Messages

Wow - this forum always comes through! Thanks a lot for the suggestions and posts, guys!

After multiple suggestions, the Runt (with a reutz mod, of course) will take care of distortion. He teaches a lot of floyd and radiohead, so a cavedweller delay is also in.

He's worked with me to get better picking and volume control, especially while singing (hard to break bad habits after 23 years of playing), and he's mentioned it affects many other students, so I feel like any compressor wouldn't be used (again, for teaching - gigging is another story, but I don't think he'd use this for gigging - open to persuasion, but just mentioning).

I do have a pretty good schematic for a simple LFO tap tremolo, but not sure how small I could get it.

Since the idea is that this is a teaching aid, I wonder if 3 stomps is too much. I feel like the delay and tremolo would rarely (if ever) be used at the same time, so I wonder if 2 stomps would suffice - one for the runt, the other for the delay/tremolo, with a simple toggle at the top edge to switch between delay and tremolo effects. I could put the tap for the tremolo either into a small 1590a with an 1/8" jack connector, or just put a small pushbutton up top someplace.

As always, any thoughts are appreciated! Thanks again, guys!

Happy new year, everyone!

I've been taking some voice lessons with a great teacher the last few months, and wanted to say thanks with a gift of sorts. I figure a pedal is apt, but can't figure out which one...

Then I had the idea to maybe put 3 baby boards horizontally into a 1590BB and give him something he can have/leave in his teaching room that has some useful effects.

I can swear I've seen someone do this, but can't find it.

I'm thinking a cavedweller, rabbit hole and egghead would cover quite a bit of sonic territory, but would love to hear any thoughts on a better combo? Would love a tremolo w/ tap in there, but I don't think a baby board exists with such functionality...

I'm also not sure how to wire it up just yet. I'd like to be able to switch the effects on/off. Maybe a main stomp on the right, and an A/B/Y on the left? Might just have to use some toggles up above, which is simple enough.

Any thoughts/advice would be great! As always, thank you in advance!

20k might be enough, or it might not. What I would do is leave the trimmer empty, then simply try a few resistors in there to see what gets you the closest match for biasing then use a fixed resistor. The trick is you don't have to use a socket or solder them in when testing. Just make sure both leads are contacting the pads while you measure the resulting voltage on the drain.

hmmm... in that case, would it be easier to use a 50k normal size pot to get the voltage right, then figure out that resistance and then just get the closest match resistor-wise?

I've decided to figure out how to use up all my excess parts collecting dust. I'll build up some stuff I didn't think I wanted, but hear good things about... up first: CAVEDWELLER!

I have everything but the 50k trimpot. I have a 20k trimpot, a few 10k trimpots, and a 2m trimpot.

I know you can extend a pots value, but that seems iffy to me since this is to get the voltages right into the pt2399.

Thoughts on a remedy?

one thought I had: I have all kinds of resistor values, and could just socket the trimpot and see which resistor works best, but that might be excessive.

any thoughts or guidance here? Hoping I can make it work... :-)

as always: thank you in advance!

I'll be building one up this weekend - I asked Brian himself about the mids mod on the new boards and this was his response:

The Mids pot goes in place of R18 and usually a value of 20kB or 25kB works well. The way I would do it is
wire one leg of R18 on the PCB to lug 1 of the mids pot. Solder in a small resistor (around 4k7) between lugs 1 and 2. The use a return wire from lug 3 to the other spot for R18 on the PCB. This makes the Mids control a variable resistor and the small resistor you soldered in place is a "stopper". IOW, it prevents C10 from going all the way to ground when the mids control is fully counter-clockwise (which would mess up the tone control).

So yea - I'm going by his schema, which is a little different than Diamonds (though i'm sure they do the same thing).

I'm also adding a switch so I can turn it on or off - so essentially a DPDT ON-ON toggle switch, R18 goes to the center lugs of the switch - one side has a resistor between the lugs (whatever value from the parts list), the other side has the mids pot. This way I can turn it off altogether for recording, or have the mids on for jamming and live stuff.

Dunno if that helps you - but it's an option - put in the switch, and if you don't like the mids, just switch it off. :-)

Very old thread, but does anyone know if you use this method if you need to remove the R18 resistor? Some methods on here have you removing it and others don't. Sounds like you remove it, but just want to be sure.

Also, would I want to change C10 to 22n here? Again, that is the suggestion on other threads (http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=2919.msg24741#msg24741), but not mentioned here.

thank you!

JR

Oh, and you remove r18 altogether in this version... one pad goes to lug 1 of the pot, and the other pad goes to lug 3 of the pot.

Again, that's how i did mine, and it works, but maybe there's a new and fancier way, hehe...

I'll be building one up this weekend - I asked Brian himself about the mids mod on the new boards and this was his response:

The Mids pot goes in place of R18 and usually a value of 20kB or 25kB works well. The way I would do it is
wire one leg of R18 on the PCB to lug 1 of the mids pot. Solder in a small resistor (around 4k7) between lugs 1 and 2. The use a return wire from lug 3 to the other spot for R18 on the PCB. This makes the Mids control a variable resistor and the small resistor you soldered in place is a "stopper". IOW, it prevents C10 from going all the way to ground when the mids control is fully counter-clockwise (which would mess up the tone control).

So yea - I'm going by his schema, which is a little different than Diamonds (though i'm sure they do the same thing).

I'm also adding a switch so I can turn it on or off - so essentially a DPDT ON-ON toggle switch, R18 goes to the center lugs of the switch - one side has a resistor between the lugs (whatever value from the parts list), the other side has the mids pot. This way I can turn it off altogether for recording, or have the mids on for jamming and live stuff.

Dunno if that helps you - but it's an option - put in the switch, and if you don't like the mids, just switch it off. :-)

Very old thread, but does anyone know if you use this method if you need to remove the R18 resistor? Some methods on here have you removing it and others don't. Sounds like you remove it, but just want to be sure.

Also, would I want to change C10 to 22n here? Again, that is the suggestion on other threads (http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=2919.msg24741#msg24741), but not mentioned here.

thank you!

JR

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the change value for c10 in diamonds schematic was related to the pot going all the way to zero and causing issues with the tone control... with Brian's mod, by putting the 4k7 resistor on lugs one and two of the 25k pot, it keeps c10 from having issues with tone.

Either way, I built 4 different muds with that mod and it worked fine each time. I found that I really don't use it much, to be honest, but I like having the option.

I would suggest socketing and seeing what you like. I socketed an entire board so I could play with all the values and find something I really liked in the different versions. It helped a lot.

Separately, but related, I switched over to the pig butt cause I liked the ic version better, but I always find myself reaching for my mud bunnies here and there...

Hope that helps!

The epic looper looks awesome - and I remember seeing it a few times over the last couple years... but I have 7 loops plus a JamMan looper, so that was never a match. I also came across the BYOC super8 this weekend, and it looks interesting, but I'm not sure I could modify it to control 2 audio lines. I could always use DPDT momentary's with it, but then that's a bit pricy for 2 units and I'm not sure it would with that interface.

If I could find a verified octaswitch schematic, I'd just mod it to use each footswitch with a 16 position DIP, but none seem to be verified out there. I may just need to lower my expectations, hehe.

as for why I'd want to control 2 audio lines - I have a stereo setup with my guitar: bridge and neck to one amp (tube), middle to a different amp (solid state). Why did I build my guitar that way? lots of reasons, but mostly so I could get the best of both amp worlds, and have a bit more control with mids when I use fuzz pedals live (I know, it sounds like it doesn't make sense, but the sound is so much better this way).

Hey everyone! Since the majority of my pedal board is Madbean-based, I thought I'd cheat a bit and see if I could get some advice on a NON-madbead project...

I found this tutorial online: http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-based-8-loops-pedal-switcher/

I like this because it can go up to 21 loops (which means I could, theoretically, control 2 guitars/effects-strings with one controller - e.g. loops 1-10 are guitar 1, loops 11-20 are guitar 2, and program them accordingly).

Of course, I have reservations: 1) many of the comments talk about how it needs a buffer in order to not make noise - I find buffers don't always play nice with my fuzz pedals. 2) They also say the relays are cheap and not audio quality. 3) I'd like to avoid any kind of pop noise upon switching if possible.

I saw a few people on this thread have dabbled in creating an arduino looper/switch, but didn't see an apples-to-apples application. I simply want to hit button 1 and have effects 2, 5, and 7 active; then hit button 2 and have effects 1 and 8 active, etc. I don't need any expression or amp switching, nor do I need to mess with the order of the pedals - just straight-up these effects are on, i press a button, now these effects are on and those effects are off.

Does anyone have experience here? Is there a parts list and schematic of the X5 2 relay arduino unit such that I could just manually build it with better relays and avoid the buffer? How can I avoid the pop noise? OR...

Is there a better system that I can DIY?

For a little history: a few years ago, I bought the PedalSync9 switching system - I bought all the relay modules, had an enclosure custom build - It was a pricy undertaking for something with not much documentation, but I emailed with the creator and felt confident enough. He said I could modify it to control 2 guitar signals (aka, 18 loops, not just 9). Then I moved and it sat in a box unfinished UNTIL NOW! Well, it works as advertised-ish, BUT there's a few issues with it: 1) It currently has a master control board and the pedal sync board to control the relays - but in order for this to work like a looping pedal (button 1 for effects 3, 5, 9; button 2 for effects 2, 4, etc.), I have to get a new master controller and manually create a third daughter board to connect to it, as well as rewire all my switches. 2) Every time you hit a loop/switch, you then have to hit another switch for it to start/activate, which kind of defeats the purpose of just hitting the loop button for your effects to change. 3) To avoid a pop when hitting the switch, the system cuts out the signal for a split second - but that split second is a little too long and is quite noticeable when playing. 4) They aren't being super responsive at the moment when I email them, which could be timing or maybe they're moving on - who knows. Either way, in this case, there's more issues than fixes and I think it's time to cut my losses and move on...

I'm hoping I can find a new system to get this going again - Would love to have my pedalboard finally just DONE after all these years.

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Felt pretty good about these builds, so thought I'd share...

I have a slow loris that I use for bass fuzz and "color" in combo with a micro-pog, but was needing something smaller for my pedal board. Didn't know if I could live without the mods, but found that I really liked the sweep/Ruetz and could probably live without the rest.

So how to get 4 pots into one of these enclosures? Well, I had to cut up the pots board - and if you do it, remember to label which part of the board is for which pot on the other side, as they aren't interchangeable - and make another small board with a resistor behind it.

I also knew that, for me, height was a bigger issue on my board than width, so I went with my old school plugs and moved it to the side. It was tight, but everything fit really well in the end.

The diamond pattern for the knobs is interesting, I suppose - but it was easier to fit them all in this way, so I'm glad I don't hate it, hehe. They are a little close together, but I'm a "set it, forget it" type - if you aren't and you've got fat fingers, this mod may not be for you, hehe.

The LED is 5mm because I wanted both these pedals to match somewhat and couldn't find a 3mm pink LED. Personally, I like 5mm better than 3mm when I don't have room for a bezel anyway.

Because I don't trust my soldering skills with ICs, I took madbeans advice in the baby board guide and got those low profile jacks as close to the top of the enclosure as they could physically go... this posed problems when wires couldn't fit under them anymore, LOL, so while the wiring is solid, it's a little haphazard looking. I've also never wired a 3pdt manually - always had small boards for them - so that was new.

Anywho - I'm happy with it and they sound great. I've got a couple cherrybombs and pig butts coming soon, as well, so while I build those, the rest of you build happy!

Hi there! It's been a few years, but I'm finally finishing some builds and finalizing a switch to get my pedal board DONE! As such, the Slow Loris pedal I got is too big, so I've procured some RUNT boards. When I originally built madbean pedals in 2012/2013, batteries were still accounted for and LEDs were not part of the boards.

It looks like the baby board guide is using the older boards from the previous era, as well.

For the current version of the RUNT, I'm seeing a pad for the LED, and a 4k7 resistor in r11. My assumption is that the negative of the LED connects to the 3PDT stomp (same as the baby board guide), but the positive goes to the LED pad and I don't need to mess with a resistor (as it will already be on the board).

Can anyone verify?

Thanks in advance!

P.S. I built a pigbutt and a cherrybomb yesterday using the new boards and setup... Not only is it much easier to deal with, but I've never had builds look so clean. Welcome improvements!

While i considered it, I never made a compressor cause I play through a jazzmaster, which is famously bright. So if I wanted a clean tone, it wouldn't be going through any pedals at all - just the switch. I suppose that could be my tuner, which is buffered... Nevertheless, if there's a small buffer or something that I could put in place and have the option of a non-buffered clean, why not?

Okay, I know I know... Buffer is normally something that gets rocks thrown at people on these boards, BUT.... I've built an all analog pedal board and everything is true bypass. 70% of it are madbean pedals. :-)

I'm building a pedalsync 9 board (it's basically an octa switch, but I can customize it a bit better).

Of course, these switches have a lot of parts, and they add distance between your guitar and your amp with all the patch send and return, the small traces on the boards, etc. I don't wanna lose too much high end.

If I added a switchable buffer at the input (just like the octa switch does), would this help? I shy away from buffered pedals, even if they sound good, because they tend to make my true bypass fuzz pedals really noisy when I'm not playing.

Would the fat pants be a bit much for this? I really want to just put in a board and a toggle to turn it on and off and have it built into the switch itself.

Any advice? Thanks in advance!

here's a thinker... let's look at this like a mud bunny with mids mod... in that instance, a resistor (I think r18?) is replaced by a 25k pot with a 4k7 resistor across pins 1 and 2 and the sound can be further tweaked.

For this egghead pedal, in addition to the changing c3, can one of the resistors be replaced with a pot that can be used in addition to presence for tone control?

Just thinking out loud and seeing how much control I can get with this pedal. I like what it does, it's just not meshing well with my setup currently.

MADBEAN TO THE RESCUE! I'll give that a try! :-) Thanks for the quick response!

I built a couple eggheads last year cause 1) I had stuff to etch them and 2) I had the parts and wanted a simple overdrive.

The problem is that it's not quite living up the way I'd like it to. The presence is tough to hone in, and the sound is a little thin compared to clean tone.

Is there any way to beef up the sound a bit? I've read somewhere that C1 and C5 to 1uf could make a difference.

I'm not really looking for more distortion. I did use a slow loris in overdrive mode through the LED clip and it sounds good, but that has the opposite effect - too much bass.

Anyone have any advice on how I might be able to beef the tone up a bit on these Eggheads?