Overdrives and Distortion

Just finished 2 stompboxes today, or rather this night… one is the 2-in1 pedal (tubescreamer+bluesbreaker) i started last week and the other is a BSIAB2 or Brown Sound in A Box. the 2-in-1 pedal i was able to finish last week but i was not able to install the LED’s coz the clerk gave big leds instead of “small LEDs” that i indicated on a piece of paper. originally i was planning to have a green led for the tubescreamer and blue for the bluesbreaker. when i was about to put the led on the holder, badluck and stupidity struck me. i had 2 blue leds, 1 is back up. the 1st led i used, i snapped off one leg. using the backup, i tried to test it using my pedalboard power supply, DIRECTLY!!! 12.5V 500mA… the result, an audible spark and a fried led… so i ended up using 2 red leds instead which was way cheaper and i could just swap it out when i get new blue leds. as i have not yet recorded any soundclips yet, ill just have to describe the sound… the tubescreamer, im a bit not satisfied,, i dont know, converted it into buffered bypass which was the what the original TS808 used, byt somehow it doesnt feel like a my old tube screamer. ill definitely make a new circuit when i have free time, coz i know theres something wrong with this one but i dont like to troubleshoot it. for the blues breaker, yeah, its great! i can use it as a clean booster as well as an overdrive. when the gain is at full, the sound is beefed up, like the crunch mode on some amps i tested out. mild to medium gains, i think thats what i get from it. for the tubescreamer, mild to medium-high gains, but it sounds like it cant breathe of something. but when i used to both at the same time, it resembles a Boss MetalZone pedal with the gain set anywhere bet 8 – 2 o’clock. very versatile in my opinion in terms of sound (need to change the ts though) and space saving too. for future mods, i planning to insert to swtiches, one for changing the sequence of the effect (current sequence is, TS808 then BB2), and the other one for changing the TS808 into a Boss SD-1 (just add another diode). a more complex mod would be an effects loop option, though i think i have to remove the battery option to accommodate such mod.

here are some pics:

wired up… but i messed up big time here, i had already drilled the holes for the status leds on the center, but it covered right now by the PC board. had to improvise, so i opted to drill new holes on the sides of the stompswitch. the holes on the center i can just cover up with body filler when i apply paint to it.

finished product…

another effect i finished was the BSIAB or the Brown Sound In A Box by General Guitar Gadgets. i finished mounting all of the parts on the board last night but after dinner, lazyness struck me again and i didnt finish it. today, i woke up quite early (’round 930, i usally get up around 3-4 pm) i decided the i should finish the pedal by the end of the day. so i started probably around 230, i had to drill the holes on the enclosure, trim the shafts of the pots and mount off board parts. when i was through, i went to testing immediately, and to my dismay, it ddnt work.  on to troubleshooting… turns out, i swapped the wires on the battery terminal and DC jack terminal. when i resolved the issue (or i thought i did), it still ddnt work. i checked again, and found out that i just wired them back the way they used to be… idiot!!!… rewired it again, this time making sure im right… then… still humming, no sound… checked it again… this time, the polarity diode was inverted, no wonder theres no power… during this time, my stomach was on a rampage, but i told myself that i cant eat unless i dont fix this… after a few more checks, i plugged in my guitar, and walah… it works!!!… then i began to adjust the trimpot which was to set  the drain voltage on the last jfet… then sound testing… more sound testing… more sound testing…more sound testing… f*ck its a high gain circuit buy the sustain is awful!!!… more tweaking… then i decided to change all the transistors one by one, coz i think i might have fried some during the wrong polarity testing… after changing 2 transistor, i gave in to my hunger and went downstairs to eat dinner… (i ate a lot vegetables tonight which is kinda wierd) when i got back, i tried it again, and still, it doesnt have a long sustain, probably 3-7 secs then it gets cut off… adjusted the trimpot again, this time, will strumming on the guitar. i stopped at the point where i heard a change of sound… and again strum and turn slightly… OH YES… PAYDIRT!!!… beefy-crunchy gains with very long sustains… it lives up to its testimony as a high gain distortion pedal. i cant really describe it in word, but its really really a…. uhm, crunchy/nasty/badassed/heavy sounding pedal. man, i really should make sound clips…

here are some pics:

before my good friend “lazyness” came in.

mounting everything on the box. i found out that i should have lowered the I/O jack’s holes lower coz i had a hard time fitting the circuitboard on the top part with the pots and DC jack already taking space…

yeah… finished at last!!!

testing it everything out… all finished FX except the analog delay w/c i let my friend test out… also present is the power supply i made 2 days ago. its a regulated/filtered power supply that has 5 outputs at 9V each. im planning to add probably 2 9V outputs and 2 12V outputs. but i probably have to change the DC wall wart to a 1000-1500 mA unit as im just using a 500 mA unit. it mught get fried when i plug in more effects.

Dunlop DC Brick clone! ill be adding some more sockets to it as well as paint it flat black so that it would really look like the original.

im off to slumberland now, so keep safe and check out my next pedal which would either be an MXR Phase 90 (Eddie Van Halen phaser) or the Electro-Harmonix Small Clone (Kurt Cobain Chourus).

-chalo

DIY Analog Delay

nah, its not really 100% analog, but it performs/sounds like one. maximum delay time is around 600ms according to the schematics.  heres how it looked before i ate dinner/blackout in the house..

after the lights when on again, i immedietly rushed back to work as i have to go somewhere around midnight, thus i forgot to take pics during the process. then during the initial testing, i was really rushing things as we about to go out… in clean mode, it all good, but when switched on, NO SOUND!!! (shit)… trying to figure what went wrong, hurriedly thought of the things i did… then it hit me.. i didnt put in the PT2399 IC, the main “ingredient” of the pedal… after putting it in the ic holder… YES! it works! i was so excited with the results i felt, hmm, i think thats what they call “butterflies on your stomach” feeling… anyway, when i arrived, i quickly assembled the unit to its final setup, which probably took 30 mins or so. thats the only time i was able to take pics again. here they are:

finished!

here it is, side by side with my recently finished MXR Envelope Filter, which i havnt fixed yet the wrong wiring with the range mod…

another pic, with the effects in my smaller pedal board “board”. i still havnt decided whether to just paint it black or use the leatherette material i have stuffed in my closet, which i’ll also use for my future “modelling amp”. one my favorite junkfood is also there.. ^_^ yum!

while im at it, i might as well show you my “proposed MAIN PEDALBOARD”… i took the picture before i made the delay so, theres only 2 effects present, the Dunlop Cry Baby and the MXR Envelope Filter clone. also there are 2 black boxes in the upper right corner. one is the Pocket Mischief Mini Amp so that i can play wherever i go, and the other one is supposed to be a Dunlop DC Brick Copy, but i thought it would be easier to make a regulator/filter (constant rated voltage and NO HUM!!!) box with dc outputs then use an ordinary wall wart (DC Adapter) around 750-1500 mA as power source.

haven’t decided yet on the pedal board carrying case, coz i think it would be easier compared to making pedals (provided you have good woodworking skill and you have the proper equipment).

i also started on the next pedal, which is a dual effects pedal which has a Ibanez TubeScremer clone and a Marshall BluesBreaker clone, in that sequence.

i didnt make a  new circuit like i did with the envelope filter coz i lazyness and finacial hesitations got in the way. i just used my existing circuits and just removed the offboard stuff so that i can fit it exactly to the enclosure’s dimensions. i had some trouble drilling the case coz during the measuring stage, i didnt take into consideration the inside part of the enclosure. i ended up with the pots hitting the area where the screws go into. you can see that the outer knobs are a bit lower then the others which was a result of the compensation. the circuit with the 2 yellow cylindders is the tubescreamer and the other one is the bluesbreaker. i also bought green and blue knobs so that it would give emphasis to the effect(original tubescremers were green colored and the blues breaker were… just plain aluminum (i think) with blue labels).

ill probably put my pedal making in slower pace coz i have a temporary business where i’ll be spending more of my time. we have a small kiosk in a festival which sell beer/beverages and some barbequed stuff. WE DONT SELL LIQUIOR TO MINORS… ^_^

till next post…

-chalo

Portable Guitar Amplifier

Well, i know i’ve posted several “portable guitar amplifiers”, but this time, its a lot sturdier (survived 2 above-the-waist drops already), more compact, and it does sound better then the previous projects.

Heres some pics:

after several builds, i think ive finally found the best layout for it, managing to fit all the parts inside, and still be able to place the whole thing inside an ordinary-sized pocket. Oh, BTW, this version has a switch, in which the user can select whether to use the units own 2″ speaker or plug in a 3.5mm-jacked earphones (can also be used as an output for bigger amps/cabinets by making use of a patch cable that has a 3.5mm jack on one side and a 1/4″  on the other).

Everything in place(im too tired to tidy-up the guts, anyways, i dont see any “potential” point of failure).

closed it up, but not yet screwed in..

i also added some rubber padding on the base as well as the back for added protection from scratches and falls. and it tilts the amp baackwards for , i dont know, plus factor i guess, coz looks cooler tilted.

heres the amp with some reference points/objects so thayou have an idea on how small the amp is (the ruler says that it 4″ tall). my actual measurements are as follows 4.7″H x 2.6″W x 1.2″T(thickness). 4.7″H for including the knobs.

Now regarding sounclips, well, i havnt posted any yet, cant find the right application to record, and i cant find the mic… Also, ive finished bulding an Analog delay a while ago, but its already dawn so ill probably post it later after getting some zzzz’s.

-chalo

1st real pedal

Wow, I just noticed, the last 3 posts had the MXR Envelope Filter in it.

Well, its been more than a month since my last post, and i did have some prototypes that i finished within that time span, one would be a Marshall Blues Breaker “circuit”, and my current fave mini amp, i dont know what ill call it, but still based on the lm386 but more flexible coz of an input buffer and some more filtering which results in a much better clean (way better than the pocket mischief #3) and crunchier overdrive despite its size(same casing as that of the pocket mischief3).

About a week ago, my order from an online store that sell guitar pedal/FX  parts arrived. It had all the stuff (the ones not available in bacolod) i needed to make real pedals/FX. And ofcourse, my Dunlop GCB-95 Cry Baby. The Cry Baby sounds great, though this is my 1st time using a wah.

Then i let my cousin (the one who taught me how to do basic chords, therefore my 1st teacher) randomly select which pedal ill do 1st until the 7th. Here’s the sequence:

1. Envelope Filter (auto-wah)
2. OmniDrive (Distortion/OD/FUZZ/OctaveUp)
3. Small Clone (Kurt Cobain’s chorus)
4. Tube Screamer + LBP1 Booster (OD+cleanboost)
5. BSIAB (Brown Sound In A Box, high gain dist)
6. Delay (600 ms delay based on the pt2399)
7. Phase 90 (Eddie Van Halen’s phaser)

Heres some pics of the construction of the Envelope Filter

resistors 1st as always…

board almost complete…

initial testing… fully working!!! (oh yes)

about to put the circuit in the box (took me about an hour n a half to finish drilling the box coz i had to change the carbon brush of the drill at the same time i was being extra careful as to not have drill scratches on the box)

sloppy wiring! the results could have been cleaner if it wasnt for the mods. the mods’ (modification from the original circuit) wires came from the inner part of the board which cause the octopus wiring (and i was hoping for a cleaner gut)

with temporary label (fultile attempt to copy the original)

well, it does sound like the previous envelope filters that i made. i think there is something wrong with my wiring with regards to the filter range mod, coz the switch doesnt really do anything. guess ill try to fix that when i feel like fixing it. also, ill probably apply some graphics/labels/paint to the pedal but as of the moment, my mind is blank… if you have any suggestion, leave it on the comment box, they will be much appreciated. now i need to get some sleep, coz its almost 5 am…

-chalo

MXR Envelope Filter mkII

Well, I’m at it again. I’m making another auto-wah because of 2 reasons… 1st, the previous wah (autowah+tremolo) is broke (only the wah-side). I think I have an idea where the trouble is coming from. Either the make-shift 22M ohm resistor is open or the emphasis pot is. 2^nd is, I wanted to omit the emphasis knob coz it doesn’t really do a lot. And finally, I wanted to make another 2-in-1 module but this time, all MXR… this will be an MXR Envelope Filter and an MXR Distortion+.

Here’s a peek at my “workplace”.

The enclosure of the new module will be a 4 inch aluminum chassis w/ 4 holes, attack and treshold for the wah, distortion and volume for the distortion+. I applied a blue enamel primer on the chassis and lightly sanded it when it was dry. Or at least I thought it was. Because of the humid weather today (rain+sun+rain+sun), it was only 70% dry, but i procceded to sand it anyway. Also, the circuit in chassis is the autowah circuit minus the IC’s, input/output jack, and battery snaps.

Here’s another effect I finished last night but somehow was not functioning.Its a DanElectro OrangeSqueezer which is basically a compressor. I’ll probably fix it tommorow. Also, the PCB right next to it is the board for the Distortion+.

Here’s pic of another PocketMischief series Im planning to make.

Well, its been awhile since I played with an LM386, so I’ll probably do this project as soon as i finosh my current one. The size of the can is the same as that of a Valda Pastille. IMO, this is a ripoff it coz the content looked exactly like valdapastilles. hmm, maybe they should sue astring-o-sol. Anyway, the plan is to utilize every space available for the components, which i think is possible. The only problem I see is the drilling part, coz i know its going to be hard coz of the size at same time the position of the holes (sides).

Here’s me testing out the newly finished wah. (crazy/lazy setup)

The new autowah is the one atop the maglight casing to left, plugged into the autowah-tremolo module, then to the Boss DS-1 copy (circuit to your right) then to amp. (I always forget that i need to make the enclosure for the DS-1). the autowah on to wah-tremolo is still broke ( T_T ) but is on bypass so im just using the trem while testing. (another “wee hours in the morning” testing)

its already almost 2am and i need to wake up early for a s2pd rehersal of the “grudge”-uation rites, so this will be it for now.

ill leave you a pic of where “secretly” stash some of my works of art…

-chalo

Re: Soundclips

soundclips and the likes, of the guitar effects i built and currently building, will be posted/uploaded sometime next week… or the next… yeah, probably within that time period… (im still busy “trying” to graduate on time)

DIY MXR Envelope Filter (Auto-Wah) + Eletro Harmonix Pulsar (Tremolo)

Again, another late posting… I finished this a couple of week ago. Better late than never…

It’s a 2 in 1, ANALOG guitar effect that house an MXR Envelope Filter which is a Wah effect controlled by picking strength and the rare Electro Harmonix Pulsar which is basically a tremolo effect. It has 3 knobs on the wah side, “A”-ttack which controls the speed of the wah effect, “T”-hreshold which controls the tone of the wah and turning it all the way up yields a clean output in which I think is defeating the purpose of the effect, and finally an “E”-mphasis knob that controls the volume/emphasis of the effect. On the trem side, it has a “D”-epth knob which controls how deep the drop from the original frequency, a toggle switch that selects either square-wave tremolo or rounded tremolo, and an “R”-ate knob that controls the speed of the trem. It also has 1 input and 1 ouput jack, and the order of the effect is the same as the layout, WAH then Trem. And finally, still haunted by limited availability of parts, I opted for a DPDT Toggle switch instead of a stompswitch for turning the effects on or bypassing it.

The enclosure that I used was an aluminium chassis. It didn’t have a cover for the sides and the bottom. I’m still trying to figure out what to do in order to close it.Also, I was so excited when finished the effects that i immediately painted the chassis, using a flat-black spray paint… w/o a primer. The result? The paint chips out when you scratch with something hard. I think you can see some of the scatches I made when I was bolting on the knobs.

Here’s a pic of its guts. To your left is the circuit of the trem and to your right is the circuit for the wah. The wire that’s floating on the lower left is the 9V battery snaps and the black and yellow thingy on the upper right is the DC jack.

I wish I was able to record the output of the effect, but I don’t have the equipment/software yet. Then you could hear how cool the effects sounds like. I think its best suited for funk/party music.

oh, btw, the label is just temporary, I used some fabric paint… neon-purple+black looks good, but the container of the paint makes it hard to write… but then again, i can change it anytime coz the paint can be removed by scraping it off…

-chalo

BOSS DS-1 Distortion Pedal

well its not actually a pedal yet… just a finished, working circuit…

It’s a real DS-1 copy. Tone, Volume, Distortion knobs, 9v battery snaps, 9v DC jack, 1 input and 1 output mic jack. Great sounding distortion.

Mischief: DIY guitar amps and effects

Ok I shouldn’t be doing this and I should be doing something more important… or not. But anyway ill be posting here the things that I should have posted last December.

This will be the official launching of my little business. Although im not really dedicating much time to it till i graduate, (which i hope is soon).

here’s the list of the amps and effect that I made. I haven’t really given much detail with regard to the looks (no time, and I don’t want to hurry it and come up with lousy results). They are also for sale if you want.

Pocket Mischief #2

It’s the 2^nd make of the Pocket Mischief that I post a month ago. I made some variations to the 1^st make. This includes the input switching, which means that the amp switches to “on” state when you insert a MONO plug/jack. Shown below is the amp in on state.

Another feature I added is the earphone output. Now you can play your guitar without waking your parents or disturbing your neighbors. And last is the LED indicator, which indicates if the thing is on or off. Other features are basically the same with the make 1 or version 1 of the PocktMschief, which are the GAIN knobs (controls the gain), TONE switch (bassier/treblier) and the MONO OUTPUT.

Here is a pic of it in off state.

Pocket Mischief #3

This time, I’ve managed to put a 2” speaker to the pocket mischief but decided to omit the gain knob, tone switch and replace it with an output switch that selects if you want to use the speaker or want to use an earphone thru the earphone socket. The gain is fixed, I think its around 10 dBs and I used the bassier output of the pm001 for its fixed tone setting.

There are still some spaces left inside which i think can accommodate the gain knob and another switch for tone. But that’s going to be implemented on version 2.

Heres some more pics with some reference objects so that you have a rough idea on how small the amp is.

and btw, the 1st 2 amps shown runs solely on 9v batteries. Future makes will have an additional dc adapter socket so you can power it from a err, dc adapter.

Mini Guitar Cabs

well, what goes with a mini amp? a mini guitar cabinet ofcourse. ^_^

Not much detail with regards to outside appearance but I tried to make it sound err fuller than the usual. This is achieved by baffling the speakers and minimizing the echoes inside the cabs. The brown one is made from 3/8 plywood and is just painted. It also has two 2 inch speakers as its drivers. The green one is also made from 3/8 plywood and is cover with some leatherette material (the kind that you use for upholstery) and a mesh cloth for the grill. Inside is a 3 inch speaker, and is open-backed.

I’ll be improve the looks of these two after finishing some academic stuffs. I plan to make the brown one look like the 57’ mini twin amp of Fender, and as for the green one, maybe just improve the grill cloth.

MINI MISCHIEF

This one I’m quite proud of. Its the cleanest sounding mini amp I made, and louder than one would expect. With the highest setting on all knobs (including the ones on the guitar) it can be heard from my room to our gate, and mind you, our drive way is quite long, about the size of a basketball court. Its really loud! And to think its powered by a 9v battery.

It has the same on-off switching scheme as that of the previous stuff, Volume, Tone, Gain Knobs, and a bright switch which makes the sound output a bit wider and a slight increase in gain. It also has the dc adapter socket so that you can play extended periods and get constant signal to noise ratio (as the battery runs dry, there is an increase in SNR and results in dirtier sounds, kinda like an over fuzz effect).

Heres another pic!

Future upgrades/revisions include mono output so you can use the amp only and drive a larger cab, as well as an earphone output, for the obvious reason. That would make this mini amp close to perfect, as it can go from personal practice,to small group practice/performance, to large group performance. The latter requires additional equipments. Apperances would definitely be changed too! I just wanted to make an amp that you can see its guts, but I can also cover it with some letherettes or Tolex or acoustic fabrics and make some grill for the front.

TUBE SCREAMER Copy

yep! My very own TS-808! Its an exact replica of the tube screamer with regards to the components (electronic stuff inside), with some slight revisions. I wont describe how a tube screamer would sound coz u can find them floating in abundance on the internet.

In my version, the housing is smaller compared to the original. I used the same enclosure I used for the PocktMschief sans the speaker holes. Also, instead of a stompswitch or any other footswitch, I used a DPDT toggle switch as the stompswitches are a little difficult to procure at the same time, more expensive. For the price the DPDT stompswitch is going, I could probably make 2 tubescreamers including enclosure. Also, instead of using cheapo knobs, I decided to splurge more money on small Aluminium knobs. It really does improve the overall look of it as compared to other knobs. Future upgrades would be the real stompswitch, another switch wired to another diode to make the clipping asymmetric, so that it can be turned into a BOSS SD-1. That makes it a 2 in 1 analog effect!

Also,Im planning to make a single effects module that houses 3-5 analog effects. It’ll probably look like an effects pedal board. It would the effects line up would probably be any of following:

1. Dan Armstrong Red Ranger (3 way booster, full, treble, bass boost)
2. Dan Armstrong Green Ringer (octave up)
3. Dan Armstrong Purple Peaker (2-way equalizer)
4. Dan Armstrong Blue Clipper (distortion)
5. Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer (compressor)
6. ProCo RAT
7. Marshall Guv’nor
8. Masrshal Blues Breaker
9. Electro Harmonix Pulsar (tremolo)
10. Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi (fuzz)
11. DOD 280 (comp)
12. Dynacomp
13. Ross Compressor
14. MXR Phase 45
15. MXR Phase 90
16. MXR Distortion +
17. MXR Microamp
18. Transistor-based booster
19. BOSS DS-1

And probably many more…. The only hindrance is the availability of the parts in the place Im currently residing on, and ultimately, my academic responsibilities. Hey, making effects eats up a lot of time, especially on the troubleshooting stages.

Come back in the near future, maybe by that time, I have finished more projects and Im not in “too-lazy-to-post mode”.

Again, this post serves as a cheap advertisement and all projects posted are on sale. Just pm me or something and well talk about the details (color of casing, size of casing, etc.., and ofcourse, PRICE!!! Don’t worry I’m not the “for the money” type of person, you’ll see ^_^)

By the way, wish me luck on the coming days, its either make or break for me in school.

-chalo

Pocket Mischief #1: Portable Guitar Amp

Well, here it is… I finished this maybe a month ago but I was too lazy to post it. I call it the Pocket Mischief. It’s portable guitar amplifier that has 1 mono input, 1 gain knob, a switch to change the sound from fat to lean (bassier to treblier 0_x), and a mono output. Well, since this was the first time I placed the circuit in a case, I had some difficulties with the layout both inside and out. What do I mean? First the insides, the plan was to place everything inside including the batteries, but because of lousy layouting with regards to the PCB and outboard layouts as well, the result was way below expectation.

Here’s a how it looks like on the inside.(sort of, this is another circuit)

Another problem was drilling holes in the case for the interface. I thought my measurements were flawless, and they were. But the thing is, I didn’t consider the insides, so I ended cutting one of the “poles” where the screws goes in. And also, there is a little gap that cant be closed because the some of the lugs cant fit. T_T

With regards to the batteries, I drilled some holes at the back so that I can just wire it from the outside. Also I thought it would be wise to wire another output so that I can test it directly to a speaker.

So how does it sound you ask. Well it would depend on where you insert it. Use a small speaker and it would also sound small, with lots of distortion-like sounds. Plug it to a bigger speaker and you get a cleaner sounding amp. You can still get a overdriven sound by tweaking the volume on you guitar and the gain on the amp.

All in all, the thing works. There are flaws here and there and there is no power switch, you have to manually plug/unplug the battery clip to power the thing.

I’ll be posting the 2nd and 3rd amps later if Im not too lazy… Now i have to hurry coz Im running late for my PHP class. O_o