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Hey guys, just a quick question to see if I understand this correctly.... In the schematic of the Feta Complis (build docs attached below) there a four 680k resistors, in two pairs (R3 and R4, R16 and R17) connecting VA to ground. This looks like a voltage divider to me, and thus the value shouldn't matter too much, as long as they are the same. Since there is also an audio path involved here, I'm not sure this is correct, anybody have some input on this?

Paul

Because the last couple of weeks I can't get myself in a building mood! I've been really busy with work, loads of social obligations on the weekends, some repairs to various stuff around the house, auditioning drummers for the band.... If I have some time left, I'm more inclined to crash on the couch with a book and a beer than to get out all my tools etc. and solder for an hour or so. I've got a load of unfinished builds (including most of Project "I") and new stuff to start, but I can't get myself to do it!!! Any advice, or same experiences to share?

Thanks in advance,

Paul

With the lack of small wedge shaped boxes being available for DIY builders, I thought it might be a cool idea to have some made. I kicked around some thoughts with a friend of mine who knows a lot about sheet metal fabrication, and came up with this:



It's a bit larger in all directions than a 1590B. The flat part is large enough to accommodate two chickenhead knobs, for all you vintage fuzz freaks. It's assembled from two parts like this:



The holes and screws needed for assembly aren't in the model yet.... For size reference I also have a pic that includes some knobs, a stomp switch and a 1590B:



I'm thinking of getting some quotations for the cost of having this made (my friend has some contacts in that business), and because a small run would be more cost effective than 1 or 2 singles, would this be of interest to any of you if the cost remained reasonable? Finally, some questions:
- how much would you be willing to pay for a box like this? IOW: what do you think is 'reasonable'?
- any problems you see with the design?
- anything you would like to see added/changed?

Thanks in advance for any input you might have on this!

Paul

Since a lot of guys seem to like their memes on this forum, I thought I'd share one my wife sent me:


Chuck rules......

Paul

I mean these guys: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AlbatrossGuitars

My wife pointed me to that link. She's pretty active on Etsy herself, so if your wife/girlfriend/partner is interested in handmade bags, blankets, pillow covers etc, take a look here : http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoHappyInRed 

Back to the guitars! I know the bodies are at least 3 piece, probably more, and the hardware is crap, but that can be switched out. The thing is: my wife was very obviously hinting at something like this as a gift for our upcoming anyversary, and I would hate her spending money on a gift that's not worth it. To me, these guitars look like a nice way to try a first kit build, and as mentioned before, the hardware can be swapped out (told my wife that as well already). Any opinions? Thanks in advance!

Paul

Went out for drinks last night with some friends, and while sitting outside having a smoke, I took this picture:


That's the Dom Tower, tallest building in Utrecht. It used to be part of the Dom Church until a storm ripped out the middle part, so now we have a church and a tower!

I decided to post this after my wife saw this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/travel/21next.html
Apparently, the NYT likes Utrecht!! Here's a nice slideshow from the NYT article:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/02/21/travel/20100221UTRECHT_index.html
And the Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utrecht

Seriously, if you ever happen to be in Holland and want to visit something different from Amsterdam, a bit more laid back, less touristy, you should come over, it will be a pleasant surprise!

Paul

Been doing a lot of work on Project "I", but this week, I want to do a quick, not-to-difficult build. I have parts and boards to build any one of these:

- Madbean DoubleFlush trem. Would be nice to compare it to the STM I have on my board right now.
- Function f(x) fundraiser Greasegun. Heard some very nice words on this one, like to try it.
- Function f(x) fundraiser DuoVibe. Haven't read anything about this....... I might have missed it, but it got me more than  a bit curious!

Cast your votes, please!

Thanx, Paul

(No, I won't be finishing my NoMojo anytime soon.......  )

Tonight was the last installment of my favourite radio show. For more than 7 years, every friday night from 7 until 10, there was madness, humor, music you never, ever heard on dutch radio..... Stuff you wouldn't understand if you're not dutch, even if you would learn to speak the language. I'm really, really sad.... 

Paul

Anyone have some recommendations for this? I'm going to put an Egghead in a big box with some other fx and would like to add a switch to change the diodes from the stock 1N914's to something else for some extra tonal variety. Thanks in advance!!

Paul

His name was Kabouter Prikprak (don't ask, it's dutch):


We had a big storm yesterday, with winds well over 100 km/h. Our faithful garden gnome was knocked over and, as you can see, suffered some major, fatal brain damage. Since we don't have a garden (2 stories up), he's been sitting on his mushroom on our balcony for over 5 years, never complaining about the lack of a fishing rod or a wheelbarrow. He was one of the few things our cat never attacked, and will be sorely missed.

Now, you didn't see that one coming, did ya? 

Paul

[Project "I"....... For "Insanity"!]

Be careful, very long post ahead.......

When I recently decided to take stock of what I had laying around, pcb-wise, I had a bit of a freak-out: a stack of bare pcb's almost 4 inches high, and too much half finished ones to mention...... So I decided to start a ridiculous project to actually turn some of these in working, usable pedals. The past 2 weeks have been about finishing up some pedals that were near completion (JMK's Vibe and Standard Fuzz, RAH/Thunderpuss combo, and some more in the works), but bigger measures are in order, so here it is:

Project "I"....... For "Insanity"!

Project "I" will contain the following basics:
   
   - 14 pcb's (maybe 15...)
   - 4 enclosure
   - 10 3PDT stomps
   - 6 toggles
   - 34 knobs
   - 12 LED's
   - 10 ¼" jacks and 4 9V jacks

It's going to be a four-part stash buster, and I'm going to use this thread to keep you all posted on how I'm doing. I'm suspecting some issues along the road as well, so there might be the occasional cry for help......

Here's the breakdown:

Part 1: AquaTwins



An Aquaboy Deluxe and an Aquaboy 2012 in one enclosure. This will use up my entire stash of MN3005's, and after this I won't buy any more. This box will give me a lot of different analogue delay options, from short slapback to longer, modulated delays. And a lot more....... I'm expecting some pretty serious (clock)noise issues with this, so there's going to be loads of shielded wire and maybe a grounded, metal separator between the two pcb's. But just imagine running one into the other! Maybe I should add a switch to change the order?

Part 2: Űberplex



More delay madness: Multiplex with switchable modulation on both delay lines, and external Ramp and Release controls. I love my standard Multiplex, and now I want more!! I'm not expecting too much problems with this one, but it's the only one in the bunch that needs all pcb's populated.... Fun!!!

Part 3: JamBox



Been planning something like this for ages, but never got around to it: what do you bring to jam sessions when your playing through someone else's amp and want to travel light? In my case, it would be a box with a booster, an overdrive, a distortion and some sort of modulation. So this is going to have a Thunderpuss, an Egghead, a Dist+ and a Smoothie. To make my own life just a bit easier, the Thunderpuss will be switchable between being first or last in the chain, Egghead and Dist+ will get switchable diodes and there's going to be a loop to insert some more Fx. Any tips on where in the order I should place the loop are very much appreciated....

Part 4: GrindBox



This is going to be a gift for one of my best friends, the bass player from my band. First a Faultline, running on 18V via a Roadrage. After that, a 1776 Suckerpunch built to Bass Fuzz specs with a Schoontoon clean blend board added to it. I bet he's going to run it flat out , though...... All the caps are socketed on this, so if he doesn't like it, I can swap 'm and use this monster myself!

As you can see above, the first step was to model all of these in 3D to make sure it would all fit. Here's a family portret of the insides.



Next up is going to be ordering the remaining parts and enclosures, that's going to happen this weekend. I plan to post my progress regularly here, with some nice pics to go with it. Thanks for reading this, it was quite a stretch!!

Paul

Second build report for today, I'm finishing up some long overdue stuff as there is something big comin'...... Will let you know about that real soon, but in the mean time, here's Raulduke's Prince Albert, with a Thunderpuss in front of it to kick it in the Balls!!!







I posted a pic of this some time ago to show the finish, which is a Rej-ripoff. I left the sides gloss black, to set it apart from Rej's work. Personally, I think this is one of my best finishes yet, and really easy to do!

Haven't tried this one out yet, the RAH (or Prince Albert) is supposed to sound really good with a boost in front of it, so I stuck in another Thunderpuss. I have one in a 1590A, three in combo's with OD circuits, and 2 more boards left....... I'm a 'Puss addict!!!!

Keep your eyes out for an insane build project coming really soon...........

Paul

Dudes, I'm having some trouble with Imageshack lately, see this build report to know what I mean: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=12209.msg110393;topicseen#msg110393

For starters, there's all those ugly links at the bottom of my pics, but when I type some more info, it all gets linked up with the last pic I posted! Is there a way around that? I had no problems with IS before, just since they started renewing their stuff....

Paul

This one has been on my 'to do'-list for a long time, check out this old thread: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=8217.msg71189#msg71189
But now I finally finished my Weener, and first I have to get some Weener stuff of my chest:
-My Weener is the best I've ever done
-My Weener was a pain in the ass (to build)
-My Weener replaces an 18yo (more on that later)
-My Weener has two Godfathers (Thanks Timbo, and especially Joe Gagan!)

Now for some pics of my Weener........







Big thanks go out to Timbo for the caps and transistors, and to Joe Gagan for the shell, thread, pot, inductor and loads of advice/ knowledge!

Now some details:
-Both the PEAK and FREQ trimmers moved to external pots. These will be replaced by pots with some detents when I can get my hands on them, but it's nice to have all that control on the outside!
-Two switches: one switches the buffer in or out, as per the schemo. The other switches R4 between 390R and 0R, for a dirtier sound.... Nice!
-Inductor is one of Joe Gagans Red Devils. It now is blue. It is awesome, try it!!!
-Pot is one of Joe's MilSpec ones, it looks cool, no more info....
-Caps and trannies are vintage units provided by Timbo, thanks dude!!
-As you can see in the last pic, the carpet matches the drapes, as on any real redhead.........

And here is the sappy bit: This build is dedicated to my wife Esther, my favourite Redhead! She made a huge impression on me on our first date (almost 8 years ago!) by even knowing what a wahwah was, and naming a couple of songs that featured one! She rocks!!!!!!

Paul

PS: this is the 18yo she'll be replacing......

Battered as she is, she served me well for a long time, I really, really love this wah!

Does anyone know what size and pitch the screws are that hold down the Cry Baby feet? I've tried every screw I have here, none of them fit!

Paul

Well, it took some time, but it has finally happened: I bought a proper computer!! After I started living with (now) Mrs. Dutch, I ditched the bulky desktop (including a 22" monitor, the old style huge one!!) and started using my really, really tiny netbook. That was almost 5 years ago, and now there is this:


Needles to say, it's a huge improvement! Now, to find some software to record some proper demo's.....
Paul

Any of you know a good/non-destructive/reversible way to separate the threadle from the main wah body? I've been looking at one a while now and can't seem to figure it out. I'd like to sand/paint the threadle and leave the main body the standard textured black, and I could do it with the both of them together, but I think separating them will result in a neater job..... Thanks in advance!!

Paul

Hi there British Madbeaners! It appears I will be in London at the start of February of next year, and I think I might be able to ditch my wife for a couple of hours and have a beer with one of you guys. Now, I know GB is not as small Holland, but maybe one of you lives in or near London and wants to meet up? Let me know!

Paul

When Stomptown put up his boards for the TB MkII, I jumped on the chance to get one, as I had a nice set of transistors for a MkII, kindly donated by JakeFuzz, and hadn't gotten around to build one on vero......
Guts:

And now for the 'spotty' bit:








I know the board is meant for a 1590A build, but I can't get to grips with using those little f*ckers with my size 12's (plus, I've built one, and that's enough masochism for me in the 'boxing up' department.....).

Transistors are a GET113, a GT108V and an AC125, handpicked by the man himself. Sounds pretty cool with these. Thanks Paul!!

As for the art: I wanted to do something I hadn't seen before, both in layout and finish. So I went with a non-standard component placement, mounted everything and started putting on the dots, loads and loads of dots........ I'm quite scared to put a clear coat on it, so we'll see how it holds up with use.

Probably the last one before going on holiday, hope you like it!!

Paul

Last Friday I played at a private party with my band, and damn, that was the coolest gig I ever, ever did!!! It was all planned on very short notice, a surprise birthday party for a co-worker of our singer. The guy is a drummer himself, turned 65, and his son-in-law thought it was a good idea to invite us, as he really likes our music 
We get an adress, and when we show up, there is a boat waiting to take us to the 'venue'! 15 min later we're at a really small island, with this big barge in front of it where we're supposed to set up our gear! When we arrived, we were informed to give a signal when our last song starts, so they can set of the fireworks........  Small crowd, maybe 120 people, but playing on such a tiny island, with a very welcome reception, and fireworks (big time!!) during the last song? Gig of a lifetime!!

Paul