Messages

Are you rolling your own TPA3118 amp or buying a PCB? I've been looking at this one for a very, very long time. It's always "Arriving Soon" looks great though. I've got 2 Celestion G12T-75's that I'd like to use for an amp build.

https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/tpa3118m/

https://www.coda-effects.com/p/black-hole-pcb.html

How it started. November 2nd 2018 - first circuit







How it's going. November 11th 2020 - somewhere around 150 circuit wise, I stopped counting at 131






Apparently I like LEDs.

That incredible build is most certainly not practicing social distancing.

My resolutions 2021

Build a guitar.
Build an amp. (actually started on this today, got the top, base, and sides rough cut and marked for joinery)
Finish my EP.
Spend more time in the shop and build fewer pedals. Getting into pedals killed my shop time over the last 2 years - time to balance it back out.
The last one is going to be interesting. I want to keep track of every show, podcast, and movie I watch, and the duration, so I can see what it totals out to at the end of the year. I spend a lot of time tinkering in Sketchup, DIYLC, woodworking out in the shop, and building circuits. Because of that, I've always got Netflix/Hulu/Youtube/whatever playing though my headphones. Should be interesting.

Do homemade tools count?



I made this in January and it's been great. Before I made this, I was using my breadboard and the in/out/ground/power of boards kept falling out, it was an overall pain. That's my favorite of this year, hands down.

That's a good build. I really like your graphic/layout.

All right, I got this thing working. I used the schematic from the spec sheet and adjusted my vero layout accordingly. It fired right up.




https://youtu.be/ISyFOHlkF44


Now to settle on a preamp, then an EQ, then cabinet design. Fun stuff ahead.

All kind of impressive stuff here. Those knobs are top notch- most excellent!

Very kind of you to say, man. Thanks!

I don't see anything that pops.  I'm assuming that the end we're looking at on D2 (pointing up on the vero) is the anode.

I think I found it, unless I'm reading the etch board wrong, the schematic is the problem. Look at pin 5 on the schematic, it's got 2 diodes and 2 resistors connected to it, right? The etch board has 2 caps and a diode. I'm going to make a new schematic based on the etch board, then a new vero, and see where that gets me. 

[not]

Here are some things I've been messing with over the past few days.

Fun stuff first.

Dyed ply knobs. These are my favorite set so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ai7vMIXsKQ

Really digging the Bamboo pointer.





Boss MT2 Metal Zone

I haven't played one of these since high school and playing it again brought back lots of old memories of sitting in my room trying to learn Metallica songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz9aUegA2QM





Keeping the 90s distortion train rolling, here's the Randall RG100ES Preamp from Hell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs7oS3TaF5A



That one had some output issues because the toggle switch added some diodes to ground which we all know kills volume. I swapped the SPDT for a DPDT toggle and added in an LPB-1 to the diode side to bring it back up. It jams.



Now for the not fun stuff. A TDA2030 power amp.

I'm still noobing it with making vero layouts and I can't see where I've goofed. By all means, if you see where I messed up, throw a flashlight on it and be like, "Look, it's right there, dummy! Move that right there and this, and you're good to go." I'm using the bipolar +9 -9 power supply that I used for a VFE Mobius Strip so I know it's not the problem. The whole thing, bipolar section too, got hot real quick. No sound passed. I unplugged it before anything smoked. I've read the 2030 gets hot after prolonged use at high volume and especially when using a higher voltage supply. I've got a heatsink for it but with the way it heated up right away, I know I've messed up somewhere.

Here's the project file and schematic. http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_20x0_amp.pdf

The vero


And the build

Those look amazing!

These are all great-
Even the photography's great- You're great.

Bravo, sir.

Thanks, guys. I'm really enjoying these.

That's a beauty. That's the first I've seen a pedal like that. So many settings, I bet it's a blast.

I took some good pictures of the recent batch I've been working on lately. Bolivian Rosewood, Padauk, Bubinga, Ebony, Honduras Rosewood, a little Walnut, Maple, and Mahogany here and there.


Pedal and circuit wise, I've got some TDA2030's coming in soon, gonna try working on a practice amp with gyrator EQs.

Those look great! The options for position markers is pretty endless as well, metals, all the side fretboard markers of mother of pearl, abalone...

Have done the same knob experiments with acrylics. Instead of the inserts i tapped the body of the knob to receive the set screw. For wood knobs dribble in some thin superglue after tapping to harden up the sides then run the tap in again. Drill press and brass rod to produce diy inserts.



dave

That's some good advice. Thanks. I figured out the problem I was having though, I wasn't getting glue in the threads after all. The problem was that the set screw was tapped into the insert at an angle, and because I was drilling a straight hole through the side of the knob, the screw couldn't properly thread itself. Since figuring that out, I've started using a slightly larger bit and lining the insert up to accommodate the space needed. I've made a few dozen without issue.