Build Pics...new Easy Vibe

[GibsonGM]

I mentioned a week or 2 ago I'd put together a new Easy Vibe, moving the oscillator off-board.  Thought some pics were in order...forgive my messy duct tape on the homemade vactrols!!  My girlfriend is a photographer, she really enjoys looking at the sci-fi stuff we build....

Finished Product:


The Gut Shot:


Oscillator board sitting up there alone.  Note shield wrapped on input wire:


Closeup of a filter section, with 2 vactrols visible (covered by silicone gel!).  Input cap in socket:


I'd recommend this project to anyone looking for a Hendrix-like phase/vibe. If done right, it's very quiet.   My 1st attempt was clicky since I didn't pay enough attention to layout ;o)  My biggest perf project to-date.

[John Lyons]

Looks good GibsonGM
How do you like the rocker pedal for the speed control? ( I assume you have the speed on the rocker and not the depth..)
For me I wouldn't use the speed control much with the rocker...

John

[Izzy]

As ussual I am waiting for sound clip!
They sure looks awesome!

[PKV]

there's certainly nothing wrong with duct tape...

[petemoore]

 Neat Build !!!
  Looks like perfboard, I didn't want to hand draw a layout to fit in a Wah Shell, partly because I couldn't trust that it would [easily], looks like you've done it!
  I put a SS phaser in wah shell. Speed control on phaser is really cool, 'revving up', 'coasting'...how did the sweep rates turn out, or did you have fiddle with them? [on the SS speed pot I had to do some tapering...part mechanical and part resistance on the pot, I used an 'EB Vol. pedal' 'spring/string' method of turning the 1m pot. My EZ vibe's rate pot works well, I would guess on a treadle it'd be pretty easy to get adjusted.
  Great job, great pedal !!

[axeman010]

Hi

Very nice Build !

Just curious about 2 things. I have built one of these in to an old volume pedal and I like it so much that I haven't got round to modding yet. (will try and post some pics).

I tend to use mine for the slow Hendrix / Trower sound and I find the current 100K Lin Rate pot on the pedal a little too sensitive. Would a 100K Log Be better ?

I see that you have any "extra" control on the front - what does this control.

Kind regards

Axeman.

[GibsonGM]

Thanks for the kind words, guys!  I'll share some things I've learned about ol' EV after building it twice and tweaking it...

I don't like the rate on the treadle, so the little knob out front is for that...100K lin, seems to cover all speed ranges from painfully slow to alien ray gun!  Not overly sensitive, it's pretty easy to dial in what you want.  I'll add another switch to bypass it and  re-engage the rocker if I ever should want to use it.  If I did, I would taper the wah pot in there for a much smaller range, it being so easy to overshoot where you want to be with the rocker!  That sweet spot is important...not sure what a log taper would do; maybe just a larger (1M?) pot would give better control.    The big knob is the stock depth control.   

On the oscillator board, you can see the small trimmer to set the LED range, and on the lower side of the board is another trimmer between the two 10K output resistors & 1 uF output cap, to fine-tune the blend of wet & dry signals.  I believe this is R.G.'s mod...I used a 10K trim, changed the 10K R's to 5.1K, output off the wiper.  This gives better control of the depth of phase.  The vactrols are just the 3mm LED's and small bear Clairex LDR's, stuck in some insulation from a larger piece of wire & sealed with silicone RTV sealant.

If you run this after a dist. pedal, the phasing is absolutely SICK!   I usually don't do that, however, LOL, sounds better pre.   There is a small sound clip on my previous post from +/- 2 weeks ago which doesn't do justice...I compare the sounds I'm getting with Hendrix at Woodstock     First vibe clone I've worked on where i had to turn the depth down a little to get where I want to be! 

[axeman010]

I totally agree - shown below is my preferred set up.

Guitar ==> Tubescreamer ==> Easy Vibe ==> Rebote 2.5 ==> Marshall TSL100

Very Trower sounding !!

Haven't quite got round to finishing the cases yet ! 



Axeman.

[petemoore]

  Tapering resistors, maybe a 200k pot to start with...re-indexing the pinion gears, you should be able to cajole a fine tuning of the 'medium' speed range you like...somehow ! Maybe even resistor 'before' the pot to reduce max speed [so the rest of the range will occupy more treadle sweep range]...
  I had mine in a treadle, worked great, used a 1 meg pot 'treadled only a small portion of the range' with ziptie technology...the speed range and control worked great, only about 1/4  or 1/3 of the shaft rotation used/needed...only problem was the box was kind small, the board was kinda big, had to be 'angled in'...and the wires picked up tick and noise, so I stuck it in a 'flatter box' board along a nice ground plane, shielded input wire, neatened up other wires and ran them along the box surface. Works great now. And I put a 'ziptie quickie' foot actuated speed controller...right on the pot shaft, so I can make foot-adjustments to the speed, and yes, the 'ziptie-pointer' helps to find the speed by visual index...this took about 30 seconds to impliment and I like it and use it...lol...

[Pushtone]

...forgive my messy duct tape on the homemade vactrols!! 

There is nothing in there that you need to ask forgiveness for, excellent build and kudos for paying attention to the layout to reduce noise.

Shrink tube would have been better than duct tape as you know. I hate how duct tape gets sticky and loose after awhile.
What about painting the duct tape with clear nail polish to preserve it? Or cover it in hot glue?
It will unravel at some point down the road.

[axeman010]

Sorry

bit of a newb with pictures so going to try again !

[snoof]

nice build.  I went with treadle controlled speed via an external pedal.  couldn't get the board to fit inside the pedal.  re: the tapering resistor, i used 22k with good results.  if i have room, i'm gonna include two speed pots on the box for when i don't want to use the speed pedal, w/ a footswitch to choose between the two speeds.  gotta come up w/ a switching jack system to disengage the pots when using the external speed pedal.