Anyone built the GEO Univibe?

[jimbob]

Im thinking about taking on this  project. Is it really worth all the work or is there a similiar effect that can do the same with a lot less parts and time. The sound samples sound awsome!

[cd]

If you want a real Univibe sound, there's no substitute.  If "close enough" is good enough, you might want to look into the Easyvibe:

http://www.hollis.co.uk/john/circuits.html

[GonzoFonts]

Built one a LONG time ago. Like 8/9 years ago.

Still have it. Sounds great.

I really should take the time and properly finish it by putting it in a decent enclosure and maybe adding an ON/OFF LED and a footswitch.

Hmm.... this is staring to sound like a weekend project.

GF

[R.G.]

I believe that there are upwards of 200 of them out there, with the self-made boards, boards I sold, and boards that are sold through General Guitar Gadgets under license.

People seem pretty happy with them.

[jimbob]

well i wanna be 201!

[george]

there's a sound sample on www.generalguitargadgets.com if yuo need further convincing  ...

[dr.angus]

I built a neovibe about a month ago, took it out on the road for two weeks, played it every night...FANTASTIC pedal. Great tone, great vibe, perfect for many diferent musical situations, especially if you are into vintage tones in a modern context. Can't tell you how close it is to an original but as far as I understand the originals don't all sound the same, either.

I'm a big fan of EH's small stone and Boss' CE-2  but this pedal is different and stands out. I think it's even better than the dunlop univibe, which to my ears lacks tone and feel...sounds somehow mechanic to me.

Make sure you get the right parts (especially the right bulb and photo resistors...you should probably search the forum).

It's quite a built but it's definetely worth it. It's a very special moment when the bulb comes on and starts to pulse..."IT IS ALLLIIIIIVVVEE"  :twisted:

I hope that helped  

have fun, dr.angus

[lightningfingers]

Yup, built mine from the instruction at Geo. Here it is on perfboard:

[dr]

....I absolutely love the Neovibe I built! I socketed the transistors and photocells and bulb-and if I have forgotten to,the greatest thank you I could ever give is to R.G. for all his work and the assistance he gave to me while I was building mine!...It was certainly a godsend that motivated me for my rehab!...I could never afford another after my original got stolen years ago; finding out I could build one of my own and that someone who was nice enough to do the documentation and share it with me was the greatest thing to happen to me for a long time....R.G.- Thank you so very much!!........dr

[robotboy]

Building a univibe was one of my primary motivations for getting into this hobby. I guess I should go ahead and build one pretty soon... Sound clip of the neovibe sound fantastic BTW.

[Alex C]

I, too, have built a Neovibe, and I must say that it is fantastic.  It's valuable both as a building experience and as a useful and good-sounding effect.  I bought the board from GGG, which made it very simple (I no longer have a laser printer for PnP).  It's neat to have to work with the physical positioning of the components on the board with the LDRs and the light shield; it's a bit more involved on the mechanical side (but certainly nothing to deter would-be builders).  

I would highly recommend the "speed mod", which doubles the rate of pulsing, and the "wet-dry-mix mod", which allows you to find the optimal mix of dry and phased signal for the deepest "swoosh".  A search should turn up lots of info about this, and I think at least one of these is covered in R.G.'s PDF.  

R.G. Deserves a big THANK YOU for his time and effort, as well as his generosity in providing us with this information.  Thank you, sir.

In conclusion, build this now!

Alex

[formerMember1]

sorry slight off topic
R.G.
are you THE MAN who made the geo fx site?

Ps:i am pretty new around here

[phillip]

sorry slight off topic
R.G.
are you THE MAN who made the geo fx site?

Ps:i am pretty new around here

Yep that's him.  Run into all kinds of people here

Phillip

[R.G.]

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. Brings a tear to an old guy's eye.

This gets me back to aron's parallel post about what long strange trip it's been.

I posted the PCB layout for what was to be come the Neovibe to the usenet news groups back in 94 (?). I think it's the oldest DIY clone pcb in network distribution, being about 11 years old now. I've done minor tweaks but the essentials of the layout are the same now.

When I first put that up on the usenet groups I got a blast of flames from the "original" crowd that it was not the original and could not sound original because I used a voltage regulator and not the half wave rectification and RC filtering that the original did. The people who built one and actually listened to them finally drowned out the naysayers.

That was before the world wide web existed. When the web started, Jamie Heileman and I did the first web schematics archive. I did the first layouts-by-mail,(Press-N-Peel layouts) the first effects components and PCBs by mail, I originated the term "Ready To Solder (RTS)" for the etched PCBs I sold. I found the first 3PDT switches - they were horribly expensive; this was before the Taiwan factory started making cheap copies of the same switch for Mike Fuller.

The first Guitar Effects FAQ actually predated the Neovibe by a little as I remember. I really need to go look in the wayback machine for some of the dates. Then I did the Tube Amp FAQ and the Tube Amp Debugging Page.

The hobby has really taken off in the last decade. It's been a huge amount of fun. I have fond memories of the beginner struggles of a number of today's boutique pedal shop proprietors. They put in the work and got some things going on their own. A healthy, thriving effects community has always been something I wanted to happen, and it's flowering now.

And yeah, I do GEOFEX.

[formerMember1]

sorry guys in this case i have to highjack topic.

hey that is awesome to talk to you. (R.G.)
i loveyour site.