VFE Mega Pedal YouTube Live

[fair.child]

Dear MBP Fellows,

I just wanted to say thank you to all who are on this journey together with me and complete the massive build.



It has been a fun, entertaining, and challenging in the past 3 months. I believe we are on this together as the DIY Pedal builders community.

I'd like to ask Y'all for the favor whether we should do YouTube video live to see this happens. There are three reasons why we should do it live:

1. There is going to be a quick Q&A section and I try to keep it open for the sharing new idea on the spot.
2. Immediate demo request for each of the pedals. What it does and what the limitations are.
3. Giveaway surprise at the end of the session.

I tend to keep it short, fun, and informative. I am thinking live for 15-30 mins max and showing the functionality of each pedal and the chain. The date is going to be June 30, which it's a Saturday and I'll be open for any time frame (US standard time zone- EST, PST, CST). It's just for now until find the solid time that everyone will be able to join in.

I am going to do this if the Poll shows at least 5 people will join the chat /live on June 30. Please help me out with the vote. I really hope we can do this together.

You also can join the slack channel

https://join.slack.com/t/intotheswirl/shared_invite/enQtMzgxMTQxMDMyOTI4LTNjN2M2NzhjNGJhYzFmMDE2OTlmYjhkNDM3MmJhZWUyZWJiNWYwZDA5YzBhNzg3MjFlMjlkODQzOWIyOWY1MWI]https://join.slack.com/t/intotheswirl/shared_invite/enQtMzgxMTQxMDMyOTI4LTNjN2M2NzhjNGJhYzFmMDE2OTlmYjhkNDM3MmJhZWUyZWJiNWYwZDA5YzBhNzg3MjFlMjlkODQzOWIyOWY1MWI

I'll be open questions for more details or have some early discussion before we start.

[cooder]

I'd be keen to see it if I can (considering the time zone difference).

[fair.child]

Thanks, Cooder! The time is TBD though I am trying to accommodate flexibility. I know you're out of US.

[EBK]

Would we be able to watch it later, i.e., non-live?

[diablochris6]

I would be quite interested in hearing your thought process behind this. This is a monster!

[m-Kresol]

While I will be travelling on the 30th and won't be able to see it live, I think it's a nice idea.

[Aentons]

Are you planning on labeling the knobs and switches beforehand?

[fair.child]

@Aentons

I just did with Sharpie. The DYMO label won't fit so I decided just go with a sharpie.

@m-Kresol @EBK

No worries, I'll share the link once it's done.

@cooder @diablochris6

Awesome, thank you for the support!

[bsoncini]

Anyone who is crazy enough to build this deserves 30 minutes of my time as long as it is a reasonable hour for me.

[fair.child]

Anyone who is crazy enough to build this deserves 30 minutes of my time as long as it is a reasonable hour for me.

Thank you! As a matter of fact, here's how the labeling goes

[cooder]

Looks awesome to the max and I'm sure you're little one is loving the graphics too!
Anyway, apart from sound demo I'm specifically curious about the
-switching system: I count 18 'normal' footswitches and 6 in front, are those looper like channels? I might have missed the explanation of this as I noticed your project a bit late to the party, maybe you can point me if you have already discussed this.
-powering the lot: any issues with heterodyning, hissing or so and how did you do power supply for this?
- how do you like and rate the sound and practicality of it in comparison with stuff like AxeFX which I believe you said you have too?
Cheers!

[fair.child]

Looks awesome to the max and I'm sure you're little one is loving the graphics too!
Anyway, apart from sound demo I'm specifically curious about the
-switching system: I count 18 'normal' footswitches and 6 in front, are those looper like channels? I might have missed the explanation of this as I noticed your project a bit late to the party, maybe you can point me if you have already discussed this.
-powering the lot: any issues with heterodyning, hissing or so and how did you do power supply for this?
- how do you like and rate the sound and practicality of it in comparison with stuff like AxeFX which I believe you said you have too?
Cheers!

1. Switching system:

I explained the switching here

Short answer, yes it works like looper channels. First from the left is the COMP, second is the DRIVE, third is DIST/FUZZ, fourth is the MODULATION, the fifth is the DELAY/VERB and last one is the TAP TEMPO.

2. POWER
There are 6 DC out for this. Peter suggested using One SPOT 1.7A daisy chained. I bought that one and got a hissing while using the DELAY/VERB. I debugged the issue and changed to Voodoo Lab Pedal Power PLUS 2 and one Planet Waves 300 mA. The current draw for Blueprint itself is 100mA. I decided to use 300mA just to power the DELAY/VERB. To boot up the uC, it requires 30mA each.

I split the power for DELAY/VERB. I use 2 DC Jacks one is dedicated to powering on the relay switches and the other one is to power on the main board (Blueprint). I will explain this better on YouTube Live.

CLUSTER 1
White Horse -> 30 mA
Bumblebee -> 40 mA
TOTAL -> 60 mA Switching + 70 mA —> Voodoo Lab 100 mA

CLUSTER 2
Merman ->  20 mA
Pale Horse -> 35 mA
Blues King -> 15 mA
Scream -> 10mA
Rocket EQ -> 40 mA

TOTAL ->  120 mA + Switching 150 mA —> Voodoo Lab 250 mA

CLUSTER 3
Alpha Dog -> 5mA
Triplet ->  20 mA
Fiery Red Horse ->15 mA
Focus -> 30 mA

TOTAL -> Switching 120 mA + 70 mA —> Voodoo lab 250 mA

CLUSTER 4
Tractor Beam -> 40 mA
Old School -> 25 mA
Choral Reef -> 20 mA

TOTAL —> Switching 90 mA + 85 mA —> Voodoo Lab 100 mA

CLUSTER 5
Blueprint -> 50 mA
Mobius Strip -> 70 mA
Yodeler -> 100 mA
Mini Mu -> 25 mA

TOTAL —> Switching 120 mA + 220 mA —> Voodoo lab 250 mA + Planet Waves 300mA (TAP TEMPO)

3. How do I like it?
Honestly, I love it. It seems way much concrete and old-school knobs style. AX8/Fractal is something that I love as well. However, I try to put my shoes on a working musician or a session guitar player. They might not have an audio engineer to tweak all the preset for their Fractal and the unit demands the player to explore. No one has a time for that.

No matter what, the tone is in player hands. I love both of them in comparison how they sound. However, for flexibility, I love this Mega Pedal. It serves its purpose for what I need. The OD can works as boost, from BASS to TREBLE , MID RANGE, SLOPE etc. The DIST can be shaped as well with the EQ. Modulation so far works the best. The delay is amazing. Though, it's noisy when I turn all everything ON.

IMHO, I would trade my Mini-Mu with Whirlybird or Lesliesque VFE pedal. Lesliesque is just like a Vomit Comet. Honestly, I don't play Auto-wah/Filter that much. If I can plan it better, that is probably I'd like to do.

[fair.child]

85% percent (6 people) already said they will attend. I created the link for the YouTube Live.

June 30th, 1:00 PM PST, 3:00 PM CST, 4:00 EST. Stephan/cooder, NZ time is 8:00 AM. Hopefully, it's going to work out with you. Bsoncini, Paris France is 10:00 PM.

[cooder]

Great, thanks so much for such a detailed reply and all the info! Much appreciated the time you put into getting this across, cheers!
The switching system makes sense, very good. What looper did you use for this? Did you create it yourself, is it relay / micro controller based I assume?
Cheers for even checking already out the local time in NZ for the youtube video thingy, you're onto it...!

[fair.child]

Great, thanks so much for such a detailed reply and all the info! Much appreciated the time you put into getting this across, cheers!
The switching system makes sense, very good. What looper did you use for this? Did you create it yourself, is it relay / micro controller based I assume?
Cheers for even checking already out the local time in NZ for the youtube video thingy, you're onto it...!

It is actually from Josh 1776 Fx, the Finish Line Relay Bypass.