the FLUNKEE FX-25 envelope filter

[dawson]

Ladies and gentlemen, the Mad Bean FLUNKEE envelope filter:


This is the most user-friendly envelope filter I've built to date and I'm really feeling the relief of how easy it is to switch between my main sound coupled before a Tube Screamer, and whatever settings I find to play well with other effects- a very good friend of my trusty Parasit 0415 guitar synthesizer.  If I were to compare, it's not as smooth and pretty as a SWAH and it certainly hasn't got as many possibilities as something like a Meat Sphere, but that's to be expected from a 2-knob effect, and it's got a great voice of its own.  I'm incredibly happy with it and would buy another if that ever becomes an option.

Graphics etched with ferric chloride on a 1590B enclosure.

Thanks for looking,
quack-on, fellow envelope filterers!

[benny_profane]

Dang. That looks great! Nice work all around!

[Bio77]

Wow man, your etch game is insane!  I also love the idea of doing the 1590A boards in 1590Bs, gives you a lot of options for design/knob placement. Great build.

[dawson]

Dang. That looks great! Nice work all around!

Wow man, your etch game is insane!  I also love the idea of doing the 1590A boards in 1590Bs, gives you a lot of options for design/knob placement. Great build.

^^Thanks a lot, both of you!
& thank you for not persecuting my use of the larger box!  I prefer a 1590B over a 1590A if I can get the jacks mounted on the top, which I can usually do if the project was meant for an 'A.  Not only do I get more room for controls and labeling and artwork by going with the 'B, but I also don't waste much space on my pedal board- the 1590As' have got to have side-mounted jacks, and they also need to be far enough away from other pedals to be able to operate everything comfortably, so by the end of the set-up, I believe they take up a similar amount of pedal board space.

[MTK]

That etch is as good as it gets. Well done.

[Leevibe]

Looks great!

[jimilee]

That looks fantastic. You're right, this is the easiest envelope filter I've built to date as well.


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[Timko]

That etch is incredibly clean.  Nice work!

[Aleph Null]

That is a beautiful etch and a very fun—and clever—graphic! Please, tell me about your jack bracket.

[dawson]

Wow everybody, thanks so much for all the positive feedback, I really appreciate it!

I'm really happy with how the last few etches have been turning out- I'm certainly no etch maestro, but if I were to give a couple tips to a new etcher, I'd say #1:  Take care to design a graphic that will work well with this medium- mainly meaning that any lines thinner than the ones that I use are more difficult to transfer, more difficult to correct with nail polish, and also more-likely to be ruined by a slight over-etch.  #2:  Take your time: don't rush any part of the process.  It takes a substantial amount of elbow grease and patience to get through all the sanding and ironing and masking and dunking (not to mention the graphic design,) but personally, the time spent doing all that is nothing compared to how long I'll be enjoying these effects, so I force myself to enjoy the tasks that I may otherwise despise.

Here are a few all ready to be dunked in ferric chloride:

The cheapest nail polish I could find was this Pepto-Bismol* color, which is way better than some darker stuff I used originally- VERY easy to see what's been done.

That is a beautiful etch and a very fun—and clever—graphic! Please, tell me about your jack bracket.

My jack bracket!  Thanks for noticing!
It is 3d-printed- I started a whole thread where I toot my horn all about my jack brackets, I'll put a link there instead of tooting all about them here too:
https://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=30040.msg290389#msg290389

[jimilee]

How about a step by step of your process. I'm really interested in this. I moved to an apartment moment from a duplex with a garage, so painting isn't an option. Water slide and enviro is fun, but it's getting old for me.


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[dawson]

How about a step by step of your process. I’m really interested in this. I moved to an apartment moment from a duplex with a garage, so painting isn’t an option. Water slide and enviro is fun, but it’s getting old for me.

Well, since you asked so nicely, I may have to do that, jimilee.  I'll take more detailed pictures of my progress next time I do a run- hopefully they'll turn out as nicely as this batch.  In the mean-time, check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cg4UoS6ecY
^I've watched many YouTube videos on etching and this is the best I've found.  I basically try to mimic this method (without the paint,) but I've had to alter it a bit in order to get good results with the materials I've got available- 2 years later I've got my workflow more honed in, but as you can see, the enclosure in the video turns out better than mine do.

^^Oh, but wear gloves when working with the mad chemicals, please.  The person in the video doesn't find them necessary, but I do, and everyone else probably should too.

[jimilee]

Ah, deadastronaught. I knew that pedal looked familiar. If you haven't, find some of his boards, that are top notch.


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[TGP39]

This is such a beautiful build inside and out.   It looks like you etch for a shorter amount of time than Dead Austronaut and that's fine.  Your results are just as aesthetically pleasing.  I also love the way you and Lee make those 3D brackets to assist your inside design.  Wonderful job.
~Steve

[dawson]

Ah, deadastronaught. I knew that pedal looked familiar. If you haven't, find some of his boards, that are top notch.

YEAH- when I originally watched the tutorial I figured he was just some dude like you or me, but who knew a bunch about etching because the only DIY pedal names I knew were BYOC and DIY Guitar Pedals.  Anyhow, I should indeed try a PCB or two of his- this free tutorial has proven to be quite valuable to me, plus there are some really creative effects going on over there- got my eye on that "Abductor Delay II."

This is such a beautiful build inside and out.   It looks like you etch for a shorter amount of time than Dead Austronaut and that's fine.  Your results are just as aesthetically pleasing.  I also love the way you and Lee make those 3D brackets to assist your inside design.  Wonderful job.
~Steve

Why, thank you Hom..er-um..Steve, how kind!  Yes- Leevibe is on a whole other level over there, so many great builders in this community to learn from!