Danelectro Cool Cat Vibe Pedal!!!

[Anon]

every adapter I tried with this pedal is noisy. I either get a buzzy or high-pitched noise. But when I use a battery the pedal is silent. Is there a mod that can fix this? what adapter can I use with this pedal?

[LucifersTrip]

every adapter I tried with this pedal is noisy. I either get a buzzy or high-pitched noise. But when I use a battery the pedal is silent. Is there a mod that can fix this? what adapter can I use with this pedal?

my friend actually brought his over last night to do the mods to take care of the vol boost & the delay.  Both the Danelectro adapter and 1 Spot we had worked with no problems.

[msmith40]

I've just complete the (Aperio) volume mod on a brand-new pedal.

As I was adusting the trimpot, the effect disappeared.
I can still hear the guitar, but clicking on/off does nothing.

No loose/disconnected wires found.
Battery is new and has plenty of voltage.
Inner lamp is blinking fine.

I've now disconnected the trimpot.....the problem remains.

Advice?

Thanks!
Mike

[GGBB]

I finally got around to doing the volume and startup delay mods to my Vibe.  I followed the Aperio Guitar instructions, but I made things a lot easier by using an old computer CD-ROM cable to connect the trimpot using the existing headers. Less soldering and no PCB alterations.  I also removed the existing output to ground resistor to keep the output impedance and original tone the same.  Click on the pic below for full details:

[Fabien.C]

Hello DIYers,

I brought a cool cat vibe yesterday, and it looks like danelectro made some tweaking. There's a trimpot for output level in the battery compartment. But the delay is still here.

[neldom]

I know this is an old thread, but I thought keeping all the CC Vibe stuff together would be better than starting a new thread.
I really like the basics of what this pedal can do, but it seems quite dark, I know they mention this in the manual so it's not an issue or anything.
But is there anyway a guy could add a tone control to this thing?
If there was, this would really be the whole package as far as I'm concerned.

Cheers.

[Beo]

I haven't been able to find a schematic or trace for the cool cat vibe. I have this pedal, and have done the mods to improve delay startup and volume. I like it, except I get oscillator clicking... which I'm hoping to improve with rehousing and power filtering. Does anyone know if the mix knob really is a blend between chorus and vibrato? The univibe circuit does look like the chorus/vibrato switch is pulling in a different ratio of phased signal, but I'm not sure if the Cool Cat Vibe mix knob is having the same effect. Obviously, I don't have a univibe or clone to compare the sounds.

[debrad]

Hi everyone!

I have been following the process and tips from this thread (and others here and on other sites) to rehouse and modify a Cool Cat Vibe for my friend.  Unfortunately, I seem to have hit a snag or two and I cannot get this thing to work.  I feel like everything is wired as it should be; however, when I engage the effect, the LFO bulb doesn't light, the LED doesn't light, and I just get my dry guitar signal as output (the same dry signal I get when the effect is in bypass; however, I can adjust the volume of that dry signal using the 100k "volume pot" I installed).

One interesting thing I have noticed is that the LED does light up when I touch the cathode if the effect is on (the LED also lights up when I touch the unused lug of the 3PDT switch when the effect is bypassed).  In my mind, that tells me that the LED is not connecting properly to ground; however, the 3PDT's "ground" lug of the LED section (others seem to be calling this the "power section") is DEFINITELY well connected to ground).

Based on my best probing with a multimeter, I seem to have 9V at the DC jack, 9V at the input to the PCB, and 9V exiting the LED so I *THINK* the board is getting power.

Aside from the LFO bulb being burnt out (which it wasn't when I pulled everything from the original enclosure), does anyone have any ideas on why the effect isn't working (i.e. why the LFO bulb isn't lighting) and why my LED isn't lighting?

Perhaps I am best to strip everything from the PCB and start from scratch again (maybe even wire it "stock" without the volume pot...)?

- brad -

[GGBB]

Sounds like the volume mod is fine, but the startup delay fix isn't.  Post pics of what you've done - close up and clear.  Also note that I believe there are a couple of variations of the 3PDT daughter board, so make sure you have used the instructions that go with the type of 3PDT board you have.

[debrad]

Yes...my volume mod seems OK (although I noticed several post mention FX output to Lug 1 and Lug 3 to ground where I have them the opposite way and I get max volume at max clockwise rotation...which seems "correct" to me...).

As for the rest...the delay is definitely NOT fixed - the bulb NEVER turns on!

I am going to adjust some of the wiring before posting any photos as everything is a bit of a mess now as a result of me pulling everything back out of the enclosure and retrying a few variations.  I have a bad feeling that it won't work even if I remove any mods and rewire as close to stock as possible...but I'll let you know ASAP.

Note that I am running everything to a new 3PDT switch so the variations won't impact me very much.

One thing I don't really understand is why some folks are calling the LED section of the 3PDT the "power switch".  I thought that the LED and LFO bulb would get power from the "brown wire" 9V connected directly to the PCB board...

Perhaps my interpretation of the switch is all wrong...this is how I am wiring mine:

123
456
789

1 = input to PCB
2 = output from PCB (centre lug of 100k volume pot in my case)
3 = LED cathode
4 = input jack tip
5 = output jack tip
6 = ground (red wire running to 3rd "pin" on PCB board (beside "input" and "input shield")
7 = jumper to 8
8 = jumper from 7
9 = open (could run jumper to 1 to ground PCB in bypass)

If those are all correct, my assumption is that the second set of "pins" on the "input" side of the PCB are 1 = - lug from DC jack and 2 = +9v lug on DC jack.

Does this seem right?

- brad -

[debrad]

Sooooo....

Spent a bit more time with the Cool Cat Vibe and got the wiring back to where I think it all should be.  Guess what?  It still doesn't work...well, when the effect is engaged the blue LED still lights up when I touch the cathode and the volume pot I added still controls the volume quite nicely. Other than that, nothing!

I snapped a few photos...my apologies for the rat's nest of wiring - it looked a lot neater when the components were all inside their openings in the enclosure.  Am I able to post them directly from my computer or do I have to host them on a site and insert the links?

- brad -

[GGBB]

Am I able to post them directly from my computer or do I have to host them on a site and insert the links?

You need to host them.

[debrad]

Thanks GGBB...just read that after posting my question!

Just set up a photo account so here are some relatively decent shots of my wiring...again, sorry for the rat's nest that resulted from pulling all the components from the enclosure - hopefully you still get an idea of what is going where:
















- brad -

[GGBB]

I'm having a hard time following what you've done, but it looks like you've hooked up the LED to where you should be taking the output to the volume control.  Where your volume control is hooked up to I can't tell because I don't know which pot is the volume control.  In the photo below, the white arrow points to the PCB output (white wire on right side of connector) that needs to go to pin 3 of your volume control.  It looks like you have the LED connected there, but the photos don't actually show that very well.  Maybe sketch out what you've done and post that.

[debrad]

I agree...the photos didn't make it a whole lot easier to see what's going on (sorry about that).

I didn't think my PCB output wire was the issue but I just double checked and it is going to Lug 3 of my newly installed volume pot (phew!).

Before drawing up a sketch for you, I checked all the wiring again and noticed that the +9V pin on the DC jack is a little loose.  I suspect that a broken or loose +9V pin might have some impact on the effect...definitely might explain why the bulb and LED don't light up.  Having said that, I did check my DC voltages in several places a few days ago and all seems to be OK.  Perhaps I should pull the jack and try another...

Along those same lines, I'm curious to know if a broken or loose LFO bulb would cause the same symptoms I am experiencing?

Finally, I noticed in the photos that the resistor beside the LED pins looks like it might have taken some heat from my soldering iron.  As a double check, I tested it with the multimeter and everything looks good...just covering all my bases!

Anyway, here is a sketch of my current wiring.  Anything look amiss?

[GGBB]

That looks right, but I'm not 100% certain.  However it also looks like the plans for building a parrot. 

Did you check that the lamp isn't burnt out?  Might be time to following the what to do when it doesn't work thread - post voltages etc. http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=29816.0

[debrad]

Wow...there really is a parrot there!

I did probe around the lamp with my multimeter but wasn't 100% sure how to REALLY test it.  If it's an incandescent bulb, I suspect there should be continuity between the two solder lugs?  Would the "diode test" feature light up the bulb the same way that it lights up the LED.  Again, do you think that a dead bulb would cause the symptoms that I am seeing?

I also read the full "What to do when it doesn't work" post last week and definitely considered all those points.  My only real concern was my lack of a) a schematic to know what leads to what and b) understanding for where and how to measure voltages throughout the PCB.

Perhaps I will start with replacing the DC jack...seems like the easiest step.  A friend suggested I replace the 3PDT switch "just in case" but I feel like I have tested that pretty exensively without finding any glaring issue.

- brad -

[GGBB]

I would think the lamp comes out somehow - probably screw mount or bayonet.  Test for continuity.

User your meter to check for voltage, continuity, ground etc. where you expect those things.  Replacing the DC jack might not accomplish anything - you are getting power when you touch the LED cathode.

[debrad]

Well, there seems to be continuity across the LFO lamp so I guess that rules out another option.  I did read on another forum that Vibe effects can suffer from issues with the "lamp driver transistor" so I suppose that's another possibility...but not one that I am going to know for sure unless I follow the voltage proceedures from "What To Do When It Doesn't Work".

Fortunately, I know a local guy who does pedal repairs so it's nice to know that I have a "last resort".  I have to admit that going to him will be a hard pill to swallow considering a) that I've modded several pedals without any real issues, b) the rehousing process really shouldn't be this difficult, and c) MANY others appear to have rehoused this pedal without issue.

Oh well, time to fire up the multi-meter again and see what I can find!

Thanks for all the help so far...

- brad -

[debrad]

UPDATE:

Just wanted to let you know that I took the forum advice to create a formal "Debugging" thread on my broken vibe pedal...complete with all the measured voltages, etc., etc...rather than fill this one with my trials and tribulations.  Thanks for all the feedback so far.  Hopefully the new thread will help me solve this thing.  Here's the link:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=108154.0

- brad -