Need some recommendations

[bloxstompboxes]

Ok, well I got a pedal board case for Christmas. It's a roadrunner aluminum case. The $100 one I think. I need some reccomendations on some pedals to fill it with. I don't play in a band, just at home for my own amusement. I mostly got it to keep my 21 month old from picking up my freshly painted new pedals and clanging them together... which she does. I have plenty of overdrives and distortions, a tonepad CE-2 chorus, a power supply which I will mod or redo, the Ibanez flanger from tonepad, a couple of fuzzes, a boss noise suppressor, and the tonepad pulsar tremolo. I suppose I need a compressor, a delay, maybe a different tremolo, a phaser, perhaps a wah, an octave up or down and perhaps a cab sim. I was thinking of waiting on the phasex DA is working on. I love hard rock, classic rock, heavy metal, blues rock, 90s alternative, and grunge. So something that will help me with those genres would be good. I know this is all subjective so I am just looking at what others might be using or would suggest. I will probably build damn near everything everyone suggests eventually anyway. But I want something I can get going within the the year that I can then change up later if I want. I would appreciate any suggestions you guys might have. Of course, whenever I finish this, I will post pics of the finished product.

To give you an idea of what I have been thinking about so far, I might do a MXR phase 90 if not the phasex, an orange squeezer, ross or dynacomp compressor, and a rebote 3 delay. I know nothing about wahs or delays really. I am not even sure I will build an octave. That might come last.

I am also, really interested in building a small tube amp. Yes, I am aware of the dangers involved. I am Electrical Engineer who didn't get started in his career until about 12 years after he graduated. I suppose with this I want something with a good tonal range but just to practice with at home. I have a solid state 60W Peavy Express 112 I got when I was a teenager. So, something similar in volume or a little less would be good.

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide.

[blackieNYC]

Well, instead of whittling down your multitude of options, I will seek to expand them.  Then more experienced folk will chime in.  I've gotten the impression from this forum that compressors are a category in which the old designs can be beat by the new. In terms of noise. I have a good, "modern" commercial mxr custom comp, which is a little quieter than its predecessor, but if I were to build one now it would be the engineer's thumb.  Again, I don't have one but -  That, over the Classics, anyone?
Sounds like you have a full and varied complement of pedals - how about a weird one? Escobedo?  PWM fuzz, uglyface, octave up or down? So fun.

[tubegeek]

60W practice amp?

Yikes! Your family must be more tolerant than mine. I'd be looking in the 2-to-6W range if it were me.

[bloxstompboxes]

I have seen the Engineer's Thumb before but I forgot about it. Looks like a good choice. How does it compare to the Ibanez CP9? I was thinking about it above the ross/dynacomp due to part availability.

60W practice amp?

Yikes! Your family must be more tolerant than mine. I'd be looking in the 2-to-6W range if it were me.

Well, my father got it for me when I was a teenager. It was sort of a package deal with the guitar if I remember. It rarely gets turned up past 1.5 or so if there is anyone home. Though, I never thought anyone would gig with one. Always seemed small compared to a cabinet a friend in school had at the time. I suppose you could use it in a bar or something. I suppose something with less power would be fine actually. i just don't want small sound, even it is in a house. I don't want to sound like I am playing through a clock radio or something.

[tca]

60W practice amp?
Yikes! Your family must be more tolerant than mine. I'd be looking in the 2-to-6W range if it were me.

In my case a 1W clean with a 100dB speaker. Loud enough for all!

[PBE6]

How about a pair of EQ pedals? One for pre-processing and one for post-processing. That setup can breathe a surprising amount of new life into a dirt pedal, and probably the other pedals you mentioned too.

[bloxstompboxes]

I've started on a PCB layout for the engineer's thumb. It will be the first multi-IC pcb I've done, and 3 of them on there at that! Looking like it will be just the 2 knob version. The first run through is almost done... working on the power section now. Probably going to put it in a taiwanese-b enclosure from smallbear. I have drawn only distortions, overdrives, and fuzzes up to now. The others I used PCB layouts that were already done like on tonepad.

An EQ pedal or 2 might be a good idea. I know R.G. has one without inductors on his site that I thought was interesting before.

In my case a 1W clean with a 100dB speaker. Loud enough for all!

It's the only amp I have ever owned so the only one I have ever really known. My friend, when I got mine, had gotten a 30W SS Crate, I think it was. Sounded like crap from what I remember.

[induction]

Well, my father got it for me when I was a teenager. It was sort of a package deal with the guitar if I remember. It rarely gets turned up past 1.5 or so if there is anyone home. Though, I never thought anyone would gig with one. Always seemed small compared to a cabinet a friend in school had at the time. I suppose you could use it in a bar or something. I suppose something with less power would be fine actually. i just don't want small sound, even it is in a house. I don't want to sound like I am playing through a clock radio or something.
...

In my case a 1W clean with a 100dB speaker. Loud enough for all!

It's the only amp I have ever owned so the only one I have ever really known. My friend, when I got mine, had gotten a 30W SS Crate, I think it was. Sounded like crap from what I remember.

Wattage is not the only factor in an amp's tone and volume. A low wattage amp turned up will often sound much different than a high wattage amp turned down. (Many will argue that the former will sound better, but that's subjective, and depends on the details of the amps you are comparing).  You'll also get way more mileage (volume and tone-wise) out of speaker and cabinet selection than from wattage considerations. The dreaded clock-radio tone is far more dependent on speaker selection and cabinet design than on wattage. A 1 to 5 watt amp through a 1x12 cabinet with a well-chosen speaker and well-designed cabinet can sound fantastic, and will probably be much louder than you will ever need at home, even if no one else is around and you can crank it up. The same amp through a 4x12 cabinet would be easily giggable.

I recommend building a small amp (I like the 5E1 circuit myself) and spending some time and effort designing a cabinet and choosing a speaker for your preferred tone and volume.

[bloxstompboxes]

Well, I finally finished the first one on this list. I did the Engineer's Thumb Compressor. Never had a compressor before so didn't know what to expect. I read up a little on them in general and understand that they are a subtle effect. This one seems to work pretty well. I have nothing to compare to it though. Not yet anyway. Drew up my own layout, first multi-IC board I have done. I like it.

[Jdansti]

Nice job on the Engineer's Thumb!  A wah is a nice effect to have for the type of music you play.

I got a PedalTrain Pro for Christmas and just finished putting my pedals on it.  I only play at home too and the pedal board really cleaned up the mess of cables and pedals scattered all of the floor.

Have fun with it!

[Kipper4]

If you want a tremolo the tremulus lune is the way to go. Or for  simplicity try the EA Tremolo
noise gate, the dod fx30 works well for me.
Wah, Ray rings Mini mutron or a mutron iii or midwayfairers crying time if you want an onboard lfo.
Phasers. Check out the pwm phaser and the causality4 mkii. No fet matching involved.
Delay i really like the rebote with tails mod.
what about a flanger? An electric mistress is good.
The engineers thumb looks amazing. Good job man.

[bloxstompboxes]

If you want a tremolo the tremulus lune is the way to go. Or for  simplicity try the EA Tremolo
noise gate, the dod fx30 works well for me.
Wah, Ray rings Mini mutron or a mutron iii or midwayfairers crying time if you want an onboard lfo.
Phasers. Check out the pwm phaser and the causality4 mkii. No fet matching involved.
Delay i really like the rebote with tails mod.
what about a flanger? An electric mistress is good.
The engineers thumb looks amazing. Good job man.

I have a flanger in the works. It's the FL301 from tonepad. Actually, I had it going before this thread but I was waiting on a MAX1044 and to make my decal and box it up. Still haven't made the decal but the charge pump board is populated and just needs to be tested. I have the tremulus lune, rebote 3, and the electric mistress on my list of about 56 pedals I want to build. I may never use most of them, but it's all part of the obsession. I gots to build everything I have any interest at all in. lol. I'll probably build a wah last, if at all, in the shorter list of pedals to just get a board going. I'll have to check those phasers out. Thanks for the compliment on the thumb! I think next up is a delay. Hmmm... decisions, decisions.

[plexi12000]

i'd build a tweed era champ or deluxe.  with the right parts...they are DELIGHTFUL.  hey...even an 18 watt Marshall is killer.  but whatever you build...dont scimp....get VINTAGE glass for it. there is NO substitute.  and everybody always buys shitty JJ's, etc.   i'll never get it.  you build a tube amp for tone...then you put crap tubes in it.   

[Transmogrifox]

I'm currently tweaking up a tube pedal design for my bro's (late) christmas present.  If you want to be a guinea pig or /better/ contributor, then I can post my work-in-process schematics.

As it is currently, I made a discrete-component 12V to 320V boost converter, ran .wav files through a tube pre-amp simulation and modified my Peavey duel 212 with components selected in the circuit simulation.  So far mods and simulation sound good for a blues and hard rock application.  The final design uses a 1-knob tonestack, and I don't want to go that extreme with mods on my Peavey, so next step is to actually build the thing.  Simulations sound good, but there is so much that happens in the tonestack that the real thing will be the valid test.

The discrete component boost converter was not done for practicality (the 555-based converter used in the GTFO probably is a "better" design, and I also have some TI flyback controllers off a board I found in the scrap bin which would make a foundation for a better gate drive).  I made the self-oscillating discrete component circuit just to see if I could, and it works great.  2 transistors, a MOSFET, a pile of zener diodes (to stack up to the 320V mark) and a few resistors, it's comparably as simple as an IC-based design considering the number of auxiliary components needed to make an all-in-one chip work. 

Anyway,my SPICE simulations show with a few minor tweaks it can do 10 Watts pretty easily at 80% efficiency so it has the potential for a low-wattage tube amp with power dissipation in major components (FET and inductor) at a level where the heat can be managed.  The big expense is in the form of output transformers and tubes.  If you have that, then making a 5 to 10 Watt practice amp is a reasonable project.

[bloxstompboxes]

I'd be interested in seeing that, Trans. Let us know how it goes.

[bloxstompboxes]

I got my Rebote 3.0 built. I have some questions though. Is it normal to hear some ticking? I thought I might try some shielded input/output wire but wanted t get you guys' input first. It breaks up if you strum pretty hard with the level all the way up too, but otherwise sounds really good.

[Kipper4]

Neat work I like

[bloxstompboxes]

Hmmm... the ticking seems to have disappeared now that I got an order of some 6in patch cables and started messing with assembling my pedal board. I am guessing it was the rat pedal too close to it or something. Weird. I highly recommend getting these Fender Custom Shop patch cables. They were 5 for $20 I think on ebay. I have no idea how much they are at the local music shop, but I can but they are a lot more than that. Wife hooked me up with two packs for Valentines Day.

[bloxstompboxes]

Alright, so I have never even seen a wah in person before. Sad I know. Much less played one. So, I need a recommendation based on the types of music I mentioned above that I like. Also, I have a question about the inductors. I have heard that these have a lot of influence on the sound. Either way, are the ones tayda have sufficient, or should I be looking elsewhere? What do you guys think?

[Jdansti]

The Tayda inductors are way too small for a wah. Check out Small Bear and other suppliers of pedal parts. Search Google on "Wah inductor".