Ok. I've been thinking for a while about building a scrambler expression pedal. Instead of making it an expression pedal, I just built it into an old volume pedal I had laying around that was too neat to remain unused. After doing it, I think it is pretty cool, very easy to do (if you have a wah/volume shell to work with) and much more flexible than just a typical octave stompbox. I used a PCB from GGG, put a 10k resistor across the texture pot connection (maxes the texture), and made the pedal spin the blend pot. There are no switches; the buffer in the scrambler is active all the time. The pedal adds no hiss at all even when stacked with the Metal Zone. I didn't EQ or effect the clips in any way.
Also, notice on the end of the first clip I'm moving the pedal back and forth in tempo and it sounds kind of like a Univibe. Weird!
(http://the23rdcentury.com/pedals1sm.jpg)
(http://the23rdcentury.com/pedals2sm.jpg)
These Clips are all thru the scrambler into my Line 6 set for Non-topboost Vox AC30:
No pedal beside the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler vox NTB.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler%20vox%20NTB.mp3)
Dunlop FF after the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler FF vox.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler%20FF%20vox.mp3)
Behringer DS1 after the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler DS1 vox.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler%20DS1%20vox.mp3)
Boss Metal Zone after the Scrambler (This is my pitiful attempt at some pseudo metal playing)
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler MZ vox.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler%20MZ%20vox.mp3)
Black Russian Big Muff Pi after the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler BMP vox.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler%20BMP%20vox.mp3)
On this clip the Scrambler runs into the Mesa Dual Rectifier setting on my Line 6 with no other stomp boxes.
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler mesa dual rect.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler%20mesa%20dual%20rect.mp3)
Enjoy!
Wow, sounds cool. A great way to create fake feedback. Pluck a note and then start adding the up octave.
Gotta try that out with my spare shell.
---------
Jimbo
Wow! Nice playing. That expression pedal rocks with the Scrambler. I'll have to hit some pawn shops and music store to see if I can find an old Wah or volume pedal to destroy. Thanks for the awesome clip examples.
Those clips make a very compelling case for not only doing this with the Scrambler, but doing it with a lot of pedals. It lets us all be Jeff Beck, if only for a moment, and if only in our imaginations.
I'm a sucker for riff-wise use of effects, and I think this is an excellent example of why it's such a nifty thing to be able to do. That Scrambler build sounds nicer than the one I made (offered it up with 2 other pedals as prizes for a "battle of the bands" at my kid's high school a couple years ago).
Totally sick sounding ! Congrats on the build and those sweet Hendrix like riffs. My wife would hate me if I built the scrambler :icon_wink:
Really sounds great !
8
Thanks for all the kind words. It is certainly a pretty fun pedal to play with, and I am amazed that it works as well with a Metal Zone as with a Fuzz Face. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm wondering if the buffer in the Scrambler will help a stock non-buffered wah work better with a fuzz.
What do you guys think?
Oh, and I forgot to mention that I recorded all the clips using the front p/u of my Burns Brian May with the tone knob wide open (not turned down at all). I think on one of the metal clips I switched on the middle p/u also to get a more humbuckery sound. You can use the rear pickup, but you lose the defined octave.
Really great sounding!
Hey, did you do any mods? That just sounds so much sweeter than the one I built.
Any reason for the carbon comp?
I didn't do any mods besides the texture pot omission, and the one I built that had the texture pot sounded pretty much the same with the texture pot maxed. I wish I could take credit for this thing sounding good, but I just populated the PCB. I think the one difference from the schematic is that I used 1N4148 diodes.
About the resistors, I just used what I had in the junk box. I haven't gotten to the point of experimenting with different types of components. If it's the correct value (or sorta close), I use it.
Thanks again for the kind words!
Sounds amazing. Nice licks too!
Quote from: tcobretti on August 25, 2006, 02:10:06 AM
I haven't tried it yet, but I'm wondering if the buffer in the Scrambler will help a stock non-buffered wah work better with a fuzz.
I haven't tried, but I'm quite sure it will help.
This is still a great idea. Worth bumping.
Thanks!
I agree that an expression pedal could be fun in a number of different applications. I've been thinking that with any pot, you could wire in a switching stereo jack (that breaks the signal path to the pot when a stereo cord is plugged into it), and then use an expression pedal when you want.
I recently got a Colorsound Swell on ebay, and I've been thinking of a using a dual gang pot so one side can work the Swell (actually the inductorless Colorsound Wah), and the other can be wired as an expression pedal. That way, I can use the wider sweep of the Colorsound design on any wah circuit by boxing it and wiring it as I described above. Or, in fact, I can use the wider sweep with any circuit that has 100k pot in it. If an application called for it, I could even put a 100k resistor across one side of the pot to make it a 50k pot.
Possibilities abound!
I just tried putting my Scrambler into an old crybaby wah enclosure using the old hot potz 100k from the wah for the blend. When I push the pedal down the blend should go to Octave, what's happening is a sudden drop in volume and not much Octave at all.
It must be the pot from the old Wah, but why?
What kind of pot did you use tcobretti?
because it's supposed to be 10K!
I feel like such an idiot when I answer my own question after I calm down.
You should feel the exact opposite: when you find it yourself, you win.
Hope you like it!
I will draw to everyone's attention here that the car-race/driving controllers one often sees for video games (the ones that come with a plastic steering coloumn and a two pedal floor unit) tend to have 50k pots in them. The also have a spring return to the "heel" position. Strikes me that such a chassis (which can often be purchased pretty cheaply; I've bought a couple, new in box, for about $10@) would be easily adapted to a controller for both a Scrambler and one other pedal. Or, if you can position your foot juuuuuuust right, you could control texture and blend at the same time.
Worth a thought.
It's a good idea for sure, but I'm worried about how solid it would be.
That's an interesting idea, Mark!
Quote from: frokost on July 31, 2009, 09:11:54 AM
It's a good idea for sure, but I'm worried about how solid it would be.
Well I doubt anything could be as solid as the cast aluminum Sho-Bud chassis! Think of the $10 plastic foot controller as a "consumable". Buy a couple of them, install the electronics, and when the plastic foot pedal craps out, move it to another chassis. Besides, you can always mount the unit on a wooden or other base, and install a bypass switch somewhere more solid.
Awesome clips. I'll bet this would be great with an Octup Blender, too (but without that gnarly--in a good way--Scrambler quality). I just happen to have an old shell that might do just fine...
that sounds great! I'm in the process of installing a photo lens expression right on the pedal with a switch to turn it on/off. I've considered the blend knob but was wondering if there is a better resistor in the circuit that would cause a more drastic sound in the high frequencies...something like a fuzz probing sound?
Yeah, or a Voltage Sag controlled by an expression pedal.
Quote from: tcobretti on July 04, 2009, 01:40:53 AM
Thanks!
I agree that an expression pedal could be fun in a number of different applications. I've been thinking that with any pot, you could wire in a switching stereo jack (that breaks the signal path to the pot when a stereo cord is plugged into it), and then use an expression pedal when you want.
I recently got a Colorsound Swell on ebay, and I've been thinking of a using a dual gang pot so one side can work the Swell (actually the inductorless Colorsound Wah), and the other can be wired as an expression pedal. That way, I can use the wider sweep of the Colorsound design on any wah circuit by boxing it and wiring it as I described above. Or, in fact, I can use the wider sweep with any circuit that has 100k pot in it. If an application called for it, I could even put a 100k resistor across one side of the pot to make it a 50k pot.
Possibilities abound!
Quote from: ppatchmods on July 31, 2009, 10:45:53 AM
that sounds great! I'm in the process of installing a photo lens expression right on the pedal with a switch to turn it on/off. I've considered the blend knob but was wondering if there is a better resistor in the circuit that would cause a more drastic sound in the high frequencies...something like a fuzz probing sound?
You'd have to search to see if there is a good resistor to make things very weird in a Probe-like way. I think it might be tough; I suspect this circuit is too stable to freak out like that. Something I haven't tried, but might be the way to go is to pick a high value PR, like 1 meg, and wire it as a resistor between the input and the output - create a feedback loop with the photoresistor blocking the signal is it's resistance increases.
Let me know if it works!
Quote from: tcobretti on August 23, 2006, 10:59:25 PM
Ok. I've been thinking for a while about building a scrambler expression pedal. Instead of making it an expression pedal, I just built it into an old volume pedal I had laying around that was too neat to remain unused. After doing it, I think it is pretty cool, very easy to do (if you have a wah/volume shell to work with) and much more flexible than just a typical octave stompbox. I used a PCB from GGG, put a 10k resistor across the texture pot connection (maxes the texture), and made the pedal spin the blend pot. There are no switches; the buffer in the scrambler is active all the time. The pedal adds no hiss at all even when stacked with the Metal Zone. I didn't EQ or effect the clips in any way.
Also, notice on the end of the first clip I'm moving the pedal back and forth in tempo and it sounds kind of like a Univibe. Weird!
(http://the23rdcentury.com/pedals1sm.jpg)
(http://the23rdcentury.com/pedals2sm.jpg)
These Clips are all thru the scrambler into my Line 6 set for Non-topboost Vox AC30:
No pedal beside the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler vox NTB.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler%20vox%20NTB.mp3)
Dunlop FF after the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler FF vox.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler%20FF%20vox.mp3)
Behringer DS1 after the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler DS1 vox.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler%20DS1%20vox.mp3)
Boss Metal Zone after the Scrambler (This is my pitiful attempt at some pseudo metal playing)
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler MZ vox.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler%20MZ%20vox.mp3)
Black Russian Big Muff Pi after the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler BMP vox.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler%20BMP%20vox.mp3)
On this clip the Scrambler runs into the Mesa Dual Rectifier setting on my Line 6 with no other stomp boxes.
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler mesa dual rect.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler%20mesa%20dual%20rect.mp3)
Enjoy!
Hello gents.
I haven't posted in quite a while, as I haven't had time for electronics tinkering for many years now. I had kids and my career became more time intensive, so I'm lucky to have time to play much less build gear.
I hope all of you are doing well.
I had someone PM me about the broken links in the original post, and I figured I'd update the URL for any folks interested in the future. The only difference is my website changed from http://the23rdcentury.com to http://the23rdcentury.org. We have several free albums worth of 60s/70s psychedelic pop there if you are interested.
So here are the updated links.
No pedal beside the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.org/scrambler vox NTB.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.org/scrambler%20vox%20NTB.mp3)
Dunlop FF after the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.org/scrambler FF vox.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.org/scrambler%20FF%20vox.mp3)
Behringer DS1 after the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.org/scrambler DS1 vox.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.org/scrambler%20DS1%20vox.mp3)
Boss Metal Zone after the Scrambler (This is my pitiful attempt at some pseudo metal playing)
http://the23rdcentury.org/scrambler MZ vox.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.org/scrambler%20MZ%20vox.mp3)
Black Russian Big Muff Pi after the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.org/scrambler BMP vox.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.org/scrambler%20BMP%20vox.mp3)
On this clip the Scrambler runs into the Mesa Dual Rectifier setting on my Line 6 with no other stomp boxes.
http://the23rdcentury.org/scrambler mesa dual rect.mp3 (http://the23rdcentury.org/scrambler%20mesa%20dual%20rect.mp3)
I hope y'all are doing well and building great stuff. Maybe one of these days I'll get back to it, and I hope to talk to you then!
Travis
I can't believe I didn't post my build of this thing.
Wow - 10-year necrobump. I love this forum. ROCK ON!
What a cool idea!