Here’s a PCB and Layout for the Ring Modu-Matic. I have yet to build this yet so use these files at your own risk! The dual gang pot in the lower corner I can’t get rid of, due to my lack of skills with Eagle. Notice the lines connecting the pot to pads on the PCB.
Add comment | June 12th, 2009
This is a first draft of an idea that I have been thinking about for a few months. It’s a Tremolo that pans between the input signal and the signal coming through the FX Loop. If no signal is coming in to the FX Loop it would act as a normal Tremolo. Otherwise it would be cycling from the straight to the effected signal.
The main idea was taking from Nicolas Boscorelli’s Stompboxology Tremolo-Matic X. I make no gaurantees that this actually works as I haven’t built it. This is just a first pass to get the idea down.
Add comment | June 6th, 2009
This is Tremolo-Matic X from the Tremolo Issue of Stompboxology by Nicolas Boscorelli. I have redrawn the schematic to make it easier to read. Hopefully this will be helpful to anyone attempting this project. This is Tremolo that pans between a treble and bass signal. It inlcudes controls to set the level for both the bass and treble, rate and depth.
I built mine from the PCB layout posted by Morocotopo at Diystompboxes here. This lay out worked well for me. Though it looks likes it isn’t finished as there are a few extra pads that don’t quite make sense. The layout does work. I have built it myself.
It sounds pretty good. I made a few changes. First I changed the Rate pot to 100K to get a more useable range of speeds. With the original 25K pot the slowest speed was not very slow. I like the sound of slow tremolo. The 100K pot is shown on my vsersion of the schematic. speaking of the rate, I’d like to get a slightly faster rate at the fast speed and a little slower at the slow end. I think I will be playing with R21, R25 and C15 a little more.
The other mod, not included in my schematic, is to decrease the gain on the input stage. Basically this comes down to decreasing the value of R14. With the original value of 470K you get a little bit of clipping with hot pickups. I haven’t decided on a value yet.
Note the, input stage is inverting. Which presents a lower input impedance than would normally be acceptable. But it seems to work OK here.
Also note that there are a few parts list as optional feed through bias or something like that. These parts include a 5V regulator and adjacent parts. I left these out of my build, and everything worked fine. I left these out of the schematic posted here.
Add comment | June 5th, 2009
This is the Ring Modu-Matic from Stompboxology. I redrew everything in Eagle PCB. This is an interesting design. It seems to use several different supply voltages. There is a +9v, +4.5v and +5v, +2.5
v.
Add comment | June 4th, 2009
Here’s an idea I have been wanting to try in a stompbox. Small Bear carries post with long leads that can be used to mount the pot to PCB. I thought these might be good for mounting a board inside an enclosure. This is a clone of everyone’s favorite 5 knob fuzz.
This seemed to work well. But I think the knobs are a little hard to see for adjusting. Then again you might be adjusting by ear abyway. I wanted to place the switch in the center of the box for aesthetic reasons. This left a tight fit in the center of the board for the transistor, which I haven’t added yet.
Overall I would say that these posts work well to support the PCB. Mounting them to the board also does away with a lot of wiring which makes for a nice build. The down side is that they are difficult to solder to a board created with Perf. If the board had plated through holes this would not be a problem. The other down side is that this type of build could be difficult to modify or repair. As the back side of the PCB is hidden behind the pots.
Add comment | April 26th, 2009
Here’s an idea to get rid of ticking in your 555 circuits. This image was taken from the Commonsound Triwave.
Add comment | April 26th, 2009
Here’s my take on the Ugly Face/Crash Sync. I took my favorite parts of both and a few suggestions from RunOffGroove and the DIYStompboxes forum.
This version uses a different input buffer, which more closely resembles the input of the Crash Sync. Though it has a greater gain. I found this gave more sustain. The Ugly Face has a gain of about 200. The Revolting Visage uses a gain of about 1000.
I took the envelope from the Ugly Face which is simple and elegant and seems to work well for this design.
I also borrowed the Threshold from the Ugly Face. Which allows for self Oscillation.
These last two features do not exist on the Crash Sync. But, are a lot of fun to play with.
I changed the output to be directly taken from pin 3 of the 7555. The Ugly Face used a strange arrangement that was also connected to pin 7. The pin 3 arrangement makes more sense to me and is simpler.
Add comment | October 13th, 2008
I had been wanting to build Craig Anderton’s graphic fuzz. But I had never gotten around to it. Though I did find an old 10 band EQ on the street that I thought would make a home for that project.
Lately the idea had struck me to make a smaller version with two Tube Screamers. This would it in a B sized box and be easier to build.
I have not built this yet. I want to try and get around to it in the next couple weeks. Here’s a drawing of the layout I planned.
I started with jack Orman’s son of Screamer.I figured I’d use two Drive and Tone controls, followed by a Mix and a Volume. There are two versions of the Mix control in the notes.
1 comment | April 30th, 2008
Here’s a layout for the MosFET boost. The drawing is pretty sloppy. But this shows the schematic and layout I used for my build. Seemed to work well.
Here’s a link to a picture of my build. Here’s a link to the schematic on Muzique.com
Add comment | April 30th, 2008
I like the Tim Escobedo’s Ugly Face I’ve built about 7 now. This is a really fun pedal. Total Sonic Mayhem. Not for Jazz, though I’m hoping someone will take that as a challenge…
Something that is not really a problem, but has always bothered me is the volume. The Ugly Face is extremely loud. The output swings about 0 to 9V. Which leaves a small usable range on the volume knob.
Lately I have been adding a 68K resistor in series between the volume pot and the output from the circuit. My measurements seemed to suggest an 80K would be better but I had 68K on hand. The the thing is still way loud. But now at least volume pot seems to have a more usable range.
Add comment | April 17th, 2008