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A friend of mine wanted a Fuzz for his Bass to push his motivation to play more again. He wanted a Sonic & Knuckles cover, so he got it. With extra geeky pixel font
Unfortunately, I'm still early on the learning curve and misjudged the size of the knobs and placed the labels to close to the drill holes, so they are mostly covered. I will get smaller knobs with my next parts order and substitute, but until then it looks like this:







Btw. the white stuff under the PCB is NOT chewing gum, it's putty we use to fix samples to the mount in the lab. It's not really sticking though... but since the PCB just barely fits in there in terms of height, it can't really move around anyways.

Hi folks,
I finally managed to finish a build, the Greasegun from the funcion-f(x) fundraiser. When I first plugged it in (I boxed before I rocked it  ), nothing happened at all. No bypass, nada. Turned out, I just didn't fully insert the jack at the amp. Works great after all.

This is one of the first pedals I used decal with (and envirotex for that matter). I have to give credit to a Sarah, a coworker of mine, who was bored the last weeks since she finished her PhD. She mastered the transfer right away and way better then me. Nevertheless, the toner came off at a few small spots, so i covered it up with a marker, but now one can see the differences in black. I also have to admit that the enviro is not bubble-free, but I hid the group of bubbles under the gain-chickenhead knob for the photos

One more thing I learned is that a prefinished enclosure is not always the way to go. I had another cover art first, which was mostly grey... you couldn't make out anything not even the bright green letters because of the black enclosure. After some inspiration search I came up with using this graphic of a tree for no reason, I just liked it. Fooled around with the colours and voilá: again, one could not make out any of the red parts. So in the end I decided to sand of the powder coating on the top (thanks again to various bored/frustrated/angry coworkers who helped me after I got a blister from sanding).
I like the sound of the effect. The name is really appropriate since it sounds rather greasy/blurry on lower tone settings and has less bite compared to the Klon clone I have.

Anyways, enough talk, here are the pics. Sorry for my lack of skill talking quality photos. The lighting in my flat in the evening always suck to take pics.

Hey guys,

I spent the afternoon designing two pedal enclosures and goofing around with Gimp (basically a free and less powerful version of Paintshop pro, a vector graphics program). I was looking for ideas what to put on my rub-a-dub reverb and since Game of Thrones is on tonight and I'm a geek, I kind of developed the idea to make the pedal GoT themed.

The pedal has just one knob and I already have the huge boss style knob from tayda sitting around for this pedal so I tried to arrange some of the sigils of the main houses around that knob. You would think it's easy to find good pictures of those since the show is really popular atm, but sadly no. Some just sucked big time. After hours of searching and editing the ones I found good enough, I could still not really decide which ones to use in the end, so I made some variations. (2 sets of the Lannistor lion, each with either Martell or Greyjoy logo for the 3PDT). I'll also maybe get a coloured enclosure (probably red) to go with it.
That's were you guys come in. Just pick a favorite, tell me it's all garbage or make suggestions.

Hey guys,
I stayed up all night to finish my first PCB in eagle and I want to etch the PCB today after work in the lab. I got some positive photoresist FR4 plates yesterday. Unfortunately, there was no instructions and I can't find a solid answer to the following question:
How long do I have to expose the photoresist to usual desk-light?
Alternatively, we've got several UV lamps and chambers, but I'm afraid the might be too intense or that my mask isn't black enough, so the traces won't come out as I want them too.
Any help is appreciated! Thanks

Ok, this is going to be part build report, but mostly a rant. Not ranting about the circuit in any way! Brian did a great job, but I didn't. This is the story of a build going seriously wrong...

It started with me and my mum misdrilling. Since I didn't intend to use PCB mounted pots, it didn't matter too much, but it bugged me. Then I used some transparent adhesive foil for the labelling, which didn't turn out as I wanted it to and also, because of prior misdrilling, it didn't align too well.

Populating the PCB went pretty well. It didn't fire up right away, because I accidentally switched two wires at a pot despite my colour coding. I wasn't content with the sound of the upper octave, or it wasn't as I expected - despite watching the demo. So i modded it with Brian's help and trial and error and found a configuration which I thought was ok.

During boxing, I realized that my ground and power wire where too short, so I replaced them and I also ripped the ground connection to one of the jacks. After replacing them and boxing, I didn't get any signal. I traced the problem to the power supply and somehow had a brain fart thinking (and measuring) that I fried the DC jack itself. So, I waited for my next projects and orders to arrive with a new DC jack. That took about 2.5 month. Nevertheless, when I started looking at the thing again last week, I at least managed to find a single teeny tiny wire braid shorting at the PCB power input and found the DC jack working fine of course. After fixing it, I already had destroyed about 5 pads on one side of the PCB by often soldering and desoldering parts during modding and fixing ripped wires. I improvised with some really bad solder joints and pieces of resistor legs to achieve a working pedal.

So I boxed it again. Did it work afterwards? Of course it didn't! I only realized the next day, because it was 2am already and I did neither have the nerve to endure another failure, nor could I torment my neighbour at that hour. Today, I took the whole thing apart and found that because I used short wires between the 3PDT and PCB I ripped out the input and ground from the PCB while boxing. After deciding not to harvest ICs and pots and throw the rest out of my window, I struggled to put new wires in.

Of course, it didn't work. Again! So, I reflowed the joints I just made and the power and ground pins and looked for errors with a magnifying glas. I didn't find anything, but I somehow solved the problem after another half hour of doing random things. It works fine now, but I still don't really like the sound of it. I guess, I just expected too much from the analog circuit.

I guess, it clearly showed me, what a rookie I still am and how much can go wrong in a build. But on the bright side, I learned a lot and I like the knobs
Enough ranting, here's some pics from my phone - the pedal didn't deserve better quality

Despite the music in the video, this is most probably the coolest thing ever built.

Instructions

Hey guys,
I've printed my decals yesterday and was going to do the three function-fx pedals tomorrow after work. Now I was wondering if there is a "standard amount" of envirotex lite that is needed for a certain enclosure size or how much I should mix so that I can properly cover the 3 enclosures.
I'm doing all the pedals in 1590B. Thanks!

Hey guys, I built this pedalboard a while back just so that I could put my pedals away easier and in a clean way at home, but only got to post it now since I just got my new power supply on Friday.
The built is pretty straight forward. Nevertheless, I miscalculated (forgot to consider the thickness of the wood) and had some other minor issues. As already mentioned in another thread, I used some pieces of carpeting we had in the attic as substitute for velcro tape since the latter is crazy expensive. The pedals have the "hook" velcro at the bottom, so they are fixed well enough. It's not super tight, but more than enough to prevent any gliding when transporting or stomping on the pedals. In retrospect, I shouldn't have painted it red, rather than just lacquer it.





As mentioned above, I got my power supply on Friday. Funny story: I ordered a T-Rex Fuel Tank Classic two weeks ago and was told it would arrive within a week. After calling this week and again on Friday, I was told after they inquired a little that the fuel tank stopped being sold 2 weeks ago. Luckily, the offered me the Fuel Tank Goliath for 170€ (stock price 245€). Still more than I intended on spending (classic was 138), but I thought I'd take it. When I looked the Goliath up, I had to learn that, whilst having higher max. Output currents, it only had 7 instead of 10 outputs. Since I intended to have as many as possible because of my growing pedal collection/addiction, I started digging through other options and found the Palmer PWT12. Luckily, they had it in stock and made the same offer of 170€ (stock: around 230€).
This power supply is just great! Big recommendation! German fabricate, 12 outputs, robust and well made. It's a bit big and heavy, I have to admit - it doesn't fit under my board which I intended, but it's worth it. Outputs 1-6 are 9V, 7-8 are 9V with switchable pinout (LED indicated), 9-10 are 18V or 12V and 18V (also LED indicated), 11-12 are 9V again or 12VDC (LED). The outputs are isolated in pairs (1&2, 3&4,....). Guess, I was really lucky after all that the fuel tank was out of stock








My current board: Klon clone overdrive from UK electronics (not hard to spot: my first DIY attempt), an old and crappy Ibanez distortion, Zeropoint SDX and a Behringer chorus. Got a few coming soon.

Hey guys,

I've often read here that choosing the correct transistor is crucial for many builds. I didn't really find any explanation why they differ so much (except for make and model obviously). Also I'd like to know how to correctly measure them and what is important when choosing the right ones from a batch. Thanks!

My brother found something pretty awesome:

great idea if you ask me. but maybe, that's because I've played drums and percussion for eight years before switching to guitar.

Hey guys,
a friend of mine asked me, if I could build him a fuzz or distortion for his bass. Since his birthday is coming up, I thought that would be a nice gift. The question is, can I adapt a regular fuzz or distortion to work for bass or would a guitar pedal work anyways? What would I have to adjust (I guess caps mostly, right?)? Or is there a specific PCB/project available which I didn't find.
Thanks!

Ok, there's a noob question for you: There are three kinds of potis (linear, logarithmic and reverse logarithmic), but there's also an old and a new way to mark them. I know that B is linear, but I'm never quite sure about A and C. A was the labeling for "audio" which was/is used as volume regulators and are usually logarithmic. Therefore I thought that C has to be reverse logarithmic, but apparently C was also used for logarithmic at some point.
As I'm going to order some parts for my function-f(x) projects, I just want to make sure to order the right ones.
There are 2 A100k volume potis in the nomojo fuzz, which should be logarithmic.
In the duovibe, there's a C100k for the Rate poti (btw. if any of the function f(x) founders read this thread, there's a mistake in the BOM of the Duovibe. One of the pots is missing in the BOM and it says the wrong value for the depth pot, if the schematic is correct.) There's also a C-Poti in the zeropoint SDX i just finished up and if I remember right, it said C on the enclosure, but it was a standard logarithmic pot, so now I'm rather confused if I should get logarithmic or reverse log.
If anyone could enlighten me please? Is there a standard marking used in this DIY community? Thanks!

Hey guys,
this is only my second build (after a one sided Clone Overdrive) and it also took me quite a while. What kept me wasn't the soldering - the pcb layout is really amazing - it was the drilling. As I don't have my own drill, I had to do it at my parents (600km away) and also the holes didn't really turn out in a straight line. I had to redrill some of the holes at my university, but I need the mechanic for that - I have a master's degree in chemistry, but I'm not allowed to drill?! - so that took some time. My profession also explains the choice of name







As it is one of my first builds, I'm inexperienced with the finishing touches. I used some transparent adhesive foil for the markings. Fortunately, I didn't have anything to coat it with, otherwise I'd have been stuck with the error for my whole life (I accidentally switched the Feedback and Depth label). Also I'm not quite sure if I have the order of the modulation right or if it should be the other way around.
There's also one thing, which i found rather odd. When I just touch or come near the Delay poti, I can here the signal changing/modulating as if I was turning the knob while playing my guitar. Besides that, I'm really content with how it turned out. I'm open for any suggestions, so just tell me where I can improve (except the drilling )

P.s.: Anyone who wants to read about it in german, feel free to visit my blog.

Hey guys,
I have a beginners question. If I want to leave off the battery clip, since I wont use the battery anyways, am I right to just connect the DC jack with the Inputs's ring clip?
Thanks

p.s.: the effect I'm building is the Lowrider octaver, which is +9V. I don't need the -9V which is often supplied by a battery.