I just picked up one of these at a GC cause it's only 15 dollars and has some good tones in it. I was wondering if anybody could point me to some places with mods for true bypass/rehousing/mods to make it sound even better! Thanks---
Quote from: newbie builder on June 15, 2006, 03:21:12 PM
I just picked up one of these at a GC cause it's only 15 dollars and has some good tones in it. I was wondering if anybody could point me to some places with mods for true bypass/rehousing/mods to make it sound even better! Thanks---
It's all smd parts, so it's a hard to do something at all. I know someone here traced it, and I guess it would be easier to build one from scratch.
True bypass + a LED shouldn't be hard at all. If fact you don't need to de-solder anything, SMD or otherwise. Just hack parts onto it.
This is unverified, but should work:
(http://www.beavisaudio.com/xstorage/Projects/DanolectroRehouse/danolectro_distortion_rehouse.gif)
Simplest way....... use a looper. I have 'em and thats what I do.
As for rehousing -too much work. Me = lazy by nature.
They're $ 15 dollars, right? So was the fancy woodfired boutique pizza I had for dinner last night... (didn't taste any better but slightly prettier waitresses doing a slightly better imitation of sincerity with smiles etc)
If you have other reasons for rehousing... secret weapon/embarrassed by $15 pedal on board etc ...AFAIK all the actual circuit is on the little second board. So I guess it'll all be in that ribbon cable. Don't have one here at the mo...
Wow thats a nice diagram Dano12, but if you do it that way, you can skip the momentary switch and have the effect always on, by holding either the set or reset pin high (I don't know which one), because one will hold in bypass perpetually, and the other will have the effect always on. But yeah, you could skip the big board entirely if you were comfortable making new power supply filtering + reverse polarity protection, etc. thats on the big board.
Thanks much. The "big" board isn't really that big. I wouldn't even remove the existing plastic jacks. Just wire in new jacks into the enclosure and a 3PDT.
Thanks for the tip on the latching--I'll pull out the FAB tonight (I actually have all of them and am going to put them into a single steel strip) and check it out.
I left out that the set end reset applies to the 4013 flip flop chip.
Say, if you're putting a bunch of them in a box, if you left the electronic switching in, you could make a poor man's bradshaw switcher (switch between different combos with a single click), w/ some logic feeding the set and reset pins on each effect's 4013.
Orrrrr, take the little boards out and put them in a big box and true bypass each one for that project, and save the big boards for a remote logic controlled multi switcher, that could switch combos of any effects that were plugged into it . Then you'd be getting your $15 worth for sure.
Same series, different pedal - anyone have any suggestions as to how I could go about getting rid of some of the fizz/sizzle/crackle of a Fab Metal? To get the right amount of gain I have too much of this high-end harshness... should a small cap across the volume pot's outer lugs work, or some little cap across what looks most like a clipping diode pair?
Jeff
Volume pot cap across 1 and 3 will cut highs.
It could conversely be done at the input too, smaller cap I'd say.
SMT's have been dubbed non-diy-workable, but there may be places on the pots or something that you could 'attach' mods to, a HF rolloff cap or caps might utilize a pot position.
TB loop box is probably a good idea. These pedals are not known for 'road strength' I had 3 replacements of them, pedalboarding/tieing the input/output/supply wires down, outside the pedal may extend life for anything except ginger treatment of the jacks.
A looper is another box, but a utilizable unit, also it looks easier and safer than modding the FaB.
So would I just cut the wires to the existing footswitch when I wired up the new 3pdt? So with the "arming" I would always have that on, and with that on it would still be true bypass, and then clicking on the 3pdt would engage the effect in the signal? I thought about a TB loop, but the main reason for a rehouse is durability and because I wanna get more expierence making/modifying my own effects. That's a great diagram, thanks!
hey anyone used the danelectro DJ-21 black coffee?
nice looking pedal but no distortion control!
does anyone know how/if it could be modded to incorperate one? and has any one else used one?
Quote from: newbie builder on June 15, 2006, 03:21:12 PM
I just picked up one of these at a GC cause it's only 15 dollars ...
wow $15! bargin
Quote from: dano12 on June 15, 2006, 05:12:24 PM
True bypass + a LED shouldn't be hard at all. If fact you don't need to de-solder anything, SMD or otherwise. Just hack parts onto it.
This is unverified, but should work:
(http://www.beavisaudio.com/xstorage/Projects/DanolectroRehouse/danolectro_distortion_rehouse.gif)
Hey Dano- where did you get your images of the jacks and LED? I've been using the ones on the verotools in the layout gallery, but I really like yours! :)
I am trying the same thing to put 3 effects in one enclouser. one thing how to eliminate the momentary switch so the pedal is always on? i have the rest figured out but i need a drawing so i can see what to do (my brains on vacation lol)
Thanks for all help and tips
Joe
I am wondering the same thing about your diagram Dano.
I am trying to find some good images for box layouts, and I kind of realised I would have to make my own. You did a great job with your diagram.
Gilles
Quote from: disto on June 16, 2006, 12:39:40 PM
hey anyone used the danelectro DJ-21 black coffee?
nice looking pedal but no distortion control!
does anyone know how/if it could be modded to incorperate one? and has any one else used one?Quote from: newbie builder on June 15, 2006, 03:21:12 PM
I just picked up one of these at a GC cause it's only 15 dollars ...
wow $15! bargin
Go over to Harmony Central DIY or The Gear Page and do a search- Clay Jones has drawn the schematics out for a lot of these pedals and they are clones of famous ones. The black coffee is suposedly one of the better Danos- I haven't personally tried it though.
Quote from: newbie builder on June 16, 2006, 10:34:05 AM
So would I just cut the wires to the existing footswitch when I wired up the new 3pdt? So with the "arming" I would always have that on, and with that on it would still be true bypass, and then clicking on the 3pdt would engage the effect in the signal? I thought about a TB loop, but the main reason for a rehouse is durability and because I wanna get more expierence making/modifying my own effects. That's a great diagram, thanks!
Yep, you can cut the existing footswitch out and just solder a jumper wire where the switch wires were. Thusly, the pedal will always be "on". Your new jacks and 3PDT will add true bypass which ends up sort of turning the pedal off.
This should be an awesome good project to get your skills and confidence level up. And if you toast the pedal, well it's only 15 bucks :)
Feel free to ask if you have any questions along the way.
The diagrams are done in Visio. I created all my own parts from scratch. I've got a pretty good colllection of switches, jacks, etc. at this point. It is also great for doing schematics. I love Visio :)
There's some more switch and jack examples here:
http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/PedalPower/ (http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/PedalPower/)
and here:
http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/Switches/ (http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/Switches/)
I peeked at my fab echo and heres what the jumper wires do that connect the little board to the big board:
white center of coax: Input
coax shield: Ground
Yellow: Out
Red: +9v
Blue: indicator LED cathode (it needs a current limiting resistor from you, anode is hooked directly to the +9)
I also noted that compared to the Rebote delay, it lacked the opamp in and out buffers on the little board, so it must be taking advantage of the stock TL027 buffers on the big board. So its kind of neccessary in the echo's case. But from CS Jones' schematics (http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?s=0006420d770674b1a4950c8ce99b4302&threadid=1242911) the 3 distortions look like they have everything they need (minus the power conditioning) onboard.
Quote from: newbie builder on June 16, 2006, 08:09:08 PMGo over to Harmony Central DIY or The Gear Page and do a search
wow i didnt know they had schems on there i only ever used it for reviews of gear!
Quote from: newbie builder on June 16, 2006, 08:09:08 PM
The black coffee is suposedly one of the better Danos- I haven't personally tried it though.
hmmm these pedals look very very cool and i think with the plastic safety guard over the pedals would be gigable, however i think there is way way to much distortion on this pedal and i think the pedal would be better with an adjustable gain! im begining to believe it would be inpossible to mod
TGP and HC DIY don't actually have schematic sections, but in the effects section Clay Jones has posted a lot about Danos, and in the DIY part of Harmony Central he's also posted a lot about Danos
thanks ive had a quick search around but havent found anything for the black coffee did you actually see some info on it newbie?
Quote from: dano12 on June 16, 2006, 08:16:53 PM
Quote from: newbie builder on June 16, 2006, 10:34:05 AM
So would I just cut the wires to the existing footswitch when I wired up the new 3pdt? So with the "arming" I would always have that on, and with that on it would still be true bypass, and then clicking on the 3pdt would engage the effect in the signal? I thought about a TB loop, but the main reason for a rehouse is durability and because I wanna get more expierence making/modifying my own effects. That's a great diagram, thanks!
Yep, you can cut the existing footswitch out and just solder a jumper wire where the switch wires were. Thusly, the pedal will always be "on". Your new jacks and 3PDT will add true bypass which ends up sort of turning the pedal off.
This should be an awesome good project to get your skills and confidence level up. And if you toast the pedal, well it's only 15 bucks :)
Feel free to ask if you have any questions along the way.
Witch pins do i put a jumper on so the pedal is on all the time? i am doing a neil young pedal, prof tweed, dano chille dog, fab echo and fab flange all in one box. any help for wiring this up would be helpfull.
Thank You
Joe
Quote from: jjucius on June 18, 2006, 12:19:59 PM
Quote from: dano12 on June 16, 2006, 08:16:53 PM
Quote from: newbie builder on June 16, 2006, 10:34:05 AM
So would I just cut the wires to the existing footswitch when I wired up the new 3pdt? So with the "arming" I would always have that on, and with that on it would still be true bypass, and then clicking on the 3pdt would engage the effect in the signal? I thought about a TB loop, but the main reason for a rehouse is durability and because I wanna get more expierence making/modifying my own effects. That's a great diagram, thanks!
Yep, you can cut the existing footswitch out and just solder a jumper wire where the switch wires were. Thusly, the pedal will always be "on". Your new jacks and 3PDT will add true bypass which ends up sort of turning the pedal off.
This should be an awesome good project to get your skills and confidence level up. And if you toast the pedal, well it's only 15 bucks :)
Feel free to ask if you have any questions along the way.
Witch pins do i put a jumper on so the pedal is on all the time? i am doing a neil young pedal, prof tweed, dano chille dog, fab echo and fab flange all in one box. any help for wiring this up would be helpfull.
Thank You
Joe
If it is a FAB unit, look at the diagram I posted. Specficially, look at the swtich area. For other pedals, find the momentary switch. It should be just two connections. That's the on/off you want to jumper.
Thank you very much. i am puting 3 dano pedals and a prof tweed in this
(http://server3.uploadit.org/files/jjucius-neilbox.jpg)
i just got done with the silk screen and need to shoot clear powder over it.
again thanks for your help.
Joe
www.kustompowder.net
:o i was going to say wow how the hell did you get such amazing graphics onto a pedal, i though screen printing equipment was hard to get hold of! i then clicked on your website and you actually run a company producing screen prints a powder coating, so theres my answer!
looks very nice i must admit!
Thank you, by the way if you look around you can find some deals on used equipment, it's not as expensive as you think it just takes a lot of practice to get it right.
Joe
oh right where abouts could i look for some equipment! I'm not sure where to start but screen printing would be useful for alot of things, tshirts, CDs, promo work, and of course the odd pedal ;D
You can check e-bay for used or go here
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/45029
this is where i get my supplys from, check out the starter kits.
Later
Joe
ok great thanks alot
Not specifically on the black coffee, but here is a lot about danos: http://thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=130262
I just remembered where I heard the black coffee was good- Bjorn Juhl of bjf electronics spoke of it as being a cool pedal on the music toyz forum (later I could look it up for you) I don't remember exactly what he said, but I remember it was favorable.
Quote from: jjucius on June 18, 2006, 03:55:16 PM
Thank you very much. i am puting 3 dano pedals and a prof tweed in this
(http://server3.uploadit.org/files/jjucius-neilbox.jpg)
i just got done with the silk screen and need to shoot clear powder over it.
again thanks for your help.
Joe
www.kustompowder.net
Wow! Very nice. I love the idea of multiple circuits in one box. Good work.
how would i go about tracing an existing pedal i stripped down my danelectro black coffee (pic here (http://distouk.tripod.com/dano.html)) from looking at it (and i only have one so cant compare to others) the board with the jack sockets is standard tot he DJ mini series and the second board is individual to the effect, can any one comment on this? I'm considering creating a multi effect or perhaps just a autowah followed by the black coffee with a mix so that i can control and blend the clean guitar with the distorted guitar creating a less distorted sound if needed.
Joe, that box looks really great, I'd like seeing more diy alternatives to the common jimi-in-a-box. Neil in a box... I'm just wondering if you can get that trademark total saturation out of the tweed sim...
Say, since you're rehousing the fab echo, you owe it to yourself to add the delay time pot, its so easy especially since you aren't trying to find a spot for it in the tiny dano box: Heres how. (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=41465.0) Scroll down to the picture. To get the surface mount resistor off, I go back and forth melting each sides solder as quick as I can, then it'll push right off. Use a 50K pot for the delay time and the longer delays won't get all f-d up sounding.
Getting O.T., but have you heard Neil's "Dead Man" soundtrack? Some of my favorite effected Neil sounds. Its powerful, grungy, mysterious, American (apple pie, not waving flags, y'know?).
Thanks, i can get perty close by using all j201 trannys but most is from my amp a jackson 50 watt all tube head i converted to a combo it is a single channel with two gain stages, and i'm running it hot. and the guitar i use is a cheep stagg lp copy that i added a bigsby to and a humbucker sized p-90 at the neck and a firebird pu at the bridge.
(http://server2.uploadit.org/files/jjucius-neilguitar.jpg)
i think i will add that extra pot, and dead man is great, i love the tone he gets out of that set up.
Quote from: Processaurus on June 19, 2006, 08:52:41 PM
Getting O.T., but have you heard Neil's "Dead Man" soundtrack? Some of my favorite effected Neil sounds. Its powerful, grungy, mysterious, American (apple pie, not waving flags, y'know?).
Wow, I've yet to meet anyone who's heard that! One of my top ten favorite movies, and the soundtrack, well it's in the top five. Incredible guitar tone. It is haunting.
Question: what about the foil? Is that rendered unnecessary by rehousing it in a metal enclosure? Or does it need to stay?
I'm planning to rehouse both a Fab Distortion (which sounds AWESOME with Dano's dying battery simulator principles - it sounds like a gated fuzz ala Big Cheese or something) and a Fab Echo with the various mods mentioned on this forum (delay time, increased feedback for self-oscillation) as well as an expression pedal out.
Absolutely, ditch the foil. It was a cheap way for them to get RF shielding in their plastic cases.
Thanks for the tip on the fab distortion, I'll look it up, I really like that pedal, especially the tone knob. There isn't a schematic lying around with the values for it, are there? Its nice because it goes from no highs to what sounds like a mid notch (or flat) with plenty of high highs, to a narrow, upper mid boosted and less bassy sound, really nice range for one knob.
Quote from: Processaurus on July 13, 2007, 08:16:56 PM
Absolutely, ditch the foil. It was a cheap way for them to get RF shielding in their plastic cases.
Thanks for the tip on the fab distortion, I'll look it up, I really like that pedal, especially the tone knob. There isn't a schematic lying around with the values for it, are there? Its nice because it goes from no highs to what sounds like a mid notch (or flat) with plenty of high highs, to a narrow, upper mid boosted and less bassy sound, really nice range for one knob.
Cool, thanks! Yes, I agree it's a very nice, versatile distortion. I mean, it's got quite a lot of gain on tap, it's difficult to get a bad sound out of it. It also does light od, clean boost, and it's even "touch sensitive" (I hate that phrase - so overused). It is a little generic at times, but it still sounds good. When I got the gated fuzz sound out of it on top, that clinched it for me. Must do a rehouse.
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c22/umafloresta/FX/Diagrams%20Schematics%20Etc/fabdistortionfuzzmod.gif)
This is the only way I was able to get the "dying battery" effect to work while using an external power supply. IIRC, I could get it work while using batteries and keeping the power jack where it is, but I hate using batteries. The way I've done it, I think it would get immediately fried if it was plugged into a wall wort AND a battery.
Thanks for that!
Quote from: Uma Floresta on July 13, 2007, 11:02:10 PM
It is a little generic at times, but it still sounds good.
Exactly my feeling too. I'd like at some point to try grafting it and a proco rat together, to get some of the interesting character of the rat (from the hp filtering and slewing distortion from the lm308), but the softness of the clipping and the more refined tone control of the fab...
Hi Guys,
I've re-housed my Fab Distortion just for vanity :) Below is the pixs, enjoy!
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3020.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3021.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3023.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3025.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3026.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3027.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3028.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3031.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3032.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3037.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3038.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3039.jpg)
(http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/jepoysaipan/Fab%20Distortion%20Re-Housing/IMG_3040.jpg)