The Clampressor

[Aleph Null]

This is a stock Mad Bean 4:1 compressor, except I used an LED/LDR pair in place of the Vactrol. They're just whatever Tayda carries (don't worry; I had the good sense to buy my ICs elsewhere!  ).



I'm a die-hard top-mount-jacks guy. A 125B with TMJs is just the most space-efficient layout for pedal boards.



I widened the pot spacing to make better use of the 125B. The graphic is a water slide decal suspended in Mod Podge with an acrylic clear coat.



I wasn't sure how well the LED/LDR pair would work in place of the vactrol, so I replaced R12 with a 22k resistor in series with a 50k pot. This allows enough leeway to adjust the range of compression available. C5 was installed on its side to provide enough clearance for the input jack.

[mjg]

The graphics are super sharp!  Nice job.  Inside looks very neat too. 

How does it sound with the Tayda LDR?

[Willybomb]

How do you suspend a waterslide decal in modgepodge?

[Aleph Null]

How do you suspend a waterslide decal in modgepodge?

I thin the Mod Podge with a little water (Maybe 3:1 or 4:1 Podge:water) and apply it to the enclosure. While it's still wet, I lay down the decal. This prevents silvering and allows for more work time before the decal sets. After letting it dry for 24 hours, I do six regular coats of Mod Podge, basically just following the instructions on the bottle. This provides a built-up finish that offers a little more protection for the graphic, it also helps hide the edges of the decal. Once the Mod Podge has cured, I sand it smooth and apply the clear coat.

Mod podge makes a bunch of different formulations. I like to use the "hard coat" stuff because it's designed to be extra tough.

[Aleph Null]

The graphics are super sharp!  Nice job.  Inside looks very neat too. 

How does it sound with the Tayda LDR?

Thanks! The Tayda seems to work fine. The response time is fast, not much of the attack comes through. At stock settings for R12, there's a little bit of bloom past three o' clock on the "sustain" knob. I have R12 set to a higher resistance right now, but that's more out of preference than the performance of the LDR.