Flintlock Flanger - with Expression Pedal and in Stereo

[skyled]

Build of the Flintlock A/DA Flanger clone.
I bought the PCB mostly complete from forum member Brejna and used an MN3007 from Smallbear. It's built into a 1590xx enclosure.

The stereo mod is just a dual buffered output: one in phase, the other flipped phase. It seems a bit richer than just a mono to dual mono, but it's not that dramatic. I was hoping to hear some kind of sweep across the stereo field, almost like the wooshing sound being isolated and panned, but sadly no.
Dual buffer using this layout
https://effectslayouts.blogspot.com/2019/02/inverting-phase-buffer.html

The expression pedal has non-existent documentation on the Lectric-FX build guide, so I had to dredge up the build guide from the Moosapotamus PCB version. The expression pedal lets you freeze the flange and sweep it manually so I absolutely had to include it.
Wiring it up is simple, going from the PCB to a TRS switching jack:
T - tip
S - ring
C - ring switch
sleeve - ground

I think I still need to do a bit of tweeking to get it just right. Doing the frequency counter part was actually the simple part of calibrating it for me. There's a numerical target and you just have to hit it. Doing the remaining parts just by ear is no fun.

I edited the Lectric-FX build doc to include some helpful info and I've included it and the Moosapotamus build doc in this file:
https://mega.nz/file/ZFNDlYxA#iKHohpaVBeR2W2FbBFTlsf9d-KOHvJmmqQ4Hl-PYaLw

[Yahoo67]

Very nicely done my dude ! Your making me wanna get mine out and try to calibrate it for the  hundredth time!! I did build this way to early in my diy addiction !! Same with the polychorus, but that one I got calibrate a few months ago and it sounds freaking awesome! Yep definitely gonna get mine out of the box of shame ^^ very nice addition the expression Jack's !

[RDL68]

Well done, Skyled.

It's a long while since I made mine, but it was a good layout & I no trouble at all, albeit stock in comparison.

Just a potential tip/suggestion for you on the stereo aspect. This also works for any mono chorus that is split into 2 x mono outs.
On 1 output channel send it through a digital delay. It doesn't have to be anything big & fancy, but use absolutely no repeats or feedback whatsoever & tune in the delay time very short (with some experimentation) so it's almost (but not quite) instant & with no slap-back that can be noticed or as close to that point as possible.

Obviously it isn't a common use for a delay, but used this unusual way it really does give the sound some dimension across the stereo field compared to straight up mono. It's up to you (or anybody else reading) whether you give it a try, maybe it'll work for you or maybe it wont, but if you find that you like what you can achieve with it with a pre-made delay you have on hand, if you're keen enough maybe you can build & squeeze a tiny delay circuit in there. It surely wouldn't need pots or anything major like that for this purpose & maybe a toggle at most would be sufficient once the rest is tuned in with trimpots where you like it.

Anyway, all the best, enjoyed seeing what you did with it, all good & all unique.

[skyled]

For the stereo mod, I found the flipped phase trick in the user manual for an old Eventide rack effect, and I know Seymour Duncan has a phase knob on their stereo Shape Shifter Tremolo, but I'm not exactly impressed with the results on mine. I'll try the delay trick if I ever get my one and only delay put back together. I have it apart because I'm trying to hack into it to add an effects loop that only affects the delays 

Please comment in my thread on a method to achieve the ultimate stereo modulation effect if you have any ideas. I think it could be amazing.
https://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=31287.0

[RDL68]

I thought of the above delay idea when the Boss CE3's were around. They have 2 outs (1 wet & 1 dry) but it just didn't do it for me. Some experimentation later took it to another level. I loved it for riffs, dual guitar or twin lead sounds etc. I found it worked better when 2 different brand amps were used. The different voicing also helped along with room acoustics compared to headphones or direct to mixer.

Flange is similar, however it would be dependent on how it's dialed in & used. Too far into jet extremes & it would probably be diabolical having a clean channel happening as well. More towards the milder extremes would work great to create a wider sim-stereo sound stage out of what is basically a mono effect. No swooshing left & right with this method though.

Modding the Flintlock circuit to actually do genuine stereo panning/sweeping left & right would be beyond my ability. I have used blender circuits before though, an extra knob for simply mixing clean & wet, even had success when I made my CE2 & a couple of others, but with some effects I had more trouble than it was worth. They're a simple concept but I found they can be very fussy & not always play along with all effect circuits as you'd expect. So for a few successful implementations, I had just as many attempts that were impossible to get happening before learning that lesson. What you're aiming for might need multiple blender circuits of sorts, plus the actual panning feature, therefore I can't post anything constructive in your other thread there, it's beyond me, but maybe others that know more about it can make some suggestions, especially if there's already a known circuit out in the wild that could be used to figure out how it can be done with the Flintlock. The trick with the delay doesn't need an engineering degree & anyone can try it, but it's mostly limited to non-distorted guitar playing because you're using one clean channel to do the stereo dimension thing.

I haven't been building this year myself, not frequently like I used to, but I finished soldering up a Revv 4 pcb, just have to wire it up & box it when I get around to it. I've got so many pedals already I could build a sand castle out of them, so trying not to build so many nowadays. It's funny, there's always one that comes along & out comes the soldering iron again...

[RDL68]

Just on the stereo panning effect, after posting here I remembered I built one years ago based on the Ibanez FP-777. That one does it, but it's a phaser not a flange.
One stomp switch for the phaser & another for the panning. Also rate knobs for both. Point being, if you're determined to add panning to anything else, it might be worth looking at the schematic.
As for the FP-777 clone, it uses optocouplers that are not readily available & have to be made especially, so those kits are generally always out of stock. They were out of stock when I did one years ago & after checking now they're still out of stock. By chance a re-seller in Europe had one left in stock back when I got mine, but the schematic & everything else is still readily available now.

[Scruffie]

For the stereo mod, I found the flipped phase trick in the user manual for an old Eventide rack effect

It's been a long time since I looked at the schematic, but if you're referring to the instant flanger, IIRC it uses fixed all pass filters on the phase flipped output, the small amount of delay and frequency 'smearing' would probably help in a way akin to RDL68's idea.

[skyled]

I think it was the Instant Flanger. Thanks for the tip.

Can you take a look at the build doc I posted and add some of the changes I made to the official build doc? Especially about the expression pedal.

[Scruffie]

I think it was the Instant Flanger. Thanks for the tip.

Can you take a look at the build doc I posted and add some of the changes I made to the official build doc? Especially about the expression pedal.

I will forward it on to Keefe

Thanks for taking the time to do it, at the time of release we didn't think many would actually bother with the expression jack, 2014 was a different time...

[JC103]

I have my rig set up for stereo. I have the CE-3 and two Current Lovers that I use frequently. I also just discovered that BYOC had a stereo flanger at one point in time. It used dual BBDs and the phase flip trick on the second output. I've never heard one, but it does sound like an interesting idea. Playing through two Current Lovers in parallel does indeed sound better than just one (mine are in phase). I like the out of phase setting on the CE-3 for achieving that "outside the sound stage" effect. If recorded well, it sounds huge on playback. The CE-3 is quite underrated, but is a lot of fun to play. It is more subtle than a CE-2 (which I use on the right side of the stereo amp set up).

BYOC:

https://buildyourownclone.com/products/analogflanger?_pos=1&_sid=b621a5b3b&_ss=r

byocelectronics.com/flangerscheme.pdf

[RDL68]

JC103, good to hear someone else likes the CE3. It tended to cop a lot of flak compared to the CE2 which I always thought was unfair, as it's simply different.
I regretted giving mine away a long time ago & only a year back picked one up in mint condition, not a scratch & with original box. Rare these days, so I grabbed it when I saw it.

As for the BYOC Stereo Flanger, you guessed it, I've built one of those. What made it unique (as far as DIY goes) is 2 x parallel BBD's. You can use 2 x MN3207's or 1 x MN3207 & 1 x MN3208. I did it the mismatched way & it sure is an over the top flanger with that config. In fact, so much so I've been meaning to go back & use 2 x MN3207's instead to try to tame it down some.

When I venture into stereo guitar playing, I have a Peavey 8 chan mixer, it's quiet/silent & clean etc, but I've never set it up with the Flanger. It's one adventure for the future now you guys have had me think about it.

All the best...