VFE Alpha Dog

[gordo]

This one will be picture worthy.  Went together very nicely and my only issue was never having used an LM308 in a can before (sounds very nice).  I assumed the tab would be pin 1.  Whoops...pin 8.

The variable HCC stuff is pretty clever, being able to blend different clippers and such.  As rats go this has some nice twists.  I can see using this and the Pale Horse as a tag team on my board with the PH handling less gainish tones and the the AD doing the lead stuff.  The big take away from the VFE projects is the relay switching.  I'm going to have to rethink my switching, at least on my pedalboard regulars.

[jalmonsalmon]

After reading up on the relay switching thing...
I am now really interested in programming a custom PIC now since I kind of know programming languages and never knew you can do wild stuff with a chip... a whole new can of worms beyond what can be done with a simple stomp box!
Cannot wait to see your progress with these VFE pedals

[gordo]

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, this is it...





This is a shot of the board mounted DC jack.  If you follow the drill guide it centers it in the hole.  I just added a bevel to dress it up a bit.

[jimilee]

Very cool gordo. That is very flattering.


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[BrianS]

Man that etch came out looking really good as the rest of the build.

[hylandren]

Wow, super great looking build! A couple of questions, if I may:

1. " The big take away from the VFE projects is the relay switching.  I'm going to have to rethink my switching, at least on my pedalboard regulars." -In terms of technical knowledge, I am kind of in over my head here. Why does the Alpha Dog having relay switching mean that you'll now have to re-do the switching on your other pedals? Is it a compatibility issue?

2. I love the copper look of the text on the enclosure. Since its an etch, I assume you did a reverse etch (so the letters are raised) painted the enclosure black, then sanded the lettering back to the bare metal, and then somehow painted a copper cast paint on the lettering? If so, how did you keep from getting the copper on the black background ?

[gordo]

No compatibility issues but the relay switching is so quiet that it's going to make my others look like farm machinery.  I've used the 1776 relay board before and may have to stock up on a few of them.

Actually I'm going to try my hand at etching an enclosure the next time around but this one is just a chunk of pcb fr4 and etched as if it was a circuit board.  I cut the board to size after the etch, cleaned up the sides with a bit of sand paper and then shot it with a few coats of clear lacquer to make the copper pop and keep it from oxidizing.  The enclosure is a black powder coat I got from BLMS.  You can see the outline of the board around the top edges.  The colors matched up pretty well and the lacquer makes the pcb look "blacker".

[bluescage]

That is also a very nice build!!

[wgc]

wow, very nice!