Can we pedal builders use IF transformers and tape heads for anything?

[Esppse]

Hey guys,

I have some IF transformers from a pillaged transistor radio laying around, as well as an old Voice of Music tape recorder parted out, with tapeheads. Can I turn them into anything for a pedal or some sort of saturation device?

[amptramp]

If you modulate the audio onto the IF transformer frequency (usually 455 KHz for AM and 10.7 MHz for FM) you can get an isolated output that does not propagate ground loop noise.  The modulation can be AM or FM but AM is usually the simplest.

Tape heads could be inductors for audio frequency filters.

[R.G.]

Tape heads, especially the little cassette deck ones, can be used to trace the path current takes.

If you have ever tried to find an accidental short, you know how frustrating such things can be. Things like a solder thread on a PCB or (shudder) an accidentally misplaced PCB track or just insufficient etching can be very difficult to find. But if you can arrange to feed an AC current through the shorted path, a tape head feeding an amplifier can literally follow the path the current takes by picking up the magnetic field around the current's path.

[Esppse]

Thanks very much guys

[Rob Strand]

FWIW, the transformers were color coded.  There was also a coil for the oscillator (IIRC RED).  However, the precise specs of the transformer might vary even when the color is the same.

You would have to make an effort to use one of those.

In the past I've pondered making a capacitance meter similar to the Boonton cap meter, except running at 455kHz  instead of 1MHz.   These are famous for measuring junction capacitances of semiconductors.  They apply a very small voltage then amplify the signal up with a tuned narrow band amplifier.   Quite a bit of work just to find a use for some old transformers.