DIY Effects

[Passinwind]

On 18/02/2021 at 07:34, Bobo_08 said:

That's really cool! Goin SMD & 4 layers allows you to really reduce the footprint of the board I.  I should start having a go at this sort of thing. Just need to allot some time towards the learning curve and start on maybe simple boost/buffer circuit. If you have any suggestions for circuits to get me started id really appreciate that. 

The Tillman FET booster/buffer is pretty simple, ditto the Stingray 2-band preamp. Another cool approach a little further on might be a simple tube preamp, something like the Alembic F2-B. I started with tube ones because it kind of removed the compulsion to keep going smaller and smaller.

I'm also planning on releasing another open source board soon, just a simple single opamp gain stage with a trim pot:

 

You could port that design to through-hole parts and learn a lot about KiCad just by looking at how I did some things, I reckon. My other open source one is on Talkbass, but it's fairly convoluted: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/the-passinwind-open-source-preamp.1259692/

I'm always happy to help out fellow DIY'ers when I can, but most of my experience is with amps and onboard stuff more than effects per se.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Passinwind

[Passinwind]

19 hours ago, paul_5 said:

Just finished a’classic’ 2 band Stingray eq preamp. Now then, as 2 of my basses have had a MM pickup fitted, do Instick it in a pedal or get the router out...?

What physical format did you use, breadboard, PCB, or ??? The ubiquitous "Uncle Fluffy" MM2B clone board got me back into this stuff years ago after a long hiatus and that guy was a huge help in getting me going on doing my own board layouts.

It's a great sounding preamp in any case!

[paul_5]

Veroboard; there’s only a couple of millimetres between the perfboard and veroboard layouts I had.

might build another that’s tuned slightly higher in the bass and lower in the treble to suit a P bass...

[disssa]

1st Prototype

Ampeg B-100R Preamplifier:

 

I used the factory schematics to draw a pcb, that fits into a 1590BB.

[tauzero]

This isn't an effects unit per se, it's a device to allow foot control of an Android pad with Bluetooth which I think would also work on an iPad. Two buttons, allowing page up and down, and with a menu to allow changing the functions to line up/down and next/previous window. Not up to the immaculate production standards of the other items here. It uses an ESP32 on a development board, programmed with the Arduino IDE, and a backlit 16x2 display with parallel interface, powered through a bridge rectifier (to avoid issues over supply polarity) and a step-down to 5V converter.

Top view (note badly sized window for display):

Inside view. The ESP32 is soldered to the board and there are female headers on the board just outside it. I put them on both sides by accident, but it came in handy as the unused side, with a few male pins with the board side of the pin clipped off, worked as a spacer. The thing in red on the left is a 10k trim pot to adjust contrast, and the power supply is in clear heatshrink on the right. The display is held in place by four nylon bolts with built-in spacers glued to the inside of the case (you can just see one nylon nut):

Connecting to pad:

Connected - page up/down:

Long press to bring up menu, right button to go through menu, left to select or long press on left to exit menu:

[Sibob]

Quick Q on power.
If I have a multiple board pedal, ie a couple of different boost circuits and a drive circuit in one enclosure, can I daisy-chain them for their power? Or does each board need to be directly be connected to the power socket?

Cheers
Si

[paul_5]

As long as it’s filtered I can’t see much difference; typically drive and boost circuits don’t drain much juice.

[tauzero]

It works out the same, they're just connected in parallel.

[Passinwind]

On 19/02/2021 at 10:04, paul_5 said:

Veroboard; there’s only a couple of millimetres between the perfboard and veroboard layouts I had.

might build another that’s tuned slightly higher in the bass and lower in the treble to suit a P bass...

Cool. I've messed around a bit with retuning for Jazz Basses. IME it's not the most straightforward circuit to tweak that way, so using an LTspice model helped me a lot in that regard. Here's one of my versions, which uses more "uptown modern" components that I typically have stashes of in my parts bins:

[AJ567]

I've been messing around with adding resistors to my expression pedals to change the shape of the sweep. You can get some pretty cool results doing this.

I made an excel model to show what different resistor values do in different positions. Thought I'd post it here in case it's useful to somebody.

Feel free to hit me with any Qs.

pot network.xlsx

[disssa]

On 19/02/2021 at 21:05, disssa said:

1st Prototype

Ampeg B-100R Preamplifier:

I used the factory schematics to draw a pcb, that fits into a 1590BB.

Now with enclosure:

[danbowskill]

2 hours ago, disssa said:

Now with enclosure:

Nice!

[Sibob]

Finished the little project I was building for a friend.
Original DOD 250 circuit with added Pre-gain boost, blend and output level control.

Not my finest work internally, it’s relatively tidy, but there’s a lot going on in there.

Enclosure was created by my friend, I just built everything into it.

Si

[disssa]

My last one: Traynor TS-60B Preamplifier.

It is similar to the TS-50B. The Preamp is well known as "Rusty Box". But this one comes with an extended 4-band EQ (switchable) and a DI-Out:

[danbowskill]

11 minutes ago, disssa said:

My last one: Traynor TS-60B Preamplifier.

It is similar to the TS-50B. The Preamp is well known as "Rusty Box". But this one comes with an extended 4-band EQ (switchable) and a DI-Out:

Your pedals look ace 💪

[bloke_zero]

13 hours ago, disssa said:

My last one: Traynor TS-60B Preamplifier.

It is similar to the TS-50B. The Preamp is well known as "Rusty Box". But this one comes with an extended 4-band EQ (switchable) and a DI-Out:

Great layouts - they always look so clean and ordered! I can't imagine how much work goes into them. DI out is really useful in a pedal like this. I'd love to know how they sound!

[Sibob]

On 07/03/2021 at 07:57, Sibob said:

Finished the little project I was building for a friend.
Original DOD 250 circuit with added Pre-gain boost, blend and output level control.

Not my finest work internally, it’s relatively tidy, but there’s a lot going on in there.

Enclosure was created by my friend, I just built everything into it.

Si

Hive-mind, I’m dealing with some niggles.
On first test, the pedal worked fine, but I quickly put it away as I’d been at it for a couple of hours.
Next day, worked first time, nice DOD 250 overdrive tones blendable with clean, then switching it on and off a few times, the DOD circuit would increasingly stop working. Now that’s not to say that the pedal lost signal, but more that, even with the blend fully over to the DOD, the DOD’s controls aren’t responding. There is a clear difference blending between ‘clean’ and DOD.....but both are now clean, with the DOD’s Level & Gain controls having no effect on the signal.

Thoughts?

Edit: I think it’s the switch itself, either there’s some muck in there or it’s a bit duff. I’ll try some switch cleaner, if not, I’ll have to try swapping it out.....which will be annoying haha.

Si

Edited March 13, 2021 by Sibob

[AJ567]

Built a USB Midi host based on a design I found here. Works a treat! Nice alternative to the Disaster Area Midi Ghost. 

It's my first proper attempt at this kind of thing so I'm pretty chuffed.

 

[disssa]

My builds on one pic:

[bloke_zero]

14 hours ago, disssa said:

My builds on one pic:

EPIC!

[AJ567]

Building on an earlier post...

I added a little board to my expression pedal with a couple of trimmers, which allows control over the shape of the sweep. Well pleased with how well this worked!

I made an excel model to demonstrate what effect different resistor values have on the curve. Feel free to have a play: Pot network.xlsx   

 

[Sibob]

On 13/03/2021 at 20:31, Sibob said:

Hive-mind, I’m dealing with some niggles.
On first test, the pedal worked fine, but I quickly put it away as I’d been at it for a couple of hours.
Next day, worked first time, nice DOD 250 overdrive tones blendable with clean, then switching it on and off a few times, the DOD circuit would increasingly stop working. Now that’s not to say that the pedal lost signal, but more that, even with the blend fully over to the DOD, the DOD’s controls aren’t responding. There is a clear difference blending between ‘clean’ and DOD.....but both are now clean, with the DOD’s Level & Gain controls having no effect on the signal.

Thoughts?

Edit: I think it’s the switch itself, either there’s some muck in there or it’s a bit duff. I’ll try some switch cleaner, if not, I’ll have to try swapping it out.....which will be annoying haha.

Si

For those who care, I’m glad to say the issue wasn’t any part of my build, nor was it a dodgy switch, it was the DOD connector (the white clip connecting the cables). Unclipped it, dislodged some grime, little clean, now all works a treat!
Lovely 😊

Si

[danbowskill]

On 18/03/2021 at 18:35, disssa said:

My builds on one pic:

You should build small batches and sell mate,..... I'd buy. That Rocket Bass and traynor👌

[Sibob]

Nothing fancy, but after the DOD 250 rehouse/mod project (see above), I had a spare DOD enclosure. No faffing, just dropped a Fuzz Dog 250 kit straight in. Good as new haha.

Si

[Passinwind]

Just in, some two band Bass/Mid preamp boards from a new US small run circuit board prototype vendor, DK Red. The DK = DigiKey, one of our biggest parts suppliers. Quality looks good and the pricing is just slightly better than OSHpark's basic service, but with far fewer options and a four board minimum as opposed to OSHpark's three. Many of us are hoping that DigiKey will go the next step and integrate parts supply, modeling data, PCB footprints, bill of materials management, and assembly into a one stop shopping experience. I'm nearly certain that they are shooting for that, and sooner than later.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Passinwind