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Open Discussion / Re: Tribute to "chuckbuick" aka Mark Green
« on: January 04, 2018, 01:27:39 PM »
oh yeah, just remembered a story he mentioned about convincing a co-worker that Alvin Lee was Jake e lee's dad. lol
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Open Discussion / Re: Tribute to "chuckbuick" aka Mark Green
« on: January 04, 2018, 01:15:28 PM »A friend of mine lost her brother "chuckbuick," aka Mark Green early in 2017. I have been asked to go to her house this weekend and play through all the beautiful pedals he created. As is evident on this site, he was a great contributor, helpful individual, and a master at SMD!
I'm reaching out to the forum to ask if any of you have some positive/personal things you could share about Mark. I have the great privilege of getting to sample and play through the almost 100 pedals he left behind this coming weekend. This will be very cathartic for his sister, who looks forward to hearing what sounds his creations were capable of.
I thought it could be very meaningful if I could share with her some positive things from individuals on this forum when I go to see her this weekend.
For any of you who knew him or interacted with him, I would be grateful for any positive things you might have to share. Thanks very much for your time and consideration.
All the best,
Jeff Reed
Hi Jeff-
it makes me super happy to hear that these are going to get played sometime soon! Please give my best regards to Mark's sister, I got an email early on to hear that he passed, and I can only imagine how hard things have been for her.
As for Mark, sometime I think in 2013, I wrote this crazy post about how to be an smd badass or something like that. (I worked on military radios during the early 90s, and was a trainer in assy, rework and repair for a while. Went to grad school and didn't do much with electronics until I discovered the whole diy stompbox thing in 2012 or so.)
I got spoiled with madbean's pcbs but much prefered smd work over thru hole. (There were only a few people I knew of doing smd at all, one being pickdropper, alanp, and another was muddyfox.) Anyway, Mark contacted me about that post I wrote in dec 2013, and offered to send me some of his pcbs and build docs for feedback. I gladly accepted and was blown away with how elegant they were in terms of layout, and they were a joy to assemble.
I hadn't posted a build report of anything yet, and he encouraged me to do so. I think my first report here was for the osmium pcb. It's still one of my favorite pedals, as well as the others I built using his pcbs.
He also encouraged me to try doing my own layouts, since there still weren't many smd pcbs available. I'm so glad I did, it enabled me to take my own approach to some old circuits and cram them into 1590a boxes. I always offered some of my pcbs in return, but he always declined politely, with a comment that he "had so many of his own to do." lol.
I had a bit of a rough time in late 2014 due to work issues and injuries that put me on pain meds. The meds affected my mood in a really bad way, especially when I was also taking cold medicine, and I am grateful for the low key support he sent me. (Also my wife for putting up with me.)
Amazing how generous and supportive he was, while remaining quite humble at the same time. One thing that I think bears another mention is his dry sense of humor. Almost never failed to put something funny in a post, and I miss seeing that here.
When I heard of Mark's passing, it came at a time when I lost a couple of other friends- it affected me deeply and he is missed. I so wish there was something I could've done to help.
I haven't been around here much, been doing more playing than building, but something compelled me to check in and I'm glad I did. I wish everyone here the very best in 2018, and look forward to seeing what Jeff's experience is with these pedals.
- Billy aka wgc
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General Questions / Re: Bluetooth controlled pedals?
« on: October 04, 2017, 10:22:33 AM »
gotcha, that makes sense. Any alternatives that might work for this, zigby zigbee, etc?
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General Questions / Re: Bluetooth controlled pedals?
« on: October 04, 2017, 09:29:05 AM »
wow, crazy that this came up just as I was posting about something similar in mb's din thread.
Great info, micro. anyone know if people are using bt for input/output signals? could make for an interesting looper.
Great info, micro. anyone know if people are using bt for input/output signals? could make for an interesting looper.
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Open Discussion / Re: DIN Connector with loopers
« on: October 04, 2017, 09:28:16 AM »
I have had this idea on the back burner for what seems like ages. But not with DIN connectors- I used molex mini fit jrs. And hammond LB boxes. Sort of along the lines of your G series pcbs. Another connector option might be cat5... but I felt the molex were more robust.
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=17597.msg168496#msg168496 I'll update the images sometime soon if there's interest.
Designed and built several in an intended series but ran short on time to complete the set when I moved a while back. Hope to pick it up again sometime soon.
My goal was to combine with a looper/buffer with 1/4" in/out and be able to swap out different circuits. I minimized knobs to one or two since I generally don't really do much adjusting once I find the settings I like. Limits the type of circuits a bit, but I felt this approach would be really useful for the odd gig or jam session.
At any rate, I have since seen one or two "modular" type boards/systems out there. I totally understand why people would hesitate to switch to something that wasn't 1/4" jacks. But in the short term between completely wireless setups that we'll all be trying totroubleshoot build someday, it is a very interesting problem with various possiblities.
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=17597.msg168496#msg168496 I'll update the images sometime soon if there's interest.
Designed and built several in an intended series but ran short on time to complete the set when I moved a while back. Hope to pick it up again sometime soon.
My goal was to combine with a looper/buffer with 1/4" in/out and be able to swap out different circuits. I minimized knobs to one or two since I generally don't really do much adjusting once I find the settings I like. Limits the type of circuits a bit, but I felt this approach would be really useful for the odd gig or jam session.
At any rate, I have since seen one or two "modular" type boards/systems out there. I totally understand why people would hesitate to switch to something that wasn't 1/4" jacks. But in the short term between completely wireless setups that we'll all be trying to
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General Questions / Re: Discontinued double layer boards
« on: October 03, 2017, 07:16:55 PM »
Someone else might have one stashed away too- I'd start another thread with the pcb you're looking for and "wanted" in the title.
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Build Reports / Re: Aquaboy & Clusterfuzz
« on: September 30, 2017, 10:26:54 AM »
Wow, those look great!
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Build Reports / Re: Bad Medicine
« on: September 27, 2017, 10:37:39 AM »
its a vision- love the decal.
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Build Reports / Re: MiniBE
« on: September 19, 2017, 05:17:56 AM »
Awesome! Gotta love those happy accidents. Probably the powder has some tiny pores as a result of a small application/ baking mishap that is hard to see without much contrast.
I changed around my 3pdt wiring a bit after doing a few high gainers. The typical way we do it puts the ins and outs right next to each other, inside the switch. Now my led is in the center column.
Try setting for oscillation and put your finger on the switch contacts to see if you can get some type of change.
I changed around my 3pdt wiring a bit after doing a few high gainers. The typical way we do it puts the ins and outs right next to each other, inside the switch. Now my led is in the center column.
Try setting for oscillation and put your finger on the switch contacts to see if you can get some type of change.
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Build Reports / Re: CJOD
« on: September 15, 2017, 12:08:00 PM »
Cool layout, the jumper idea is a great one, and well placed by the diodes too.
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Build Reports / Re: Pher-Uh-Moan (Green Russian)
« on: September 11, 2017, 06:50:38 PM »
I can totally relate to the layout game, nice solution. Your switch pcb is cool too.
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Build Reports / Re: Pher-Uh-Moan (Green Russian)
« on: September 11, 2017, 08:28:49 AM »
wow, seems like forever since I've seen frazetta art- I used to love conan comics when I was a kid.
Nice build, the staggered line at the bottom is interesting too.
Nice build, the staggered line at the bottom is interesting too.
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Open Discussion / Re: Laser engraving enclosures with a cheap Chinese machine? Yes!
« on: September 10, 2017, 06:52:47 AM »
Lol, a syringe is hardcore. I'd probably try a fine brush in that event. Btw great build, crazy graphic!
Big etched areas are harder to cover without wiping some of the paint out again.
There's a sweet spot in terms of letting it dry to where its tacky enough to stay put where you want it, but you can still get the excess off with a damp cloth.
I wipe it on a bit thick, get all the fill covered. Next I squeegee off most of it with a piece of thin cardboard, using the flat edge to preserve the low spots. Then I use a damp paper towel to clean up areas I know I don't want paint on, but without disturbing the fill. Then wait for a haze- like waxing a car. Finally I use a damp cloth to wipe off anything I don't want. A slightly wet q-tip can help in some areas. You might have to do a little touch up here and there. It's maybe 10 min altogether.
If your paint/powder is very thin, you could try a brush or syringe to do the application and maybe minimize the amount of clean up wiping. Definitely easier when the etch is deeper and is not very wide.
Btw I use the nicer artist grade stuff in the tubes (has more/finer pigment), but the cheap stuff should work too. Some colors may behave a little differently but black works great. I haven't tried alcohol to clean up acrylic, will give it a shot though intuitively I feel it might be harder to control.
I used colored pencil on one build (fuzz u) which worked well because the lines were thin but deep, but I think success may vary a lot more than paint.
I may try crayons sometime too, maybe heating things up a little once the excess is cleaned off.
Big etched areas are harder to cover without wiping some of the paint out again.
There's a sweet spot in terms of letting it dry to where its tacky enough to stay put where you want it, but you can still get the excess off with a damp cloth.
I wipe it on a bit thick, get all the fill covered. Next I squeegee off most of it with a piece of thin cardboard, using the flat edge to preserve the low spots. Then I use a damp paper towel to clean up areas I know I don't want paint on, but without disturbing the fill. Then wait for a haze- like waxing a car. Finally I use a damp cloth to wipe off anything I don't want. A slightly wet q-tip can help in some areas. You might have to do a little touch up here and there. It's maybe 10 min altogether.
If your paint/powder is very thin, you could try a brush or syringe to do the application and maybe minimize the amount of clean up wiping. Definitely easier when the etch is deeper and is not very wide.
Btw I use the nicer artist grade stuff in the tubes (has more/finer pigment), but the cheap stuff should work too. Some colors may behave a little differently but black works great. I haven't tried alcohol to clean up acrylic, will give it a shot though intuitively I feel it might be harder to control.
I used colored pencil on one build (fuzz u) which worked well because the lines were thin but deep, but I think success may vary a lot more than paint.
I may try crayons sometime too, maybe heating things up a little once the excess is cleaned off.
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Open Discussion / Re: Laser engraving enclosures with a cheap Chinese machine? Yes!
« on: September 09, 2017, 06:34:00 PM »
black acrylic paint works great as a backfill for those times you want more contrast. Wipe it on, let it haze over, and wipe off the excess.