Derezzed Chorus (Aion BLueshift)

[Timko]

After 3 months of testing and debugging,  my Blueshift is finally boxed and on my board.  I do think one of my delay chips sounded a bit off during the initial build but once I replaced both of them (and their clocks) it really sounds fantastic.  My 3207's were from 2 different runs (the CoolAudio graphics looked a little different on each) and I think there may have been slight differences in the runs.  Gordo's description of a "slight modulation that never really goes anywhere" is perfect way to put the feel of this effect.  The chorus is expansive and unlike anything I have played with.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my troubleshooting thread.  One of the awesome thing about this community is it's desire to help each other when someone has a problem or doesn't understand something.  You learn a lot more when things don't go as planned .  Also, Kevin at Aion did a fantastic job with the layout.  How he managed to cram this many thru hole components into a box this size is really a work of art.

The paint is a slight homage to the original.  It was my first time working with sparkle paint and I love the way it turned out.  The name and graphics also date back to the 80s with a nod to TRON.  I was having problems initially with the boards separating from their pins so I put a little yellow component wrap inside and it fits like a glove now.

[cooder]

Epic! Very cool looks too and what a project it is! Well done and worth all the sweat I'm sure!

[tcpoint]

Nice build.  I built one.  I don't like the piggyback design.  Would rather go with a larger enclosure or smd.  But I love the sound.

[Invertiguy]

Incredible work! I built one a couple years ago and I will agree that there is no other chorus quite like it. How did you do the graphics?

[alanp]

I was having problems initially with the boards separating from their pins so I put a little yellow component wrap inside and it fits like a glove now.

Do you mean that the male and female pin headers were losing connection? It's a shame that the mounting holes on the two PCBs don't match, so you could screw them together. (I try to add those these days for sandwich projects like this.)

Very nice job

[Timko]

I was having problems initially with the boards separating from their pins so I put a little yellow component wrap inside and it fits like a glove now.

Do you mean that the male and female pin headers were losing connection? It's a shame that the mounting holes on the two PCBs don't match, so you could screw them together. (I try to add those these days for sandwich projects like this.)

Yeah, I know your Lovetone flanger had screw holes that allowed you to put the two boards together.  So does the DeadEndFX Mutron BiPhase board I'm working on. 

I remembered that old Boss pedals have some sort of foam padding on the back where the PCB rests so I went with that using some old pink bubble wrap I got from some supplier.  Two layers of it did the trick if anyone else has the problem; it's thin enough to easily screw on the bottom but thick enough that it touches the PCB.

[EBK]

Nice work!  Glad to hear you got your build finished.  On mine, I ended up using some foam tape to apply slight pressure to the boards to hold them together, similar to your approach.  Are your graphics a reverse etch or a decal? Sort of looks like it could be either from the pics.

[Timko]

Nice work!  Glad to hear you got your build finished.  On mine, I ended up using some foam tape to apply slight pressure to the boards to hold them together, similar to your approach.  Are your graphics a reverse etch or a decal? Sort of looks like it could be either from the pics.

It's an etch.  I've started using Acid Magic on all my etches and I feel my reverse etches are much shallower while still being really clean when it comes to the lines.  Since this one has a PCB style background, the really light etches didn't totally sand down, making the textures blend into the etch that did completely sand down.

[Bio77]

That looks fantastic, super cool build!  Glad you got the problem fixed.

On mine, I ended up using some foam tape to apply slight pressure to the boards to hold them together, similar to your approach. 

+1 on the foam.  I've built two of these, the bottom PCB is pretty heavy and will slip out with use.  Had the foam in there for at least a year and no problems.

[gordo]

Wow, that looks superb.  Glad this one finally came together!