Messages

1

Global Annoucements / March releases....going a bit late

« on: March 31, 2020, 07:58:20 PM »

Still working on documents for the new projects (everything is built and verified) so it will be a couple more days probably. I expect anywhere from 2-4 NEW projects in addition to the three re-designed projects I already posted on the Store page. It's just going slow to get to the finish line so I'll release whatever I have completed within the next couple of days.

There will be a second April release at the end of the month plus a new giveaway (no hints). If I can pull off everything I'm trying for then I will be taking all of May off, haha.

2

Tech Help - Projects Page / Re: Rustbucket Incorrect Trace?

« on: March 29, 2020, 08:23:03 PM »

Take a look at the schematic. What are R2 and R4 both connected to? See why you have continuity there?

BTW - I'm not intending to be flippant. Just saying sometimes you need to cross-reference board and schematic to get the full picture (this is the process I go through when I'm trying to solve problems, myself!)

In this case both resistors are connected to the ground pour on the bottom which is why you see/measure them having continuity. The ground plane isn't shown on the trace diagram since it would just make the whole thing look like a mess.

Now, for you distorted signal, can we see the top of the board right in that area?  Do both R3 and R4 have brown/green/black/orange bands? 

3

Open Discussion / Re: The Official Coronavirus Discussion

« on: March 28, 2020, 03:30:22 PM »

Back from Costco.  It was a little scary, but mostly ok.  There are definitely some idiots there, like the guy who lifted his surgical mask so he could fit his index finger into his nostril better.  That same guy just a few minutes later lifted his mask to sneeze directly into the palms of his hands.  Lesson of the day: a surgical mask does not always indicate a person who is taking more precautions than necessary.

I went to Kroger this afternoon. Besides the employees and myself not a single customer was wearing gloves. Kids, too. Everything I brought home got wiped.

4

General Questions / Re: More depth out of the Wavelord

« on: March 28, 2020, 01:54:12 PM »

I checked and I dont think it's the R3 version of the NSL32

All the R3 I have have R3 printed on it. If that's the case it could certainly explain your issue. The off resistance of the R3 is 10 times that of the R1.

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General Questions / Re: Stage Fright PCB

« on: March 28, 2020, 08:54:56 AM »

The discontinued boards are old single sided PCB I used to do. The Stage Fright is a dual layer board so it's not available.

I can check and see if I have any left. I think I might have one. I'll see and get back to you.

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Tech Help - Projects Page / Re: Aquaboy ver.2 2010

« on: March 27, 2020, 06:56:09 PM »

Should be in the Archives.
https://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/archives/index.html

7

Tech Help - Projects Page / Re: FREEKOUT - boosted signal but no modulation

« on: March 25, 2020, 07:43:24 PM »

All your voltages seem fine. Slight difference in pin9 of IC3 but that's okay b/c that pin does nothing. Audio all the way through but no ring mod would make me suspect either the ICL8038 or AD633. But, again your voltages seem to be okay there.

Where did you get those two chips from?

PS I do not recommend replacing any parts until the problem is narrowed down a bit more (generally speaking).

8

Open Discussion / Re: Hermit Superpower

« on: March 25, 2020, 07:22:31 PM »

Saw a term last night that I thought perfectly summed up our current situation (I mean for those of us lucky enough not to be sick): "pajama apocalypse".

It's funny that just a couple months ago Graham and I were working on ideas for the new record and I floated the idea of it being a sort of rock/synth wave post apocalypse soundtrack. We had a conference call this week and I said maybe we should just do happy pop songs instead.

9

General Questions / Re: Rustbucket Issues

« on: March 25, 2020, 07:18:23 PM »

The section marked "A" is not part of the audio path. The audio and envelope generator split off at R18 and R12 resp.

If you are getting audio out of the MN3007 then the next place to look is pin6 of IC11 which leads to the effect output. However, no ICs should be getting warm at all. Here's what I do in these situations before anything else: remove all the ICs and put them back in one by one. Start with IC7 and see if it heats up. If so, that's definitely a problem area. If not, keep inserting the other ones and check to see when IC7 heats up (or if any other do the same).

I had this exact problem with my very first Rustbucket build but in that case it turned out to be one of the 3080s that was bad.

I don't have time to review all your voltages tonight but I will take a look at them tomorrow.

10

Open Discussion / Hermit Superpower

« on: March 24, 2020, 10:47:36 AM »

Since I've basically been sheltering in place for 10 years (I work from home and so I am home all the time) I've gained a super-power:

I can tell if there is a window or door open anywhere in my house from any place in my house. Why? I dunno. Maybe because I am so used to the ambient sounds in my place that the slightest change registers. I only have a normal hearing range for my age (actually I have a little bit of tinnitus). It's my one super power, apparently.

What new powers will you gain from being at home all the time? Yes, this is a stupid thread.

11

General Questions / Re: More depth out of the Wavelord

« on: March 24, 2020, 08:57:07 AM »

What optocoupler did you use?

The only tweak available to increase depth would be to lower R24. It's 1k stock but you could go down to 470R. This will increase the max brightness of the internal LED which in turn will increase the range from dark to light in the internal LDR.

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Global Annoucements / Re: Coming Up: Quarantine Builds

« on: March 23, 2020, 06:59:49 PM »

Just in case you haven't seen it: https://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?board=99.0

13

Open Discussion / Re: The Official Coronavirus Discussion

« on: March 23, 2020, 06:44:50 PM »

Woke up this morning to a small anxiety attack. I think this is really starting to hit me. I'm pretty stoic most of the time but as I started turning over future outcomes everything started to feel a bit grim. We are lucky in that we could weather a few months, maybe even a year, of loss of income (without consideration of potential continued food shortages, etc) but thinking about the possibility of my wife losing her job did make me panic a bit. It could happen and there are good reasons to think she might even if this turns around within just a few months. That would mean loss of our healthcare and even maybe more. And, the prospects of her finding another job in her field (web design/IT) could be grim as well if the economic downturn lasts for a couple of years.

Feeling better now but man, I'm expecting a lot more days like this in the near future. I'm trying to re-focus my worry on the people who are in a lot less fortunate circumstances but I guess one can't help to think about what our lives might be like in 6 months or a year.

14

Global Annoucements / Coming Up: Quarantine Builds

« on: March 20, 2020, 08:11:40 PM »

I don't think this will be a contest but next week we'll start a Quarantine Build area. I'm thinking a fun activity we can participate in (those of us that are available) as a group would alleviate some boredom and stress that goes along with our collective social isolation. So, I'll make an official announcement Monday. And, I will definitely be participating myself I actually have a lot of builds to complete for the coming weeks so it would be fun for me to have a WIP thread for one of them.

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Global Annoucements / March restocks now available

« on: March 20, 2020, 07:58:58 AM »

Back in stock: 4:1, GreenBean, Glitchee, Harbinger 1.5, WeenerWah, WhiteHorse and Woodstork

Added to 50% off sale: Bloviator and Ping

The White Horse has been updated to v.5 from 4.2. The doc has been updated to reflect this (the main difference between the two is the clipping diodes which was already explained in the doc).