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That little transistor buffer in the datasheet was originally drawn up in my living room back in 2008 (I think) by an EE friend of mine. I was a struggling newbie trying to hack together the VCLFO (predecessor to the TAPLFO) and the Tremulus Lune. Tom ended up using it in the datasheet, even though it (and my amateur power supply filtering) is not essential. Taylor used it in his Tap Tempo Tremolo boards, too. Kind of cool.

Regardless, I emailed two questions to my friend:

1. Any problem connecting the transistor's collector to a higher voltage, particularly 9V (keeping in mind that the PIC is still running at a regulated 5V)?

2. It was reported that turning the transistor around works better-- Collector to ground, Emitter to V+. Why does this even work, and is it bad for the transistor?

I'll let you know if / when I get an answer.

Mike

I took voltages with every switch combination.

XLS isn't an allowed filetype, so here you go: Naughty Fish Voltages [XLS]

Mike

I don't have a Facebook account, since I am not a product. Tayda used to email the codes, but (stupidly) decided to tie them to their social media presence. Lame.

Facebook likes to force you to visit their site, which I choose not to do.

There is a little hidden, undocumented feature of Facebook, though, that lets you build an RSS feed of whatever they call someone's latest posts. Here is the one I built for the Tayda feed: http://www.facebook.com/feeds/page.php?format=atom10&id=149197868487201

Pop that baby into an RSS reader, or use it as a live bookmark for auto-updating.

I never miss a coupon.

Mike

I would be happy to take some voltages if they are still needed. What settings do you want?

In the mean time, I have recorded a (crappy) demo of mine on bass. It's pretty bad in terms of sound quality, playing (I play guitar), and as a bass effect generally. But maybe the video will help.

When was the patent issued?

Does anyone have the patent number?

Heh... sorry. USD.

They have a bunch more, too, but you'll have to be a Mouser search master to find them, and then uncross your eyes to read the datasheets!

Mike

I think what you want is available, but expensive. After a quick search of Mouser, I think this would work.

-9-18V input
-15V output
-Current up to 533mA
-79% efficient (my math says 500mA will pull 633mA)
-50kHz switching
-DIP

Only $16.79. 

Thanks for the nice comments, guys.

Here are the exact LED holders that I use:

5mm clear - http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=CLB300CTPvirtualkey59300000virtualkey593-3000C
3mm clear - http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=SMB200CTPvirtualkey59300000virtualkey593-2000C

I also like using these:

5mm GLO - http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=CLB300GLOvirtualkey59300000virtualkey593-3000GLO
5mm GLO (raised lens) - http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?R=CLF280GLOvirtualkey59300000virtualkey593-2800GLO

The 5mm ones are really nice and easy to use. They fit in a perfect 1/4" hole, so drilling is a snap. They are sealed from the top, so moisture can't seep in through the LED mount. The LEDs are held in place by friction, although you can buy retaining clips for extra security. The Fresnel lenses expand the viewing angle of the LED.

Here (assuming it loads) is one of my builds with a GLO lens, which are quite nice. They are translucent white, with a Fresnel lens under the top. The raised lens one has the best viewing angle out of any LED holder I've seen.

Mike

OK, got to play it tonight on both guitar and bass. On guitar, it is everything you would expect. Since you asked about bass...

We used a Fender P Bass Jr, which is an MiM P bass in every way, but with a 29.6" scale. The amp was a Rumble 150 (I think, maybe it's a 100... it's big and loud). The most usable setting was LP, up, LO. In HP and BP, the signal was really thin. HP was particularly not good. BP had some effect, but I can't imagine it is usable without a clean blend. There were some interesting sounds to be had with the down option, but we both liked up much better. I couldn't find any usable sounds with the range set to HI, except in the LP mode.

Obviously, this is a sensitive effect that needs to be setup for each instrument. I think it is even more touchy with bass than with guitar. I built it for guitar, though, so I'm completely happy.

Mike

Has your wife played it on bass yet?

Nope, I finished it up after she went to bed, and we won't have a chance to play until tonight. I'm sure she will want to try it.

Thanks.

I think I am going to polish the enclosure, and then flood the etch with some paint to add more contrast. Gonna keep it black and white, to match my kitty (Jerry is the bottom one).

My wife (who plays bass) is really happy that I did it.

Hey guys! This is my first post here. It's nice to see some familiar people.

This is my first build with a Madbean board. Actually, it is my first build with a commercial PCB-- I usually like to do my own layouts and etch my own boards.

I wanted this to be a special build, so I used premium parts, like fancy-pants sausage resistors (mojo parts of the future!) and a 1590TRPB, which gave me a bit of extra space. I used KK-style connectors for the volume pot and the LEDs, which made it easy to stuff in the box. The build was easy enough, without much difficulty.  I imagine it would be a bit more difficult in a 1590B, but probably not much.

There is a story behind this pedal. It is a tribute to my cat, who we had put down in December after 16 years. My brother originally adopted him in 1998, and named him Jerry Garcia. Our vet sent us a card, and inside the card was an inking of Jerry's paw. I decided to commemorate him by building a special pedal with an etch of his pawprint. The cat's name was Jerry Garcia, so I didn't have much of a choice but to build a Mu-tron III, something I have wanted to do since I first started building pedals back in 2009.

I present to you, the MEOW-TRON:




I have only played it for a little while, but it sounds great. I am most impressed by the nice, even release. My previous experiments with LDR-based filters always had a glitchy release. This one is nice and smooth.

Mike