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Projects => Build Reports => Topic started by: chromesphere on December 04, 2011, 02:10:59 PM

Title: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: chromesphere on December 04, 2011, 02:10:59 PM
Yo dudes,
Finished up the Zombii this weekend.  Turned out pretty good i thought.  My first go at a lightplate, and its something i will definitely be doing again.  Especially for pedals with LFO's.  I recorded this video as i was putting it together.  Theres probably not much info in here thats of use to my fellow builders.  It was intended to show aspiring pedal builders a snippet of our world.  Anyway, hope you like it.
Paul

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6bxAOcUEUQ

Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: madbean on December 04, 2011, 02:47:56 PM
Nice and detailed. Great job! This would be a perfect addition to a new category on the re-designed mbp website. With your permission, of course.
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: chromesphere on December 04, 2011, 02:53:04 PM
Hi Brian,
Please feel free to use it and thanks for the compliment!
Paul
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: keysandguitars on December 04, 2011, 10:28:18 PM
Great video. I think it's cool that you're making them, they'd have been a huge help when I first started. Luckily, you wrote a few manuals for me! Seriously, you're a great teacher. Now I'm going to have to get into making light plates for my chorus and Tremulus Lune.
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: nzCdog on December 04, 2011, 11:25:40 PM
great build and video... nice job :)
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: andersom on December 05, 2011, 03:22:56 AM
Nice demo!
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: chromesphere on December 05, 2011, 03:40:18 AM
Thanks guys.  Keys, thanks for the compliment mate i appreciate it.

Yeah i think im going to have to build another one of those lightplates!  They look pretty sick! :)  I think i might even do a tutorial on them as well.  Pretty easy to put together but a few tips might save people some time / broken plexiglass (i snapped 3 before i learnt my lesson lol)

Paul
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: marmaliser on December 05, 2011, 03:52:52 AM
Excellent video and build.

I have just done a light plate for a Pork barrell chorus but used 3mm plexi so there was no chance of it snapping.  What did you use to get rid of the lip on the bottom plate of the enclosure as I still need to do that bit.
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: chromesphere on December 05, 2011, 03:59:49 AM
Hi Marmeliser,

I used 3mm too!  :o  The problem i had was i cut the board close to the edge of the enclosure, then when i went to drill the holes, the edge would easily snap.  I got around this but leaving some meat on the edge of the plexiglass, drilling, then cutting it down further.

I used 60 grit sandpaper and an electric sander to sand of the raised lip part of the lid (or base).  It was a bit of a pita, i must admit.  I cant imagine a file would be easier though.  A belt sander would probably rip through it, the only problem is clamping the stupid thing while your trying to sand it.  Would an angle grinder work? ive never used one personally.

Anyway, hope that helps!
Paul
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: LaceSensor on December 05, 2011, 04:35:39 AM
Great work. might try a light curtain myself sometime.
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: marmaliser on December 05, 2011, 04:55:38 AM
Quote from: chromesphere on December 05, 2011, 03:59:49 AM
I used 3mm too!  :o  The problem i had was i cut the board close to the edge of the enclosure, then when i went to drill the holes, the edge would easily snap.  I got around this but leaving some meat on the edge of the plexiglass, drilling, then cutting it down further.
I left a bit extra on mine and trimmed it off after i had fastened it to the enclosure with a dremmel type tool on a very slow speed.  Did you get a smell of Garlic whilst you were cutting / drilling the plexi glass  :-\

Quote from: chromesphere
I used 60 grit sandpaper and an electric sander to sand of the raised lip part of the lid (or base).  It was a bit of a pita, i must admit.  I cant imagine a file would be easier though.  A belt sander would probably rip through it, the only problem is clamping the stupid thing while your trying to sand it.  Would an angle grinder work? ive never used one personally.
Mmm I have an Angle grinder although it migh be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut  ;D
I tried the dremmel tool on it and it was pretty useless.
Thanks  ;)
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: glowsheep on December 05, 2011, 07:09:42 AM
I've heard of people heating the bottom plate and pushing the plexi into it so the lip melts a groove in the plexi. Than you don't have to shave off the lip and it's a nicer fit.
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: marmaliser on December 05, 2011, 07:20:46 AM
Quote from: glowsheep on December 05, 2011, 07:09:42 AM
I've heard of people heating the bottom plate and pushing the plexi into it so the lip melts a groove in the plexi. Than you don't have to shave off the lip and it's a nicer fit.
Sounds like a plan to me I think I will give it a go and report back, saves being out in the shed in the cold angle grinding

EDIT: Turned the oven on and went to get the bits.  Looking at the ridge it is almost as high as the plexi is thick so hardly any plexi would show (if any).  Also the bits around the outside of the lip would be so thin they would probably snap.   Going to go back to plan A and get the Angle grinder out at the weekend.
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: chromesphere on December 05, 2011, 02:30:20 PM
Sounds like you might need a 5mm sheet for the melting approach.  Be interested to see the results with this method.

As i was drifting off the sleep last night i was thinking about angle grinders  :o  lol  Yeah i actually meant...not sure what their called, but my dad had one in his garage, mounted onto a bench, and you sharpen chisels and stuff with it.  Its got 2 spinning discs.  Its probably also called an angle grinder...?  and its probably also overkill.  Anyway, try an electric sander if you get stuck.  You just have to sand one half at a time.

Smell of garlic..?  The smell is hte same as...You know those womens fake nail shops you walk past and the fumes hit you?  Those nails are acrylic, and they smell the same. 

Paul
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: jkokura on December 05, 2011, 03:17:53 PM
Bench grinder.

Jacob
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: chromesphere on December 05, 2011, 06:17:14 PM
Quote from: jkokura on December 05, 2011, 03:17:53 PM
Bench grinder.

Jacob

Makes sense to me :) thanks Jacob
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: redbean on December 05, 2011, 06:28:34 PM
Quote from: chromesphere on December 05, 2011, 02:30:20 PM
... my dad had one in his garage, mounted onto a bench, and you sharpen chisels and stuff with it.  Its got 2 spinning discs.  Its probably also called an angle grinder...

Smell of garlic..?  The smell is hte same as...You know those womens fake nail shops you walk past and the fumes hit you?  Those nails are acrylic, and they smell the same. 


Careful. I've messed up the grinding discs when shaving down the plexiglass -- it melts and sticks to it. My solution was to turn on and off the grinder power switch so that it was not spinning so fast (it's very old and has no RPM setting other than warp drive :D), and then grinding the plexiglass a little, then hitting the on-off switch again, etc.

Also, the burning plexiglass fumes/dust can be very toxic, so be careful. ;)
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: chromesphere on December 05, 2011, 09:31:45 PM
I noticed the people in those fake nail shops wearing face masks :)  Thanks for the tip.

One other thing i forgot to mention.  Ribbon Cable is my new friend.  5 knobs in a 1590b would otherwise be a messy afair but if you look at the wired up box around 7 mins in the clip, you'll notice, and i dont mean to blow my own trumpet here, but the guts are looking pretty dam neat.  Theres no way i personally could have made the wiring that clean with single cables. 
Yeah its good stuff.  Give it a go!
Paul
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: teknoman2 on October 01, 2012, 07:25:14 AM
Nice job,

I just saw your video and it was awesome,

I am building the zombii right now and I would like to ask you what type of transistors should I use.

I am going to order them from http://www.smallbearelec.com

which one should I order?

Thanx a lot.
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: chromesphere on October 01, 2012, 04:24:46 PM
Hey Tecknoman2,

You can use any germanium fuzz face set.  Check the gain ranges, but its usually something like 70 and 110.  Any germanium transistor will work, each with their own subtle affect on tone.  I think i used an 'all american' set.  That was before i could measure my own.  I would be interested to hear some russians in this effect....yeah so anyway, any fuzz face set will work.

Good luck!
Paul
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: teknoman2 on October 02, 2012, 01:38:29 AM
Thanks Paul for the advice,

I am between these ones :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC128-Germanium-PNP-Transistors-2-pcs-Fuzz-Face-set-/110588794305?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19bf9b15c1

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC128-Germanium-PNP-Trannies-2-pcs-Fuzz-Factory-set-/110617262967?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19c14d7b77

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AC128-Germanium-Transistors-PNP-2pcs-Tested-Fuzz-Face-/130690499272?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e6dc2c2c8

Which one would you suggest?

I believe the fuzz factory set will be the best for zombii.

Do you agree?

Panagiotis
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: chromesphere on October 02, 2012, 02:30:56 AM
I think any of those sets will be ok but you might as well go for the fuzz factory set because 1) its cheaper and 2) includes q1 (2n3904)
Paul
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: teknoman2 on October 02, 2012, 02:32:58 AM
Thanx mate.
Title: Re: Zombii Report and Video
Post by: ChrisNY on October 07, 2012, 09:42:11 AM
Cool video. Semi-related.  What size is the nut on the 1/4" jacks?  I want to order a socket for fixed wrench for those as I currently use pliers and it's no fun.