The Albatross (Green Bean + Afterlife) LONG REPORT

[mshuptar]

Okay, this build report is long. For those with limited time / interest / attention span, just skip to the end.

Did any of you ever have to read Samuel Taylor Coleridge's epic poem, "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" in school? If not, here's the quick version: an arrogant sailor shows disrespect for the natural order of things and kills an albatross. Though it's never explicitly stated, one can argue that sailor kills the albatross as an act of defiance. The sailor wants to show his force over nature.

Once the sailor kills the albatross, all hell breaks loose. After killing the bird, a whole bunch of bad stuff happens to the sailor and the crew. For a good chunk of the poem, the sailor has the dead albatross chained to his neck as a consequence. At the end, the reader learns that, for the rest of his life, the sailor wanders the land and tells people this cautionary tale of what happens when humans defy the natural order.

So here's my cautionary tale and my own personal albatross. Gather around kids....

This project started over TWO YEARS AGO as a Fatpants / Afterlife. I didn't really know what I was doing. A friend asked me to build a 2-in-1 boost/comp pedal. I told him I had only built a handful of easy circuits, but that building a 2-in-1 "shouldn't be a big deal." Oh, I was so arrogant.

Now, in 2014, I had a limited understanding of electrical circuits and pedals. Currently, my understanding is still limited, but I'm learning more.  But back then, I was the type of builder who viewed pedal building sort of like Legos with a soldering iron. I was very much a "build by numbers guy." I was just soldering parts and putting stuff together. I didn't really know what components did within a circuit. It was like, "Okay so a resistor goes here, a cap goes here yada yada."

When I started this project, I had built only three pedals (very simple circuits) and didn't use a testing rig! What was the use? My first three pedals didn't give me too many troubles. Now, I look back and say, "Oh how foolish was I!"

So I start building this thing - which I dub the "FatComp" - and it's a struggle from the beginning. (I should add that, in addition to the FatComp for my friend, I decided to build one for myself at the same time). I make multiple orders from Mammoth and Mouser for components. I mix up resistor values as I'm simultaneously soldering on two different boards. I don't really understand how to bias the Fatpants properly. I'm confused about how I hook up two effects. The off-board wiring is tricky, etc. I made every mistake an overconfident rookie would make.

I used a 1590BB enclosure and didn't  really consider where I drilled the holes. I did some planning, but I didn't properly consider critical things like the space for the ¼" jacks. I didn't even use a drilling template! Since I was making a custom pedal, I was like, "I can figure this out. These knobs will go here, these switches will go here, etc." Man, was I naïve. When I went to box the effect, the guitar cable couldn't plug in all the way because the board was too close to the jacks. (Insert facepalm here)

After two months, I finish the first "FatComp" and it worked for a while. Don't ask me how (I was still struggling with the off-board wiring in the second one). The wiring was a mess, and I could never properly dial in the voltage for the Fatpants. In hindsight, that should have been a red flag. But I was like, "Whatever! Rock n roll!" I give it to my buddy and he's digging it.

Then, a week later, he's at rehearsal and goes to hit the Fatpants side, but the pedal shorts out. I open it up and it smells like burnt electricity. A couple weeks later, I finally build a testing rig, I do some troubleshooting, replace the IC and get it working. Two weeks later, the same thing happens. I try to diagnose the problem, I throw in another IC but I'm unsuccessful. I swap the Fatpants board from my pedal into his, and his pedal worked again (and still does).

In the mean time, Madbean discontinued the full-size Fatpants board. I was just going to buy another Fatpants board and start all over again, but now I was stuck with a 1590BB with all these holes, and a working Afterlife board. I basically left the whole thing untouched for 2 years. Since then, I've built other pedals and vehemently avoided making any 2-in-1s.

(Side note: On three separate occasions, I've replaced components on the damaged Fatpants board, but I can't figure it out. It doesn't work. I've replaced nearly half of the components by this point. The Fatpants board sits untouched in my "fail drawer" to this day.)

Fast-foward to the present. I decide now is the time to give this thing another shot. I decide that the best use of this pre-drilled enclosure is to run a Green Bean into an Afterlife. I tested and retested everything before cramming it back into the old enclosure. Again, I should add that because of the holes that I've drilled, I couldn't use PC mounted pots. That added another layer of time when soldering, and increased the possibility of a short somewhere. I just wanted to get this project finished so I could move on. (And, yes, I had to do a bunch of troubleshooting when I was wiring the footswitches.) Here's what it looks like:



Here are the guts:



When I was labeling the controls with a paint marker, a stray drip landed on the enclosure and I was like, "that looks like bird poop. How fitting." I then proceeded to dot the enclosure even more.



Does it work? Currently, yes. Does it sound great? Indeed it does. I am glad this albatross is no longer around my neck and is instead on my pedalboard. I'm sort of waiting for it to fail because this project still seems cursed.



Here's the thing: the layout, the drilling templates, the wiring guides, and the boards that Madbean provides are incredibly helpful (duh). And I just complicated everything by ignoring all of that. Lesson learned. Thanks for reading my tale of woe. Kids, follow the directions!   

TL/DR: I made a pedal and it took forever because I tried to do it my own way.

[beneharris]

That is quite the story. Glad you found a use for the enclosure, and I got a good laugh out of it!

[alanp]

Always such a good feeling to nail one of the bastards.

My 960 sequencer build was my albatross for a couple years.

[m-Kresol]

I agree, the challenging builds are generally the most rewarding.

are the pcbs secured in any way? I would highly recommend it. Free floating pcbs will lead to more train on the wires, which can eventually break. Also more chance of shorting out somewhere.

[29palms]

haha, love the name and the story, I've had a build like this...

[jtaormina]

My albatross is a 5e3 amp build. I've just never had the motivation to finish it. I can't explain why either. It's about half way and I've totally lost interest in it. One day I will finish it...

[Stomptown]

I love reading s good story first thing in the morning. Congrats on finally conquering the albatross and thanks for putting a smile on my face!

[galaxiex]

Thanks for sharing.

I think we all have, or have had, and albatross or two hanging around.
Not necessarily in pedal building....

[wgc]

great poem, too bad they make you read it before you're actually able to appreciate it

love the build report, the box is cool, and way to stick with it.

I have a few albatrossi hanging atm, including a 1590a klon, the sharkfin, and a pcb that works but doesn't quite fit into a beautiful enclosure as intended.  So close, just need a 1/2 day that isn't prescheduled a month in advance