someone upped this on "another" forum...worth a look!!!!!

[pinkjimiphoton]

these are the actual schem and layout for the ludwig phase II guitar-synthesizer interface.

fire up the irons... i plan on trying to build one, had one as a kid, traded it for a vox ac50 and a half a lid of grass about 1979 and have kicked myself in the ass ever since.

[deadastronaut]

wow...looks like an epic build!...

http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2009/09/ludwig-phase-ii-guitar-synthesizer.html

[pinkjimiphoton]

ayyy, i know...my brain hurts already...but it's gotta be done!!!

if we can clone it, then....we can have it!!!....my precious!!!! ;P

lol

[R.G.]

You didn't read about that at geofex, from 2004, where I used a much less clear version and some board pics to put them together?

It's interesting, but much too complicated for what it does. I think I posted some stuff here about the tracings. Try a search.

[pinkjimiphoton]

hi rg, that was actually how i first found geofex...i googled, and learned...and still am.

i know it may seem like a lot of hype until you play thru one...they are a pretty humbling experience, and can do stuff no other effect device i ever have used can do.

i'll try a search, thanks for the tip!!

i do hope to get my chops together enough to try a build...don't need the fancy lighted colour changing switches, but i'd try to get the rest as close as i could.
gonna start researching parts, and see what happens. may take a while, but if they're out there, i'll find them.

it really doesn't look quite as complex as it seemed 30 some odd years ago. with mine, the big thing was one of the footswitches broke, and was impossible to replace back then, that's why i traded it off...but then, back in the day, nobody really seemed to think they were worth anything.

i missed one by minutes at a hole in the wall music store about 12 years ago...the guy at the store turned it down, cuz he didn't know what it was...

50 bux, dude..  my timing always HAS been...ummm...impeccable..

[Ry]

I am loathe to admit this, but I built it on a breadboard one summer...it never came anywhere near to working.  This pedal was a passion of mine for many years before I gave it up and realized that there are more interesting things in life and easier pedals to build (ANY other pedal is easier than this beast).  What's missing from the schematic are the switch connections.  Lots of switch connections.  Someone on this board (or a much earlier version of it) was kind enough to trace out their switch connections and send the information to me years ago.  I really need to find that documentation again as so many people are gaining interest in this beast again.

[pinkjimiphoton]

MAN, i hope ya can find that...cuz that really is the missing link to getting it up and running!!!

but..here's the thing...if memory serves, it had 4pdt switches...that was the nitemare that made them irreparable and unreplaceable.

but...pretty sure that where there's a will, there's a way...perhaps switch it electronically with more readily available switches.

i got faith in rg in particular...if it can be done, i figure he'll figure it out!!

[R.G.]

I am loathe to admit this, but I built it on a breadboard one summer...it never came anywhere near to working.  This pedal was a passion of mine for many years before I gave it up and realized that there are more interesting things in life and easier pedals to build (ANY other pedal is easier than this beast).  What's missing from the schematic are the switch connections.  Lots of switch connections.  Someone on this board (or a much earlier version of it) was kind enough to trace out their switch connections and send the information to me years ago.  I really need to find that documentation again as so many people are gaining interest in this beast again.

As nearly as I can remember from 6-7 years ago, the interconnections to switches and controls were the big place where I did all I could and made intelligent ( ) guesses about the wiring. Just getting the circuits on the boards is pretty tame.

[pinkjimiphoton]

yah, looking at the layout doesn't really seem too bad. i'd imagine that outside of the footswitches, some of the switch wiring could be made easier by leaving out the circuitry associated with changing the colours of the switches...they DID look cool, but who does that much acid anymore? 

i bet it could be done. i really would love to lay this out on veroboard (being too lame still to attempt making the proper pcb).
as i recall, (i did open mine and look at it) there's really not all that much...a couple boards, maybe 5x7 inches, if that.

when i get back later, i'll try and search for the other posts you made, rg, see if i can tie everything into this thread so maybe between a couple of us we can come up with a working schematic and/or layout.

to me, at least, it'd be worth it....i'll never be able to afford the real mccoy in this life, if i could even find one!
but a workalike would be pretty awesome.
the combination of the foot controlled phaser/wah and distortion/fuzz was intoxicating.

or, it could be bad memory, and jonesing for something that's nowhere near as cool as i remember, that happens sometimes with things.
there's a couple boxes from my youth i hope to build one of these days, the original eh clone theory with the flange/vibrato switch (that switch made it special...you could get it between positions and it sounded unlike either setting, kind of a weird amalgamation of both) , a "buzz box" i had that was one of my first fuzzes...it was cool, had a little voltage meter on it, and it buzzed, not fuzzed...square wave city...and my first pedal, which i found schems and layouts for here, the kay fuzz with the cheezy plastic wah pedal.
my systech phaser would be nice to build too, really nailed that jimmy page "nobody's fault but mine" sound.


rg, do you know what i'm talking about with the buzz box? ever seen one? i don't know enough about it to be able to find what i'm looking for with it.

[nordine]

 

gotta admit this has been my SECRET DIY CRUSH from lots of years 

About Ry's concerns on switching connections, the numbers on the board tell whats what, i think its easily deductable from the board AND the external pannel

Whats common on ancient bigass circuits its redundant parts or complete blocks, a functional workalike could be 2 or 3x smaller... at first glance, the very input has two LOW Z inputs, one of them could be severed, and so on... what would be useful is identifying the blocks (preamp, VCF, VCA, etc), their interaction and then reducing them

[rousejeremy]

I saw one of these at Pauls Boutique in Toronto. I took a couple pics of it. The schematic was glued right onto it!

[Earthscum]

MAN, i hope ya can find that...cuz that really is the missing link to getting it up and running!!!

but..here's the thing...if memory serves, it had 4pdt switches...that was the nitemare that made them irreparable and unreplaceable.

but...pretty sure that where there's a will, there's a way...perhaps switch it electronically with more readily available switches.

i got faith in rg in particular...if it can be done, i figure he'll figure it out!!

http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=670

and http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=1073

and http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=1095

also http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=709

and http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=443

It's do-able now, lol. I'm interested, gonna be watching this thread.

[pinkjimiphoton]

sweet, thanks brother...let's make it happen somehow!!!!!~!

[Keppy]

I've never heard this thing. Sound clips, anyone?

[MoltenVoltage]

I had to see what this thing looked like, I wasn't disappointed:
http://www.effectsdatabase.com/model/ludwig/phase2

The big problem I see is how to set the 5 trimpots (or is it 7?)

[pinkjimiphoton]

sound clips will be tough...this is a real hen's tooth, bro...

don't know if the trimpots will be an issue....i gotta feeling if we all pull together on this, it's gonna happen!!!

like i said, owned one long ago, and was a fool...

but this is THE SINGLE COOLEST PEDAL EVER MADE.

[Earthscum]

I remember seeing one of these at a music store years ago sitting next to a Yamaha Midi Guitar setup. I was in Jr. High, so I just scoffed at it.

The guitar looked like this: http://members.cox.net/musicsite/Guitar%20Pics/A_PG380_01.jpg and had a rack unit it needed to work, which had analog output to the amp. I also remember the guy saying the amp sitting there was made for the midi-out from the rack. Kewl stuff to me, now... but in 1990, well...   

[digi2t]

I Google'd some of the tranny numbers from the drawing, like 43054 for instance, and I'm coming up dry.

Damn... I'd love to try and do a vero of this sucker. Looks like monastery work (...3 years later ).

[pinkjimiphoton]

did you try a cross reference like:

http://nte01.nteinc.com/nte/NTExRefSemiProd.nsf/$$Search

there's gotta be equivalents...i mean, in the end, if the tranny's a pnp/npn as long as the gain is in the ballpark, we should be good, right?

or am i still wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too newbe to "get" some of the nuances?

[digi2t]

DUDE!!!! Thanks for the link! Neat little search engine, got it bookmarked.

I'm thinking that the trannies should be as close as possible insofar as values (voltages, gains, etc.) are concerned. Otherwise, I don't think the effect will perform as well, or close to the original. Craps all mighty, there's a crap-load of trannies in this sucker!!