My FX looper design....good???

[shanter]

So i searched the boards to see if i could find a looper that does this.





switches between 2 loops or bypases completely.  i jsut want to make sure this will work properly in terms of powerswitching/and the dual led setup.

-shant

[alltherightpills]

Hi Shant,

Your wiring diagram should function just fine.  The only thing I would change would be to isolate the LED/power ground from signal ground.  If these two don't connect, there's no way for the switches to POP audibly.  Of course, in order to do that, you'd have to nix the ability to use a battery (or at least the use of the switching jack).  Just an idea...

[theblueark]

Looks like more or less what I made for a guy


Just that mine had an additional bypass in it. So the dude could choose Loop1 and/or Loop2/Loop3. And the Bypass both loops switch is on the right side instead.

[shanter]

alltherightpills, i dont quite follow what your saying about isolating the grounds of the leds/power from the signal ground. Would i jsut ground the power to a differeny spot in the enclosure? And why would that require me to get rid of either the batt or the power supply?

Very cool blueark how did you do you power supply/LED wiring?

im still new to this stuff, but ive leared alot so far.

-shant

[Skreddy]

It looks very cool. 

Trying to isolate the LEDs from the signal ground is fruitless; there should be no popping either way.

To be safe, I'd wire the grounds of the jacks (either in a star-grounded configuration or a semicircle, but not in a complete ring) rather than assuming they'll be well-connected through the case.  That way everything is fine even if jacks come loose years down the road.

[alltherightpills]

I build bypass boxes without LEDs sharing signal ground, and in the past I built a few where all grounds were connected.  In my experience, isolating the LED/power ground from signal ground has kept my stomps from popping, while those that weren't isolated are much more prone to popping.  I suppose it could result from other causes, but all I've got to go on is my experience...

If you'd like to try isolating the grounds, here's what to do:
Only connect the LEDs' ground wires to the ground Lug on the power jack.  Don't connect the LED ground anywhere else, not to the case, and not to the jacks' grounds.  Now connect the ground wires from the jacks in the way that Skreddy recommended, but don't connect them to the ground lug of the power supply.  Everything else is wired the same.

If you need to be able to use a battery, don't bother trying this - you need to connect the LEDs' grounds to the ring connection of the jack.  I just never use a battery with my stuff, so its no big deal to me.

Good luck on your build!

[theblueark]

I pretty much wired it the way alltherightpills described it, except the wires from the jacks has one connection to the power supply ground also. For a looper I allrighthepills method makes sense, I'm just used to grounding everything to one location. No popping issues though.

[LyleCaldwell]

I've tried having the LED grounds isolated from audio ground, but it always causes humming, even if the only place they even come close is lugs on a 3PDT switch.  So I have always had to tie LED grounds to audio ground.

But I get no popping.

[Pushtone]

Hi Shant, Of course, in order to do that, you'd have to nix the ability to use a battery (or at least the use of the switching jack).  Just an idea...

Consider nix'ing the 9vDC supply instead of the battery to isolate the power ground. If all your powering is the LEDs a battery should last a very long time. You'll either have to unplug the switching jack or install a power toggle switch to prevent the batt from running down. Or omit the bypass LED and just remember to leave the pedal in bypass when your not playing.

[GBlekas]

Have any of you looper guys tried using relays to switch the loops in and out?

I was thinking about using my Rotosphere in a loop with a preamp in front of it, to keep the noise down.
The idea I had was to switch the loops in with relays keeping the signal from the switch completely.
The relay could also kick on the LED as well.
I have seen switches causing the pop as well and the use of relays would make a popping switch a moot point since the signal would never hit it anyway.

Any thoughts, comments, cleches, ridicule or ideas on this fellas?

Regards,

George

www.PedalworX.com

[shanter]

hm, ok so i understand everything...but im bent on what to do beucause of the mixed opinions.

ill leave in the powerswithing and the battery, but ill test out the common ground and the isolated grounds. which ever one gives me the cleanest hum/pop-free sound ill stick with.

ill update when i finsih up. im gonna drill up the enclosure today and hopefully wire it tomorrow.

(second thought) based on the wiring diagram, no matter what, when the input-jack is plugged in, either one of the Loop LED's will be on the whole time...right? Pushtone's idea of the switch is becoming more appealing....

could i install the switch aswell as the rest of the components? so the black lead of the battery clip goes to an spdt then to the input ring?....does that sound right?


-shant