Lectric FX Countdown build

[gordo]

I felt myself stepping all over Shu's build report...I'm good like that.  I figured I better start my own.  This is an insane project in it's scope of cloning the old ADA Final Phase.  As the name implies this is the last word in phasers as they existed in the late 70's.  I dare say that it still holds true in 2017.  The thing I DON'T like about phasers is the cyclic nature of the LFO.  That's as dumb as saying I don't like the fishy taste of salmon.

The FP takes a different tack by introducing a modulator to the LFO.  In essence it cyclically modulates a cyclic LFO to introduce all kinds of subtle variation on the phaser ilk.  8 stages...10 stages...whatever it takes.

The outcome is a less pronounced waveform to control the phase.  Unless you don't want that and you want a radically swept phase, or a REALLY whacked waveform within a waveform.  You get the picture.

Add to that a totally cool overdrive to make whatever the phaser is doing WAY more pronounced.  It's like a JetPhase (Roland) that isn't limited to "Who's That Lady".

Easy build, although be prepared to have massive quantities of the same resistor.  I bought in bulk and will likely be stocked for life in 20K 1/4 watts.  Easy calibration if your multi does frequency.  I tuned it by ear till I hooked it up to the test gear and was WAY off.  This is an easy add on to my board and despite it's crazy size I don't see it moving any time soon.  It's got a killer animated OD sound that I can make great use of.  Phaser for anti-phaser folks (me).





No hidden wires on the VCO portion of the board (middle jack and T/R/S pads).  I likely won't go there.  And I'm lazy.  If I get ambitious I'll add it.  I used a shielded wire for the input.  Would have used it for the output but ran out of wire.  I don't really think it needs either.  This thing is among the quietest of my phaser builds even with the OD engaged. Note that it ticked VERY slightly before I got it boxed.  Dead quiet now.

Major kudos to the LectricFX folks. With all the stuff going on with ANYBODY associated with this board the bar is set ridiculously high now.  It's been such a dramatic uptick in what can be accomplished at the DIY level that the builds I'm doing these days are SO far beyond my layout skills it's frightening.  I'm truly grateful that Brian harbors this kind of environment and to all the whacko's that embrace this goofy hobby.

Stepping down off my soapbox now.  If anybody want's the graphics to this one just PM me.  Ditto for the EchoFlanger and ADA Flanger.

[gordo]

Forgot to add.  These are Steve's new 10 turn trimmers at Smallbear.  Slick.

[mjg]

Wow - there is an insane amount of stuff going on in that build.  Nice work.

[jubal81]

Deeply impressive~!
Looks great and clean as it gets.

[czapa tranzystor 2]

Awesome

[Boba7]

Amazing!! And that board looks just fantastic... Great job!

[cajone5]

Looks awesome -- are there any demos of this out there?  Would love to understand more about what you describe on this.  I like phaser but also like things that are just... well... different than the norm, I guess.  Thanks for posting!

[Haberdasher]

Looks awesome, gordo!

Looks awesome -- are there any demos of this out there?  Would love to understand more about what you describe on this.  I like phaser but also like things that are just... well... different than the norm, I guess.  Thanks for posting!

No demos of the countdown phaser yet, but it's based on the earlier 1979 version of the final phase.  I went through this video and mimicked the settings he was using, and it was just like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g-R6KkwLPQ&spfreload=1

[wgc]

wow, that's amazing!

[Betty Wont]

NICE!!! I can't wait to get my hands on one of these.

[jimilee]

Oh man, I can't believe you built yours first! That sounds awesome.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[somnif]

Ok, can I just say.... I would have killed if I had known there were 10-turn trimmers that fit the 3362 footprint when I was building my Flanger. Would have made my life so much easier.

And I am already salivating over this thing. The youtube demos I've seen are intriguing.  Looks like another case of needing to document knob settings because the box can chameleon itself into so many different ways.

No demos of the countdown phaser yet, but it's based on the earlier 1979 version of the final phase. 

.

This really confused me for a sec until I realized you meant "as opposed to the modern reissue". The "earlier" version I was thinking of was the 1978, optical one. I know I can be a bit blind occasionally but I thought I would have at least noticed an opto somewhere on the board... But no, its the even more confusing "lets use cmos switching as a variable resistor" ...thing. Still trying to wrap my head around the concept.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

When will these be available??

Just popped into the website store and they were nowhere to be found 

[bsoncini]

Ok, can I just say.... I would have killed if I had known there were 10-turn trimmers that fit the 3362 footprint when I was building my Flanger. Would have made my life so much easier.

And I am already salivating over this thing. The youtube demos I've seen are intriguing.  Looks like another case of needing to document knob settings because the box can chameleon itself into so many different ways.

No demos of the countdown phaser yet, but it's based on the earlier 1979 version of the final phase. 

.

This really confused me for a sec until I realized you meant "as opposed to the modern reissue". The "earlier" version I was thinking of was the 1978, optical one. I know I can be a bit blind occasionally but I thought I would have at least noticed an opto somewhere on the board... But no, its the even more confusing "lets use cmos switching as a variable resistor" ...thing. Still trying to wrap my head around the concept.

I heard someone bring up the concept of a pwm cmos phaser a while ago and it intrigued me. Not a whole lot on the net about it at least explaining how it works.

I stumbled upon this and bookmarked it. In one of the comments merlinb and others explain how to use cmos switches in a phaser.

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=97279.0

[somnif]

Yeah, the fellow behind Parasit had a phaser project that I've been reading up on as well. Its still brain bending. I can see why so many people just re-hash the phase 90 when designing their "original" circuits.

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=108823.0