madbeanpedals::forum

Projects => Build Reports => Topic started by: murdog47 on September 27, 2012, 03:06:17 AM

Title: Compressor Party
Post by: murdog47 on September 27, 2012, 03:06:17 AM
A friend wanted a compressor so I made a couple for him to pick from. An Engineers Thumb (Special thanks to Jon P for helping get this one up and running) and a Keeley Style four knob. Both sound really good and make me want to play some Brad Paisley!

(http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w466/pmurray47/IMG_2689.jpg)

(http://i1077.photobucket.com/albums/w466/pmurray47/IMG_2688.jpg)
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: alanp on September 27, 2012, 05:22:07 AM
Seriously loving those graphics :)
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: sgmezei on September 27, 2012, 05:42:37 AM
Nice man! Great looking builds. What are your thoughts about them? Any major tonal differences.
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: stecykmi on September 27, 2012, 05:44:44 AM
very cool, what values did you use for the "non stock" attack, release and threshold controls on the engineer's thumb? how well do they work?
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: nzCdog on September 27, 2012, 06:09:07 AM
Yeah nice job!  Squish that signal man...  you keeping them both?
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: njkke on September 27, 2012, 08:14:15 AM
can you told me something more bout those mods? I'm really curious!
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: raulduke on September 27, 2012, 08:30:53 AM
Thats a class couple of compressors there.

I really like the look of the Great White Comp; looks like a studio compressor with all the proper controls available.

Have you tried running anything else (drums, bass etc.) through the engineers thumb?
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: Ettore_M on September 27, 2012, 11:05:49 AM
Indeed, both of them look great! But I like more the Great White Comp! It looks SO versatile! The next days I'll build two Flatlines (the one for a friend), and then I'm going for an Enginner's Thumb! It's a must!  ;D

Hector
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: midwayfair on September 27, 2012, 01:10:35 PM
Excellent work! I think your friend will be very happy. :)
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: GrindCustoms on September 27, 2012, 02:44:06 PM
Great Job! really dig the look of those! 8)

May i ask a bit more details about the engineers thumb?
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: stecykmi on September 27, 2012, 04:05:19 PM
Quote from: GrindCustoms on September 27, 2012, 02:44:06 PM
Great Job! really dig the look of those! 8)

May i ask a bit more details about the engineers thumb?

here is the designer's site, in case you haven't seen it: http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/engineersthumb.html (http://www.valvewizard.co.uk/engineersthumb.html)

the man is a genius, by the way. check out the glass blower, a booster that can produce 12Vp-p signals on a 9V battery.
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: midwayfair on September 27, 2012, 04:40:42 PM
Quote from: stecykmi on September 27, 2012, 04:05:19 PM
glass blower, a booster that can produce 12Vp-p signals on a 9V battery.

I want to build one and give it to someone I don't like, telling them to run it first in their chain. Booom. hehe.
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: GrindCustoms on September 27, 2012, 06:26:11 PM
Thanks for the link ;)

Wich components have you replaced with pots?

Here's what i think have been done, correct me if i'm wrong please.

R11 have been replaced with a 100k pot for Attack control.

R12 have been replace with a 1M pot Release control.

C8 is on a SPST switch

Can't see what you did for the Treshold control.......... ::)

Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: midwayfair on September 27, 2012, 07:15:10 PM
Quote from: GrindCustoms on September 27, 2012, 06:26:11 PM
Thanks for the link ;)

Wich components have you replaced with pots?

Here's what i think have been done, correct me if i'm wrong please.

R11 have been replaced with a 100k pot for Attack control.

R12 have been replace with a 1M pot Release control.

C8 is on a SPST switch

Can't see what you did for the Treshold control.......... ::)



They're all in one of MerlinB's schematics, I think the simplified scheme (there's one that has the mods in red). The Threshold is the 1M Vb resistor on IC1 Pin5. My personal recommendation is to be prepared to use minimum series resistors with the Decay (Release) control and the Threshold if you do those mods; you can easily introduce pumping or other "bad" settings.
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: Bret608 on September 27, 2012, 08:02:10 PM
Say, whose layout did you use for the Keeley? Really like the look of both of these though!
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: murdog47 on September 27, 2012, 08:50:20 PM
Glad you all like them! The Engineers Thumb is probably my favorite graphics to date. The layout for the Engineers Thumb is here http://www.sabrotone.com/?p=2901 . The layout for the Keeley Style comp is here http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/keeley-4-knob-compressor.html . The extra controls on the ET are somewhat useful but not spectacular. I get some funky noises with the release turned all the way down. You still can dial in some great tones but it may be over kill. If I were building another one for myself I would probably not add the extra controls.  As mentioned before the original design was done by Merlin/Valve Wizard.
Title: Re: Compressor Party
Post by: GrindCustoms on September 27, 2012, 09:59:07 PM
Thanks for the heads up guys!  :)