Messages

Looks great, inside and out! I've been wanting to build one of these. Now I might have to pull the trigger

What size box did you use?

It fits in a 1590J

Over the past year or so, I've developed a bit of an obsession with flangers, the more unusual the better. So when I discovered the Ibanez FL99 Classic Flange with it's unusual BBD switching setup, I knew I wanted one! Unfortunately, they're rather rare and can be a bit pricey when they turn up, and besides, why buy something when you can build it yourself? Luckily, the good folks over at Dead End FX had recently released a set of boards for it, so I snatched one up and got it populated in short order! At this point life kinda got in the way, and it sat around for a few months as I dedicated my time to other concerns and other projects, but I finally found time recently to get it all boxed up. So behold, at long last, the TurboFlange!



I originally planned on going for a sanded aluminum finish all the way around, but this plan got scrapped after my original jack location ended up interfering with components on the board which necessitated filling in the holes with JB Weld and moving them slightly downward and closer to the center. I painted the sides with gloss black enamel to cover up my mistake and I rather like the way it turned out, so perhaps it was a happy accident after all! I made up the graphics in GIMP, printed them onto a waterslide decal, and sealed the whole thing up with Envirotex. The decal ended up developing a few wrinkles where it touched the edge of the paint that no amount of MicroSol could fix, and I ended up with a few more bubbles in the Envirotex than I'd like (really need to get a pen torch instead of just using a hair dryer to work them out), but overall I think it turned out fairly well.





Assembly and wiring went fairly smooth, aside from a few mishaps. The drill template I made up for the enclosure ended up not being perfectly centered when I went to mark the holes, so I had to fit the 3pdt for the Intensity switch at a wonky angle to get it to fit. I also ended up melting one of the switch lugs, but since the Intensity switch only uses 2 of the 3 poles on the 3pdt I just flipped it around and used the originally unused row of terminals instead.

So in spite of the long time it took me to actually get around to putting this thing together and the handful of mishaps that occurred along the way, I'm very happy with the end result. The FL99 is often regarded by those who have used it as being among the best flangers ever made, and I can definitely say I agree with that sentiment. It's very rich, warm, and lush, with none of the metallic harshness that plagues a lot of other flangers. The Intensity and Filter switches also give it a huge amount of versatility. This pedal can do everything from lovely chorus tones to extreme jet plane flanging to crazy, whacked-out kettle drum sounds, and everything in between! So all in all I'm very satisfied with this project, I made a great sounding pedal, learned a few things, and had a lot of fun doing it! And after all, isn't that what this hobby is all about?

Awesome build man, and I'm glad you liked the project, we were dead happy that stackable boards turned out so well

Maiking some progress, we have schematics for the preamp, phaser, vibrato.  And i'm about half way through the fuzz board.  Just the controls to do after that

Holy shit, I'd love to trace this.  I have a set of documents which might be helpful, they include the schematics but the quality is too poor to make sense of for a reliable read.

I think sonic posted that schematic. It's kinda hard to read in parts.

Maybe we can figure something out. My friend is not in desperate need to get it back as soon as possible. All the faders are broken so I need to figure how to replace them. But they work sliding empty with a screw driver.

The fuzz and octave down parts work and sound pretty great.

Kinda weird with the foot pedal. It's not like an expression pedal. You can program to turn effects on or off in the up and down positions.

Yeah that document has been around a while,. Dino and I talked about buying one to trace it.

Some decent photos would be a great place to start.  Are the boards all soldered together on those headers?

Holy shit, I'd love to trace this.  I have a set of documents which might be helpful, they include the schematics but the quality is too poor to make sense of for a reliable read.

One of the last few LaceSensor PCBs for a Lovetone Doppelganger is coming my way from from across the pond (big thanks to Ian for digging one up).  He has exactly three more Doppelganger PCBs, btw, as of today, if anyone else is interested.  He's also not doing the building of them any longer,  which is why I'm here looking for a builder who has the necessary skills, interest, availability, etc., a suggestion he made to me earlier today.

I will handle all graphics/labels on the enclosure (I'll be acid etching something of my own design), and I'd like to choose the basic layout and spacing of the controls and whatnot, and while I'm pretty handy with a soldering iron and a multimeter, this one is a bit outside of my current DIY skills and I'd rather just pay someone else to build it for me. 

A 1:1 clone in sound is my primary objective, though I would like to discuss and explore any possible and useful mods that only add functionality without taking away from the original sound (for instance  - I've read there is a mod that let's one or both LFOs go even slower than the original, and I'd like to explore the addition of some CV patch points and the necessary vactrols to make it more compatible with synths and other CV gear, such as being able to feed it an external LFO in lieu of either of the built in ones).

I'll want the best mix of (a) crucial components necessary to make it sound the same as an original,  even if they're NOS or weird or pricey, and (b) the highest quality components for everything else (switchcraft jacks, carling stomp switches, etc).  I'm willing to source and provide  them, though I suspect whomever builds it for me will be even more equipped to do so.  I mean, I can make a Mouser/etc order like anyone, but I have no parts in inventory nor do I make a habit of placing orders of any meaningful size.

Anyway, it will be for personal use, to replace an original Lovetone version that I no longer have, and I'll be buried with this thing before I'd ever sell it, fwiw.  And as most of you probably know, Lovetone has been out of business for a while now, and the beat up originals you often see online command huge prices ($600+) on the secondary market - which is the part I'm looking to avoid.

I would prefer someone who has a real Doppelganger of their own, or a clone of one, such that they can test the build alongside a real one, but given that that might not even be possible it's not an absolute requirement.   

I've never done this before (sought out a builder for a project like this).

Please respond via PM, I guess, or here.  However it normally works.

Thanks for your time.

We have PCBs for all of the lovetone pedals if you are interested (except the cheese source cos Dino hated it).

I think the doppleganger is the closest to the originals out of the lot so you should be dead happy with Ian's PCB.

As is tradition every year, we will be having a 2018 Build of the Year contest which will be launching on Dec. 1st. This will give everyone a chance to vote on their favorite build of 2018 from the mbp community and will include prizes for the winner and runners-up. I am also thinking of running a second contest in tandem for folks who would like to be in a contest but maybe are less confident about their actual build techniques. The second contest is not focused on actual builds but rather creative use of DIY pedals. Specifically, a contest that requires an audio submission of some kind of creative or unique use of pedals you have built (regardless of year completed). What do you guys think of this idea? I'm also thinking I could supply an optional audio file of just a simple bass/drums/keys sequence that could be used in the submission (although would not be required; a pre-existing performance or audio clip would also be fine).

In any case, I am putting in a request for any additional sponsors for runners up prizes if you are inclined. This could be in the form of a small gift certificate to a PCB shop or parts supplier or just something cool you would donate to a participant. If you would like to sponsor the contest, please PM or email me at madbean AT gmail.com.

I'll have the final details of the contest(s) up later this week!

Dino and I will happily throw a few pcbs in the mix for prizes.

Can I get my Biphase finished in time ?¿??

You should be able to just switch out one end of each photocell so an SPDT is only required. The dual LED isn't needed unless I am misunderstanding...the foot becomes the light source.

I thought Aisha wanted this to be toggled via footswitch, so I just added a bicolour led to show which mode it was in.