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So I have a group of guys that I play with and for whatever reason we tend to play too fast, or play faster as a song progresses.  I think our drummer just gets a little excited and needs to calm down.  We're getting a handle on it with practice but I would like to speed the process along. 

That's where the thought of a group metronome came in.   I know some folks use a click track for practice, and we may try that too.   That would be easy to put into the monitors.   

But I was wondering it anything with a light indicator existed.  I was thinking it would be nice to have a big LED display in the center of the room.  Or maybe 3 or 4 on the walls.  We stand in a circle in our practice space so we are all looking in different directions, but still at each other.    The other thought was individual lights on our music stands. 

Either way they would all have to be coordinated and centrally controlled. 

I've looked without success and have thought of building something, but maybe this wheel is already invented. 

Cheers,
George

So I've been researching clean blends for use with bass effects.  There are a lot of options out there.  Some simple and some complex. 

I've never used one and now I'm wondering how folks use them.  Are the blend circuits a set and forget kind of thing or is it something that gets adjusted constantly?

My thought here is that if it is a set and forget thing, then a simple utility board inside the box could convert a standard effect into clean blend without additional external controls.   Once the balance is set with internal trimmers or such, then it stays where it is and the controls for the main effect are all that is used. 

Or is the blend control absolutely required to be on the outside to be functional?

Would anyone have any opinions on speaker re-coning? 

A band mate blew a monitor speaker and we are considering having it re-coned rather than replaced.  The cost is about half of new so the pricing is appealing.  And these are stage monitors so the sound isn't super critical.

Thanks for any feedback.

Cheers,
George

So it's time to start posting some pictures.  This one has a somewhat high parts count, and matching the transistors is always fun, but the sound is really nice and worth the effort.  Once it's done, of course.

So I finally managed to get this thing done.  For a change I've actually been playing guitar more than working on pedals and just haven't had time.  But now it's done, and it's cool.

I saw some posts by Juansolo and Marauder who both had the idea to run the T-Wrex at 18 volts.  Of course I had to try it.  More importantly though, they changed the boost to a SHO type boost and ran it after the distortion instead of before.  Now the boost is just that, a nice clean volume boost of the signal that's already there.  The boost is so much better this way.

So thanks to both Juansolo and Marauder for the great idea.

Hey guys,

I'm pretty sure I'm over thinking this, but I read something on the forum and it's biasing my judgment.

I have a JRC4580/NJM4580 and I want to supply it with 18V instead of the usual 9V.

The data sheet says +18V/-18V for the supply, but that's for a dual rail supply, so straight 18V like we use is fine, right?

I've never run anything at 18V, so I just want to be sure.

This is the datasheet: http://www.mouser.com/ds/2/294/NJM4580_E-218114.pdf

Thanks,
George

Hi guys,

I need a couple of 4700uF / 55v Axial caps for and amp I'm working on.

I've tried all of the usual supply houses and this particular cap seems to be nonexistent on this planet.  And that includes higher values and voltages.

Would anyone be able to recommend anyplace that might stock this size?  I would like US Domestic, but would consider anything at this point.

Thanks,
George

What PCB fab houses are you guys using?

I've ordered from OSH Park and I don't think it could get much easier.  Also placed an order with Seeed.  (Still waiting for the order to get here.)  They're a little more challenging, but still pretty straight forward.  I can see pros and cons for both.

I know about iTead too, but they seem to be the same as Seeed.  Like they are related somehow.  Not sure what the difference really is.

So are these guys the cream of the crop, or do you guys use other places too?  And what are the pros and cons of those places??

For my purposes someplace that will take a 10 piece order is ideal, but still curious who else is out there and is trusted in the DIY community.

Thanks for the help.

George

So my path of DIY exploration took me down the road to professional PCB fabrication.  The concept is really cool since I decided that etching and drilling is not my bag.  But the learning curve for getting this done is daunting.  I had a batch made, and found that I tripped over silly stuff like drill sizes and the REAL size of PCB mounted pots.   The process is really forcing me to look 10 steps ahead of where I'm at to make sure it all works.  Even the way it fits into the enclosure. 

Of course it doesn't help that I started with a project that was way too huge for a first attempt. (for fab, not Eagle)  We all like challenges though, don't we?  One thing I can say for sure is that this gives me even more respect for Bean's layouts and the other layouts around here.

I just wanted to share that appreciation and post a couple of pics of my journey.  Particularly since you guys started me down this path!!  It's a lot of work, but very rewarding in a geeky-techie way.

Cheers,
George

So I tried OSH Park for the first time.  If I knew having boards made was that easy, I never would have fooled with etching.

Of course, I don't have the boards back yet, so I may sing a different tune later.

Now, I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but is OSH Park also good for short / medium runs?   I read about the 150sq inch thing, but minimum order is 1500 square inches ("as long as each is ordered in a multiple of 10 boards").  I'm just not clear if that would cost $150 or $1500. 

Regardless, who do you guys use to make boards for group buys and that sort of "production"?

Thanks,
George

I didn't see anything here about the Road Rage boards being out of stock, so I thought I would ask to be sure.  So are they really out or is my computer messing with me?

-G

For an MN3005 Aquaboy is there a preferred power scheme?

From the build doc I see 3 options.

  1) 18v wall wart, 15v regulator at R19.
  2) Road Rage @ 18v, 15v regulator at R19, or
  3) Road Rage @ 15v, 22R at R19.

I prefer #3, and don't like #1.  Any advantage to #2?  Anyone tried?

The last published version version of the Aquaboy that I see, and own, is version 2.  I was researching analog delays and wanted to know if there was a V1.    I thought I saw that there was a MN3005 only version, but now I'm not sure.   Reading too much I think.   

So was there a V1 and if so, would anyone have a copy of the project file?

Thanks,
George

I haven't seen anything here about how to adjust the balance trimmer on the Dirtbag.  The only thing  read was to set it at noon and move on.

Well, I found and old Mark Hammer post about using that adjustment to tune out clock noise.  I was hearing some clock noise when biasing the chips so i tried it. 

With nothing being fed into the input, I probed pin 3 of IC5 and could clearly hear the clock.  Tweaking the balance trim eliminated it or at least reduced it to the point that I couldn't hear it.  YMMV.

Like I said, I don't know if this is common knowledge and I just missed it, or if this is new, but here it is anyway.

I'm currently debugging a Dirtbag with MN3005's that isn't getting enough delay time.  I'm only getting 250ms right now.

I would like to be able to run 1 chip at a time to help determine if I have a single bad chip, or 2 fakes.

Can I remove one of the delay chips and jumper from Pin 7 to Pin 3?  Or maybe the jumper should be a 1uF cap?  If I was to jumper IC5, would I want to change the balance at all?  Or would jumpering screw something up?

Also, I hear signal on Pin 3 of both chips when biasing.  Does that mean that both are delaying, or could 1 be delaying 250ms and the other nothing?

I've been experimenting with having PPP drill and powder coat enclosures and would like to try again with the Dirtbag.  This is my first project that is using board mounted pots though, and the layout isn't exactly symmetrical, so I though I would ask for some help to verify dimensions.   

I tried using Eagle to mock up the pot positions, but things weren't lining up for me.  It looks like the pots in Eagle are different from the Dirtbag layout by about 0.1," so everything was off by a bit.  So I just pulled the dimensions from the drill template in the instructions. 

Would you guys mind taking a look to see if these look right?  And how critical is the positioning of the holes?  Is there some leeway to be had, or does it need to be spot on?

Some time ago there was some chatter about schematics, or part sub lists, for the other LTD variants that were similar to the LTD Silver, like the LTD and LTD SR.  I've been watching and looking, but haven't found any such summery.  Does that sort of list exist?


Thanks,
George

Ok, "stole" is a little strong.

I did use the Silverfox layout to do a layout for the Barber Tone Pump that was posted at DIYStompboxes.  They are very similar and it made the Tone Pump very easy to do.

Since it is more your work than mine, do you mind if I post it here or there?  I really just made it for myself, but it does seem a shame to waste a nice layout.  If you want I'll send the Eagle files.  Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers,
George