Commonsound Noise Swash Max Tweaker Build Report

[80k]

This is the 2nd Noise Swash I have built.  The first Swash was a plain one with no mods.  When I found out that 4ms made PCB's for the Max Tweaker, with PCB-mounted pots and all the common mods, I immediately snatched up a couple!  As usual, 4ms pedals take a little extra time to make, what with all the knobs and switches, and the necessity to spend some time tweaking them.

I added a slight modification to my Swash... mainly using 3-way switches in the clipping switches and choosing between silicon and germanium diodes.  I'm so glad i did that, because the germanium diodes make a huge difference (4ms uses silicon).  In the postgain section, the germanium smooths it out significantly.  

Here are some pictures of the build process:

Here is the PCB.  It's huge, but most of the space is used for mounting pots.  $15 from 4ms.


Here is the populated board.


Here is the inside of the completed pedal.  I chose not to use the voltage regulator, since i use regulated 9V power supplies (and i don't want another regulator to drop the voltage).  


Here is the completed pedal, lit up... I need knobs though!  Any suggested places to buy aluminum knobs?  I'd like to use a couple different sizes, between 0.5" and 0.7" width.


The results:
It sounds fantastic... this is the 4th Swash I have played, and in some ways this is the best:
1.) It seems to have more useable tones.  With the extra diode options, i have more fuzz tones available.  Also, for some reason, it seems to be somewhat more controlled.
2.) I have tried 2 other Swashes with the LFO mod, and i never liked it.  With this one, i have finally fallen in love with it.  There used to be somewhat of a volume drop when engaging the LFO, and the guitar tone gets lost in the LFO squishiness.  Not anymore... this one modulates the noise just the way I want it, without being too intrusive, and with no volume drop.  Not sure why this one turned out so good!

In other ways, this Swash is lacking:
1.) Usually with the silicon diodes engaged, it gets super buzzy, harsh, and obnoxious... but in a good way!  This one, with the 1N914's clipping, it gets harsher but not nearly as intense.  I think the previous Swashes i played used 1n4001's, so that may have something to do with it.  This isn't so much of a drawback, since the preclip is actually much more useable in this less harsh version.
2.) It doesn't gate nearly as much as previous Swashes.  The noisegate section has been tweaked... instead of a 500k pot, it uses a 5k trim pot and a 1k pot.  This allows you to really narrow in on a sweet spot of very useable sounds.  The drawback is that the more unuseable sounds are no longer there.  It still has a great gating effect, but the previous Swashes I played can get much more "explosive".  The positive side is that I have more useable tones to narrow in on, but less static-y explosiveness.

The result is a much more useable and controllable Swash.  With the LFO and self oscillation, there is no shortage of whacky sounds you can get.  But in terms of harsh buzziness and explosive static, it is more tame than previous Swashes I have played.  I already own a 4ms one that Dann built, and it is very different.  I am keeping both as they do very different things.

A few complaints with the build process:
1.) the resistor holes are way too small!  every single resistor was a challenge to put in.  Many times I had to pull out a resistor and put in a new one.  
2.) Some of the pads are located too close to the PCB mounted pots, where the solder joint would be right under where the pot was supposed to be mounted.  It seems to be an oversight/mistake in the PCB layout.  I think it was 2 or 3 pads where I had to suck up the solder, snip the end, and then solder it from the other side.  Luckily these are professional PCB's with through holes and pads on both sides, so you can solder from either side.

Additional comments:
1.) the Clean blend option is surprisingly cool.  It never gets completely clean, but manages to open up your sound a lot.  Kinda reminds me of the mullet mods on TS's, where you'd put small caps in the clipping section, giving it a lot more body and push.
2.) you definitely gotta take a lot of care in the drilling process.  It's very hard to line up all the pots and LED's.  Also, with a DD size box, the drawback is having to disassemble everything if i ever decide to mod it, or if it breaks.

Hope this inspires others to build the Swash, which is also my favorite distortion/fuzz pedal.  It is very useable, not just a noisemaking one-trick pony.  Kudos to Dann Green and all of commonsound for making these available for the DIY community.

[troubledtom]

very cool report, great job!!!!!!! :twisted:
  a very fair build review.
         peace,
            tom pollock: commonsound member for 5 1/2 yrs
    www.troubledvariance.com

[radio]

Holy Moses

Stil a long way for me to get clean builds :wink:

Good job

Greetings

JMErnzer

[80k]

Thanks guys!  yea, i'm very pleased with the way this one turned out.  I just played it some more, and for some reason it seemed a lot crazier and out of control this time!  it is a moody beast, that's for sure

BTW, i edited the top post so that it all fits on the screen.

[travissk]

Looks great!

I love 4ms stuff - so far I've stayed toward the more traditional sounding phaseur and tremulus, but might try one of the noisier pedals in the future.

[80k]

Looks great!

I love 4ms stuff - so far I've stayed toward the more traditional sounding phaseur and tremulus, but might try one of the noisier pedals in the future.

i have built the Phaseur and had a hell of a time getting it to work!  The tremulus is very cool... did it on a protoboard but never got a chance to box it up.

i'd highly suggest doing the swash or a triwave picogenerator.  Those are my 2 favorite 4ms stuff... i am almost finished an atoner, and should have a build report coming up soon

[danngreen]

Glad to see your build report!
Just thought I'd drop a few comments in...

2.) It doesn't gate nearly as much as previous Swashes.  The noisegate section has been tweaked... instead of a 500k pot, it uses a 5k trim pot and a 1k pot.  

You can use a 500k pot in place of the 1k noisegate pot, and turn the 5k trim to minimum resistance to get the more classic swash sounds...

1.) the resistor holes are way too small!  every single resistor was a challenge to put in.  Many times I had to pull out a resistor and put in a new one.  

The trick here is to use 1/8W resistors. Try mouser part no. 299-VALUE (e.g. 299-1k). The 1/4W resistors are typically too big to fit. The next version of the swash-max board will let you use either size resistor...

thanks! glad to hear you're enjoying it!

[80k]

Glad to see your build report!
Just thought I'd drop a few comments in...


You can use a 500k pot in place of the 1k noisegate pot, and turn the 5k trim to minimum resistance to get the more classic swash sounds...


The trick here is to use 1/8W resistors. Try mouser part no. 299-VALUE (e.g. 299-1k). The 1/4W resistors are typically too big to fit. The next version of the swash-max board will let you use either size resistor...

thanks! glad to hear you're enjoying it!

Dann, thanks for dropping in!  Yea, I was able to fit all of those 1/4 W resistors with some patience  Yea, the noisegate pot does make a big difference, but i like it both ways, although i'm still partial to the more classic swash you made me... that one is staying on my board

[troubledtom]

the swash changed my life. a must build for the crazys out there.
             peace,
                   - tom