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VFE blues king w/ softie board

Started by ok_state_blues, September 02, 2020, 08:13:55 AM

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ok_state_blues

This is my first MBP board and I want to know if a softie can be used in place of the included foot switch board. If this has already been discussed, please forgive me and redirect me to the appropriate post.

Bio77

You won't need a Softie for any of the VFE builds.  They all come with a soft touch, already.

Not sure if this is your first build or not but word to the wise, the VFEs are not the easiest builds. 

jimilee

Quote from: Bio77 on September 02, 2020, 01:39:53 PM
You won't need a Softie for any of the VFE builds.  They all come with a soft touch, already.

Not sure if this is your first build or not but word to the wise, the VFEs are not the easiest builds.
But they're oh so nice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Pedal building is like the opposite of sex.  All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

ok_state_blues

Not my first PCB build, but my first MBP. The reason I ask is I have two softie boards completely populated and looking for a home, and didn't want to have to place another order to mouser. I am guessing that is won't work as nobody else has chimed in

gordo

it'll work but you'll have to do work arounds with power.  It's a lot more streamlined just going with the MB/VFE board and chipset.
Gordy Power
How loud is too loud?  What?

ok_state_blues

Duly noted. It looked really similar and I didn't want to waste these two softie boards I built. I guess I can adapt them to other projects in the future. Does everyone just use these boards with MBP boards or with other manufacturers boards?

madbean

The Blues King doesn't use the bipolar power from the VFE switching board so you actually could use a Softie. However, you will be lacking any reverse polarity protection or power supply decoupling (you do have 100n decoupling caps on the BK board but generally you want one large cap too to account for any DC ripple). Also, you'd need to use the LED indicator on the Softie and not the one on the BK board.

So, from the DC jack, you'd want to at least add a 1N4001 and 47uF or 100uF cap, both +9v to ground. To wire the Softie to the BK board you would use the IN, OUT, AGD (ground) and V+ connections on the BK board.


madbean

Quote from: ok_state_blues on September 03, 2020, 12:24:45 PM
Does everyone just use these boards with MBP boards or with other manufacturers boards?

They are actually designed for general building and not specifically for MBP boards. The reason I say that is the connections on the Softie board don't line up 1:1 with the I/O connections on the MPB boards, which themselves are designed for very easy connection to a 3pdt instead. At some point, I'll probably consolidate the Softie boards into one design and line the wiring up with the current mbp boards. In any case, the Softie is compatible with any true bypass design, so long as there is room for it.

gordo

I use the softie in a bunch of non-MBP projects. It's a great bypass.
Gordy Power
How loud is too loud?  What?

ok_state_blues

Ok good to hear from everyone. I'm pretty eager about this pedal as all the videos sound amazing. Thanks for all the input!