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#21
General Questions / Re: Stage Fright 2024 2n5457 ...
Last post by madbean - August 09, 2024, 05:22:51 PMExactly as shown. The G indicates the location of the gate pin when using a SMD.
#22
General Questions / Stage Fright 2024 2n5457 Orie...
Last post by Micpoc - August 09, 2024, 04:50:58 PMHi, I am working on the new Stage Light and am a little confused about the orientation of Q2, the 2n5457. The build doc shows this:
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Not sure what's going on with the "G" labeling on this... seems out of place?
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Not sure what's going on with the "G" labeling on this... seems out of place?
#23
Build Reports / Re: Special Sauce mk. II [Chor...
Last post by Aleph Null - August 09, 2024, 04:33:22 PMThanks for the feedback. It's wonderful to know that other people are making music with something I made!
To make things easier to track, and since the vero and PCB version are basically the same, I'll use part designatioins from the schematic posted here to refer to parts.
The Substitutions
The substitutions you made shouldn't change much and definitely won't impact the vibrato. The 20pF capacitor, C6, forms a low-pass filter with R6. This starts rolling off frequencies above 8kHz or so. The 33pF cap will start rolling off at 5kHz or so. This is a gentle filter and is just there to minimize any artifacts in the delayed signal. Depending on your amp and cab, you might not be able to hear the difference in these two values anyway.
The Mix control value isn't super critical either. If the value is too low, you won't be able to get full dry or wet signal at the extremes. If the value is too high, all the action is in the middle of the sweep and you get dead spot at the extremes. 20k should work just as well as 25k.
The Boost
The boost section is somewhere between a ZVEX Super Hard On and an Orman Mosfet Boost. It can get gritty like the ZVEX, but turning the knob doesn't cause the circuit to crackle. You could add a volume control to the end of the circuit by omitting R11 and putting an A100k pot in it's place: connect the original output to lug three, lug one to ground, and lug two becomes the new output.
The other option would be to slap some diodes front to back at the end of the circuit (like a Speaker Cranker). You could omit R11 in this instance too.
The Vibrato
This design is different from others in that the modulation is actually strongest at lower "Lag" settings. Every guitar and guitarist has a slightly different envelope, so the envelope response will be a slightly different. I used a guitar equipped with PAF-style humbuckers for the demo. Lower-output pickups, like most single coils, won't pitch bend as much, for example.
That said, there are a few parts you can tweak to get more out of it. VR1 (the "Detune" control) and Q2 (the 2N5089) have the biggest effect on how much pitch bend you can get. The gain of the transistor effects how much pitch bend it can produce in the circuit, so a transistor with a higher hfe rating will produce a stronger effect. Sommething like a 2N3904 will work, but will be mild compared to a 2N5089. You might audition different transistors to see if you can find one you like best.
The "Detune" control, VR1, moderates the effect Q2. Larger values will give you more vibrato. I found 5k to get pretty seasick. 10k was capable of full octave drops in some settings. You might find that one of these values is just right for you.
The Enclosure
It'll probably fit into a 1590B, but I haven't measured.
The Typo
Yep—that's a typo; it should be 100uF, not 100nF.
To make things easier to track, and since the vero and PCB version are basically the same, I'll use part designatioins from the schematic posted here to refer to parts.
The Substitutions
The substitutions you made shouldn't change much and definitely won't impact the vibrato. The 20pF capacitor, C6, forms a low-pass filter with R6. This starts rolling off frequencies above 8kHz or so. The 33pF cap will start rolling off at 5kHz or so. This is a gentle filter and is just there to minimize any artifacts in the delayed signal. Depending on your amp and cab, you might not be able to hear the difference in these two values anyway.
The Mix control value isn't super critical either. If the value is too low, you won't be able to get full dry or wet signal at the extremes. If the value is too high, all the action is in the middle of the sweep and you get dead spot at the extremes. 20k should work just as well as 25k.
The Boost
The boost section is somewhere between a ZVEX Super Hard On and an Orman Mosfet Boost. It can get gritty like the ZVEX, but turning the knob doesn't cause the circuit to crackle. You could add a volume control to the end of the circuit by omitting R11 and putting an A100k pot in it's place: connect the original output to lug three, lug one to ground, and lug two becomes the new output.
The other option would be to slap some diodes front to back at the end of the circuit (like a Speaker Cranker). You could omit R11 in this instance too.
The Vibrato
This design is different from others in that the modulation is actually strongest at lower "Lag" settings. Every guitar and guitarist has a slightly different envelope, so the envelope response will be a slightly different. I used a guitar equipped with PAF-style humbuckers for the demo. Lower-output pickups, like most single coils, won't pitch bend as much, for example.
That said, there are a few parts you can tweak to get more out of it. VR1 (the "Detune" control) and Q2 (the 2N5089) have the biggest effect on how much pitch bend you can get. The gain of the transistor effects how much pitch bend it can produce in the circuit, so a transistor with a higher hfe rating will produce a stronger effect. Sommething like a 2N3904 will work, but will be mild compared to a 2N5089. You might audition different transistors to see if you can find one you like best.
The "Detune" control, VR1, moderates the effect Q2. Larger values will give you more vibrato. I found 5k to get pretty seasick. 10k was capable of full octave drops in some settings. You might find that one of these values is just right for you.
The Enclosure
It'll probably fit into a 1590B, but I haven't measured.
The Typo
Yep—that's a typo; it should be 100uF, not 100nF.
#24
Build Reports / Re: Special Sauce mk. II [Chor...
Last post by sethwitz - August 09, 2024, 01:40:37 AMQuote from: Aleph Null on August 08, 2024, 08:36:56 PMQuote from: sethwitz on August 08, 2024, 06:47:23 PMHey there! I made your original version using the stripboard layout you provided. The circuit sounds really great! Not sure if you're looking for any feedback or not. Let me know and I'd be happy to share some additional thoughts.
I'm glad you like it! I'm definitely open to feedback.
Before I make any remarks, I'll note that I had to make two substitutions in my build based on what I have on hand:
- I had to use a 33pf in place of the 20pf
- And I had to use an A20K pot for the Mix control
I'm not knowledgeable enough to know how significant of an impact such changes would make, so my apologies if the feedback below would be addressed if those substitutions hadn't been made.
First of all, I love the sound of the circuit when the Boost is full CW. It reminds me a lot of the flavor you get when adding either tape or tube saturation to the signal (e.g. what you'd get from either an EP-3 boost or an Electra-style circuit). If possible, I think it would be really cool if this circuit made it possible to crank the Boost and get that same chewy overdrive/fuzz sound without adding more decibel output (kind of like a Speaker Cranker). I'm not sure how complex that kind of tweak would be, but it would be really sweet. Could also be cool to have a toggle switch to engage or disengage a decibel boost when the Boost knob is cranked. More parts/complexity though, of course.
For the 100% wet setting, I wasn't getting much modulation when Lag was set all the way CCW. I wasn't sure if this was because of the substitutions I made or if it has to do with the PT2399 chip I used. I've heard those can be somewhat different from chip to chip. Having made other PT2399 delay/chorus/vibrato pedals (e.g. the Deluxe Pitch Pirate), I'm familiar with the fact that there's only so much modulation you can crank out when the delay time is set to its shortest setting. Nonetheless, the modulation on this sounds exceptional when additional delay time is introduced. The vibrato is definitely chewy and the chorus very lush. If there's any way to bump the modulation at that shortest Lag time, that would be sick.
Overall, this is a really, really great circuit and I'm definitely going to box it up. I think I can fit it into a 1590B with top-mounted jacks. It really succeeds at each of the functions you've listed: chorus, doubler, slapback, and vibrato. Thanks for making this available!
PS: On your vero layout, I think you might have a minor typo. There's an electrolytic capacitor labeled as "100nf" and I think it's supposed to be "100uf."
Cheers!
#25
Build Reports / Re: Special Sauce mk. II [Chor...
Last post by Aleph Null - August 08, 2024, 08:36:56 PMQuote from: sethwitz on August 08, 2024, 06:47:23 PMHey there! I made your original version using the stripboard layout you provided. The circuit sounds really great! Not sure if you're looking for any feedback or not. Let me know and I'd be happy to share some additional thoughts.
I'm glad you like it! I'm definitely open to feedback.
#26
Build Reports / Re: Special Sauce mk. II [Chor...
Last post by sethwitz - August 08, 2024, 06:47:23 PMHey there! I made your original version using the stripboard layout you provided. The circuit sounds really great! Not sure if you're looking for any feedback or not. Let me know and I'd be happy to share some additional thoughts.
#27
Tech Help - Projects Page / Re: Total Recall (2024) - No d...
Last post by Bumfluff101 - August 07, 2024, 08:30:28 PMSo... I started again and this is the outcome. The signal does delay now which is progress but I cant get it cleaned up. Before I post more voltages etc is there any obvious diagnosis from the sound in the video as to what the problem might be?
#28
Build Reports / Re: Peacock Parallel Fuzz
Last post by Aleph Null - August 07, 2024, 12:48:42 AMI've got PCBs in hand and they're being shipped out to everyone that has requested one. If anyone else wants one, I have extras. $10 shipped. I'll include a printed build doc. Just DM me!
#29
VFE Projects / Re: VFE Mini Mu
Last post by pedalbob - August 04, 2024, 02:23:06 PMUpdate -
We've had a few rainy days here and this project has been on my bench for weeks so I went ahead and built the 2nd one I had.
1)Plugged in for 1st time and it was in Bypass mode ... clean guitar signal came thru fine.
2)Press switch and effect came on ... effect and all settings work fine
3)Press switch and no sound
4)Little switch on relay board was at "buffer" setting originally ... un powered pedal and switched to bypass but still can't get it to pass clean signal.
Seems like something latched in the bypass leg of the circuit and it won't unlatch.
Only difference with this build from my other was that I socketed the transistors on the relay board (J175 & BS170) and I used TL074 on effect board instead of TL034.(and I haven't hooked up indicator LED yet).
We've had a few rainy days here and this project has been on my bench for weeks so I went ahead and built the 2nd one I had.
1)Plugged in for 1st time and it was in Bypass mode ... clean guitar signal came thru fine.
2)Press switch and effect came on ... effect and all settings work fine
3)Press switch and no sound
4)Little switch on relay board was at "buffer" setting originally ... un powered pedal and switched to bypass but still can't get it to pass clean signal.
Seems like something latched in the bypass leg of the circuit and it won't unlatch.
Only difference with this build from my other was that I socketed the transistors on the relay board (J175 & BS170) and I used TL074 on effect board instead of TL034.(and I haven't hooked up indicator LED yet).
#30
General Questions / Re: Project Suggestions
Last post by satchmo1991 - August 03, 2024, 04:07:53 PMThank you for the suggestions, jimilee! I'll go look at those now!