Effect Pedal building

[brewdude]

Thanks for the explanation.
I dig the led switches.

[didit]

2. Pedal Car...Orman Clean boost in diecast car with leds in headlights.

This looks hazardous for someone as clumsy as me.

[RWood]

Just don't drink when you drive it!

[BobSimpson]

Are you folks using resistors in conjuction with those leds?
or are there enough of them that they are safe at 9VDC?

Bob

[Colossal]

Are you folks using resistors in conjuction with those leds?
or are there enough of them that they are safe at 9VDC?

Bob

I'd like to know too. I just ordered a red one and a green one for a 102 OD and PAB footswitch.

[xtian]

Yes, I'm using 1K resistors in series with the LEDs on those nice LED ring switches. Here are a couple photos of the bottom of my rig:

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[martin manning]

Finished up this father-son project today, which is a close copy of the Jext-Telez White pedal, which is in turn a close copy of the front end of the solid-state Vox Conquerer amp from the '60's (In point of detail, the inductor is connected as in the Vox Super Beatle). It's a fuzz-like distortion circuit with variable feedback, followed by clipping diodes and a wah-like EQ (the Vox MRB mid-range boost). This thing really does a great job of getting the tones from Beatles tunes like Hey Bulldog and Helter Skelter, plus it can do a very dirty fuzz, and produce a range of '60's psychedelic sounds of the cocked-wah variety. Our version has an expanded selection of caps for the mid boost (seven!), and eliminates a couple of transistors that are doing absolutely nothing except running the battery down in the White pedal (they were the enable/disable mechanism for the distortion and clipping circuits in the Vox amp). It's also built in a shallower 1-1/8" deep enclosure, so it looks even more like that double LP. Construction on a pad-per-hole board was somewhat tedious, but produced a nice compact result. The Mammoth Electronics ME-6 wah inductor is very reasonably priced, and works great. Pedal Parts Plus powder coated the enclosure in satin white to complete the look.

[didit]

Nicely done. Congrats to both of you. Any plan to make & share some recordings.

Best .. Ian

[martin manning]

Thanks, Ian. No recordings yet, but you can hear what it does here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaJDYYxQ6Ug That demo includes some of the psychedelic rock stuff, but there's a great Jefferson Airplane sound ala White Rabbit in it that they don't get into.

[Tony Bones]

Nice job. I hope you and your dad enjoy it.

[xtian]

My cheap 3W laser won't etch metal or cut through anything heavier than cardboard...BUT it will nicely vaporize spray paint off of aluminum. Planning to use this technique for my next set of three pedals, using aionelectronics.com boards (Pete Cornish G2 for $50 in parts? Yes, please!)

IMG_2161.jpg

[dorrisant]

Where's the Monkeymatic?

Try this...
1-Paint the aluminum.
2-Laser engrave logo, as you have done.
3-Scrub burnt residue with a toothbrush and some water... make it shine a bit.
4-Tape off all to be protected with painters tape. I make a boat out of the tape as well, so as to hold the liquid from the next step...
5-Brush on some ferochloric acid. Pour it in the boat if you can.
6-Agitate lightly with the brush every couple of minutes or so. This may take 1/2 hour or so, depending on strength of solution and composition of metal.
7-Look for the bright color of the aluminum to fade. Sometimes I probe the etched area with a toothpick to feel if it is rough or still smooth. This judgement of when it is ready will come with experience. Note that you will be able to see through the acid at first but it will become opaque after a bit and you may want to feel for the effect with a toothpick.
8-Rinse with water.
9-Remove paint mask with solvent.
10-Polish and enjoy!

Try it! It really isn't that difficult and will look very cool.

It may be fine as is, but if you etched deep enough, you can fill with enamel paint (Testors works very well) then sand all of the unwanted paint back of and/or polish.

220 grit sandpaper will leave a nice brushed finish. I sometimes sand mine in steps (220, 600, 1200, 1500) and end up at 2000 grit. Buff hard and fast with Flitz for a mirror-like finish.

I feel like I should mention that this has been a public service announcement.

[xtian]

Thanks for the etching recipe, Tony!

For this project, I do want the black paint to contrast with the exposed aluminum.

Here's a handsome mascot!

IMG_2163.jpg

[studiodunn]

I was already in a phaser building stint when Eddie died, so the Phase 90 got to be an homage to the master.

Board is from Madbean and the quad of 2N5457's came from lectric-fx. Super easy to use and much tighter match makes for a great sounding phase - https://lectric-fx.com/product/jay-fetz ... irs-quads/

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[Synchu]

Out of the few tenths of drives I did lately, an interesting bit is the Kingsley Page type boost pedal.
Didn't finish yet the enclosure, but sounds good to me:)
Sounds (G&L Classic S to 5B3/6 type amp) :
https://youtu.be/OvrWregc07E

Pics:

IMG_1261.JPEG

IMG_1262.JPEG

Niki