Messages

Hi! I'm wondering if anyone tried using the Florist chorus with bass.

Currently looking for a PT2399 chorus to build for myself (guitar), and maybe a bassist friend of mine.
The functionality looks (and the demo sounds) very tempting for guitar.

Can the Florist be used with bass as it is? If not, are there any mods that would make it more suitable/compatible with bass?

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the quick reply!

Not a fan of batteries myself - extra space, extra weight, extra thing to remember to replace at extra cost.
And low environmental friendliness.

Also, loved the 'well above the audio rage' typo. You made my day sir 

Hi everyone,

A couple of questions about the voltage inverter on Pastyface and Mangler projects. I never had to work with these chips, so please forgive the possible noob questions

I know the reason for the voltage inverter approach - PNP circuits (because PNP Germaniums are more common than NPN) are positive ground and can not be daisy-chain fed like normal negative ground ones.

1. I can get some TC1044SCPA through relatively reasonable means. The build docs also specify ICL7660SCPA as a substitute, but I can only get ICL7660SCPAZ (extra Z at the end). Will the extra Z chip work?
2. Does the voltage inverter chip influence the sound/functionality of these fuzzes? Any frequency/volume alterations, or extra noise/squealing/ticking that they introduce?

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone!
In my Dirtbaby I have a 2-way toggle switch for Vibrato/Chorus. If I want to have no repeat modulation, I turn Rate and Depth all the way down.
What if I were to install a 3-way (center off) switch there, would it work? Would the center position give me no repeat modulation without negative effects on the way the pedal sounds?
Thanks in advance!

Greetings everyone,

I was wandering if someone can help me with understanding a schematic.
Can't understand if EgoDriver is an overdrive or a distortion box.
EgoDriver's clipping stage does not look like either to me - it's not going directly to the ground, and does not seem to go into opamp's feedback, but I may be wrong.

Thanks in advance!

Good morning everyone,

Due to the shortage of good, quality, non-fake, reasonably priced TO-92 JFETS like J201 and 2n5457, I am considering their (supposedly) SMD equivalents - MMBFJ201 and MMBF5457, respectively.
I know I will need a conversion board in order to use them in a THT environment, like most pedal builds, and this is not a problem for me.

My questions are:

1. Are they truly FULL equivalents? Can SMD versions be used instead of TO-92 versions? Will they work the same? Any mods needed to the rest of the shematic to accomodate for the change in case style?
2. I've heard the tolerances in SMD parts are tigher. Does this mean I will need fewer, say, MMBF5457's to find a VgsOFF-matched quartet for a Phase 90 (Nom Nom) than I would need 2n5457's?
3. I've heard that Source and Drain are interchangeable on both 201 and 5457. Does this really mean I only need to make sure the Gate (left pin in TO-92, top one in SMD) is connected correctly, and the rest can go wherever?
4. Anyone had ay luck using SMD 201's and 5457's from Tayda? Any problems with those?

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I had issues with 2 completely different pedals using the 2n5457 JFET.
I got my 20-pack (not a single one worked in either effect!) of 2n5457's from AliExpress (big mistake!) and the issues were as follows:

1. Slow Loris produced an ungodly amount of loud hissing noise, behind which the distorted guitar signal was barely audible, and sounded more like a fuzz.
2. Stage Fright did not do any phasing - the signal passing through the effect was clean, and none of the controls did anything (except that switching the 5/6 switch gave a loud pop).

After I've replaced the (I assume) fake/bad 2n5457's in both effects with (I assume) genuine/good ones bought in my local store, both effects started working correctly.

Two questions to the more experienced builders:

1. What is the purpose of 2n5457 in both effects?
2. Is there something that is currently in production that can be used as a replacement? The cursed 2n5457 is getting harder and harder to obtain...

Thanks in advance!

Well, what do you know...

Was building a Slow Loris, which also calls for a 2n5457 JFET, and had an issue with it as well. It was SUPER quiet signal wise, but produced a lot of noise. My previous Loris built for a friend had no issues, and was using the same components.

Using a proper quality 2n5457 resolved the issues in both pedals - the Slow Loris regained its voice, the Stage Fright began phasing, and all controls work.

Bottom line: don't buy parts on AliExpress, use reliable suppliers.

P.S.: A question to the man himself (Brian) - from what I understand (my knowledge is limited, I may be wrong), both the Slow Loris and the Stage Fright use 2n5457 for output buffer. Is there any other TO-92 JFET that is currently in production that can be used instead of the 2n5457 that is getting quite difficult to get a hold of? Thanks in advance!

You might want to look into the instructuions that came with the Slow Loris.
I have a similar issue (it's quite low output, unity is well past 2 o'clock).

Here's a quote:

"R10 was included because I saw it on at least one Rat™ schematic. I don't know how
prevalent this resistor was over the history of the pedal, and I've never used it. But, it
was included nonetheless to be as accurate as possible. I suggest leaving it off. Its function
seems to be to set the output impedance of the circuit, but is superfluous since our Volume pot
already does this. In fact, it will reduce the total volume output of the circuit since it is in parallel
with the volume pot: another reason to leave it off".

Good luck!

Hello everyone!

Built a Stage Fright and encountering an issue - the sound through it is clean, no phasing.
Neither the Speed nor Balls controls do anything sound wise, and the internal trimpot doesn't change anything.
Switching the 5/6 produces a loud pop though.
The LED that pulses with the LFO does go bright and dim, and this is affected by the pots.

Checked the component values - everything seems correct.
Checked for shorts - none.
Tried swapping out all the ICs - no effect.

I will post voltages of all pins of the ICs and transistors, but what do I measure - AC or DC?
Some measurements bounce a lot. How do I set the Speed, Balls, 5/6 and the internal trimpot to get the most correct measurements?

Thanks in advance!

Has Touchstone been verified by anyone?
Thanks in advance!

Good afternoon everyone,

Looking at a lot of YouTube videos about the Stage Fright, I can say there is a high chance I will want the Rate/Speed LED to be a little bit less bright. In general, I never leave the stock 4.7k resistor for the indicator LEDs, as that's a bit too bright for my eyes, and almost always increase the resistor value substantially.

Stage Fright schematic shows two resistors around it D2 - R51 (4.7k) before it and R52 (another 4.7k) in parallel.
I would appreciate if someone with a bit more experience could answer a couple of questions I have:

1. What is the purpose of the resistor in parallel to D2, which is R52, 4.7k?
2. Which of the resistors should I change to make the maximum brightness a bit lower?
3. Can messing around with R51 and R52 affect how the pedal sounds/works? I suspect not, but better safe than sorry.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks somnif,
The schematic you've posted seems like a good place to start with the NYC reissue project.
Have a good one!

Took a deeper look at Kit Rae's page...

At this point, I don't even know how I feel about the Big Muff.
I have built a sort-of Green Russian using a schematic from some other website, and it sounds fine to my ear, but for some reason my subconsciousness does not perceive it as a "true" or "correct" Muff.

There are literally TONS of different variants of the Muff, starting with EHX variations made over the years due to part availability, and ending with infinite options found on DIY websites.
I know variety is the spice of life and all that, and that many people enjoy being able to customize the schematic and tailor the sound to their liking, but I feel rather frustrated that there is no "be all end all" or "one Muff to rule them all" shematic, and no chance of it existing, really.

My last option would be to buy the Muff from the original post, disassemble and reverse-engineer it, and then put it back together and return it to the store or resell. Though it sounds a bit shady to me, and it would involve a bit too many extra steps.

I'm lost.

Hi everyone,

I'm going to build all Muff versions available with the Mudbunny project just to hear the differences, and because why not?
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/_folders/DistBoostOD/pdf/Mudbunny_2015.pdf

The part sets specified are: Triangle, Violet Ram's head, Green Russian, Civil War, Mayo and Creamy Dreamer.
My question is: which part set is a replica/is based on/sounds similar to the NYC Muff shown in the picture attached? I would like to build this one first and use it as a sort of reference point. My guess it's definitely not Ram's head or Green Russian, and as to others I am not sure at all.

Thanks in advance!