Topics

Recent build of the 1776 RADD. Gotta say I was really surprised at how much I like this pedal. I had concerns that I would not like the slight modulation inherent in these reverb bricks. Guess I've gotten spoiled by the reverb in my vintage Super Reverb and thought I might not like this. Boy was I wrong.

This thing sounds great. I read that some builds had oscillation issues using the 250kB duel gang pot for the decay so I subbed in a 100kb. Works perfect for me. Nice sweep and no issues. Honestly it sounds good at all settings. The tone control covers a nice range but doesn't get brittle.

Great pcb and an easy build. Artwork designed in Photoshop and acid etched then lacquered. NOS Rogan knobs. The board was designed for mounted pots but I wanted to use a different layout for the artwork.

Layering this on top of the Super's reverb and a touch of delay is a magical sound. Very happy with this.

Ok, so late to the posting party on this one. Built it about a year ago and never photographed it.

1776 Multiplex Echo board. I found an old 60"s reel to reel with the 3d logo and built the graphic around that.

Design is etched and the board built stock with no mods. A really fantastic delay. Most have already built it but if you haven't it is well worth it.

Been a while since I've posted. Been Building guitars and a few pedals along the way.

I love this pedal!! Total old school sound. Great for roots music. Gritty, gutsy, loud and not a bad tone in the mix. Sounds great with my '70 Super Reverb as well as a little 5watt Marshall type I have.

Board is from Often FX (where did they go?). It's the Runoffgroove Supreaux Deux.

Designed the graphics in Photoshop and etched it in ferric chloride. The top has been lacquered.  The knobs are vintage.

This has gotta be one of my favorite dirt pedals.

Here's my "Dark Echo" aka "Cave Dweller. My apologies to Jack Deville. I designed the artwork before I realized he had a pedal by this name. It really suits this pedal. Straight up with only the 2n2 cap to brighten it a little. The funky transistor was the only one Tadya had that matched the specs for the board.
White water clear sanded led.

Artwork and type created in Photoshop. Used PNP to transfer the design for etching.

Really like this pedal a lot. Like it so much I bought a volume pedal just so I could so those dark, cool swells you can get with this. Build it!

Ok, I admit it. I'm a sucker for Tremolo, Vibe and Rotary effects.

This is the ROG "Tri-Vibe" built using a board etched and populated by Stephen on the BYOC forum.
Felt funny using a board populated by another builder but the price was right and I wanted to try it.

Sooooooo, here it is. Art Deco inspired design, acid etched top design, vintage knobs and a pulsating led.

How's it sound? Sometimes I love it, sometimes I don't. It can be noisy with some pedals. Like many of these effects it has a volume drop ( much better after I replaced a chip that was not the recommended one).
I use a transparent buffer as a boost. All in all, some very cool sounds when you get it dialed in.

Looking forward to building the "QuadroVibe" when the boards are available from MB.

Straight ahead  Germanium Fuzz Face on vero with a couple of mods. Bias trimmer, added a pre-gain pot and a power switch. I hate having to unplug my battery operated fuzz pedals 

Transistors are GT308's from Musikding in Germany. They sell lots of different types of GE trans all sorted by gain. Very reasonable prices. I got a variety of types to experiment with. These two are 70-80 and 80-90. Has a surprising amount of gain and it's freakin loud! Lots of great, great tones and range especially with the pre-gain. Cleans up very well and plays well with my other pedals too.

I socketed the output cap and tried several different types with the same rating. They all sounded different to my ears. For this pair I settled on a Wima box cap. Somewhat more harmonics and sustain.

Used an axial cap (I forgot to order a radial) and had to tip it to shut the bottom.

The enclosure is etched using PNP for the mask. The knobs are vintage. Sanded the blue led to diffuse it.

This is my favorite Fuzz so far!

[MIT]

Hey all, The New York Times had an article today about Universities offering online courses for free and I found this one offered by MIT.

Here's a description: "6.002x (Circuits and Electronics) is an experimental on-line adaptation of MIT's first undergraduate analog design course: 6.002. This course will run, free of charge, for students worldwide from March 5, 2012 through June 8, 2012."

Here's a link to the page to sign up. https://6002x.mitx.mit.edu/#

I thought some of the forum members might be interested in checking this out. It is an intro class to circuits. And it's FREE 

I want to replace a 470r resistor in a wah with a pot. What size pot should I use and how should it be wired?
Thanks!

My first vero build, a Nick Greer "Ghetto Stomp" from a layout at http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/

Not a MB project but cool if you like small old amps with a loose low end. This is supposedly a Supro kind of sound. Catches some of that vibe to my ears. I dig it. Stacks well with the MB Grapevine. Easy build and an old school sound with my Strats. Silver Vein enclosure from Pedal Parts and a cool purple amp jewel.

This is my first etched enclosure. It's a Honey Bee.... er, I mean Yellow Shark. Really great fabbed board from MBP. Super easy to solder and fired up right away. Very nice low gain pedal. Great for single coils. The graphic elements are from stock vector art. I manipulated that and the type to get the look. The finish is a combination of black along with a metallic brown rubbed into the etch and top surface. Final finish is  clear nitro lacquer from ReRanch.

Finished this about 2 weeks ago. Love the sound of this. Didn't know how much I like that Marshall grind I really like all of the od's I've built but this may be my favorite so far. Stacks really well with all my pedals. Both gain modes are musical and play well with my strats. Great sound! This is in a 1590B with a silver hammered finish from a spray can. The large knob is a 50's or 60's vintage piece. Thanks to Haberdasher for the excellent board and thanks to all the posters here. I'm learning lots of good things here! 

Mangler with 25k Bias knob, switchable output caps. trans copper enclosure from Pedal Parts, matched NOS American Germanium trans from Small Bear, NOS Rogan knobs and Fender amber amp jewel. Small cap on the input is to filter out RF noise.

Great sound! Warm, very volume sensitive. Having the bias knob up top lets me get a variety of tones. I wanted a little cut in the bass so I added a 22uF cap on the switch with the stock 47uF. Not a huge difference but a little brighter mids and a touch less bass. I've only owned one other Fuzz Face, a mid 90's Dunlop that I couldn't use. This is a completely different animal. Didn't know what I was missin' 

This is my first Madbean build. Love this pedal. Fantastic with a strat! 1st 1044 chip whined when the Fat was maxed. I ordered a replacement and it works perfect. Adds a nice shimmer on top and the Fat really adds body to the overall sound. Really impressed with the quality of the pcb and the build docs. 

Hi, I'm getting ready to build a MB "Mangler" and will be using an external bias knob instead of the trim pot. I'm using a matched set of PNP trans from Small Bear. These come with recommended resistors to achieve the correct bias. My question is: If I'm able to bias on the fly with the bias knob should I use their recommended values or is that not necessary given that the bias can be adjusted. Thanks in advance!

[gaussmarkov]

Hi, just built a Fatpants. First, let me say this was my first Madbeans board and it was a pleasure to work with. Logical layout and GREAT Documentation! I'll be using more of them in the future.

Back to the issue. Here's what I'm getting:

Clean bypass signal
LED lights up
With pedal engaged with Volume maxed a little less than unity
NO change when adjusting the Bias Knob 

What I've checked:

  All Grounds confirmed
Continuity on all other parts of the circuit
Getting 17v at the extra pad as well as the trim pot
All resistors confirmed before install and after
Diodes confirmed- ok
All capacitors are 25v or higher
I used the gaussmarkov wiring and it's confirmed (I like it for it's simplicity. Leads will be trimmed when I have a working build.)
Parts values confirmed (Multiple times)
Traces intact and no solder bridges- overall fairly clean
Both Pots confirmed for range and value

So, don't know where to go next. I suspect the J201. Are these sometimes defective?
I don't know how to verify the film cap values other than from my order.

Any thoughts or ideas appreciated. Thanks!

Hi, I want to use an external bias knob for the Mangler. What kind of pot and rating should I use? Linear, Audio, Reverse? Thanks!