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Mega Update

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So its been forever since I have updated this, and in that space of time I have completed 3 more effect builds.

First up, I have to get this one documented as it caused me no end of frustration. It still isnt perfect as its a bit noisy, and I am not sure why, but it works. I built two of these Little Angel Chorus pedals, following this schematic:

Its classed as a  verfied layout, still, two attempts and a couple of PT2399 IC’s later (thanks IvIark and Dr Tweek for the help with those) and the damn thing wouldnt chorus for the life of me. You can check out the main thread I used for help here: http://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=10276&p=141735&hilit=little+angel#p141735
Anyway, here are what my boards look like. The first one is atrocious, and all wonky and horrid. In hindsight Im not suprised it didnt, and still doesnt, function:
 This is the second one hooked up to really the cheapest jacks ever (never use ebay…) but its good for testing purposes.
The moral of this tale is to always check for solder bridges, cos thats what it turned out to be… sigh. 
Anyway, I’m not 100% happy with it, and there are some revisions to the circuit posted that I recommend anyone wishing to follow this and build one takes note of, particularly if you arent using a PCB but Veroboard.
This is what I have made for the decal, an homage to the lovely EH Small Clone: 
Next up, the pedal that restored my faith in my Vero abilities. The John Hollis Easy Vibe. I have long loved the sound of Uni Vibes, but really, they are prohibitively expensive to buy a decent one these days. Sure Danelectro knock one out for £40 but then you have to rehouse it and all that shit. Anyway, John Hollis. I just found out about this dude and he seems to be somewhat of a pedal legend. His website is full of awesome stuff, including a handful of promising sounding pedals. I decided to make the Easy Vibe, cos it seemed, well, EASY (sorry) and I had the requisite parts (minus the ICs and LDRs, couple of quid from Bits Box). 
The vero is one I found via Google, courtesy of some fine chap at DIYSB: 
These are some pictures from the build: 
OMG THATS A LOT OF SOLDERING 
Component side up: 
Because of the size of the Vero board, you need to fit this in a bigger box. This is mine with some of the hardware layed out. As with my other builds, take time here, and it saves headaches later on…
As you can see Im using whats left of some nice, but not as nice as metal, Rean semi open plastic jacks. These are about 60p from Rapid in the UK. I have recently placed a mass order from Banzai for more metal switchcraft jacks. As before, the idiots are taking ages to ship. Still, these are similar to the ones used in Lovetone, and seem robust, if a little less chunky and nice as the metal ones. Im officially out of Boss style 9v jacks now until Banzai deliver, so Its gonna be a quiet few weeks after this mass update…
Anyway, this is a nice pic of everything in. Its not the prettiest thing ever, but it sounds lush. Note, I havent shrinkwrapped the LED/LDR combos. I tried it, and the sound was spot on for me. I have ordered some big shrinkwrap that I can resersibly attach when it arrives and hear any difference:
Heres a cool little video of the 4 LEDs pulsing and me messing with the rate control 🙂 
Hopefully that works…
Anyway. Its a great effect and gives a faithful sound alike of the real thing. The Chorus / Vibrato switch works a treat. Chorus blends back in the straight signal to give that hollowed out phase shifty vibe sound. Vibe is effected only and gives pitch modulation. Overall it sounds KILLER and very similar to my Lovetone Doppelganger (high praise indeed!). 
I have done a decal for this, nice and simple and orange 🙂

Ok, last but not least, I have been thinking to make one of these for a while as I reckon’d it sound awesome into my Blackstar Artisan 15. The Artisan is a wonderful amp, but also on the bright side. The Box of Rock is known for being dark-ish and bassy/sub heavy. I built the drive only side from this schematic:

 Its not the most space saving of layouts unfortunately. I had some standard 25 x 9 board, and I had to put tone 3 into the same hole as R15, but not a big deal. I am not at the point yet where I am A) skilled enough or B) bothered enough to make my own layouts. Ill stick with what I presume will work 1st time rather than debug my own mess. However, Ill come back to this point in a moment 😉

Here is what the build looked like for me:

Not the best picture sorry. Anyway, I had to bodge a 330r and another resistor cos I didnt have the right values (82r) I doubt it woulda made much difference to just use the closest I had (say 220r and a 100r). Good thing was it worked. I boxed it all up:

This build used the last pair of Neutrik (switchcraft style) jacks. Mainly cos I wanted it to match my Fuzz Factory somewhat. I used some shielded cable for the ins and outs (dual core, so you can wire the grounds easily too). Rather than the neon orange Van Damme stuff Ive got this gray version from BitsBox. Works well.

Upon listening to the effect I was wishing for a hair more gain. Keen eyed effect fans will know mr Vex launched a cheapo series (still £150) which includes someting called a Distortron and the Mastrotron. Mastotron is basically a Woolly Mammoth, SMD, with 2N2222 trannys and switchale subs, with a input impedance knob (which is pretty useful, wish Id built that into my Mammoth, ahem…). Anyway the Distortron is pitched as the drive only part of the Box Of Rock, but again has added features to go with its overseas SMD construction. It has a lo/hi gain toggle, and switchable subs. As I am happy with the bass levels this thing kicks out, I was only interested in the Gain. Reading on FSB I found out that the switch basically shorts the 330r resistor from the 3rd transistor to ground for higher gain.

I implemented this using a SPDT switch and changing the layout a tiny bit. Excuse the use of MS paint:

Heres a somewhat poorly lit gutshot (note, wires for SPDT are yellow and orange in my build):

Finally, here is the finished article, with nice Red knobs and my hack job from the original artwork. Im really happy with this build. Not sure if its ended my search for that classic 80s distortion sound, but its simple to build and cheap parts. I will have to do another mega update with sound clips for all these new pedals. Stay in touch for that!

Red for RAWK!

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