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I just about pooped my dungarees the other day when I discovered that International First Class for 1oz or 2oz is $6.55. 

http://www.coolaudio.com/products_vacuumtubes.html

I must have missed the press release.

I know some of you have been following the TGP drama regarding PCE and it's "Aluminum Falcon" Klon clone. It's been brewing for months, but the wheels are really coming off the wagon now.

It seemingly took Finnegan years to get the new Klon together, with multiple broken promises on availability and shipping dates. And now it seems PCE is having the same issue (or something that manifests with similar symptoms).

Is there a Klon curse? 

Just saw this at TGP:




I dig those standoffs.

It's been quite some time since I fully boxed up a working pedal. Since everybody here is cooling their heels in anticipation of that big friggin storm, I figured I'd finish up a few projects that were nearly complete.

I had the board populated and tested and the enclosure drilled. But my painting/finishing workshop now has a car in it (the garage), so I had to go with the brushed-aluminum / stamp look.

New stuff:

• I'm using new jacks for this build. Dcountry turned me on to some cool jacks that are tiny, and these are the same kind but with standard solder lugs. I also opted for the somewhat pricey metal nuts for the jacks. I think they look cool.

• DC jack is one I've used before, but it's odd as well (and very small). No nut to secure it, you just drill the hole a little bit smaller than it needs and jam it in there. There is a locking tab thing that helps it stay in place.

• The  momentary is one I got in about 2007 from Futurlec. Been trying to find a use for it since then. I think it looks cool and it is hard to confuse with the bypass switch.

Anyway, here she is. (I marked the Time pot with "T <" to indicate the wiring is backward.   

http://barberelectronics.com/


Sounds like he's taking the large format down a couple notches, but retaining the flexibility of the older drive circuits.

Me likey!

Probably old news to a lot of you, but I just saw this.

The main difference between free and Hobbyist is that you can go up to 16cm x 10cm max board size. That makes it a lot easier to make gerbers of multiple PCBs in one board file. Places like SeeedStudio will let you combine layouts in one layout order, and that saves some money.

But it's still for non-commercial use, which puzzles me. Especially since it costs $169. I know that's not a lot for CAD software, but if I'm paying more than like $20, I don't want any restrictions like that. I mean, I use the Lite version for commercial stuff all the time, but...just saying. 

I got this pedal for free from one of the mods at TGP (Scott A), because the mode selector pot was acting oddly. It worked, but sooner or later it would switch back to the Reverse Delay mode. So the pedal was useless for recording or playing out, as it would randomly switch modes.

I pulled the module apart to see if maybe I could fix it. I thought the mode pot might be a rotary encoder, but it turns out it is actually a 9mm B47K 11-detent potentiometer.  Line 6 doesn't directly sell replacement parts, and many of their dealers will only sell you the part if they get to do the repair work. Nonsense!

So I sat on this thing for months while I was looking for a replacement part. I couldn't find anything like it on Alpha's product pages, and none of the big boy suppliers had what I needed. So I tested a regular 50K pot, thinking that it should work but wouldn't "stop" on the modes exactly. Turns out it worked just fine. See my hilarious test shot:





I was just about to settle for a regular 50K pot, when I noticed that Smallbear started carrying 9mm 11-detent pots.    They don't have 47K, but they do have 50, and I already knew 50K would work to access all the modes. So I got one (came in the mail today). The only difference is that the Smallbear pots are smooth shaft, and the OEM part is d-shaft. So I subbed in the closes knob I could find. Now it works perfect.

After much hemming and hawing, I ended up buying a Takamine New Yorker that Comfort Player at BYOC suggested. I ordered from Sweetwater and got it 2 days! Those guys rock.

The guitar is slightly bigger than a parlor, but definitely smaller than a dreadnought. As a consequence, its' not crazy-loud, but that's fine with me, as I find playing 'noughts and jumbos to be uncomfortable. The action is nice and low, the string gauge is light, and it's almost as easy to fret as an electric. Out of the box, it was set up pretty damn good. Action is good (as I mentioned) and the intonation is very tight.

Unplugged it sounds very good. Not overly bright, nor too bassy. It's "goldylocks".

Plugged up, I was pleasantly surprised by the tone of the electronics. I'm used to hearing that artificial sound that so many acoustic-electrics have, but this thing sounds almost exactly the same as unplugged but louder. I've played it pretty loud, but we'll see how it fairs in context at my next practice. The built in tuner is okay, but not awesome, but I don't care about that as I have a clip-on that I like. So so far, I'm pleased overall with this instrument.

At first I wasn't nuts about the classical-style tuners, but now I kinda dig it. It's actually easier to tune.

Anyway, here are some photos of the honeymoon:

Some time ago, I made my own resistors. That was a pain in the ass and the results were somewhat unusable because of the super-low resistance ratings. But caps, on the other hand, turn out to be a bit easier and more useful to make.

My first try was this huge ugly thing that weighed in at 20n. But my second try is below. It's much smaller (2") and sports a whopping 1.8 nano-farads of metal-foil mojo. Talk about boutique!   

I'll post a tutorial when I've done a few more experiments, but basically I used aluminum foil and packing tape (and some standard 26g wire).

I need that part for a project, and I'm being lazy. I think I recall somebody here had done it up in Eagle.

If so, I'd like to borrow it. Thanks!

http://pedalgeeksunited.com/

Go check it out. BYOC user Bassman worked hard getting the site up and running, and put in place one HELL of a legal disclaimer and terms of service.  :lol:

It's essentially a repository for all manner of schematics and layouts (and also wiring diagrams), with a focus on Eagle CAD files. But any file type is fine, so long as it relates to effects, amps, guitars, and the like. Uploaders can specify if they want the files used only for non-commercial purposes, or you can open it up to anything. Your choice.

It's not a forum, but some level of discussion can take place.

I've already uploaded some stuff, and madbean has as well (along with jimmybjj).

So go on over and sign up.   

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=1130801

New price is $269. No other specs available (not even what it will look like), but I'm sure it already has a long wait list. 

This one covers just about all the filters we use in effects:

http://sim.okawa-denshi.jp/en/Fkeisan.htm

Decided to box this one up while I'm waiting on the snazzy red PCBs to arrive.

I posted about this circuit in the Member Projects subforum as well. So the basic specs are that this guy goes from 60ms to about 800ms, and the repeats are very noise-free all the way up to the end. The last 100ms or so there is a little noise, but considering there is no companding in this circuit, it's quite acceptable.

The other "feature" is that there is a trimmer to control the high-end rolloff on the repeats. More rolloff = darker, less noisy repeats.

The layout includes a set of pads to add external modulation, but in this build I used the pads to include a resistor to adjust the value of the time pot to the sweet spot. Also on this build, I used a multi-turn trimmer so that the output volume can be adjusted to unity (or slightly above, if desired).

Anway, here's a short demo to show min and mix delay time:

I used two knobs from an Ibanez BC-9 bi-chorus that I repaired some time ago, and a third metal knob to differentiate the Time control. Graphics are stamped.

Do you brew beer, wine, mead, or anything else? Let's hear about it!

I've been brewing beer since about 1995 (my senior year of high school). Now I've got a sweet two-tap kegerator and I brew all-grain beers (most of the time).

As a side note, I also have been writing articles for Brew Your Own, a magazine for homebrewers, for several years now. My articles are how to build your own brew equipment. DIY baby! 

Here's a pic of a new fermentor I just got this week. I'll be trying it out this weekend.

Bean, what's the deal with R5 in the LaVache?

Is it there to prevent popping when the boost is disengaged?

[• Modulation]

I have messed around with the Accutronics / Belton BTDR-2 brick quite a bit now, and I thought I'd post a few simple things I've noticed. This a really cool little device, which allows for a relatively low-cost reverb that can be delivered in a 125B (or maybe smaller) enclosure.

• Modulation
There is a pronounced modulation effect on the output. It's a pitch-bend that is reminiscent of the sound of Rick's Little Angel, but it's more of a pitch dip than a true chorus type sound. Sometimes it sounds like there is a relatively fast LFO speed. The whole modulation sound is rather unpredictable, which is pretty cool and also perplexing.

I sort of wonder if there really is an internal LFO modulating the pre-delay time, or if the internal delay circuits (presumably multiple PT2399-like circuits) are perhaps drawing enough current from the regulator to cause a dip in voltage on the supply pin? I should probably hook up the old volt meter and check that out.

I dig the modulated sound, but it would also be cool if we could figure out how to turn it off.


• Stereo Outputs
The datasheet (which is laughably inadequate) shows both output pins tied together in parallel for mono application. I have confirmed that it will work with just one output connected. However, this knocks down the overall reverb level quite a bit, as you might imagine. But it could be a useful feature in some applications to add a switch to toggle between stereo and bridged mono (or maybe just a more/less reverb switch for mono).

Another use for the second output might be for a secondary feedback loop, although I'm not sure this would be any better/different from just taking the feedback from the bridged outputs.


For reference, here is the first simple circuit I came up with using the brick:
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=4594.0

This one does not have feedback of any kind, but I'm working on a more complex version that does. And I'm still exploring the benefit of a secondary feedback path.


GTR2 and other who have worked with this brick, I would love to hear your thoughts/input on this nifty little quirky thing. 

This is a rough desktop capture video of me running through the process of making a schematic and then a PCB layout. There is no audio or text annotation. Just some background music and me going through the process. Fast.   

I plan to do a more detailed version in the future with either voice audio or text. But for now, this will give you an idea of how it all works.

Obviously, I didn't spend much time optimizing the layout. I didn't even load any design rules, which is important for fabrication. The idea was to show the whole process from start to finish, and I think the video is fairly representative of that process.

Note: I'm using the Guass-Markov parts library found here: http://gaussmarkov.net/wordpress/tools/software/eagle/eagle-2-libraries/  I've modified the bejesus out of my libraries, but everything I do in the video you can do with the default set.

Note 2: I use the command bar several times to type in commands. So keep your eyes on that (at the top of the screen).

I've posted it on vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/42108891

Or, you can download the uncompressed version from DropBox and watch it non-streaming:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dlzu3nqg61wym2h/tLaZf0HZhb


It's interesting for me to watch it so that I can see how non-linear my thought process is.   

Googling isn't getting me anywhere.

What I want to do is put two simple circuits on one larger PCB, and then have a perforation down the middle so that the two circuits can be physically snapped apart. For larger runs, this would save paying two setup charges.

I've seen lots of boards done this way in other pedals and other types of electronics.

I just can't figure it out in Eagle. Well, I figure I could brute-force it and just specify a lot of small drill holes. But I'm thinking there is probably a more automated way in Eagle.

Any ideas?

Thanks!