MXR Blue Box Build

[Guybrush]

Hey there.  I used to own a Blue Box before I got into DIYing and was wondering if anyone knows of a good wiring diagram for a decent clone/homage?

I've spotted one on Tonepad but I'm not a big fan of the layouts on there. 

Any help would be fantastic.

Thanks

[jkokura]

Looks like a fun effect! I have not seen anything else out there for this project.

Have you thought about doing your own layout? Or perhaps contracting it to someone else?

Jacob

[juansolo]

Sabro has done a vero layout for it.

[calciferspit]

not much help but i have built the tonepad blue bix project and it works just fine.

[murdog47]

Aren't they just a modified Octavia? I would imagine this would be pretty darn close.

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/projects/Retrograde/docs/Retrograde.pdf

[sgmezei]

I have built Taylor's at musicpcb and it sounds good. I am in love with the lowrider though. PM me if your interested in the octave down from musicpcb.

[Guybrush]

not much help but i have built the tonepad blue bix project and it works just fine.

How easy/difficult is it?  I'm still totally green when it comes to building.  I'm ok at following Madbean's amazingly clear layouts but the ones on Tonepad somehow look more difficult.  Also there's no wiring diagram for the 3pdt, jacks, power etc.  Can I just use the Madbean standard wiring method?

murdog47 and sgmezei: Thanks for the info.  I like the crazyness and glitchyness of the Bluebox but when I come to build a clean octave down I'll definitely have a look at your suggestions.  Thanks for the heads up!

Cheers to everyone for the help.

[junkemail86]

You can use any wiring for the jacks/switch that you like, including Madbeans (except beans' boards often include pads to solder in the LED, but hard wiring that is easy).  Tonepad has a project called "offboard wiring" here:  http://tonepad.com/project.asp?id=35   that is supposed to help with the wiring you mentioned.  Not quite as good as Madbeans documents though!

[murdog47]

Ahhh...I always thought it was an Octavia not an octave down. Learn something new every day 

[Guybrush]

You can use any wiring for the jacks/switch that you like, including Madbeans (except beans' boards often include pads to solder in the LED, but hard wiring that is easy).  Tonepad has a project called "offboard wiring" here:  http://tonepad.com/project.asp?id=35   that is supposed to help with the wiring you mentioned.  Not quite as good as Madbeans documents though!

Great stuff.

I've been using GTR2's ace 3pdt boards which include LED wiring so that should work.  I'll marry up the Tonepad board, Madbean wiring and the 3pdt board and by some miracle it might just work!

Thanks for all the help.

[lincolnic]

Just wanted to jump in and say that I've built the Tonepad Blue Box with the Madbean wiring and it's a lot of fun. I threw a Sqweeker in the same enclosure for maximum wackiness, which actually helps the pedal get over some of the high-end suck of the Blue Box.

[Guybrush]

Just wanted to jump in and say that I've built the Tonepad Blue Box with the Madbean wiring and it's a lot of fun. I threw a Sqweeker in the same enclosure for maximum wackiness, which actually helps the pedal get over some of the high-end suck of the Blue Box.

That sounds like a great idea.  I don't suppose you've got a layout on how to link the two boards up do you?

Thanks.

[lincolnic]

There's no trick to it, really. Wire each circuit like you normally would, only instead of wiring from the output of the Blue Box's footswitch to the tip of your output jack, wire it to the input of the Sqweeker's switch instead. Then wire from the output of the Sqweeker's switch to the output jack. Basically, you just take the output of the first effect and wire that straight into the input of the second effect. The only other thing you should do is to make sure both circuits are getting a proper ground connection (which I did by wiring the ground connections on both switches together).

Here's an unflattering picture that should help if my explanation doesn't make sense: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/sarlakk/wiring.jpg

Dig your LucasArts references, by the way.

[Guybrush]

Thanks Lincolnic that's really helpful.  I'll definitely be trying this out! 

Can you run the effects independently and simultaneously? Sorry for all the questions!

I must get round to building a Monkey Island based pedal one day!

[lincolnic]

Yeah, they can run independently of each other. They're really the same as any other two effects in series. Don't let the fact that they're in the same box confuse you - just think of the wire from the output of the first effect to the input of the second as a patch cable connecting any other two pedals.

Don't worry about the questions, this pedal was the first time I put two effects in the same box and I had all the same ones!