Topics

Here's what I plan on doing for sure in Feb.

Kingslayer (awaiting last prototype, mostly done)
Stage Fright (awaiting last prototype, mostly done)
Collosalus - verified

Here's a list of other projects that could be released (these are more or less done with a little more work):

Boneyard
Cherrybomb
Deadpool
DeadRinger
PigButt - IC Muff w/ tone bypass
RumpRoast - sub-mini tube
Harbinger - Univibe
Mudbunny with PCB mounted pots
Nautilus - Mutron iii --- long shot, but possible
FishFace  - (filter, sample and hold) - long shot, but possible

So, of the second list, what are people interested in? And, what else (that I have previously mentioned but not listed) are people wanting the most right now? Keep in mind, I will be limited to three, maybe four other projects beyond the three "for sure" ones. Most likely I will need to re-order something by Feb. so we'll see what funds I have available to do all of this.

Please give your feedback since this is an opportunity to decide what's available in February!

The attachments folder is getting pretty big and we just hit the max on it today. I've added some more space and also deleted some older ones (~4months or so). I hate to lose any cool build pics or other stuff, but it might be necessary to do this type of housekeeping once in a while.

If you want your pics on the forum to be more permanent, I suggest using a file host like Photobucket or one of the others, and then link. You can still attach pics directly to posts here, but there is a chance that it might eventually get deleted after several months. FYI!

Not quite a build report yet, but it's almost finished. Here's the layout! Pic to follow soon.

YesYesYes! Something goes right! Got the HD sorted out, made the changes and it sounds f'n spectacular. I see what I was missing now...it's just a nutty little effect. Very vocal if you tweak it just right.

So, I'll be doing the final review of my revised board tonight and I expect to send it off for manufacturing tomorrow. My single sided design is also verified.

Big thank you to forum member marauder who helped me sort out the needed changes!

Based on 7 or 8 hours of tweaking and experimentation with the DirtBag, plus partially tracing out the Memory Boy here are the suggested alternative values I've selected. These seem to be the best values possible for minimizing distortion while keeping the delay line levels high enough and not too grainy. It's not perfect, but I feel confident now that it's as good as it's going to get without some radical alteration in design. Which would not be a bad thing, but it also would not be a Memory Man either!

Anyway, here is what you need to change:

R62 - 15k from 7k5
R42 - 20k from 11k (value is not critical--22k is fine)
R17 - omit/remove
R16 - jumper instead of 33k
C9 - 10uF from 4u7
R11/R12 - 47k --- 24k resulted in more distortion with the other changes listed so use 47k for both. This results in an output voltage of just over 6v, which is the case with the Memory Boy.
R10 - a combination of 1uF and 6k8 in series instead of a single 68k resistor. I suggest using either multi-layer ceramic or electrolytic here. If using electrolytic then make the positive end go toward C7 and the negative end toward the 6k8. The addition of the cap makes a big difference in keeping the repeats more even and longer lasting.

A possible mod: you can lower the value of that 1uF from above to filter the repeats, if you like. Anything from 15n to 33n will give you a noticeable "telephone" type filter, which I think sounds really cool (similar to the Deep Blue Delay). For experimenting, I used a socket for R10 and then ran wires from the two ends to the breadboard, then just swapped out different caps to see what worked. 1uF has the least amount of coloring, and 33n is very effected.

All other values are stock. These mods would be done INSTEAD of the earlier mod I suggested (replacing R21 and C14 with 100k resistors).

Overall, this improves the delay significantly, but it's not perfect. The threshold and release of the compressor is just not great and I have not found any way around that. But, with very careful (and minute) tweaking of GAIN1 and GAIN2 you can get very acceptable results. There will still be some hiss with very soft notes and long delay times. As I stated in the other thread this is exactly the case in the Memory Boy.

So, I hope this is somewhat more satisfactory of an end result for everyone. I wish it were perfect, but I feel like it's as good as it can be with these changes. One positive note: the delay from the DirtBag seems to be about 100-200ms longer than the Memory Boy!

I'm pretty bummed cause I just lost a whole lot of work. My laptop got jacked by a trojan....not a big deal. I start wiping it clean with malwarebytes and removed the offending executables. But, then my browser got jacked with re-directs, so I tried using TDSS killer and some rootkit cleaners. Well, somehow the infection or fix screwed up MBR and now all of sudden it won't post. From there things just got worse. Long story short:even though I had the drive partitioned an the work backed up I ended up losing everything....which includes a whole bunch of layouts not saved on my desktop computer. Including the layouts for the Nautilus and a few sub-mini projects.

Maybe it's time for some cloud type storage...hard drives and operating systems are nothing but faulty in the long run!

Looks like I'll be tracing my own layout for the Nautilus so I can actually build the prototype!

This is an alert that there is going to be a recall on the HoneyDripper PCBs. A mistake in the power supply portion of the circuit has been found. Unfortunately, it is not at all an easy fix, and it looks like the best course of action is to go ahead and have the boards re-done.

So, here's what I'm going to do. Anyone who purchased the board and just wants a refund, please email me at brian@madbeanpedals.com and provide your original Paypal transaction ID with your refund request. I will get that refund done for you right away.

If you still want to build the project, I will be sending out the corrected PCB ASAP. Don't worry about sending the original PCB back. Keep it, or toss it. I estimate that it will be about three weeks before I can send replacements.

If you've already started populating the PCB and therefore have used some parts up in the process let me know. I will try to figure out something to compensate for the loss of parts, whether it's a small store credit or replacements....something to that effect.

I am really sorry about this. It's time for me to eat a little crow here as it seems I rushed some of this last batch through and was not as careful as I have been in the past. This, along with the mistake on the Road Rage silkscreen, and the distortion issue with the DirtBag clearly shows that I've been careless and that is a real problem when you are trying to run a business and maintain a reputation. Therefore, I am temporarily cancelling the planned releases for the end of this month so I can thoroughly review all designs before having anything else manufactured. I'm pretty upset right now, but I know if I just take a step back and re-evaluate the production process for project releases, I will figure out a way to ensure this event is not repeated.

I'll keep everyone posted on the development of the replacement PCBs as soon as I can.

Brian

After many hours of tweaking I've made some more discoveries concerning some of the noise and distortion issues with the v3205 version of the DirtBag.

R13/R14 - this divider is the main source of distortion - omitting R14 removes much of it (leaving R21 and C14 at their stock values).
R11/R12 - whether they are 10k, 24k, or 47k actually does not play a significant role in noise, but the lowest values do seem to be best for controlling distortion.
R42 - can be omitted entirely in some cases. Too low a value brings pin12 too close to ground and will kill the expandor portion of the circuit. Higher values work okay. I'm using 20k for R42 and 10k for R11/R12 right now.
C10 - stock 1uF seems to be the best value. 2u2 can cause a little "whump" with self-oscillation.
R10 - lowering this value adds some more attack, but too low and there is excessive oscillation. Trying 10k now.
Also, a cap across R10 does seem to help a bit with noise. Currently trying to find the right combination (if there is one).
C27 - (THD cap) Actually not finding much of a difference with different values
R43 - can be omitted
C9 - want to try 10uF there--have not socketed it yet

Overall: distortion can more or less be eliminated by removing R14 and adjusting GAIN1 and GAIN2 accordingly for optimal self-oscillation. The biggest issue is actually noise, not distortion. The compressor reacts very well with larger input signals--it virtually eliminates all noise. The problem is in LOWER input signals. IE, when notes are played softly, the compression threshold seems to be too high and results in "zipper" type noise. Same thing with decaying notes via delay repeats. This could be an intrinsic flaw in running the circuit at 9v....or maybe not. Don't have an answer yet.

TL;DR - eliminated distortion, working on eliminating noise i.e. faster response time or lower compression threshold, not sure if it is an actual circuit design flaw or not yet.

Last night I dreamed that I was at a Prince concert. He has a huge stack of amps, like at least 100, in some kind of monstrous array that was at least thirty feet high. Somehow, there was no security around the rig and I managed to get up the scaffolding behind them. About half-way up there were dozens of pedals sitting around, not plugged into anything. On top of one of the amps sat a boxed JHS Panther delay.

I looked around for a while, decided I had to have a bathroom break and left. The dream took a weird turn for a while about an old pal and former college roommate, but later on I decided I needed to steal Prince's Panther delay. I went back to the amp rig and was walking up to the box so I could stuff it in my backpack. Just then a fight broke out and security was everywhere, so I had to give up my plan. I was pissed because I was going to reverse the Panther.

I've always been a bit troubled by the blend control on the stock Memory Man. It just blends in repeats too early for me. Here's a simple solution: replace the Blend pot with 100kB. The mixing is MUCH better, IMO/ About noon is half and half.

Here's what I'm for sure doing.
Boneyard, CherryBomb, PastyFace, LaVache, Pig Butt and Retrograde.

If I can finalize it in time: Stage Fright

And re-ordering the Low Rider.

I'll set up pre-orders in a few days. I expect to be shipping these right at the end of Dec./beg. of January.

The next batch after this one will be mostly all new stuff...big projects, and super-fun ones! Those will be at the beginning of Feb., most likely.

See this thread first for newer modifications: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=3366.0

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the solution (copied from the updated project doc) to eliminate the distortion issue with the v3205 version of the DirtBag. As promised, it's a super-easy fix!

REVISION (CRITICAL): Some builders of the v3205 version of this project have run into distorted repeats. There is a simple solution to this issue. Replace R21 (1k) with 100k and C14 (33n) with another 100k resistor. This forms a voltage divider which eliminates overloading the lower headroom of the v3205. The original 1k/33n forms a low pass filter with a corner frequency of about 4825 kHz. Even though this fix eliminates this filter, it seems that the low overhead of the v3205 does not impact the delay tone in a significant way. Further tests also found that R10 could be omitted from the compressor portion of the NE570, but this is not critical. As a reminder, you will want to use 47k for both R11&R12 when building the v3205 version.

The project document has been updated with the revision: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/Dirtbag/DirtBagDeluxe.zip

I'm really sorry for those who felt frustrated over the past few days. But, I hope that frustration will quickly go away once you hear how much better your new delay is going to sound

For those of you still interested in building the Deadringer. What do you think of replacing the stock boost of the FD-2 with a true, independent boost?

The FD-2 boost actually just switches in a second pot to add more gain, but does not work independently of the dirt effect. I'm thinking actually switching to a higher gain pot on the dirt side and then making a simple NPN booster as the second "boost" channel that will work on its own, or can be used to boost the overall gain.

So what do you think? Good idea/ Bad idea? All the other options will still work as before, i.e. the mosfet/silicon switching and the vintage, comp cut and flat switch.

For the added boost, I'm thinking either the last gain stage of a Muff or the Electra distortion.

I just posted a correction to the Road Rage documentation concerning the silk screen label: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=3259.0

Please be sure to always check your supply output before connecting it to the PCB you are powering. Excessive voltage can cause damage, in some cases.

An error in the silkscreen has been discovered on the Road Rage PCB. The +15v and +18v labels should be reversed! Please see the illustration below.

The project documentation has been revised accordingly. Sorry!
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/RoadRage/docs/RoadRage.pdf

As always, check your voltage output from the charge pump and/or regulator before connecting it to an effect. Supplying too high of a voltage CAN damage parts in some cases.

It was brought to my attention the the Road Rage doc had the 9v wires from the DC jack connected incorrectly. I have updated the documentation with the corrected wiring diagram. Here it is below, too. Thanks, Scott!

The new website design is churning along nicely. I think it will be ready before the end of the month. I asked last week for some build pics for a new gallery and got some responses. Thanks to everyone who submitted!

I could still use a few more build pics---I'm looking for your best two or three examples. You can email them to me at brian@madbeanpedals.com. I will handle the re-sizing (if needed) and putting the proper credits on it, so no worries there.

Also, if you have any video or audio demos you would like featured on the upcoming "Media" page, you can submit (link) those too. Make sure you tell me how they should be credited (your name or forum name, website, if applicable, etc).


The front page and projects page are pretty much finished. So, I just need to build the new store, the tutorials and the media page and that's it!

So, I spent about 15 hours yesterday working on the website re-design and it is going well. I'm going to add a "customer build" slideshow on the new projects page, and I need pics. If you would like to have some of your builds featured prominently on the MBP website, please send them to me!

Here's what I need:

build pics, outside and / or guts - 300 pixels wide minimum, max doesn't matter since I can resize it
a brief description of what the pic is - text only please--not embedded in the pics
your name (either your real name or forum member name)

Please email the pics and corresponding info to brian@madbeanpedals.com

Thanks in advance for submissions. The new design is looking pretty swank!

This topic has been moved to How Do I? Beginner's Paradise..

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=3106.0

All questions are valid. No matter how dumb you might think you are for asking, someone else is wondering the same thing. Trust me on this! Fire away.