Effects Bay

I absolutely love tinkering/hacking and generally playing around with electronics. Besides playing guitar, this is by far one of my favorite interests/hobbies. A few years ago, I subscribed to MAKE magazine. If you don’t know what MAKE is and are interested in making cool things found around the house, dumpster, etc., this magazine is for you! I have several friends that subscribe to this magazine because the cool/nerd factor is undeniable.

I came across this MAKE video of Collin’s Lab where he hacks a Big Muff Pi with a Arduino and digital pot. An Arduino is basically a board with inputs and outputs that are controlled by a microcontroller that you can program. You can do all sorts from powering LEDs to running servos, etc. Pretty nerdy. Pretty cool.

Here is the video by makemagazine:

If you want more information (source code for the Arduino, etc) check out the MAKE blog entry for this project here.

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The other day I saw a tweet mentioning @guitarnoize demo’ing long time EffectsBay.com friend @cubisteffects ProCo RAT modification called the Four Headed RAT. Basically, it’s a modification that  provides additional voicings (two overdrive and two distortions for four overall voicing options). Along with the voicings, he replaces capacitors, ICs, and DC Jack. Christian at Cubist Effects also offers a ‘noise’ mod as well.. which gives you additional noise/feedback, etc.

Basically, you send him a ProCo Rat, you pay for the modification, and get back the four headed RAT. Check out his pricing here.

Below is a great video by guitarnoize which goes into great detail of what this pedal can do. Very cool.

If you’re interested in the ProCo Rat2 Distortion pedal, you can pick one up for $94.99 at Musician’s Friend.

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If you’ve been following this blog for a while.. you would know I’m very interested in pedal building/hacking and general tweaking with electronics. Since I started, I’ve been noticing a steady increase in skill level and general electronics understanding (don’t take me wrong.. still have a million more miles to go). During this, I’ve had a great time actually making things that I play. There is a great satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment when you step on a creation… and it does.. what it’s suppose to do!

So this leads me to this post. Today, I wanted to talk about Mod Kits DIY. Here we have a business that has some sweet kits for the guitarists out there. Along with a few pedal kits, they’re offering a amp kit as well. I would love to try an amp some day.

Here is their official press release:

ModTM Kits are designed to give both novice and experienced musicians the opportunity to build their own amps and effects pedals.  All kits come with easy to follow instructions and use point-to-point wiring.  Pre-drilled enclosure and all parts are included.  All you need to provide are hand tools, a soldering iron and solder.  All effect pedals operate on a 9V battery.

MOD 101 Guitar Amp Kit – 60 watts of tube power using your choice of either 6L6 tubes or EL34 tubes.  Choose from 32 different variations of the circuit to suit your tonal preferences.

The Rattler Pedal Kit – an easy to build kit that has the fuzz sound of the 60′s and 70′s.

The Piledriver Pedal Kit – this clean boost kit provides up to 38dB of gain to your guitar signal.  Use it to push your preamp into overdrive or as a line driver if you are experiencing signal degradation from your effects chain.

The Verb Pedal Kit – Build your own digital reverb pedal.  Get sweet, warm reverb tone using the Belton Digi-Log module.

And the newest addition to the line:
The Persuader Pedal Kit – Make your own tube pre-amp pedal built around a real 12AX7 tube.  Go from clean warm to smooth tube overdrive.

Here is a demo of their amp and kits:

If you get a chance, check out ModKitDIY.com! Also, check out their social networks (Twitter and Facebook)

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I’ve been working on pedals for a few months now. I absolutely love tweaking. I’ve been having issues and challenges, but these have really helped me learn the ‘process’. I didn’t really like building kits, since I feel it’s a little too ‘auto-pilot’. I really wanted to learn and understand how electrical components affect the signal, etc.

About a month ago I stumbled across this video which is EXACTLY why I don’t like kits. This is showing Brian Wampler (Wampler Pedals) working the breadboard and tweaking the circuits to get the sound he’s searching for in his head to come out of the amp. To do this, you need to really understand how these components work.. or at the very least have the balls to mess things up. Kits are great to get started with the soldering iron, etc., but the breadboard is where it’s at for creating something instead of just building something.

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The following is a guest post by Christian Moraga (@cubisteffects). If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

Welcome to Part 3 of the Mod.It.Yourself series where we have previously looked at the basics of Tools and Techniques in Part 1 and how to mod the Diode Clipping in a pedal in Part 2. Part 3: Switches will look at an important component in the pedal modder’s toolkit. Switches are mechanical devices that allow an instantaneous flip to either turn part of a circuit on or off (break the circuit), or introduce a new part to the circuit. The latter function is useful in doing reversible modifications, or mods that use the original stock component. This part of The M.I.Y series will explain a bit about common switches and some ideas on how to use them in your own pedal mods.

The two most common mechanical switches used in modifying pedals are the push button switch and toggle switch.

Both of these switches use common nomenclature for their components that must be understood before selecting them for your next project. Below is a look at some of the more common names of switches that are used for pedal mods and an explanation of their specs.

Each switch is named with respect to the functions of their contacts, i.e. the part of the switch that is in contact with your wire, component, PCB etc. Also called a lug or pin. The two terms are poles (denoted by P) and throw (denoted by T). A pole is the number of switch contact sets of pins/lugs, and is labelled SP- for single pole, DP- double pole, 3P- for triple pole etc. The diagram below shows the poles of a 4PDT switch.

Most switches used in pedals have three pins per pole. The center pin is common i.e. is always connected to either outer pin of the three. Moving the toggle either up or down selects (as shown in the photo below) between these two connections or conducting positions. These positions are known as throws and are denoted -ST for single throw or -DT for double throw. A single throw switch only has two pins with the third pin shorting to ground, thus having only one position.

Common switches used in modifications are single pole double throw (SPDT) or double pole double throw toggle (DPDT) switches, and true bypass foot switches are known as triple pole double throw (3PDT). Using this knowledge of switches, here are a couple of mods you can try on your next pedal designs or mods.

KILL SWITCH

To get a stuttering effect made famous by guitarists Tom Morello and Buckethead in stompbox form, you can make use of a type of push button switch called a momentary switch. By using a push-to-make momentary or “normally open”, when pressing the switch you are breaking the circuit thus creating a staccato effect. To do this, all you need to do is cut the wire that goes from the output of the PCB to the bypass switch. Wire each of these two ends to a normally open SPST momentary switch and you have a momentary kill switch. The effect signal will stay on until you step on the switch, cutting all volume of your signal. By pressing at rhythmic intervals, you can create unique guitar rhythms heard in many RATM riffs. Momentary switches are great for these “stab” like effects and can be used for feedback loops, or wiring to a potentiometer in a delay pedal to get that spaceship, oscillation sound.

DIODE CLIPPING SWITCH

As previously discussed in Part 2 of the M.I.Y series, we can mod a pedals’ clipping diodes to create a different tone of the distorted sound. We could use different diode material, symmetry, combinations etc to get our desired sound. But what if you liked two diode sounds and wanted to switch between them? Using an SPDT switch, you can do just that and is a common feature on many effects pedals.

The schematic below [PIC 5] shows the clipping diode structure of many distortion pedals – a hard clipping pair at the output of the IC.

One end of the pair shunts to ground, while the other end is in the signal path. If this end on the signal path (A) is wired to the common pin of the SPDT switch, we can then switch between two differing pairs of diodes. Wire the end of two pairs to ground, and the other end to (B) and (C) of the switch and you can select between your favourite clipping tones. The symmetry of the clipping can be controlled using this switching layout as well – just use different symmetrical pairs for (B) and (C).

You can also use this principle to switch between two components of differing values i.e. the output capacitor to provide more/less bass in the circuit. Remove the initial capacitor from the PCB where one pad will have one wire running to (A) and two wires from the other pad to one end of either capacitor you wish to switch between [PIC 7].

Hopefully this information and diagrams will give you ideas on how to mod your next pedal, or to modify your next pedal build. Also, I would suggest getting a multimeter with a continuity test function. By putting either probe on any two connections, a beep or sound should be heard. This is very useful to test your new connections.

Happy modding,

C.

About the author.

Christian Moraga is the owner of CubistEffects.com located in Sydney, Australia. Christian repairs and mods most brands of pedals like BOSS, Ibanez, EHX , Arion, MXR, Danelectro, Marshall, Dunlop, VooDoo Labs, Digitech, DOD etc and specialise in Big Muffs and ProCo Rats. He also makes custom switching and loopers for your pedalboard needs. A/B, True Bypass, Tap Tempo etc.

A note from EffectsBay.com
I found Christian while doing some research on the Line 6 DL4, where Christian has some great mods available!

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I’ve been getting into pedal building, to the point where I’m a little concerned about how big this obsession is getting. Frankly, I think about it ALL the time these days. I had no background in electronics prior. I’ve always been a ‘hacker’ in a way, but more of a ‘breaker’ in reality, but I’ve always wanted to fix things or see why they work, etc. Over the years, I’ve picked up a few tricks/techniques and tools, and I’m at the point where I can start to get my head around basic pedal circuits and what not.  For me, the satisfaction comes with the application. To build something.. and then play my guitar through it is completely rewarding, and I absolutely love it.

The world of pedal building is overwhelming when you first start. From understanding electrical components to the basic fundamentals of electricity you are exposed to a lot of new and challenging things right off the bat. When looking at pedal circuits, you’ll most likely see them as schematics on the web, and it’s hard to translate that to physical components.. well it was for me at least. I was having trouble going from schematic to board, but one thing that has helped immensely is this great FREE program called DIY Layout Creator.

Basically, it’s a piece of software (I did mention it was FREE right?) that will allow you to place components on a virtual board. This is really great to ‘see’ how the circuit develops and it’s helped really translate schematic to reality. I personally like veroboard (strip board) for this since this translates well from schematic really easily for me. You can also use perfboard or PCB layouts as well.

If you’re interested in building pedal circuits, I would highly recommend this program. You can download it here.

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I’ve been spending a ton of time researching pedal designs, and understanding some ‘basics’ of electronics. It’s a big pill to swallow with what seems to be a never ending list of topics, theories, opinions, etc. But one step at a time, I feel like I’ll get somewhere.

One of the things that I wanted to have before getting too involved with breadboarding a circuit design was to build a prototype board. Basically, this is a ‘Beavis Board‘. Since I’m really a hands on sorta person, and every chance I can get to hold a soldering iron will help improve my skills, I opted to build one vs. buying one.

Basically, the concept is to have a enclosure mounted on a board. The enclosure is wired up with true bypass 3PDT switch, LED, input/output jacks, DC and 9V power. The send/return leads and power/ground leads leave the enclosure and mount to a terminal strip. From there you would connect the terminal strip to a breadboard where you would build your effect circuit. Why I wanted this instead of just riding with a breadboard.. is simple. I want something that I can step on and easily plug my guitar in with out worrying about messing up my circuit. Also, the ability to pick up the unit and take it somewhere is a little easier. This is my phase 1 version. I’m planning on adding a ‘pot row’ where I can mount several pots and wire them into the terminal strip for my circuit. Also, similar to the Beavis Board, I would like to add voltage ‘sag’ control as well.

All the components have been screwed down to the board, with the exception of the enclosure where I used the velcro method to affix it to the board.

It’s a fun project, quick.. and easy, but I know it’ll be very handy when it’s circuit building time.

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I’ve been really getting into pedal hacking and I’ve been a little obsessed over the idea of making pedals one day. The pedal hacking community is incredibly kind and helpful, and it’s really easy to get the bug and desire to make something.. and if all goes well, works with your guitar.

A couple of days ago @4ntwaan let me know about something that Zachary Vex of ZVex has been up to. At the 2010 NAMM he was talking about the Inventobox, basically a pedal hacker’s dream box. It allows you to wire in pots, drop in ‘modules’ or craft you own circuits into the pedal.

Here is a video where Zachary explains the Inventobox:

As you can see, there is some great cool potential here. I’ve been planning on making a prototyping board that interfaces with a bredboard and pedal enclosure (ala Beavis Board) and this is definitely the hi-tech version of this. Awesome!

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Over the weekend I found myself working on a fun project. I’ve been slowly chipping away on my pedal board and one item I wanted to introduce was a bypass loop strip.  I wanted this for several reasons.

- To isolate my pedals and remove them from the signal chain while not being used
- Create chained effects and activate those effects with one switch
- Create a loop for my delay

Now, I already use a Boss LS-2 for my primary lead loop which consists of Holy Fire Overdrive and Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, but I really wanted a loop for my Line 6 DL 4. I’ve been working on a few songs where I want to turn the delay on and off, but I loose my tempo when I do so, with this in a loop I can maintain the tempo I set throughout the song and pull it in or out.

There are lots of loop strips out there, but I wanted to see if I could build one. It was somewhat challenging to understand how the 3PDT switches work in relationship to the signal paths, and there is a lot of soldering involved, but overall, it was a easy project.

For those of you that might be interested, I documented my steps, and I’ll supply my part list for building the 5 loop strip. First though, I have to thank SingleCoil.com for writing a great article on this very subject. I used their diagram for this project and is a great resource to understand how this all works. Please check out their website. I’d also like Matt from Cheese Blocks Effects for taking a look at my project (via email) and offering some suggestions for the next build.

Okay… now to the build. First off, let’s start with a part list. I ordered everything from PedalPartsPlus.com.

1 1411TU Looper Enclosure
1 Switchcraft 1/4″ Stereo Jack #12B (I would probably not order this again and just go with 12 monos)
11 Switchcraft 1/4″ Mono Jack #11
1 DC Power Jack
5 Red LEDs (5mm)
5 5mm LED Bezels
5 Xicon 1/4watt 1* Metal Film Resistors 470 ohms
5 (CLIFF) RoHS 3PDT True Bypass Switches
#24/7 Green Wire
#24/7 Red Wire
#24/7 White Wire
#24/7 Black Wire

Tools you’ll need: wrenches, screwdriver, soldering iron, wire strippers, wire cutters, solder (I used 60/40 rosin-core .032 dia) and needle nosed plyers. It’s incredibly nice to have the ’3rd set of hands’ alligator clips deal for soldering. Also a nice pair of wire strippers makes things easier.

This is what it looks like when I got the package. Note in this photo I have 5 560k resistors. I did not need to use those.

Next, I loosely inserted the jacks and switches. I locked in the LED bezels. I say loosely added them, because you’ll be pulling them out again. I basically put them into position so I could measure the wire lengths needed. I wanted to make sure I could open the enclosure if there was a problem. Also this enclosure is pretty tight for soldering.

Next, I thought I would work on the switches. In the diagram I was using you needed to make a ground jumper from bottom left to middle right.  I first soldered the resistors for the LEDs and clipped the remaining unused lead tail and used that as the jumper and soldered that in place. I was using this diagram from SingleCoil.com (http://www.singlecoil.com/tb-strip/dia3.html).

I then started on the ground connections. Linking all the mono jacks and linking the send/receive pairs back to the the switches, as well as linking those to the master input and output of the strip. It’s important to understand the jacks and what lugs are what. Mono jacks only have ‘tip’ and ‘sleeve’.  Stereo jacks have tip, ring and sleeve. The sleeve will be the ground and the tip will be your signal from the guitar. The lug (what you’re soldering to) is opposite of the tip or opposite of the sleeve. For this strip, you should be using all mono jacks since it’ll be DC powered and we don’t need to activate the current with the input jack like most pedals. For this project, I accidentally wired the signal to the sleeve of the stereo jack instead of the tip. Here is a good diagram that I was using illustrating a jack and it’s lugs: http://skyturtle.com/2009/02/17/stereo-phone-jack/

From here, I started to wire the send and returns of the effect loops as well as the DC jack.

All that is left is to connect the LEDs to the resistors and to chain the positives together. Matt from Cheese Blocks recommended that I should have used heat shrink tubing on those leads, and I definitely thought about it. In the future I’ll definitely add that to help prevent any shorts. For this project I made sure that the leads were bent up towards the lid and away from the switches as best as I could, but that little bit of shorting prevention could go a long way.

One thing that I would recommend is to make sure you clip any excess leads from wires and components, especially at the jack lugs. These jacks are very close together and could be another area of potential short circuits. Make sure you use a hot soldering iron and to focus on clean joints.

When she was all done (and after I fought the ‘sleeve’ issue with the master input) it was time to test it out. All the loops worked and everything sounded great. Here is shot of it on my board for initial testing:

Hope this comes in handy. I’ll be making another one here shortly, like to add a few more items in there.. master on/off switch, tuner out.. maybe even play with a buffered loop.

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For today’s post, I thought I would do a post on how I replaced the wah pot in a Fulltone Clyde Wah. In the process of finding a replacement, I definitely learned a lot about the Fulltone Clyde. At Fulltone’s site they have a replacement pot available, but no way to ‘order’ it direct. I sent them a email but didn’t hear back immediately, so I started to do some research. I found out that Fulltone use to sell these pots, but stopped. Apparently there were a lot of people switching out pots for a few bucks and getting something close to the Clyde. I also read that they quit shipping them all together and you need to send in the broken unit. That was a deal breaker for me, so I was off to find a replacement.

After doing some research about the original Vox Clyde McCoy wahs, I saw that it’s a very ‘special’ pot that is required. Builders like Fulltone and Teese have contracted out to pot manufacturers to create pots to match their exact specifications, so it’s not as simple as finding a pot with the same resistance and dropping in there. Basically, the pot is a 100k ICAR tapered pot. You can find various pots on eBay as well as other retailers. I hear the pots commonly found on eBay ‘work’ but don’t sound as good. I also found that Area 51 was  selling CTS ICAR tapered pots so I purchased on from there.

The next day, I received an email from Fulltone saying that they would send me a pot, but I needed to email/fax a proof of billing or send a photo of the wah. I didn’t have the receipt, so I took a photo of the wah with a piece of paper where I signed my name and dated the paper. No problems.. and the pot was on the way. I was happy to get a Fulltone replacement, so I’ll be saving the CTS ICAR pot from Area 51 for another wah project down the road.

Here is a photo of the wah opened u. My two new pots. The one with the dust cover is the Area 51 pot, and the one right of it is the Fulltone replacement pot.

For me to do this replacement, I need to desolder the original connections. I have a little solder bulb (not sure if that’s what you call it) for sucking the wet solder and a hot soldering iron.

I used some colored alligator clips to help me remember what wire goes where and desoldered the connections. I also moved the loop (loop provides tension against the rack) away from the rack (rack is the straight gear).

I then used a wrench to loosen the nut locking the pot in place and replaced it with the new pot. The photo below is the new pot locked in place and ready for soldering. Tighten the pot tight, but not too tight to damage the pot.

Here is a shot of the new pot with wires soldered into place. It’s important to use a HOT iron and to create good solder connections!

The next steps are pretty important. Depress the wah so the pot is cranked to full treble  and match the gear to the rack, but ‘click’ the wah. If you set it to the max without accounting for the footswitch, every time you’re clicking the wah on or off, you’re damaging the pot by forcing it to go beyond what it’s capable of doing. Once the gears are lined up, position the loop to press against the rack and tighten it.

That’s basically it. Slap the cover back on and give it a spin. Overall, it sounded real close to the other Clyde Wah I happen to have. It’s interesting how different components can color the tones differently, and I’ll be writing another post about this down the road. Hope this helps!

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