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I've been thinking for several months I would like to set up a weekly "office hours" open-call Zoom session. This would be a chance for anyone to check in, talk about what they are working on, or work through build problems (for anything, not just madbean). I would host but all would be welcome.

What do you guys think? I could actually budget for the basic "no time limit" hosting package which would be a lot better than killing the call after 40 minutes (that's the free version limit). But, I'd like to get some feedback before I spend madbean funds on it.

R16 and C16 (100k and 100n, resp) were missing from the lists. I've corrected this and re-uploaded the documentation.

What are people using for laser printed water slide decals these days? It's been a long time since I used those for artwork. Or, any particular alternative that you use and can recommend.

For Father's Day, my wife got use tickets to see Trail of Dead in Nashville in Aug. I think this is only the second time they've been here since we moved from TX. Anyway, TOD is one of my all-time favorites and I was thinking about building a pedal for the lead singer/guitar player Conrad and giving it to him at the show. But, I'm not sure what to build. I'm thinking fuzz maybe.

Suggestions are welcome.

Fri-Sunday I'm doing a "free" shipping weekend.

USA orders $10 and up: free shipping
Outside USA orders $10 and up: reduced shipping ($10 instead of $15)

Also, the Bonus pack and Protorig will be back in stock tomorrow.

New Accessory Day. Picked this up a couple weeks ago before I went out of town thinking it might be fun to have a little quiet playing option. I'm really surprised at how good it sounds. I modded most of the stock presets (they are not that great) and dialed in some really decent tones. Turns out it's also pretty good for bench testing on my Protorig when I need to test out builds but everyone is asleep. I think it might be okay for some quick tones for DAW recording too, but I have not tried that yet.

[youtube width=640]16qW130o4Ao[/youtube]

The Mugshot boost (giveaway board from a couple months ago) is now available as a regular project in the Store.
Also- I should have more Tourbus Bonus Packs and the Protorig back in stock within the week.

Lastly - I've listed a couple upcoming projects that should be available before the end of the month.

I'll admit it - I binged S4 of Stranger Things and I've had "Running up That Hill" as an earworm for like ten days now. Make it stop! Once, in my college years, I had John Coltrane's "Favorite Things" as an earworm for almost two months. It's a weird mix of maddening and relaxation at the same time. Must have brain reboot. Considering electrocution with a 9v battery.

Since the April releases did so well I've had a few $$ to push through more projects for May. Here's what to expect (probably the 3rd or 4th week of this month):

Collosalus 2022: MXR Flanger - Improved 1590BB 4-layer PCB.
IMP 2022: Klon - new 1590B 4-layer PCB.
Impulse Power: Boss OS-2 - 125B.
Oracle: Boss CS-3 - 125B. (fantastic compressor)
Tourbus: EHX Memory Man PGE (positive ground edition) - 125B 4-layer PCB.

Projects are starting to get much shorter turnaround times so I hope to keep this momentum going through the summer with monthly releases.

Does anyone have the build documentation for the newer Yodeler (with the SPS switching system)? I'm trying to reconstruct the schematic from the older version design files and there a couple spots I'm not sure about.

Microchip finally came through. It took a few extra weeks.

This month's releases:
Splunker: Si fuzz w/ a PT2399 delay in a 1590B
Stage Fright 2022: Re-release with small tweaks to the layout.
Degenerator: Another PT2399 delay with envelope driven modulation.
MugShot: a boost based on the input of the Moog MF-104 delay. Free with every purchase $10 and over (exc. shipping, while supplies last).
sProbe: a Breadbuddy style utility board you can use for audio probing and voltage readings on an a full pedal.

Here's a demo I made. I also recorded some video of me playing the parts but ended up have serious sync issues. So, I abandoned that. I'll try to do a better job planning on the next demo.

[youtube width=720]OjGsdu1Lrp8[/youtube]

In the last few days my Champ has emitted a few pops when warming up after turn on. Audio output comes on suddenly after two or three pops rather than the normal fade in to full volume.

I'm thinking maybe the 6V6? It was last replaced in 2017 and I used a 6v6S from JJ. All the tubes look to be glowing normally and I swapped out the 12ax7 JIC (no difference). Do you think this is a good guess or should I also replace the rectifier tube? The amp had a full service in 2015 or 2016 IIRC so I'd be surprised if it's a component failure. But, maybe I better take a look inside anyway.

I've had the real deal Tim, and then my 1590BB clone of it for many many years. I guess I started this 125B version in 2017. I think I etched the faceplate two years later. Finished it off today while I was working on the many new builds. Slight misalignment with the clipping switch so I had to overdrill it. Sounds great! My Danelectro likes it very much.

Bit of a pop with the bypass. I used some water clear white LEDs and massive 470k current limiting resistors to make them pretty dim when lit. This is one that would benefit from relay bypass, I think.

Finally getting my act together for my Pedals for Ukraine build. I decided to go with the Cave Dweller 2022. First etched PCB in quite a long time for me. Faceplate artwork also etched and ready for the next step. Doesn't look like much now but it will transform over the next couple of days.

The price increase for all mbp projects will go into effect tomorrow, April 2nd. So, there are still a few hours left if you want to place an order before that happens. At some point tomorrow the Store will be in maintenance mode while I update everything. It should not last more than an hour.

I've also updated the what should be the complete list of new releases for April. Those will come in about 10 days or so. There will be a new Giveaway board when that happens.

I've been running all my boards in black for a few years now. It looks the best and is most consistent with color. Often red, blue, etc run in different batches can be different shades from one another. I don't care for yellow and I hate white ones because they contrast badly with flux.

So I was thinking of going back to plain old boring green. The reason is it's much easier to follow the traces on the boards that way. Black is very hard to pick out with my aging eyes. So, maybe it's better to go with the color that's most beneficial to actual builders?

One other possible reason. I read recently about the different ways solder mask color is achieved and there was a claim that the materials used for black could become conductive in the wrong situation. I don't know the truth of that but I personally have had a couple cases where I picked up voltages on boards where none should exist. And this has only happened in the last year or so. I can't attribute it to anything in particular but it's for sure caused me to rethink how I have the boards made.

Between beard pulling and procrastinating I wasn't too sure if it would ever happen. But it finally did!

Also, this will be the last release before an across the board price hike for mbp. Just a heads up. It's been like ten years since I've done a major price adjustment and the time has come (in a few weeks).

If you are hunting for NOS MN3005 here's your chance. Synthcube has a small lot. IMO, they are overpriced a $49 each (I think $35 maybe $40 is more reasonable) but we are probably past the days of spending $100 and pulling 2 genuine NOS off an old pedal.

I bought two of them. I tested them against 4 brand new Xvive RI in a delay circuit. The 4 Xvive all pretty much swapped out with a fixed input bias point. However, the two MN3005 had to be adjusted slightly from the Xvive to pass delay. That leads me to believe they could indeed be the real deal (not that implying synthcube isn't legit in their claim - it's just fakes do happen and these aren't cheap). FWIW.

https://synthcube.com/cart/mn3005-bucket-brigade-delay-analog-ic

[$2250]

Donations were made this morning. I've prepared a summary (in pic and pdf form) which is attached to this post.

We raised $2250 all in. This is an incredible amount for just four days! $2k was donated to the Global Giving initiative (they are at $6M+ now) and $250 was donated to the IFAW for all the animals in need in UKR. Links to those are in the pdf.

Thanks so much everyone! We did good