I have wanted one of these pedals for awhile and I just can’t justify the $500+ dollars for one on eBay.
I ordered all the parts from Mammothelectronics
It was mentioned on “Guitar FX Layouts” that you could use 4 2N5088 or 2N5089 transistors but I really wanted to make a true clone. I went ahead and found 4 vintage NOS 2N5133 Transistors for $51.85 shipped.
Project total so far: $93.54
Update:
All the parts came in yesterday and the project is now in full swing.
I started with a blank vero board and marked all the cut traces with a sharpie. I then used a 3/32 drill bit and drilled out the holes of the cut traces. This seemed to work well and clean.
I need to pick up a few 2Mohm resistors to finish this out. Will be hitting up a local electronics store tomorrow to get the needed parts.
More updates to come.
Whats on my work bench and what needs to be added?
Here are some standard hole sizes for DIY effects:
Drill Pilot Holes: 1/16″
One of the important things about the synthesiser was that it came without any baggage. A piano comes with a whole history of music. There are all sorts of cultural conventions built into traditional instruments that tell you where and when that instrument comes from. When you play an instrument that does not have any such historical background you are designing sound basically. You’re designing a new instrument. That’s what a synthesiser is essentially. It’s a constantly unfinished instrument. You finish it when you tweak it, and play around with it, and decide how to use it. You can combine a number of cultural references into one new thing.Brian Eno
Ran across this today and looks like a great start.
The following video lectures were generously provided by Tim Fiegenbaum at North Seattle Community College. They are based on the text, Electronics for Computer Technology by David Terrell. © 2003 Delmar Learning, a part of Cengage Learning, Inc.
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/videos/index.html
Picked up this “2 prong power corded” Mistress from eBay and I am a happy new owner. Great vintage flanger with some tricks.
I have been focusing on the older Electro-Harmonix Big Muffs the past few weeks and have compiled a list of changes between them. 90% of this information came from Kit’s Big Muff Pi History page
I essentially want to make one pedal that can switch between the Ram’s Head, V3 and the Russian. Here is what I got so far.
Clipping / Blocking Caps – These two caps determine the bandwidth to be clipped by the diodes in the two Clipping Stages, and have the most affect on the sound of the Big Muff.
Feedback / Filter Caps – They are responsible for how fizzy/buzzy a Big Muff will sound. Essentially they filter the amount of high frequencies in the bandwidth, determining if a Muff will sound more on the smooth side or the harsh side.
Tone Stack Filters – Big Muffs are known for their trademark mids scooped tones, meaning the mid frequencies are removed from the bandwidth, making the sound very deep and dark.
High Pass Filter – R5 / C9
Low Pass Filter – R8 / C8
Triangle:
Clipping / Blocking:
C6 .05uF, .1uF, .12uF, and 1.0uF
C7 .05uF, .1uF, .12uF, and 1.0uF
Feedback / Filter Caps:
C10 500pF, 560pF, 470pF
C11 500pF, 560pF, 470pF
C12 500pF, 560pF, 470pF
Tone Stack Filters:
C8 27k (Early), 33k (Common)
C9 27k (Early), 33k (Common)
R5
R8
Ram’s Head:
Clipping / Blocking:
C6 .047uF, .1uF, .12uF, and 1.0uF
C7 .047uF, .1uF, .12uF, and 1.0uF
Feedback / Filter Caps:
C10 560pF, 470pF
C11 560pF, 470pF
C12 560pF, 470pF
Tone Stack Filters:
C8 33k, 39k
C9 33k
R5
R8
V3:
Clipping / Blocking:
C6 1.0uF
C7 1.0uF
Feedback / Filter Caps:
C10 560pF, 470pF
C11 560pF, 470pF
C12 560pF, 470pF
Tone Stack Filters:
C8
C9 22k, 39k
R5
R8
Russian:
Clipping / Blocking:
C6 .047uF
C7 .047uF
Feedback / Filter Caps:
C10 430pF (Early), 500pF(the Civil War model), 470pF (green & black ver)
C11 430pF (Early), 500pF(the Civil War model), 470pF (green & black ver)
C12 430pF (Early), 500pF(the Civil War model), 470pF (green & black ver)
Tone Stack Filters:
C8 20k (Early), 22k (Black)
C9 22k
R5
R8
notes
I am looking into trying to do some etching and have found some great tutorials on the subject. Just not sure if that is the look I want to go for or do the punch stamps.
Here is another pedal I missed out on and wish I picked up is the Skreddy Lunar Module. Looks like the guy over at “Guitar FX Layouts” has done it again and shared a vero layout of a great pedal. This is the deluxe version which has the trim pots that were available in the standard model now as knobs.
I got 90% of the parts from Mammoth Electronics and the rest from eBay since it was convenient. For some reason the 2N222 transistor and the 1N5817 Schottky Diodes was not stocked by ME. I emailed them to ask if they were going to stock them at a later date.
Total so far: $33.52