Big Green Rusty Box

Another multi-effect for bass. Rusty Box preamp and Big green russian Muff with blend. 

and a photo of the "guts".Too many daughter boards cause too much wiring.

How do pedals work?

I decided doing a series of posts, in which I'll try to explain how effect pedals work, without getting too technical and theoretical. We'll see the bigger picture and explore what parts are needed to get an effect going! I often get the question if "clones are different from originals?" and it is always a lengthy answer by my side. With what we'll learn, I hope you'll get your own opinion on that matter.

Let's start by seeing what are the main parts on the box. 

We'll use an EHX Lpb-1, which is a pretty simple circuit.

This effect is clearly done in a factory automized setting.

1.In and Out plugs

You can get all kinds of types on these, every type has its ups and downs. Things can get tight in an enclosure, so in hand-made pedals we mostly see the first (open) type, while in factory-made we mostly get the 3d type. .

2.The Footswitch with which you choose between "True Bypass" or "effect". Here is the junction between the In and Out plugs and the effect board. We will later examine switches so, I'll just tell you that we mostly see the standard blue "3DTP" switch. Our LPB-1 uses the -easy connect- board seen on 2nd pic, seen mostly in factory pedals.

3.Power Supply

Most pedals need 9V DC to run and all require the "Boss type" barel plug. Some effects run on 18 or even 24volt, some on different +/- polarity. Again, on the LPB-1 we see the second type attached on the board. In hand made you see the first, screw type.

4. The maindboard.

Here is where all the magic (grow up) happens. The board is used to route the needed connections between components, signal and power to complete the circuit. This particular board is a PCB (Printed Circuit Board). It has drill holes and an exact place for each component. In factory made pedals, we can find boards that have place for every part, even plugs and switch. You can also see boards that require wires to make the connections between parts, that's the main approach on diy.

5.The Pot(entiometer).

Everyone knows what may happen if you give it a spin, but how that happens? Each pot is a part of the circuit and can change the balances between components. It can have minor or major effect for each case. We can see the first pot has "solder lugs" that are very handy for using with wire. On pcb you'll see the "pins" instead of the "lugs".

and last but not listed...

the enclosure!

Enclosures are mostly aluminum or metal. Some companies design and construct their own ones, other use some standard designs, some use plastic (Boss style) and some are built from heavy fukin metal. I once came across a Kramer distortion that was heavy and thick enough to have a tank over it. That didn't prevent the pedal from having a defective pot and a burned out component though. We will be mostly dealing with the 1950 series, the most widely spread type. 

That's all for now, we'll see closely about all the parts on the next posts.

Catalinbread Heliotrope

Catalinbread describes this as a "harmonic pixelator". A sort of analogue bit crusher. Not really much explaining to do, watch the videos posted beneath to get an idea. It's not really something to take a permanent place on your pedalboard but can be fun and creative. It can be powered with 9 to 18 VDC, and from my tests I'd say it sounds better on higher voltage.

Here is an all-around review from catalinbread.

And here is an interesting approach for creating soundscapes 

Schumman PLL clone with add-ons

Took about 3 months from start to finish. Reading around the web, researching all connections and different parts, search for said parts. Huge enclosure, AC power supply (instead of the usual DC for pedals), trying to design the best way to fit everything in there. Everything finally came together for my biggest project yet.

P(hase) L(ock) L(oop) will take any signal given from guitar/bass/keys etc. The main feature is making it into a square wave, distortion-like sound and then multiplying and diving it. With so many options about how to deal with the signal, you'll need quite a few hours of experimentation to learn how it really works and what it really can do.

Like that wasn't enough, good old Mr Schumman also launched two add-on pedals with extra functions. Here are all three of them by Schumman electronics.

The Drone, divided in two sides, produces a sine wave for each side witch can then be applied to the main sound.

The Moment is an extra control for the divider and multiplier functions. You can either interrupt or enable them while pressing the momentary footswitch.

Well, I got 'em all in one box. :D Can't really describe what that sounds like and what you can create with it, we'll have to wait for the demo video.

Due to the huge size it isn't as beautiful as I would like it to be. I must have printed and applied decals more than 6 times before I was (kinda) happy with the outcome, and believe me, it is a process that takes time. Enough talk, here it is.

Deep Blue Delay with tap tempo and tails bypass

Most diy delays are built around the infamous PT2399 IC. You can't really rely on it because 9 out of 10 chips produce a mild to strong hissing noise in the repeats. The only way around it is to have a lot of them and try them out until you find the most silent one.

The Mad Professor Deep blue delay. Moded with an extra module to allow setting delay time by tapping, accompanied by LEDs that flash to the selected time, a switch to choose between true bypass or bypass with tails. Also, installed an expression pedal out, where you can connect your expression/volume pedal to alter the feedback (repeats) while you play.

I got confused and the expression pedal out is on the opposite side from the marking on the decal, but I don't think that's enough of a problem. :D

Ts-9 & Ts808

Those two effects are so close, only some resistor values are different between them. Now you can have both in one stompbox! With extra 3-way clipping switch. Stock (silicon diodes), None (no clipping) and LED clipping!

Also, here is a video (not mine) that shows the difference between the two models.

Timmy

Paul Cohrane's Timmy.

The Arcadiator

Another mind-boggling effect from Parasit Studios. Fuzz with octaves, lfo, and a bunch of functions that will just keep you playing and experimenting!

Tap Tempo Tremolo

A tremolo with 8 different waveshapes. You can distort the shape and depth of each wave and dial in or tap the tempo.

Stutter / Killswitch

A little box that lets you cut your signal while you push the button. Comes with a pot to choose what the signal's volume will be when the button is pressed, from silence to unity. No power supply needed.

Split 'n' Blend

A small utility box that lets you mix your clean signal with whatever you want to have in your loop. Especially useful for bassists who want to use distortion/fuzz without losing the low end of the bass.
Also has a power supply out so you can feed other pedal(s).

Rusty Box

A bass preamp by Tronographic. Excellent finger and pick response. Clean to light overdrive with 3 points eq.

Phase 90+2

A clone of the MXR Phase 90, with added depth control and a switch to turn the effect to its "script" version.

Neptune Delay

Clean Delay with "warp speed" button!

Mutron Phasor II

Vintage Phaser.

 

EHX LPB-1

A small clean boost by EHX

Master Switch / Looper

4 Send-Return Channels with super-silent relay switching. Made with soft switches.
Comes with 2 modes.
1: One channel active at a time. The moment you hit another channel, the previous shuts off.
2: All channels are on/off. All channels may be active at a time.

Parasit Studios - Into the Unknown

Original effect by www.parasitstudio.se/

Fulltone OCD V3

Version 3 OCD with charge pump. Feed it 9v and choose whether you wanna run it on 9 or 18 volts!