Mr Futs

[alanp]

This box is labelled Mr Futs for a good reason.

This is a String Ringer v1.3, or a slightly updated Lovetone Ring Stinger clone.



The original plan was to do some engraving work on the panel, but... something this batshit, it would be like sweeping up Young Frankenstein's laboratory, putting some throw pillows down... So that's why it looks so rangi.



I tried to keep the wiring tidy, not easy with as many freaking wires as this thing has. I feel completely justified now in my work on my Low Profile Doppelganger. This one has too many components to shrink nicely, though. The transformers are in a bag since I don't have those self-adhesive board standoff thingies yet. The enclosure itself didn't fit in the vice -- the moving side of the vice came out when I was seeing if it had enough travel -- so I dusted off the drill press, moved the raincoats, dog leads, spare bowls and jars and bins (it hasn't been used in awhile) and to my surprise it still worked! (Grandad made it, and it hadn't been used for about a decade.) The only slow part in using it was adjusting the height when I put the longer bits in. Way faster than the hand drill!

This thing is utter nuts. The Octave mode is pretty usable, and the LFO on it is a really nice touch. But... touch that right stomp, and you'll hear the other side to Mr Futs. Completely batshit insane. I freaking love this thing! It will be of no use whatsoever, but I plan on taking it to the next music practice 

Mr Futs. First name, Nucking. Started working on the board at 12.30 (all components on EXCEPT pots and wires), drilled the box at Dad's, then finished wiring it up and testing at 6.30pm.

Bloody brilliantly barking.

[soldersqueeze]

Dude, you're killing it right now!! I love this, and kudos for nailing it in one day
My low-pro doppelganger should be up this week- I have everything except diffuse green LEDs (I always forget to order something...) I really can't wait to hear it.

[alanp]

One thing I didn't mention in the writeup --

There is one vitally, crucially important thing you must do with etched boards. If you do not do this, your life will be full of misery.

Bend the component leads in the direction of the track the component is on, then solder it. Use blu-tack to make the component stay put on the other side if you need to. Only bend a lead across tracks if the copper on the other side isn't actually connected to anything (like with the string ringer -- lots of copper that isn't actually doing anything.)

This cuts down on bridges, majorly, and makes life easy on yourself when doing projects of this magnitude.

[Haberdasher]

wow, pretty impressive you did that in one day.  that is a monster project.  kudos!

[GrindCustoms]

TABARNAK!!!!!

That's one hell of a project!

Sorry for my noobism....but does this do?

[soldersqueeze]

TABARNAK!!!!!

That's one hell of a project!

Sorry for my noobism....but does this do?

According to Lovetone, it's "a ring modulator/fuzz octave doubler/repeater/dirt box/optical synth all rolled into one". So now we know...

[alanp]

It's the greatest noisemaker pedal ever made

And when you really stretch your imagination, it even becomes musically usable! Lacesensor has a demo on Youtube, I think -- "Ringstinger full 12min demo", IIRC.

In ring mod mode, it outputs the sum and difference of the input and the carrier (normally the VCO, modulated by the LFO.) With full blend, the output has no musical relationship to the input, but when you wind it back to bring some original signal back in... there is also a drive control, that adds fuzz. You can also get some nice rhythmic pulsating stuff out of it by bringing the vco frequency down a fair bit.

I'm pretty sure I need to tweak some trimmers, but to take it out every. Single. Nut. Has to be taken off. So it can stay as it is.

[soldersqueeze]

Did you etch the board yourself? And is this (http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=47423) what you used as a BOM?

[alanp]

Yep, that's the one! Keefe kindly etched the boards for me, and Electricstorm provided the 1550G drill pattern as well (making life much easier in both cases.)

Same boards for v1.2 and v1.3, difference is in the stomp switching, plus the Rate LED

[Vallhagen]

Started working on the board at 12.30 [...] wiring it up and testing at 6.30pm.

Lol, are you kidding? 6 hours? I take 6 month to finnish a build! Impressive insanity mr! Cheerio!

[midwayfair]

Majorly impressive project. I can't believe how clean the insides are considering the complexity and the speed at which it was completed.

[sclemmer]

Any chance of getting the drilling template?

Yep, that's the one! Keefe kindly etched the boards for me, and Electricstorm provided the 1550G drill pattern as well (making life much easier in both cases.)

Same boards for v1.2 and v1.3, difference is in the stomp switching, plus the Rate LED

[soldersqueeze]

I woke up today worrying about spraying my doppelganger, and I've wound up ordering a ring stinger before bed.


Not only do lovetone pedals make for deliciously innuendo-laden sentences, I should only be allowed on this forum once a month- this is getting out of hand... too... many... pedals...

[alanp]

Just to clarify -- I'd populated the board with resistors, capacitors, sockets, and transistors a couple weeks beforehand, but I still had to solder the pots and wires in. (Them's a lot of wires!)

Sclemmer -- the template was designed for a different project, and I taped the PCB mask over it to get drilling locations for the pots and switches.

[lincolnic]

In one day?!