To build your own

Brought in to this world with metal and carbon. Forged in the hills of fire from the two hands of its maker.. oh and it will probably sound cool also.

I came across a great website for clone builds called www.tagboardeffects and IvIark, the owner of the blog, is a really cool guy and offers a lot of help with his layouts. Instead of plain schematics, he uses velro board layouts. Makes the layout process 100% easier.

He has done some layouts for some great and sought after pedals. I can’t wait to start building more pedals.

Yamaha DX7 Slider Knobs

 

I am in need of a few knobs. My DX7 never had any since I have owned it and I always forget that I need some. So I figured if I did a blog post about it I would remember to find some. Here is some info I found about it.

Part #4591

Slider knob, for DX7/9/21/27

http://www.syntaur.com/4591.html

http://www.oaktreevintage.com/Yamaha_Keyboard_Parts.htm

 

The Theory of the Clone

Electro-Harmonix The Clone Theory

I have had my eye set on these awhile and I might actually get a change to jump on one. I have always loved the chorus sound of the classic Joy division and Cocteau Twins albums had. This pedal was loved by many post-punk bands and it took a beating but kept on going. I look forward to adding this to my board.

Electro-Harmonix Company History in a nutshell

This is a “work in progress” but it gives you a good idea what was going on in the history of Electro-Harmonix
  • 1968
    • Mike Matthews founded Electro-Harmonix in New York.
    • First product Axis fuzz introduced, essentially the same unit as the Foxey Lady pedal he sold to Guild.
    • LPB-1 Linear Power Booster introduced at NAMM.
  • 1978
    • Mike Matthews named New York State Small Business Person of the Year.
    • Plastic, Moulders’ and Novelty Worker’s to setup a Union but Mike and employees refused.
  • 1979
    • Electro-Harmonix grossed annual sales of 5 million dollars.
  • 1981
    • Mike Matthews attacked by Union officials.
  • 1982
    • Pedal: 16-second digital delay created.
    • Due to Union problems Mike closed the doors of Electro-Harmonix and filed bankruptcy
    • Mike Matthews started buying back his assets from auction to resurrect Electro-Harmonix.
  • 1984
    • Electro-Harmonix went bankrupt for the second time due to Japanese competition.
    • Pedals were sold through Broadway Computer Corporation.
  • 1986
    • Broadway Computer Corporation was out of business.
    • Mike Matthews regained ownership of the Electro-Harmonix trademark.
  • 1988
    • Mike Matthews starts new company New Sensor Corporation.
    • New Sensor Corporation a supplier of vacuum tubes and the Soul Kiss pedal.
  • 1990
    • Pedals were started to be made in Russia un the name Sovtek/New Sensor Corp.
  • 2001
    • Mike Mathews brings reissues of Electro-Harmonix pedals back to the USA.
  • 2002
    • Electro-Harmonix started developing new pedals in New York.
  • 2006
    • Electro-Harmonix introduces the XO and NANO series. These pedals use surfaced mounted parts and the PCBs are outsourced and assembled in NY.

Footswitch for my pedalboard

I wanted to come up with a smaller footprint pedal to control a few outboard items like:

  • Fender Twin Reverb – Reverb/Vib switch
  • Roland Space Echo Bypass (latching switch)
  • Multi Use Bypass (latching switch)

Quick Parts List

  • Enclosure $12.95
  • 4 DPDT push switches
  • 2 mono jacks $1.95 ea
  • 1 stereo jack $1.95 ea
  • 4 5mm Black LED Bezel mounts $0.89 ea
  • 4 White LEDs 5mm $0.25 ea
  • D/C Power Jacks $1.50 ea
  • Resistor 100k

Pedalboard power requirements

My Pedaltrain Jr board is full and I’m now thinking that I should start looking for a permanent power solution instead of the OneSpot. Don’t get me wrong, I think the OneSpot is a great product but I may be over the 800Ma constraint. The results can not be good for pedals and the sound. I think the best thing to do is to list out the pedals on the board and add up the MA’s and see where I’m at.

  • TC Electronics PolyTune Mini (9 VDC 40mA)
  • Xotic EP Booster (9 to 18 VDC 5mA)
  • Barber Tone Press (9 VDC 10mA)
  • Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi (9VDC 6mA)
  • Tech21 SansAmp GT2 (9VDC 5mA)
  • Erni ball VP (Non-Powered)
  • Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man (corded)
  • Strymon Timeline (9VDC 250mA minimum)
  • Strymon BlueSky (9VDC 250mA minimum)
  • Neunaber Technology WET Stereo Reverb (9 to 12VDC 80mA)