My first efx pedal build

chromium · November 19, 2012, 02:42:46 PM

I've been goofing around a bit with aluminum transfers and etching - trying to learn how to put graphics and labeling on enclosures. At the same time, I've been experimenting with some overdrive circuits on breadboard...

Both efforts finally converged into this:

Here's a quick soundclip of it at volume through my Orange/SVT:

Already working on another design. This is kind of addicting!

Highlander · November 19, 2012, 03:02:24 PM

Kit-Kat chunky...

clankenstein · November 19, 2012, 04:24:33 PM

mmm gnarly.

Nocturnal · November 19, 2012, 08:44:09 PM

It sounds quite tasty thru my Genz/Peavey 4x12 rig too

jumbodbassman · November 20, 2012, 09:36:37 AM

sounds great. a kit or just from a schematic of the internet?

Pilgrim · November 20, 2012, 10:28:42 AM

I like the sound. Nice sound variations demo'd in the video, too.

ack1961 · November 20, 2012, 12:12:13 PM

Yeah, that's awesome.
I'd like to find out more about you came to build that box.

chromium · November 20, 2012, 01:21:34 PM

Thanks! I actually built this one for Nokturnal/Andy as a b-day present (happy 29th, man!!). He has long been a zombie movie aficionado, and so I thought some classic Night of the Living Dead graphics might be in order

This one was based on this schematic, and I built it on copper-clad prototyping board:
http://analogguru.an.ohost.de/193/schematics/Colorsound_ToneBender_RI.gif

The gain stage is copied pretty much verbatim, but I changed the tone circuit a bit. The way it works is that the signal gets split and runs into both a low pass and high pass filter, and then the tone control balances between the two. In the original, there is a much larger notch (sitting in the midrange) between the frequency points at which those filters begin to roll off. I narrowed that notch to about a 1/4 of what it was, and the sound has more mids and more "grunt" as a result.

exiledarchangel · November 23, 2012, 03:03:55 AM

Brilliant (pun intended)! Death to the living!!!

Highlander · November 23, 2012, 03:38:04 AM

I'd forgotten that I'd built a small pre-amp circuit, even down to a custom etched board rather than "strips" and made it small enough to put into the original cavity of the PC - my original reason for minimising on the controls, so I could have the space to fit it... worked well enough during my metal days as it produced a rearl growl from the old original PC pups...

Long gone...

godofthunder · November 29, 2012, 03:58:48 PM

Holy Crap I love that ! That sounds so f'ng cool, reminds me of Geezer. I really liked watching your pick technique, much like mine.

chromium · November 30, 2012, 12:58:44 PM

Quote from: godofthunder on November 29, 2012, 03:58:48 PM
Holy Crap I love that ! That sounds so f'ng cool, reminds me of Geezer. I really liked watching your pick technique, much like mine.

Thanks, Scott! The Geezer thing is probably no coincidence - big Sabbath fan here.

I'm mostly a fingerstyle player out of habit, but still trying to correct that

Half the time I can never find a pick, though, and so I end up doing what I did there - using my fingernail!

I'm working on another, slightly more elaborate box now that will serve as a stereo bass overdrive and/or buffered splitter. So rather than use a passive Ric-o-sound-type splitter, you can run a TRS (stereo) cable from a 4001/3, Magnum, etc... into it and add some grit independently to each pickup. It'll then either mix the pickups together into a mono out, or let you send each pickup out of its own stereo output - to separate amps, or separate channels on a board.

The overdrives will be roughly similar to that zombie fuzz above (but with switchable clipping diodes for different sounds), and each OD can be bypassed using those red-tipped switches (if I end up making more of these, the enclosure size will grow a bit to accommodate a pair of footswitches in place of the toggles).

If used with a normal bass (mono), the blue switch at the bottom will selectively cascade the overdrives in series - so they can both chain together and process the mono signal.

I built that enclosure last week, and I still need to build up the final circuit on perfboard and finish the internals - hopefully this weekend. I'll post some sound clips once I get it finished and have time to record it.

hieronymous · November 30, 2012, 10:49:46 PM

Joe, both of these look great! Even though my Alembics are the only stereo basses I have on hand at the moment, I would be seriously tempted by the stereo box - if my 4003 lived with me on the left coast I'd order one in a heartbeat!

exiledarchangel · December 04, 2012, 05:23:11 AM

Quote from: HERBIE on November 23, 2012, 03:38:04 AM
I'd forgotten that I'd built a small pre-amp circuit, even down to a custom etched board rather than "strips" and made it small enough to put into the original cavity of the PC - my original reason for minimising on the controls, so I could have the space to fit it... worked well enough during my metal days as it produced a rearl growl from the old original PC pups...

Long gone...

What I was thinking those days, was building a preamp for my epi with gibby tb pups, with an active-passive switch ofcourse. I think it would sound devastating!

chromium · December 05, 2012, 08:51:23 AM

Quote from: hieronymous on November 30, 2012, 10:49:46 PM
Joe, both of these look great! Even though my Alembics are the only stereo basses I have on hand at the moment, I would be seriously tempted by the stereo box - if my 4003 lived with me on the left coast I'd order one in a heartbeat!

Thanks! I wired up the enclosure last weekend, but I'm still using it with the circuit on breadboard (temporary/prototyping). Playing around with different overdrive voicing for the neck and bridge pickups, and making some other improvements. I think I have a manageable approach to building some enclosures (vinyl labels on powdercoated enclosures, buried in clear, buffed out), and if all goes well I might get some boards printed for both a mono and stereo version. We'll see...

Quote from: HERBIE on November 23, 2012, 03:38:04 AM
I'd forgotten that I'd built a small pre-amp circuit, even down to a custom etched board rather than "strips" and made it small enough to put into the original cavity of the PC - my original reason for minimising on the controls, so I could have the space to fit it... worked well enough during my metal days as it produced a rearl growl from the old original PC pups...

Long gone...
Quote from: exiledarchangel on December 04, 2012, 05:23:11 AM
What I was thinking those days, was building a preamp for my epi with gibby tb pups, with an active-passive switch ofcourse. I think it would sound devastating!

That would be a cool project. That old BC Rich I picked up has a great sounding, simple little 2N5088-based pre and varitone circuit on a board...

I'm still really green at it, but I've done a couple projects with software called KiCAD and like it a lot. It'll let you draw up your circuit, run tests/simulations, and layout the printed circuit board artwork (...and its all open source!):
http://www.kicad-pcb.org/display/KICAD/KiCad+EDA+Software+Suite

Places like PCBCart can take those files and run off the boards for you, or you can just use them to do the print/toner-mask/etch/drill on your own.