D-Verb rehoused

Hello all,
      Lets start with the easiest. A long time ago I build a mini reverb for my friend Darren (see LINK). He texted me and said that it was acting weird. It turns out that one of the jacks came loose and the threads got stripped. So I grabbed the pedal from him and decided to do a new enclosure for it. The paint was chipping on the old one and it needed a face lift. you'll see all that in the pictures. The circuit is a 1776 Rub-A-Dub reverb. The PCB layout was done by Jon Patton and etched by me. If you are planning to attempt this build BUY MORE THAN ONE ENCLOSURE. I can a;most guarantee you will screw up on the first one (if you're a dummy like me haha!).here are a couple pictures.

Let the Madness Ensue...

Hello Again,
     Now let me first say that this was probably the most complicated build that I have ever done. There are 3 effects plus a order switch and an FX / blend option in this. It was very hard to wrap my head around but in the end I nailed it!! Here is the breakdown of the pedal.

**Main Circuit**

The main tone of this is based on the DBA Sound Saw. What this is, is a two channel frequency filter circuit. The bypass switch turns it on and the filter switch switches between the two channels. Channel one high lights the lows and allows more of a bass-y boost. Channel two accents the highs and mids giving the tone a cutting edge. There is a volume and filter knob for each channel.

**Fuzz Tone**

The fuzz section of this is modeled after the DBA Harmonic Transformer. This fuzz is EVIL! I love it. It is controlled by 1 knob and 2 toggle switches. In this built you'll notice that there are 3 toggle switches for the fuzz, the 3rd switch is simply an on / off option. The knob controls the over all fuzz volume. The switch on the left is the on / off, the switch in the middle is the sign wave switch (changes from triangle to square wave), and the switch on the right is an intensity switch. 

**Delay / Reverb Tone**

This is one of my favorite delay / reverb designs, the circuit is a Madbeans Moodring. This reverb is great and the delay is simple and easy to dial in. This has no on / off switch but the "Ring" knob essentially acts like an on / off. all the way to tho the left is off and all the way to the right is "muffin maker"! 

**Extra Options**

-Blend-

You'll notice that there are 2 extra jacks on the side of the enclosure. These allow you to add another effect and blend it into this circuit. The top jack is the send and the bottom is the return. The blend is panned from left to right. Left is no added effect and right is full effect volume (set on external effect) added to this circuit. 

-Order Toggle Switch-

There is also an effect order switch built into this as well. What this does is puts the fuzz in front or behind the reverb. This gives you a multitude of options. putting the fuzz in front of the effect will give you the "wall of sound" type of effect that a lot of guitarists go for.

So needless to say there was a lot to take in to consideration when building this. The enclosure was designed and etch by Dan at ADD Effects. He and I have worked together on several builds now and I don't see us stopping any time soon. Well that's all I have for now. Here are some pictures for you. I will get the videos posted soon. Thanks for reading.

Videos are coming soon!!!

-Mike-

VIDEO TIME!!!

Holy MOTHER OF ELECTRONICS!!!

So a while ago a fellow builder (Dan Minner) and I started to collaborate on a multi build that was based heavily on the "post-rock" and "post-punk" genre of music. Specifically for ambient and textural sounds, more or less that "wall of sound" type effect. This was going to be very in depth and complicated for us. The original design of the enclosure/s was scrapped due to a fabrication issue and we ended up using the biggest Hammond Enclosure we could find. This resulted in a pedal that is almost the size of a sheet of paper. It's massively AWESOME. Dan did the layout for the knobs and all the art work on the enclose. I Etched all the PCBs and assembled this monster. Here are the Circuits that the pedal is made up of.

Way Huge - Red Llama Clone - This is controlled by the Level and Gain controls on the pedal. It is a fuzz type effect and also acts as the main on / off of the pedal. None of the other effects will come on with out this engaged. You can how ever turn the other effects on before engaging the RL.

Dead Astronaut - Flying Saucer Reverb - This is a VERY spacey / oscillating reverb. This is controlled but the Reverb Mix, Damp, Tone, OSC switch, and hidden Bright switch (red cap). This is probably the most versatile reverb I have ever had the chance to play with.

Mad Professor - Deep Blue Delay - This is a great clean sounding PT2399 delay. It leaves nothing to be desired in the delay field. This is controlled by the Delay Mix, Feedback, and, Delay pots. Great for those longer, almost oscillating repeats.

Parasit Studios - Sonic Reducer- Your 8 Bit MADNESS! This is controlled buy the 8-Bit toggle switch, Rate, and Resolution pots. This adds that extra weirdness that both Dan and I love. Plus Parasit Studios has some of the coolest original design effects out there.

Now this being my first multi build it was a bit of a challenge. I had to figure out how to wire 4 circuits together. Most people start out with 2, but no...I HAD TO DO 4! I did it though. This thing is awesome. I will try to do a demo of it this weekend, Thanks for reading. for now here are some pictures.

Once again Thanks for reading. Here are some links for you to check out!

Dan's Facebook - ADDPedals

Parasit Studios - 8-bit goodness
Other Layouts we used - effectslayouts

UPDATE!

I Finally did a demo for this. Here it is, Enjoy!

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.

DVERB!!!

    So I finally finished the DVerb For Darren. I called it the dverb because its...well for Darren?! Well here is a little info on the curcuit. The schematic is a 1776 effects design. The layout was done by Jon Patton (midwayfair on the MBF). He had also suggested a couple mods to bring the dry signal up a little closer to unity. The 3PDT board I used is one that was designed by Rej at GrindCustoms. I used this because it had the pull down resistors on the board which made it easier to eliminate the popping of the switch when it was pressed. This was a VERY tight fit and it took a lot of measuring and test fitting to get it in to the 1590A. This is the first enclosure etch I have done and I think it came out pretty good. This is also the first reverb pedal I built. Lots of springy cathedral goodness in this singal knob pedal. Well without any more delay...here it is!

And yes I HAD to use the BIGGEST FUCKING TRIUMPHANT KNOB I HAD!!!!. Just seemed fitting. Here is a quick video I did too.

Well I hope you enjoyed the show! Thanks for reading.

-Mike-

Been Busy...

Hello Everyone,
     I have been very busy lately. With the recent home purchase and the 46577 feet of snow we got I've been kinda poking a projects here and there. Here are some projects I've been working on.

Reverb for Darren

- Board is done, tested, and sounding awesome!
- Enclosure is etched, painted, and drilled (I finished the clear coat last night)
- Waiting for final assembly and Demo.

Here is a picture of the board

High Gain Distortion For Matt

- Board is made, populated and waiting to be tested

- The enclosure has a decal on it and been clear coated. Also waiting to be drilled

- Waiting for final assembly and test

Picture of board

Madbeans Kracken for me

- Board is Populated, Tested and complete. Sounds great and enveolpe-y

- Art is done and laid out on the enclosure. The enclosure is painted, drilled, and needs clear coat

- Needs Final assembly and test

Picture of the artwork

Development HELL

I have been in the process of designing a ringmod from John Hollis's Frobnicator schematic. I have had to redesign the board a few times and correct a few mistakes. I think I might finally have it. Over the weekend I etched the latest version of the board and last night i populated it. I will try and test it tonight and verify that it works. This is a ringmod / tremolo and it should be very cool if it works. Here is a picture of the layout. I will post a picture of the board I etched later tonight.

Ringolo (old) Layout

That's it for now. I'll post more in a day or two. Thanks.

-Mike-

Sneak Peak

So a little while ago Darren asked me to build him a reverb pedal in the small Hammond 1590A enclosure. It took a little searching and asking around then someone in the MBF suggested I do Jon Patton's Rub-a-Dub. The board with the Reverb Brick just barley fits in the enclosure. Well with out getting to in depth (thats for the full write up) here is a couple sneak peak pictures.


                          

I don't want to spoil too much...STAY TUNED!!!