Some modulation pedal demos: Tri-Vibe, Shoot the Moon, and Neptune

[midwayfair]

I wanted to build a Smoothie and Quadrovibe before doing a whole slew of modulation effect videos, but I ran out of footswitches (I might have a problem!) and was short some parts for the Quadrovibe in any case, so I decided to get these done last night. I'll post the bean design demos in a couple weeks, I s'pose.

Shoot the Moon (CultureJam/Effdub)

Tri-Vibe (Runoff Groove)

Neptune Delay (CultureJam/Effdub)

[whitebread47]

Great, thorough demos.  I really enjoy your style of playing, man.  It's very refreshing to hear circuits like those used like that.  Thanks for sharing!

[jkokura]

You look waaaay different than your avatar.

Jacob

[midwayfair]

You look waaaay different than your avatar.

Jacob

I know, I wish I looked as cool as cartoon me. 

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Really good demos. Your sound is very enjoyable and I think you demonstrated these circuits completely. Glad I got a Neptune board..I couldn't believe some of the sounds your getting. What kind of amp are you using? Care to share the mods you did to the Neptune?

[jkokura]

Jon, can you tell us some more about your guitar and amp here?

Your playing style is pretty rad. I enjoy the fingerstyle you use.

Jacob

[midwayfair]

Gear used:
Guitar: Don Quixotecaster w/ Reilander Vintage Strat pickups -- it's a Strat in tele clothing (though it doesn't have a pickguard). The body is swamp ash and the neck is a warmoth compound radius. Graphtech nut and bridge, trem is GFS's "good" bridge with 4 (or maybe 5? I can't remember at this point) springs. Locking tuners, not that they affect the sound. The switches are just individual controls for the pickup, I'm usually in a split setting anyway. There's a treble bypass and my volume is probably on 8 or 9 in the video. The pickups are handwound in Canada and I got them back when I did a shootout article on Handwound sets under $100 (http://www.frugalguitarist.com/post/2012/02/27/Three-Handwound-Strat-Pickup-Sets-Under-$100.aspx). I can heartily recommend this winder ... he great customer service, and great sounding pickups.

Amp: Tone King Imperial on the rhythm (blackface) channel. Volume is at 4, treble is at 7, bass is at 4. Yes, I like treble and sometimes even use a treble booster. I turned off the reverb while I was doing the delay video (so it's off in the trem video, too, but on in the tri-vibe). I use a low-gain preamp tube in V1, but a 12AY7 doesn't drastically change anything eq-wise, it just makes the amp more crankable when I'm playing at home.

------------------

My mods to the Neptune were really simple (build report here http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=5154.0). I took CJ's suggestion to brighten the repeats by replacing C14 with a smaller value cap (27nf - this is a weird value, but I had the cap around and I liked the sound). I used a 50K time pot and a 2.7K R17 -- this reverts the time pot to Deep Blue Delay settings. It makes the delay less of a dedicated role player, and it's a little more finicky to dial in an exact setting in the range that works well with the momentary switch, but since I was primarily using it for a wash effect, the exact timing wasn't necessary, and in the meantime it gives me an adequate secondary "normal" delay range.

[nzCdog]

Thanks for the demos man... Great work.  Its always nice to hear someone you see on the forums talk and play on video too. 

[culturejam]

Not sure how I missed this post. 

Great demos, my man! You've done serious justice to my work.    I dig your right-hand technique.

Couple thoughts based on your comments:

Neptune:
• You can get the repeats louder than unity. You just have to adjust R7 (less resistance = more output).
• The core is "substantially similar" to the DBD, but with way more low-pass filtering. And the DBD is about 5-6 parts different from the Rebote. Credit where credit is due.    So yes, the Neptune is like the DBD/Rebote, only interesting. 

STM:
• The LFO is modified from the Lune, so it's actually not the same, although it is derived directly from the Lune. The Lune has more controls that are, in my opinion, not all that useful.
• The audio path is virtually identical with the Lune, with a few small value changes.
• I added overkill audio isolation between the audio path and the LFO to eliminate any chance of ticking. I also ditched the 9v regulator from the Lune, as it is sort of useless when using +9v as the input voltage (not sure why they decided to go that way).
• You can make the LFO go slower if you increase the value of the Speed pot.

Not trying to be persnickety or anything, just clarifying. 

[midwayfair]

Not sure how I missed this post.  

Great demos, my man! You've done serious justice to my work.    I dig your right-hand technique.

Couple thoughts based on your comments:

Neptune:
• You can get the repeats louder than unity. You just have to adjust R7 (less resistance = more output).
• The core is "substantially similar" to the DBD, but with way more low-pass filtering. And the DBD is about 5-6 parts different from the Rebote. Credit where credit is due.   So yes, the Neptune is like the DBD/Rebote, only interesting.  

STM:
• The LFO is modified from the Lune, so it's actually not the same, although it is derived directly from the Lune. The Lune has more controls that are, in my opinion, not all that useful.
• The audio path is virtually identical with the Lune, with a few small value changes.
• I added overkill audio isolation between the audio path and the LFO to eliminate any chance of ticking. I also ditched the 9v regulator from the Lune, as it is sort of useless when using +9v as the input voltage (not sure why they decided to go that way).
• You can make the LFO go slower if you increase the value of the Speed pot.

Not trying to be persnickety or anything, just clarifying.  

Thanks for all the clarifications. If I get some time, I'll redo some of the annotations on the video to reflect the extra information.

When I said that they're "based on" some other circuits, I was referring mostly to the architecture and ancestry of the circuits and trying to give people a frame of reference -- partly because saying "It's like the Deep Blue Delay," which is a very expensive PT2399 box, might get more casual viewers interested in the demo or DIYing as a whole if they know they can build something that's got some serious mystique due to price. I certainly did not intend for it to sound like there wasn't a substantial amount of work that went into the boards. I know just how much work it can take to add even what seems like a simple function to a pedal.

[culturejam]

I definitely wasn't offended or anything. Just clarifying. You did a great job on those demos and explaining how they work.

[ilikeguitars01]

Nice playing man!  I wish my wife would let me keep my amp in my dining room!