self diagnostic test

i have a vague grasp of reality…

true, im still living  my old room, secluded from the real world, still adhering to them twisted principles i came up with during college… then it hit me, i havent really graduated from college, even with my short stint as a teacher, my perspective never really changed. worse, that teaching stint reinforced the idea that i can handle and succed in everything, even in procrastination mode… until now, i still practice that.

 

i dont want to be a mindless drone…

that is my only “rule” as far as “working” in the real world is in concerned. like waking up at exactly X o’clock and go on with the same boring routine (repeat 5x), have a normal life during weekends (or sleep all day), pay the bills on payday and so on and so fort. i rebelled against the system, and it kicked ass, slammed me on floor, and left me stunned and disoriented.

 

what is to be learned thru all this strife

true again, this thing im going through aint worth shit compared to other’s experiences, being so trivial. but this are the things that my logic cant comprehend, maybe in the race of life, this is one aspect i’ve taken forgranted. but like all things ive learned till this day, ill have to face it on my own, there’s no one to lean on to, no help for the wicked \m/. so better suck it in, buckle up, and prepare for the bumpy ride ahead. coz we’re dying every second, and we shouldnt be “giving importance to whats trivial” (qouting a friend).

 

whats the resolution?

i dont know… do i give in to the pressure? should i suck up my pride and hop in the band wagon? if so, will that temporary solution be feasible? i think not… but then again, im aiming for 2 birds in 1 stone, is that too much of a goal? am i taking up so much responsibility and always ending up with half output? (yes).

i used to just go on and follow the best advise i get in this situatuion,but now… let’s decide on our own… (deciding…)

 

-chalo

just popped outta me head

i walk and i wait, tis a sunny day
dont have a clue, ive lost my way
glaring at me, ur radiant rays
set back again, drifting away

Another Stellar Sayonara…

Hmm, gawa nga ulet ako ng ganito.. Been a long time since I made something like this (2nd-ish college?). And if you’re reading this, well, I might just remove this post anyway so, better read up what’s bugging my brains out lately…

I’m posting this, so that I might eventually put closure into the whole thing… coz it’s being a huge detriment already… but then again, im probably just wired in a way that when I see something linkable to thee, silent wars break off inside my head, seriously…

Yet again, the circumstances are against me… yet again I chose to pursue thee…
Yet again I never really recover… yet again it ended in disaster.

I might choose another easy way out… oh wait, I already used my “get-out-of-jail-card”… I have nowhere to run anymore, worse, I’m doomed to end up closer to where the action is.

Part of growing up? Letting go? There’s always another, waiting to be found?? I outgrew that kind of thinking many years ago. Logic is what drives me now. And frankly, it resulted in a better perspective, albeit, a pessimistic one. You know what they say about being a pessimist, “it’s either you’re right, or your surprised.” “Some” might say that a perspective like this is bad, and it’s bad to hang out with this people. Screw “them”, I have lots of people who can vouch for my “good” company…

Well, back to sucking up defeat… wait, did I just admit defeat? Am I just gonna leave it at that? Probably… I don’t have solid facts yet (I choose to classify them as evidences), but it’s all pointing to the other direction, so, yeah, it is what it is… but then, a question addressed to myself pops in the back of my head… How will you deal with it?

Well, it’s not as BIG as to the one I had with a certain bear (hell, this is sub-atomic compared to that), so it might just slip. Pero, I must admit, envy does kick in, especially when (censored, too much detail, not that anonymous anymore). Lryric in playing in my mind: “that’s just the way it is, things will never be the same – from some hiphop song”…

Now, how to close this essay… well, a stellar sayonara is in place.

“ill probably be seeing in the near future, but I wont give in to primal urges, even though I know that you’ll be intoxicatingly good when you and I are one. (deleted a long, negative rant here…) hope you end up in good hands, although… anyway…

“Sayonara, Vodka Cruiser.” I was intoxicated by you, but now its time to be sober again.

-chalo

P.S. this was the original purpose of “Rhummed Literature”, all guitar effects and the like are just a side show, (more likely, tamad lng ako gumawa ng separate page for “Mischief Electronix”).

Time to revive this blog

Well, a lot of things happened since I last posted something in here (more than a year), so if ever I have time to spare (a lot actually atm), I’ll post something here. But for now, lets just say that I’m starting something new today. I may or may not pursue it, but for sure its gonna affect me, so this is a “memento” for this not so glorious day.

-chalo

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)