Friday, October 10, 2014

Updates and things...

Hello Readers,
    So it's been a long time, not really but, I figured I'd give you an update. My Customer Tom (the guy who I built the Elephuzz for) loved his pedal. Just after that was posted my buddy Matt asked for a clone of the Boss ML-2. To that I said "yeah I could do that OR...build you something WAY better!" So I have etched the board and populated it. I have also drilled the enclosure and started painting. He wanted a charcoal color and orange and purple LEDs. As he said "kind of an ode to Portal" the video game. I had the decal all laid out before he told me that and wait till you see what I came up with! it's pretty bitchin'! I'm not gonna spoil the art but here are a couple pictures of the board.
 











I did etch an extra board for myself (the white one on top is for me) and created a switch board as well. Keith on MBPF did a wiring diagram and I decided to make a board for it. More updates on this to come. I'll do a separate write up, as I always do, once I am finished with the build. 

    Second I have been working on my own PCB design. This has been the thorn in my side for a couple of weeks now. I did the design (what I thought would work) and ordered the prototype pack from OSH PARK. Needless to say, once populated it didn't work. I have been trouble shooting and testing this thing for 2-3 weeks now. I have 3 pages of hand written notes, attempted 6 or 7 different things, and even went as far as to redesign the board. I have taken a break here and there from it but, DAMN is it frustrating! I guess that's one of the pains of doing your own desing tho. Maybe i should have started with something a little less painstaking. Perhaps a fuzz or distortion NOT A FUCKING RING MOD. Sorry just venting. More to come on this too.

     While taking a break for the ring mod madness I decided to populate another board and take my mind off it. I went with the "Kracken" by Madbeans. This is a modified version of the Mutron Micro V envelope filter. The Mutron was a one knober, this has controls for "Attack, Decay, and Range" It also features a Hi/Lo frequency switch. This is a GREAT filter! It sounds awesome and was fun and easy to build, I have the art done and the enclosure drilled. Just need to finish painting and apply the decal and clear coat. Here is the artwork I used on the pedal. The LED indicator will be where the eye is.

This will be in a Hammond 1590B enclosure. It will also be a permanent fixture on my board. Can't wait to finish this and post it. 

     Finally, I also finished up a Hamlet Delay. This is a fabricated board by Jon Patton. This has to be one of my favorite PT2399 delays. It's the most analog sounding and cleanest I have built. It does take a little dialing in but it is worth it! The PT2399 delay is often advertised as an "analog" delay...LIES, ALL LIES! They are analog voiced, That is the difference. Any ways no pictures for that yet, I'll post them ASAP. Thanks for reading guys. See you soon.
-Mike-