit]

I'll be somewhat "checked out" for the next several days. We have a bit of a family crisis here: my mother in law is gravely ill and my wife is in Texas helping with her family. I'm still at home but taking care of the household, kid, dogs, etc. is putting some extra demands on my time, so if I seem absent for a while not to worry.

All the pre-orders have shipped finally, as well as all other orders up to, err, today, I think. The last bit of documentation for the new projects has been uploaded, too.

Some additional notes on these projects:

Those of you who have already received your pre-order will notice that the Road Rage was updated a bit. I took the opportunity to correct the mis-labeled 18v/15v pads from the last batch. Since there was a bit of extra room on the board, I also added pads to hook up a "sag" control off the -9v portion of the supply for those using it to power PNP fuzzes. The documentation has been fully updated to reflect the changes. If you have the last version but did not download the doc for it, there is a link on pg.1 of the revised doc to download the previous one.

Reminder: the new Fatpants has the IN and OUT labels reversed on the silkscreen of the PCB. This is reflected in the documentation and mentioned in the "Errata" section of the forum, too. Please remember to hook those wires up correctly.

Collosalus: I made a small error in the BOM I drew up a couple of weeks ago. C22 was indicated to be between 22pF and 47pF for setting the clock frequency. In fact, this should have said between 62pF and 47pF. I was temporarily confused (thinking about the Current Lover). 62pF is what was used in the original 117, but my suggestion of 47pF still applies. It worked just as well and is a more common value. Remember you can place caps in parallel to make their values additive if you want to experiment.

Lastly, I ran into a bit of a surprise a couple of days ago with the Collosalus. I went to start a demo of it and found that some crackling noise had suddenly appeared in extreme part of the sweep of the flanger. This was not at all present when I originally built/biased the prototype or when I boxed up the thing a few weeks ago. After some thinking I realized the source was the power supply. My testing/prototyping was done using a 12v regulated supply and my results were very quiet and completely satisfying. When I hooked it up to the PP2 this noise popped in. I also tried a 1-Spot and had the same result.

This has got me a bit stumped and I am still working on it to try and understand why it is happening. My 12v supply is rock solid and delivers 200mA or abouts. The PP2 is very well regulated 9v and gives about 100mA. The 1-Spot is probably not as well regulated but can deliver something ridiculous like 1500mA, I think. Yet, the Collosalus was most quiet with the 12v. So far I've tried replacing the regulator and the ICs but I have not eliminated the noise with the two 9v supplies. I'm not convinced yet that it is not something in this particular build, but I'm going to keep working on it and try and figure out a solution that works for my PP2. Anyway, I mention this to some degree in the documentation but I'm holding back a bit until I know a bit more. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions that would be very helpful. This is likely a temporary frustration to be sorted out. The flanger does, in fact, sound amazing when it is properly tamed.

I did do this demo (using the 12v supply) which goes through the settings to give everyone an idea on how cool it sounds, but my "playing" is also un-musical in almost every way possible.

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?board=24.0

[jighead81]

Thanks to jighead81 and his keen eyes for noticing that the IN and OUT labels on the silkscreen layer of the new FatPants 2012 board are swapped! I've made a note of this in the documentation and corrected the silk layer for the single sided layout. It's too late to make the correction on the manufactured board, unfortunately.

Just remember- IN and OUT wires need to be reversed for the manufactured PCB. The Single Sided version has been corrected.

So sorry

Corrected doc:

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/FatPants/docs/FatPants.pdf

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The box is a full enclosure etch. I wanted a really dirty, grungy look, which I got for sure. But, the actual artwork part did not come out as well as I had hoped. I let it etch a little too long, and a lot of the fine detail in the monster character got lifted. But, whatever...it still looks pretty neat.

It sounds fantastic too! Quiet as a sleeping kitten. I like the full range of flange offered---slow flange is very thick and fast flange is very liquid. There's a tiny bit of volume drop which can be fixed by increasing R7. It's not so much as to bother me, so I'm just going to leave it as is. I left off the 2M2 pull-down as well since there is no pop when engaging the bypass.

Demo will be done later this week.

Here it is: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/downloads/BabyBoardGuide.pdf

(right-click, save as)

A mistake has been found on both the Slow Loris and Runt schematics. R8 on the existing schematics is shown in the wrong location. Instead of its current position before C12, it should be tied directly to the gate of Q1. Please see the the pics below which show the correct position of R8 on the schematic and the correct location to tie R8 off on the Slow Loris PCB so that it is tied directly to the transistor.

The good news is that if you have already built the Slow Loris, you do not need to change anything. I tested this out thoroughly a few days ago, and there is no detectable alteration in tone. I tested with R8 in both locations at all gain and tone settings as well as with the guitar volume rolled down and there was no impact. Therefore, I suggest leaving it as is if you have already completed your build. If you want to change it anyway, the pic below shows where to tie off R8. You can do this by cutting the trace on the bottom side of the board between R8 and C12, and then running a jumper to the other side of C12.

The Runt and next batch of Slow Loris boards will have this fixed. I will correct the existing Runt schematic and re-upload the doc ASAP. Since the Slow Loris was already due to run again, the correction has been made on that PCB, too. The next batch of Slow Loris boards will be the same layout (with the correction) and have a "03.12" date on them to differentiate from the previous batch. Obviously, I will also be updating the SL docs to reflect the change and mistake.

Thanks to oldhousescott who pointed out the error! And, my apologies as well.