BOTY contest build

Hey guys,
     On "the forum" (madbeans) they do a Build of the Year contest. I have 2 projects in the works that I could potentially enter. The first is a collaboration with DMINNER from the forum (see Sonic Nebulizer for reference) and the second is a Foxx Tone Machine that I started working on. The other night before I started populating the board I took pictures of the board and then more throughout the process. So think of this as an Instructional / Work in progress blog post. Here we go.

Step 1:

Here is a picture of the board an build doc. Brian at Madbeans has some of the best most comprehensive build documents that I have ever worked with. I have recently decided to print the build info to use as reference while working n the board. This helps me mark up and make notes on the build during the process. I also grab the enclosure that I plan on using for the build, This gives me an idea for the "art" and size build I am planning.

Doc / Board / Enclosure

Step 2:

Next I read the doc and start to populate the board. There is an order to my madness. I start with the resistors the move on to the Diodes and caps. After I put the parts in place I put a notch on the doc next to the location, rinse and repeat. I do this up until I have the board populated with all the parts. Here are some pictures of that process.

Populated Resistors

Resistors and Diodes

Added Capacitors and Sockets for Transistors

Fully populated with Transistors

Now its time to install the pots and switch. This is an older layout and is not set up for PCB mounted pots so i will have to do some off board wiring, (shudder). I'm not a big fan of off board wiring but i think I have it down to a science at this point. I used to build a lot with strip / vero board when i was first starting out and there is no such thing as PCB mounted pots when it comes to vero. What I do is tin the Lugs of the pots and switch. Then I tin both ends of the wire and solder the wire to the pot or switch. I use a small vice I got from HFT to hold the pot or switch while I solder the wire to it. Here are some pictures to help you understand.

Well that's all I have for now. I'll be updating this probably every weekend until the build is done. Thanks for reading

-Mike-

Update #1

So after getting the board together and ready to test it was about 1:30 am. Needless to say I let it wait until the next time i was in the workshop. I recently went down (last night) and was able to test the board...It didn't work. This is the case more than I would like to admit. I tried the usual check the transistors and diodes, then re-flow the solder and check for solder bridges. Nothing is really sticking out at me either, I tried all the tricks up my sleeve and still couldn't get it to work properly. SO i did what any other Tech would do in my shoes, I ordered a production board lolz. I'm up against a clock here and don't want to miss out on the contest.

So instead of working on the board I decided to finish up the art and hammer out a final layout. Usually with this contest  I try to incorporate a "First" for me. This year its an Etched face plate. These when done right can look VERY professional. I think I nailed it too. I did a 2 tone etched face plate. this means there are 2 colors aside from the color of the PCB there are 2 other colors (so 3 total). I did it on black PCB and used liquid tin to get the silver color on there. I had to tape the PCB after it was etched to paint the liquid tin on but in the end it came out awesome. Here is a picture of what the art looked like in the software before I transferred it to the pcb.

I do use a fairly common program for my art work. Believe it or not I use Power Point. The Image scaling and alignment tools are wonderful. I also don't have the time or patience to learn such an in depth program like Photoshop or Gimp. What I use it for Power point works just fine. Below is a picture of the just about finished face plate. You can see where i painted the liquid tin (the silver letters an boxes) and where the copper was etched away reveling the black PCB material.

Hope you enjoyed the update. I will check back again soon with either the working board i etched or the working fabbed board. Thanks for reading guys!

-Mike-

UPDATE # 2

Hello again,

I've made a ton of progress on this. At first i couldn't get the circuit to work correctly so I ordered a PCB from Madbeans. Then the Madbeans fabricated one didn't work. So I started testing and replacing parts. After a while I figured out that instead of the 100K resistors that the circuit calls for there were 100 ohm resistors in there. One of my parts suppliers must have sent them in error. Oh well lesson learned.

Now that the board was squared away it was time to finally start working on the enclosure. This is the first faceplate I have done so I was still trying to figure out how to affix it to the enclosure. I needed to do this in order to clear coat the whole thing together. So in the meantime I'll drill. What I do every time I build a pedal it print the artwork and use it as a drill template. This method leaves very little confusion. Then as I drill I test fit each component with the corresponding hole. With this one I used an irregular drill patter for the pots and knobs. So this means i had to measure and mark the enclose where the in and out jacks were going to go. It's a bit of a process but in the end, if you take your time then it will come out looking good.

I also decided that while i was drilling I would throw a couple layers of clear coat on the face plate. I use just the Ace Hardware quick drying Lacquer. This stuff works great and I always a nice even finish. Here are a bunch pictures for you.

First I print the artwork again and sized it to the face plate.Then I tapped it onto the enclosure with 3M blue painters tape.

Then I use a center punch to mark the holes i need to drill. There are 7 holes in the face of the pedal, 2 holes in the top for the Input and Output jacks, and one in the right side for the DC jack. The weird looking drill bit below is called a "stepper bit". I works amazingly well for cutting nice smooth holes in aluminium. I use this one for bigger components (like stomp switches and larger DC jacks) and a smaller one for pilot holes and smaller components ( such as LEDs and toggle switches).

This is a picture of a "Test fit". So this is what it will look like with all the components installed. Non of these are actually connected inside, I just put extra parts in there to get a feel of how it will look. once it is all together.

 Here is a picture showing you what I use for clear coat. I have a pretty ghetto set up. It is a Webber grease try tin on a box with a plastic cake lid to protect the stuff I paint / clear coat from dust. It works pretty well so I have no need for a fancy painting system.

This is what the face plate looks like after 2 layers of clear coat. NICE!!!

More to come soon guys. Thanks for reading.

-Mike-

FINAL UPDATE


More progress made!!! YAY! I affixed the face plate to the enclosure with a very thin layer of epoxy. they applied one final layer of clear coat and let it dry. Once it was dry I started to box it up here is some of the process.

I decided to use an optical bypass board on this build. It eliminates any popping that might happen with a 3pdt bypass switch. The optical bypass uses a DPDT switch and an optocoupler to shunt the pop.

Here is the face plate on the enclosure. There are 2 LED bezels on there but other than that nothing else is in place yet

This is how I start the wiring process (which I hate). I leave the switch board unattached and wire the DC and audio jacks to it then I mount it to the enclosure. It makes it a little easierer but not much.

This is a final gut shot. I will post the face once I get the knobs for it. They are on their way to me now. I hope I get them in time....

Thanks for reading again. I'll do a final build report once it is done.

-Mike-

Welcome to the BROCK!

GET IT! haha! Because Venom's name is Eddie Brock...alright enough comic nerdum.

     Anyways, Here is the Symbiote Fuzz. This is a Fuzz Factory clone that Guitar PCB did. To be totally honest I'm not a huge fan of the layout. The holes for the pot to wire to were too small and close together. This made for lots of off board wiring and cussing. The board is also a bit of a weird size and I had to wedge it in between the switch and the DC jack, Not my favorite but it fit. All in all if I do another one of these I will either use Madbeans Zombi board or design my own. The functionality of the board is exactly the same as a Fuzz Factory and sounds very similar. The controls are as follows:

VOL: Controls the overall volume of the effect

GATE; Squeal control, Think of this as a Noise Gate control

COMP: This kind of compresses the tone. Left for fat right for thin

DRIVE: This is a distortion control. It adds another level of spatter / HATE to the sound.

STAB: This controls the stability of the fuzz. usually pegged and never touched after that.

Many Fuzz fans don't like the Fuzz Factory. This is mainly because the pedal is very squealy if you don't have it set right. I for one like the squealy nightmare like sounds. I will post a video with a few good settings. For now you will just have to enjoy the pictures. Thanks for reading.

Wu-Tang Clan is for the KIDS!!!

Hey Everyone,
     Here is the Rumble Fuzz! This is a rendition of the "Bumble Buzz" by Jack Whites record label. I did quite a bit of research on this and discovered that the Bumble Buzz is actually a clone of the Kay Fuzztone. The Kay Fuzztone is a vintage circuit that has been duplicated time and time again. Originally it was built in an expression pedal that allowed you to adjust the fuzz level with you foot and adjust the volume level on the side of the enclosure. The circuit has been modified to have anywhere from 4 -1 knobs. This version has "1" knob. I put the 1 in parenthesis because there are actually no knobs. I modified it to have a volume control inside the pedal as a trim pot. My customer wanted a similar pedal to the Jack White one. Jacks pedal has no knobs so this was my solution.
     The Fuzz effect is pretty cool on this pedal. It works well with other pedals and alone. The fuzz by its self is a bit crackly sounding, much like a vintage fuzz would be, and when paired with a distortion it gets pretty thick and spattery. Not quite as spatery as a fuzz factory but still pretty nice. I also noticed that it reacts well with the pickups of the guitar. In the demo I played my Schecter through it but i'm sure using other guitars with single coils or even nicer pickups it would have a very different feel.
      The art and layout were done by me. I grabbed the Wu-Tang bee from a google search and then did the layout on the computer (as I normally do). The enclosure is a stock painted 1590B I got from Hammond. To be honest the quality wasn't what I expected coming directly from Hammond. There was a bit of over spray on the edge where the bottom plate goes on and I had to cut it off with a razor. Once i did that it was fine though. I've been using a new clear coat lately, it's a lacquer finish. It seems to go on a bit more even than the typical rattle can acrylic spray. It also dries a lot faster. Well here are some pictures. I'll post a video demo soon.

Video Time!!!

Echo Base This is Star FOX

Hey Guys,
     Here is another one I've been working on for a while now. This is a MUSICPCB.com Echobase. It is a hyper filtered hi res delay pedal. There are 2 toggle switches the one under the "speed" and "depth" turns on the modulation feature. This gives the pedal a "fluid" of chorus effect. The other toggle switch turns on the "tails" feature. This will allow the repeats to finish out even if the pedal it turned off. I did the art layout on this one. I've been going back and forth on it for a while and stuck with the original idea I had. Hope you enjoy it.

Video Coming Soon!

VIDEO IS HERE!

From DOOM to 8-Bit With The Flip Of A Switch

Hello All,
    Here we have the Sonic Nebulizer! This pedal is amazing!!! I mean that too. This is a fuzz that will raise the hairs on the back of your neck the with the flip of a switch and the twist of a knob melt your heart with an 8-bit crusher. All in all this design is very well done. It was easy to populate and the way it is laid out mad it very strait forward. I tip my hat to Frederik at http://www.parasitstudio.se He is the man behind the Flash Filter Fuzz Deluxe (the name of the board) and he deserves all the credit for the sound. I would recommend you swing by his site and check out some of the stuff he comes up with, its very cool.

     As for the enclosure, I can't take credit for that either. This was a collaboration done by me (I assembled the board and but it in the enclosure) and a friend on the madbeans forum, Dminner. Dminner did the layout of the art and acid etched it into the enclosure. All of his work is quite stunning. He contacted me and we decided on this circuit and art layout. So he did two enclosures and sent them to me. I then put them together and sent him one back. It worked out quite nicely and i plane on doing this again with him.

    So now that I bored you with a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, here are some pictures.

Video Coming Soon!

VIDEO HERE

Time to Verb it UP!!!

Hey Everyone,
       I know it's been a while and there are many reasons for that. First is I've been super busy at work and haven't had a ton of time to devote to building. Second is I've had a couple projects on my bench that have been giving me a lot of trouble. Third I tore my left calf muscle a couple weeks ago. The last reason has been tough, physically any ways. Getting up and down the stairs isn't the easiest with this stupid cast on.
   
     Anyways, here is one of the projects that has been giving me some trouble. Its a Madbeans Moodring. This wonderful circuit is a reverb, using the Acoustitronics Brick, with a PT2399 delay circuit incorporated to add delay in series with the reverb. The Delay portion of this is works with the reverb and blended in after the reverb. The delay "time" is labeled as "Space", If it is turned all the way down then the delay is off. The "Mood" knob controls the tone for the reverb. The "Dwell" knob controls how much reverb is fed into the delay / pregain stage. The "Ring" knob controls how much reverb is mixed with the dry (non affected) signal. Finally the switch labeled "Kill" is a dry kill. This cuts all of the dry signal out of the output. This allows for some really cool ambient sounds.

     This is by far one of the cooler reverbs I've played with. I love the tone and over all ambience of this pedal. I was able to get this in a 1590BB. It took a little fudging but I did it. The board was designed to fit in a 125b. The enclosure is a "mis drilled" powder coated enclosure from Pedal Parts Plus. I admit the In / Out / 9V jacks are a little awkward but I kind of like them like that. The Space Ship you see on the pedal is the Ishimura form the video game series Dead Space. Layout and design of the graphics were done by me. Thanks for reading. More to come soon.

To Delay, or not to Delay?

     This one has been in the works for quite some time...haha see what I did there. Anyways, This is a Hamlet Delay board that I purchased from a forum member over at MBP. The board was tested and verified by me when I first got it but I changed a couple things (components) and couldn't get it to work properly after that. It took about 8 months and another pot but I was able to get it going. The delay is nice and crisp sounding. I love the delay length you are able to get out of the pedal. Also the rhythmic delays sound really good too. The tone and overall level are adjustable via trim pots on the board. The circuit was designed for the "Tails" option, which I love. This means when you turn the pedal off it will repeat the last note played for it's set "cycle". The pedal uses a standard DPDT footswitch which means it is not "true bypass" but it also means that there isn't any "tone suck-age" in the guitar signal. These is quite a bit of myth around the "true bypass" movement and it's pretty believable. But that's a discussion for another time.
     One of the issues with most PT2399 delays, which this is, is that the PT2399 delay chip leaves a lot of digital artifacts or distortion in the audio signal. This is very noticeable on a lot of delays if you turn the Mix up with the repeats. It almost sounds like a "bit rate" noise. This pedal uses a charge pump or pre-amp and with proper biasing and delay level the pedal does not seem to have any artifacts or distortion in the repeats. It's really a great design. Hats off to Jon Patton (midwayfair) on this circuit.
     The pedal operates with the standard controls: Delay (this controls the length in between repeats), Mix (this controls the over all volume of the repeated signal), and Repeats (this controls how many repeats you would like for the "note" played). As I said above the overall level of the delay is controlled with an on board trim pot as are the tone and bias as well. The art I used was adapted (like that fancy word I used there) from an actual Hamlet Play flyer. The enclosure was a scratch and dent from Pedal Parts Plus. It was already powder coated the green sparkle color. Her are some pictures of the build. I will post a video later.