Messages

Thanks guys.

I think the hardest part of the process has been trying to find plastic mixing cups with measured marks on them. I ordered some from eBay but they were massive (and flimsy) and went straight in the bin. Still haven't managed to locate any.

It's done. 

No problems encountered at all. I left it 4 days, then today I drilled some 2mm pilot holes which, really, I didn't need to do. I also coated it with Rain-X which helped to keep the dust off of the surface.

Here she is, a Madbean Gravity Wave:

But, is there any voltage drop accross the diode?

About half a volt. Nothing problematic on a plug-in power supply, but not great if you're living in a battery world.

But good for a Fuzz factory!

A small amount. 1N5817 is a Schottky diode with minimal forward voltage drop.

That makes sense.

OK, one last question!

Do you guys drill a pilot hole first when drilling out the ET or do you go straight in there with the step drill?

When I built my FF last year I went a bit crazy with germaniums.  I bought 7 or 8 different types, then built R.G. Keen's test circuit and tested them all.  After a long A/B process, I'm (oddly) disappointed to say that I think the type of germ matters hardly at all.  Two pairs with similar gain and leakage will give you the same sound and response.

So my advice is don't bother focusing on type.  Focus on gain and leakage.  That's what matters.

Good luck!

Which types did you try? I guess I'm looking for a cheaper option than an AC128..  ;-)

Would it not be possible to carefully pour and manoeuvre the ET so that it doesn't go into the holes? I'm sure there's a good reason that one doesn't do this, though. ;-)

Don't bother drilling the led hole Phil if you leave it under the envirotex it will shine through the clear epoxy and will look pretty cool.

Good plan. I just checked and there's enough recess in the back of that 3mm hole to seat the LED and its daughterboard (see here) This means that the 7mm pot holes and the 12mm stomp holes are big enough that I can drill the guide holes from the front.

Thanks for advice, guys! 

I wasn't going to drill the full hole from the back, but just a small 2mm guide hole, and then use the step drill from the front.

My main problem is going to be lining the drill up on a 3mm hole that is for the LED. I'm think I'm really going to have to drill that one from the back as there's no way I can line up that with any accuracy from the front.

Thanks for that info!

Edit/Update: the resin has now hardened. There are a couple of small blemishes where a speck of dust must have landed, but so far it's looking good. Now I'll wait a few more days before drilling out the holes. I intend to drill 2mm guide holes from the back and then use the step drill from the front. I don't have a drill press.

I bought these - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fancii-Illuminated-Hands-Magnifier-Visor/dp/B01AL2YAQ6/ - and have sent them back.

They didn't work for me, as the lenses are too small and something had to be about 4 inches away for it to be in focus. I'm sure they must work for some people, but I just didn't get on with them. 

I'm now going to investigate magnifying lamps.

I've just poured my first Envirotex Lite finish on a 1590BB pedal, and it's now under cover hopefully hardening. But I have a some questions:

• I wasn't sure how much of the resin to measure out so I over-estimated and probably used twice as much as I needed. What quantity do you typically measure?
• How long do you wait for it to harden before working on the pedal?
• The excess resin in the cup has now gone rock hard, but the resin on the pedal is still sticky. Is this normal?
• I know that I have to drill the hardened epoxy out of the holes in the enclosure but do you drill from the front or the back? Do you use a centre punch to mark the hole? Do you use tape on it to catch the dust?

Thanks for any advice! 

R9 1K, C9 33nF and 4,7µF for LFO. Works like a charm! Cool pedal!

The vero layout at the link above is using R9 1k, but 3.3nF for C9.

Just built this, nice. However, the  Rate is a bit fast, so I plan on replacing C20 (470nF). Some people have used 4.7uF and others 1uF. Which is best? I guess that 4.7uF is the slowest rate?

Edit - I used a 4.7uF polarised. That works nicely. :-)

Funny enough, I enjoy mine with 2N3906's.

Yep, silicon.

Different flavor from germanium, but with the knobs its not hard to reign in and get it to play nicely.

Interesting. Cheap as chips, too. ;-) Does it still oscillate like a crazy thing?