Echo + (sea Urchin Build)

[electricstorm]

Here's my first Madbean build. It's called the Echo +, which is a Sea Urchin. Great little delay pedal. I bought the board back around November but have been busy with other projects and hadn't had time to build it. I like the filtering on it. Brian did a good job with it for sure.

This was a first as far as board mounted pots, and a first using the DecalPro FX dry transfer system. Somewhat of a steep learning curve. Anyway, aside from the obvious mistakes I made (I'll point them out later), I would appreciate some feedback on it.

Here's the dry transfer decal.



This is the finished pedal. The decal is slightly skewed. Need a steadier hand on applying these decals. This was my third attempt as the decal kept peeling somewhere on the carrier mylar every time. It was always a small area somewhere. If you look closely at the input side slightly above the arrow, there is a place I had to touch up on the outside border. Another problem was I got the board and pots too far down from the top. Live and learn!!



I had a super bright blue LED, so I used that on it.



And, finally, a gut shot.



I'm going to add some foam so the battery doesn't rattle around inside.

Jim

[jimilee]

This looks fantastic! As far as the pots being too far down,if they are in fact board mounted pots,you don't have more room to move them forward. It's a nice clean layout. How about a sound demo???

[ncdb07]

Looks Great! Curious how you got your spacing for the pots as there wasn't a template provided? I also have one to finish. I am currently debating on adding the modulation board from 1776 effects.


Thanks,
ncdb07

[electricstorm]

Jimilee - I don't have a way to record at the moment, but I will try to put something together. Might take me a bit though.

ncdb07 - I used a pair of calipers and carefully measured all the pots and the mounting locations on the board. I guess I could turn the board around and get them a little closer to the top and/or not use a battery next time and move the stompswitch down more. I thought about the modulation board, but decided not to use it so that I could see what it sounded like as a stock pedal. I like it! I may build another with some of the mods mentioned and add the modulation board to it, but that might be a little ways off due to trying to work out some bugs on the ? flanger. I am also looking at a Wobulator that was sent to me for repair. I would also like to get the Rub-A-Dub and Multiplex Echo Machine done soon too. I've had those boards about as long as the Sea Urchin board.

Jim

[pickdropper]

Looks great, Jim.  I love the Sea Urchin.  It's one of the circuits I keep finding reasons to build.

[electricstorm]

Here is a drill template for a 1590B for the Sea Urchin. It is an InkScape SVG file saved as a PDF so you can look at the layers and move stuff around to your liking, just ungroup the images to make changes. Use at your own risk! I recommend using a scrap piece of metal and drilling the holes then see if your board with the PCB mounted pots will fit into the holes before actually drilling your enclosure. Like they say, measure twice, drill once (actually cut once)!!

The DC, In, and Out jacks are drilled approximately 1/2 an inch from the bottom of the enclosure at the top and sides.

Pickdropper, thanks! I really enjoy the sound of this pedal. Now I need to do a modded version and see what that sounds like.

Jim

[Stomptown]

Great lookin' build! I love the font you used for this one. I think I've used that for some flyers in the past. Did you find it on Dafont?

[ncdb07]

Electcticstorm - Thanks for the template! I actually hadn't realized the pots could be board mounted until your post. I was thinking about putting the modulation board ona switch so it could be turned on and off. I have a stack of pcb's lying around also, most are populated. Just need to finish them! The graphics produced with that decal system are amazing! Watched the videos last night. I will have to source a B&W laser printer and laminator first.

Great work again!


ncdb07
Daniel

[electricstorm]

Stomptown - The font is Arnprior and was in the Inkscape fonts. I'll have to check out Dafont. Thanks!

Ncdb07 - The decal system is pretty neat and produces crisp details as long as you don't get too small with your print. I have the GBC H220 laminator that I did the mod on so it will pull the artwork through slower and this helps to apply more heat and pressure for good adhesion.

DecalPro FX says that GBC has changed their laminators as of January 2013 and they will no longer work with their system. They do offer another called the APACHE "AL13P" Laminator. It has to be modded also and they give instructions on their web site as to what to do. If you buy this laminator, beware that it is not UL listed, runs at a very high temperature and does not have an overheat sensor and is considered a fire hazard. DecalPro FX recommends that you get a smoke detector and place it directly over the laminator and to put it on a timer to limit the "On" time. Also, don't leave it unattended. If it were me, I'd hit fleabay and just get the GBC H220. Lot less hassle and worry.

Jim

[ncdb07]

awesome! thanks for the tips! definitely don't want to burn down the house!



ncdb07