Uglyface capacitor fun.

[digi2t]

Having never been fully satisfied with the bottom end of the Uglyface, I decided to fiddle around with C4 on this vero;



This is the one I built. Works great, but like I said before, I've always found it, well, "hissy" for lack of a better word. Even with the frequency knob all the way down. So, today, my victim was C4. I have the 0.1uF spec'd cap in there, but I threw another one in parallel giving me 0.2uF, just for kicks. Much better. But wait, I wonder what a 0.22uF in parallel will sound like? Hmmm.... 0.32uF.... octave down anyone? Had to video this one. Sorry about the abrupt ending, don't know what happened, but the bulk of it is there.

I have a feeling that I'm going to try and figure out how to do a cap blend mod here. 0.1uF to 0.33uF span sound good to me. Any opinions on what size pot I should use?

[pinkjimiphoton]

killer mod, dino...really makes it a LOT phatter...well done!!

[frequencycentral]

Yeah! I did exactly the same with mine:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=92455.msg791909#msg791909

[digi2t]

Hey Rick, what size pot would you recommend if I want to go for a cap blend? Would too big of a pot affect capacitance?

I'm just wondering if you've done any work here, before I start testing.

[frequencycentral]

Mine's not even boxed up yet........  .........but like you, I found it more fun with a 0.2uF cap. I'd imagine a cap blend would look something like this:



Maybe try 0.047 for the little cap and 0.47 for the big cap......?

Though there may be no need for a cap blend if you want to broaden the range, with a 555 the timing (ie frequency range) and mark/space can be adjusted by tweaking the resistor values of R3 and R4, as well as the value of the frequency pot maybe.

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/555timer.htm

[digi2t]

Well, I tried the blend pot idea, but it's not ideal. It probably works great for tone, but not so well for this application. I'm assuming it's because the resistance of the pot is screwing with the capacitance. Direct works great though. I also played around with R4, replacing it with a 25K pot. Although it does affect the frequency to a great degree, it also progressively null out the frequency pot altogether at one end of the scale. Not ideal, having two pots fighting each other.

So, I decided that a 2 pole, 4 throw rotary switch will be the order of the day. 0.047, 0.1, 0.22, and 0.33 being the caps of my choice. Since I can't see myself fiddling with this on the fly, I can at least select between "ultra hiss", "original hiss", "hiss lite", and "hissless octave down".  I did the same thing on my Skyripper for the range input cap, and I don't regret it. After all, once I dial in a tone, it's there to stay for a particular song.

But, I still can't get over how smooth the octave down is on this with the 0.33 cap, being analog and all. You should try it. 0.33 cap, sensetivity low, frequency low, threshold down below self-oscillation, and bridge pup. You can even leave the tone on the pup on 10. It's smooth and creammmmmy. YUM.

Thanks a bunch for your input Rick. Cheers dude!

[pinkjimiphoton]

think i'm gonna add another stomp to my ugly face and switch the stock and the big cap...that octave down is boss, hoss!!

[digi2t]

think i'm gonna add another stomp to my ugly face and switch the stock and the big cap...that octave down is boss, hoss!!

Yo bro, if you do that mod, shoot me a clip, would ya? I'd like to see how it reacts with your rig. Sometimes these things are hit or miss with different amps, guitars, etc. The extra stomp is a good idea though. I'm all out of room on mine, looks like I might have to switch out enclosures. 

[digi2t]

OK, I managed to fit in a 4 throw switch, no mean feat considering... well, you be the judge;







Like stuffing an elephant up a mouses ass  . Wired the leads right into where C4 would be. As I mention in the video below, I also swapped out the output cap on the volume pot for a 0.022uF. I had a 0.01 in there, as was suggested over at homewrecker, but the 0.022 sounds a bit smoother, especially when I go to the ultra-high .047 cap. You can get mosquito buzz, without the ice picks in the ears. The 0.01uF remains unchaged on the input side. I also changed the 386 chip. I had a National N-3 in there before, but I was get a rather large section of the Threshold sweep that was noisey, due to the fact that it's falling into self-oscillation at a certain point. I went through my stash, and found an N-1. It was much better. Then I noticed that I also had a bunch of UTC 386L's that I had picked up cheap a while back, so I swapped again. The UTC LM386L is the best by far. It seems to eat up less of the sweep noise-wise when you dial up to self-oscillation. It's funny, it also seems to be the best chip for the Parallel Universe II as well. Those UTC chips have good mojo.

Made a new video as well, outlining all the different frequencies, and the tones you can get. Went a bit crazy at the end 

Jimi, I thought about your cap footswitch idea, and I've got one better. Install an expression pedal switching type jack, wired to the frequency pot. Then get a cheap volume pedal, and mod the pot to match the pot in the pedal. Then you can sweep in and out of the octave down. Use a Linear pot, and add a taper resistor to get a nice sweep (a la Ludwig, or Mr. Multi). I might put one in myself, on the side. Then I'll have 4 different ranges that I can sweep around in, on the fly.

All in all, a fantastic pedal. Just when I thought I had attained nirvana... I put it in front of Mr. Multi. I'm soooo glad that I put in that Sensitivity/Rate LED. I put the LFO on slow, and then tracked it manually with the Mr. Multi. Or, run the LFO on the Uglyface at half the speed of the LFO on the Mr. Multi, with the depth set to high on the Multi. Sounds like someone taking a plunger to my guitar!

Hope you enjoy the videos, as much as I liked putting them together. If you'll excuse me, I have to go change my undies now  .