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Fender Vibrato/Tremolo
I had just read an article on Fender tremolos here. This article brought up the subject of the Fender three tube Vibrato/Tremolo. This is a tremolo effect that pans between two signals, one from a High pass and the other from a low pass. The sound while not truly tremolo and not really vibrato has…
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True Bypass with an LED!
I bought this switch from Smallbear about ten years ago, probably around 2000. It cost $13! Before that time this was a high tech item that was only available in Fulltone products from what I understand. Legend has it that he had them designed and specially manufactured for his boxes. I guess wiring a true…
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Breadboard test rig
I had been meaning to make one these for a long time. Of course, like so many other things I managed to procrastinate on this simple but practical project for years. Well I finally got around to making the thing. I started with a length of aluminum L bracket from the hardware store. I had…
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Mini Maker Faire in Oakland CA
Looks like there’s a mini Maker Faire in the east bay. The big Maker Faire in San Mateo this year, though it had a lot going on was so crowded that I couldn’t really enjoy it. This might be better at a smaller scale. http://ebmakerfaire.wordpress.com/
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Octave Fuzz Take 2
Here’s an updated version of the octave fuzz. Q1 and Q2 set up a basic NPN Fuzz Face type circuit. While Q3 acts as a phase splitter. Q4 and Q5 act as a frequency doubler each side being fed an inverted signal from Q3. So far the Fuzz section is working on the breadboard. The…
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Building an Ugly Face
I built an Ugly Face last week and took some pictures. This uses the Ugly face PCB I made and the typical DIY stompbox parts. I used the alpha 12mm pots in a B sized box. The more common 16mm pots would also work.
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Pignose
The DIY swap meet was great. I saw this Pignose amp at one of the tables. Normally this wouldn’t really interest me. But, my wife had put this amp on her Amazon wish list. They wanted $40, I didn’t have the cash on hand. Luckily I sold a few things so I got the Pignose…
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DIY Electronics and Musicians Swap Meet
The DIY Electronics and Musicians swap meet was last Sunday. Good fun was had by all. I’m starting to realize I’m seeing the same people every year. Vendors and customers alike. Which is not a bad a thing. It was nice to hear the guy I traded the Fuzz Factory clone to was still enjoying…
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Sustainers
I was at the DIY swap meet last weekend where I was shown a DIY “e-bow”. It consisted of an electric motor, 9V battery and switch. The shaft of the motor had what looked like a propeller made of electrical tape. The idea was to turn the motor on and hold the device so the…
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New Stompswitch
You’re probably familiar with the classic blue 3PDT stomp switches that have been around for some years. These are ubiquitous in the stompbox realm. Everyone uses these, from the major manufacturers to the small builders and hobbyists. They work well and the cost is very reasonable. I paid $13 for an offical Fulltone 3PDT about…
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Switching Madness
Mark Hammer on DIYStompboxes gave me the idea to add a momentary switch to a Ring Modulator. After thinking about this for a while I thought it be great to have both a momentary and bypass switches. The momentary switch would turn the effect on when when the effect was in bypass or turn the…