Topics

This must be my most diy-creative day ever. Three boxes finnished today. Never happened and will never happen again ... Well, the first one was almost ready before daybreak. But these two is from scratch. Very simple ones, about 30 minutes each i think. Two passive things, one for in and one for out, so to speak:)

Thank you lincolnic, for pointing out the direction to diyrecordingequipment.com, who sells these kits. I DO need a re-ampbox to explore the reamping thing when it comes to recording. Also it is about time for me to get back to the recording part of the musician hobby. Its been a while, and i miss it... i cant just use a soldering iron all evenings  .. Also, i look forward to try out this DI box. I will come back with a few verdicts on the boxes later on, right now i have only verified that they work.




Cheeeeerio!!

Hi folks.

This is the third ts i build, and this time i focused on the original ts808 components. But i couldnt resist to keep at least one mod; the asym clipping.... so convenient with boardmounted switch:). I picked 3*BAT43 for asym clipping, 2*1N914 as original.

I had... two problems to deal with: First, the boardmounted switch shorted the pins of the vol and drive-pots. They are placed too tight on the pcb. This surprised me a bit, am i the only one who experience this? I dont Think my Components (switch) are unusually space-craving. Anyway, i solved it with insulating tape, but its a fix i dont really like, for aging reasons.

Second dilemma... etching... i have read all the instructions and tutorials... i got myself some new etchant (FECLIII), but still, my etches dont go DEEEEEEP enuff! Some experiments later it looks like it does... and to be honest, this is the first pedal in a while where i am NOT happy of my enclosure design. I guess i can live with that though:)

Anyway, the bottom line must be: It is no surprise that this Circuit is considered "Theeee Overdrive" for many musicians. It simply is great, isnt it:)

pics (horrible quality on the first one):





Cheers!

Hi. I am about to box up Another TS, on the madbean grean bean pcb. This time i want to build it exactly as the original TS808. "Just because"... or "why not". No mods or variations. I was nerdy enuff to even get me some 51k resistors and tantalum caps, etc.

...but, the info i can find "everywhere" is a bit ambiguous. At least one question remains un-explicitly replied: Which of the DRIVE and VOL pots are lin, and which are log?

Cheers.

My Trembahl needed a brother. Heres the Wöbahl!

Finally build my Cardinal (Midwayfair/1776). Great box. i DO regret though, that i did put the WAVE pot as a trimmer... i strongly recommend anyone who build this to have that knob reachable from the outside as half the fun with the box is to play with the wave setting...

Tight board. Almost too tight for Panasonic 1uF-caps and "those damm trimmers http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=10832.0 "  ... You can see some hidden resistors under them.

I put attention to gain resistor choice for the jFETs. I ended up with 8k2 for R7 and 18k(!) for R9. Definately worth the effort. I recommend future builders to socket R7 and R9 (as said in the build dox) and take it from there.

So... great design Jon! Very musical tremolo.





Cheers!

[BLÜE MONSTER]

BLÜE MONSTER
Dual Band FET OD, ver 1.1

Late 2012 i designed and build the Blüe Monster highgain thing. The story, schematic, a onesided pcb-etch design, and sound clips are here: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=6968.0

... and evolution shrinks stuff, even here at my workbench. And as i kept developing my EAGLE skills (all thanx to this fantastic Place, that must be said again and again!) and also realized that i can order fabbed PCB-s for a ... reasonable amount of money, i decided to design a twosided PCB for the Blüe Monster myself. Definately exciting to populate and box a fabbed pcb of my own design. And scary to hit the stomp for the first Power up.

***

It is still the same Circuit as linked to above^^, but redesigned as a twosided pcb. The only main difference is the addition of a CLR and LED pad. The goal was to use boardmounted pots, make it fit in a BB enclosure, and i wanted to keep the "six pots gives a triangle"-design.

***

In short: This is a dual band highgain overdrive. It splits the signal in two fully phase-compensated frequency bands after the input buffer. Those two signals are then separately distorted/overdriven in two dirt Circuits based around a 4049UBE, before they are mixed together and run through a tunable two-pole LP filter for additional soundshaping. Finally a master volume.

It has been some interest around here to buy these fabbed PCB-s. I will come back regarding that subject, i want to try this very box a bit more before i start to spread them:)

***

Some pics:

the PCB


and the PCB with pots mounted:


Guts:


The Look:


again:


***

Look! I'm shrinking! Same same but different.


Cheeeeeerio folks!

Hi folks.

I have done a few (two, to be specific) fairly successful etches on aluminum enclosures. The latest one here: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=10407.0. More often than twice though, i have failed in my tries to etch them.

My problem has been that the etches dont go enough deep. I guess it depends on the etchant i have used so far, NaOH, commonly known as "Kaustiksoda (Swedish Word. Caustic Soda in English?)". It works, but the effect is weak. I've had enclosures in warm etching baths for 20 minutes, and the patterns goes viewable, but are barely so Deep i can sense them with fingertips.

Anyway, it's time for upgrade and more trial and error! So i just bought me some 125g of FeCl3 (which i guess is what most of you guys use for etching?). The bottle texttag says that it shall dissolve in 0.25-0.5 litres of water to make a good enough solution.

My questions:
How much is needed to prepare for one enclosure? Or do you prepare all of it and save in a bigger bottle?

is the etchant reusable after one enclosure? if so, i'd appreciate some kind of rule by thumb (as in "say 4 boxes need 3dl of etchant...")

How much time is needed to etch a box? I know it depends on font/pattern width etc, but ... Another rule by thumb? If i remember correct, Slade (at DIYSTB) recommended 4-8 minutes in his tutorial. Sounds sane?

Cheers

Hi.

I just unwrapped my last parcel from Banzai Music, a bunch of our common jacks, pots, caps... and... wrong legged trimmers ...

This gets me nuts. I order most of my parts from Banzaimusic, and almost Always i buy a few trimmers. And - this is my Point - i ALWAYS order a model with wrong leg spacing configuration. Too long distance between the 1-3 bassline and pin 2. (Here, to me the "right" leg configuration is the standard size mostly used on the madbean pcb-s)

So... can someone Point me to the right trimmer on Banzai's page? I would be truly thankful. Link:
http://www.banzaimusic.com/Trimpots/
... this time i orderred "Piher PT10". Wrong again

Thanx in advance!

Edit: Subject change!

My first tremolo build; mb Double Flush pcb. It would fit in a B-size box, but ... i didnt have one at house and i wanted to box it. AND i like to have space, so im not complaining:)





Cheers!

Hi.

As part of a slightly larger circuit, i like to implement a lowpass filter, which i can switch/toggle on/off with a DPDT. And, when off, i want the signal through a buffer (as in "why not use it, there are two OP-amps in a TL072 case..."). Fairly simple task, which i have solved this way (and yes, it works):



Question: Is there anything unneccessary in there, or a more clever way to do the switching? Do i need R5 and R6?

Or put the question this way: I think yes, i need R5 and R6, because its a good thing to keep the input biased even if the stage is not used. Am i correct?

cheers

Heyo folks!

...just a Phase 45, build around the mb smoothie pcb. And as i dont bother to squeeze stuff into the smallest available enclosure, i guess this sort as an average build:). Nothing wrong with that though. But i shall be honest and say that the run for smaller'n'tighter design doesnt really do much for me... and i blame that on my age and eyes, as many guys at my age (yea you get it, face 45 etc...) I need glasses to read a paper and also magnifier for proper soldering nowadays.

Well, it is my first phaser, which is fun. Thanx to you guys (jkokura and others) posting in this thread: http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=9951.0 , for clearing out my last questions about jFET matching.

...and i thought it was about time that this avatar picture i carry around the interweb should have a place on something physical too:)

Cheeeeerio!

Hey again dear forumites!

Another "finally boxed and done one" , I proudly play the THRONE TONE!

This is raulduke SJ Effects' Prince Albert / RAH. Very much worth building. If a box can be soulful, this one certainly is. Very human/sensitive tone out of this one. It kinda plays what i play, just with some added expression.

Cheers!

Hello fellow forumites!

I got a Boss DS-1 from a friend. It sounds complete crap (it does distort for sure, but is extremely noisy and the overall sound is... bad), so i opened it up. Maybe to repair, maybe just to re-use the box'n'jacks. Time will tell:)

The first thing i notice lookin at the PCB, is portions of dried glue(?)/dirt(?)/see pics below. My first guess is leaky electrolytic caps, but as far as i remember leaky caps looks a bit different than this. Can it be glue? I havent seen this in boxes before, so i would be glad if someone could lead me right:)

What is that mess?

Cheers

Hi folks:)

I have browsed around a bit, and i have measured Vgs for a bunch of recently bought 2N5457 jFET (see table below).

Now, when it comes to matching them in pairs (or quads), primarily for phaser builds (i'm just about to build my first Phase 45 / mb Smoothie), how close must the Voltages be? As said, i have browsed around a bit, and i can read all over the places that "they must be close", but i cant really find recommendations about which range that stated "close"  really means... is -0.940 V (enough) close to -0.960 V? etc.

I would really like someone to make a statement here... like "no more than x.xx percentual diff!"

Here is my bunch of 2N5457's ... sorted by voltage:

jFET nr   jFET Vgs
   

3   -0,350
7   -0,503
2   -0,584
5   -0,623
4   -0,647
6   -0,749
1   -0,800
12   -0,808
8   -0,824
31   -0,882
16   -0,910
24   -0,915
38   -0,918
18   -0,921
11   -0,926
21   -0,936
32   -0,936
29   -0,971
34   -0,980
23   -0,983
37   -0,985
15   -1,010
35   -1,013
20   -1,014
14   -1,016
30   -1,036
27   -1,037
19   -1,041
22   -1,042
26   -1,049
25   -1,057
33   -1,066
17   -1,074
40   -1,100
28   -1,147
13   -1,243
39   -1,264
36   -1,285


Cheers and thanx in advance for hints n help:)

..almost surprising myself here, my 3d finnished build in about 10 days ...

This is my long-time-unfinnished-only-test-rigg-played Mysterioso. Mr E: Oh! So? 

I really look forward to play this thing LOUD ... most likely it will be a ("The" with upper T?) favourite OD.

Cheers!

hi folks!

Yeya, i boxed my Bear Hug! http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=6802.0

***

Bamse is a verrrrrry popular swedish cartoon, mostly read by the younger kids (but i dont think he ever got published/translated to english?). He's not only the STRONGEST bear on the globe, but also the kindest. The "Bamse Doctrine" reads: If you are strong, you must be kind-hearted!"

Bamse eats DunderHonung (thunder honey) to remain strong!

Cheerio folks:)

(i dont know what the camera did with the colors, but yes the thing is pink... so far the picture dont lie!)
(and yes, the spelling of "huney"[sic!] is intentional... freedom of art!)

***************************

Hi all you great forumites.

I've been really passive as a forum member and DIY-er for some 6 months i think... I havent finnished anything since before xmas-12. So it feels really great to finally box up something again:)

This is a straightforward madbean-pcb build; my take on the Retrograde.

Cheers!

Hi folks...

Orderring some tubes, 12AU7A, for the first time. I just need fool-proof-conformed that i order correct tube sockets. Will these be fine?:

http://www.banzaimusic.com/Tube-Socket-chassis-Noval-Gold-cont..html

Or, can someone please point me at the preferable choice on Banzaimusic.com. There are prices between (lower than) 1 and 10 Euro, so 2.30 Euro "felt" like the correct price... I am just finnishing my order:)

Cheers!

Hi!

I am just finnishing my retrograde; i am running the fully populated PCB at my test setup.

*) The circuit seem to work as it should, but it is "pumping" when i play staccato or "chugga", especially when the Fuzz pot turned up high. If i play Strum->quiet->strum->quiet the circuit is really "breathing in breathing out".

I suspect that this is as it should be and somehow caused by the transformer?

Cheers

***
Edit: Sorry, i missed the 4-point form for the tech help board. Here you go:

1) Madbean Retrograde.
2) See *) above.
3) No steps really. I have re-checked the component values, but the question remains if this is really a "feature" or a "fault".
4) Nothing substituted.

Hi guys.

I wanna thank you for being a great, helpful, informative and fun bunch of people!

I haven't posted much here the last weeks, and havent boxed up much stuff either, as i have been very busy with other december-related stuff.

This place surely have some impact: I "borrowed" the beautiful PIF tradition from here and used it as a farewell gift to my former colleagues as i now leave my job to go on with a new job in january.

As i type, the snow is falling outside my window to secure a white snowy christmas (we celebrate today, the 24th) here in sweden.

I wish you all, mr Madbean and everyone, a very merry Christmas!

Cheers!

My Kingslayer... KÏNGSLAYAH 

Sounds great here at home but the "funny oscillation" i read about occurs here too, in "lift" mode and gain more than 12oclock. I will try it out at full volume tomorrow. Buffered wiring.

Clipping diodes are 1n34a / 1n914, feedback "soft" OD clippers are 1n914 and 2*BAT46 (asym).

Poor pic quality, i know.

Cheers!