Wooden 5-in-1 enclosure finished

[jimmy54]

Hi fellas,

Here's a couple of pics of my latest creation, a multi-effect.  First off, a big thanks to member Basicaudio who built and finished the wooden enclosure for me.  Great work (here's a link to a thread with some pics of his other enclosures.  http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=43268.0).

The enclosure contains five effects - Orange Squeezer, Foxx Tone Machine, Rebote 2.5 and a Sparkleboost/Fetzer valve (mini-toggle switchable between the two).

I haven't tidied up the wiring yet so it's still a bit of a rats nest but the small problem I have with it is a grounding issue (or so I assume).  There is a faint ground buzz that disappears when I touch the guitar strings/guitar cable plug.  This is with all effects off.  All the circuit board grounds are connected together to the ground on the jacks and I have connected the body of all the pots to ground.
Any ideas what could be up with grounding.

Enclosure1- http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e310/billymill54/?action=view&current=IMG_4503.jpg

Enclosure2 - http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e310/billymill54/?action=view&current=IMG_4509.jpg

Rat's Nest - http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e310/billymill54/?action=view&current=Ratsnest.jpg

[Jaicen_solo]

I'm afraid I can't offer any help with the buzzing, but that's a real nice looking box you got there. Only issue I have with it is the use of those damn plastic washers! They're so ugly they blight what is a really well made box in my opinion.

[bancika]

Great looking, congrats!
I also think you shouldn't use those washers, why don't you make some wooden ones, maybe from ebony or other dark (or darkened) wood. Just a thought

[Traintrack]

I have a 3 in 1 that I am building, I just have the Rodent left to build.

I would plan to have the box wired with 3 / 3PDT switches with all of the effects wired to one 9v jack and in/out.

If it was possible I would love to have a selector stomp to move between all three. I have not seen this and have searched.

I forsee a wiring mess without the proper planning.

How did you wire up this box?

[jimmy54]

Traintrack, I wired this pedal as you described, each effect has its own 3PDT (apart from the sparkleboost/Fetzer which share one), and all are wired to one 9v jack and one in/out.  Not sure what you mean by a selector stomp to move between all three.  Do you mean being able to change the order of the effects?

[Traintrack]

Jimmy, Thanks for the response,

I would love to have a threesome with a switch that would select one of the three, so i could move between the pedals. So I could have each effect setup for different applications, and if I wanted to only utilize two of the effects I would only light up two and so forth.
This would be ideal.

I have a bluesbreaker that is perfect for rhythm crunch and a BSIAB along with the Rodent. It would be a great rig as an all in one for a show. The way you have it wired and the way I guess I am wiring, is that you must turn one off and the fire another one up.

Also Jimmy, I am a big fan of your wood. Very unique and the look really works!

[jimmy54]

You don't need to turn one off to turn another on.  You can have all four effects on at the same time if you wish, but I get the feeling that you're talking about something different.

I wish I could take credit for the wood but that was done by a member here called Basicaudio (here's a link to his site - http://mrdwab.com/john/Pedals.html)

[jimmy54]

Oh, and I agree about the plastic washers too.  Just wish I had something more in keeping with the wood enclosure.

[bancika]

One more suggestion, most folks preffer delay after distortion (in Fx loop of an amp) so it would be nice to have delay send and delay return jacks and possibility to have it either in loop or just as it is.

[Traintrack]

I am talking about a selector switch. I understand that you can turn the all one or just one or two, but i would not do such a thing with three distortion pedals.

Your selecttion of effects is perfect for three switches.

[LyleCaldwell]

I haven't tidied up the wiring yet so it's still a bit of a rats nest but the small problem I have with it is a grounding issue (or so I assume).  There is a faint ground buzz that disappears when I touch the guitar strings/guitar cable plug.  This is with all effects off.  All the circuit board grounds are connected together to the ground on the jacks and I have connected the body of all the pots to ground.
Any ideas what could be up with grounding.

You need to shield the enclosure.  Foil will work, but conductive paint would be easiest and most reliable for those routs.

[Processaurus]

I haven't tidied up the wiring yet so it's still a bit of a rats nest but the small problem I have with it is a grounding issue (or so I assume).  There is a faint ground buzz that disappears when I touch the guitar strings/guitar cable plug.  This is with all effects off.  All the circuit board grounds are connected together to the ground on the jacks and I have connected the body of all the pots to ground.
Any ideas what could be up with grounding.

You need to shield the enclosure.  Foil will work, but conductive paint would be easiest and most reliable for those routs.

If the buzz goes away when you touch the strings, it could be your guitar, rather than your stompbox.   Your body acts as a radio antenna, and by touching the strings you ground yourself, silencing that noise.  Shielding the control cavity of the guitar helps with this.

I would definitely still shield the inside of your (beautiful) wooden enclosure though because lots of places you'll play will have a lot of electrical interference in the air, like from nearby radio stations, or power lines running through the floor, appliances, etc.  I lucked out and found a roll of foil (which is perfect for shielding stuff, even though it looks hokey) with adhesive on the back a while ago, but you could use spray on adhesive on regular foil and it would work great.  Conductive paint looks more professional, but from what I hear you need to be set up for it with spray guns and such, and its quite toxic. 

Some people use copper tape too.  You can solder to it, which is nice for grounding it.

[LyleCaldwell]

Stewmac.com sells conductive paint that you can brush on.  Processaurus, I really don't follow you around waiting to disagree.  Hope it doesn't come across that way.   

[Traintrack]

http://www.muzique.com/lab/magpaint.htm

This could work. Spay it into a cup and brush it on

[John Lyons]

Jimmy.

Shoot! I hope I didn't forget to tell you about shielding your boxes I made you...?
I use sticky back aluminum foil tape that is used for airconditioning and duct work. In the US it's available at most hardware stores.
I should have just included some in your package....
What you want to do is fold over one edge of each successive piece about a 1/4 inch so the sheild has continuity. The adhesive is not conductive so that's why you need to overlap the pieces...check the continuity with a meter and make sure to cover the inside of the box with foil tape as well as  contact with the back to the inside of the box foil.
This will solve you grounding issues...Sorry about that.

I have a bunch more pedal enclosures that are just about finished. I'mm selling these as well. I'll post them when I get them photographed

John

PS. Yeah, I hate the plastic washers as well. (not yours personally jimmy) I think small bear may stock them, I know a few people asked about them a while back, not sure. A lot of old pedals used the metal chromed ones...I don't know why the white nylon ones are the only ones offered nowdays, The metal ones look so much better!

[Paul Marossy]

I have seen some thick, black metal washers that will fit those stompbox switches. I have one on one of my boxes as a matter of fact. I don't know where I picked it up, though. Anyhow, the point is that I know that there are some black washers out there that would work. That would match the knobs and stuff...

[John Lyons]

Here are the pics from the above post...a little more "instant gratification" than going to the imge host site ...





The layout looks nice jimmy. You did my woodwork justice!

[jimmy54]

Thanks for posting the pics within the thread and the compliment John.

I'm really pleased with the pedal, the effects work well together.  I have to say, I'm really impressed with the Sparkleboost.  It sounds fantastic going into my Matamp 1224 amp that is set just on the point of crunch.  Really pushes it over the top and can give a great Jimmy Page or Paul Kossof tone.  Sounds great after the Foxx tone machine too.  Tends to smooth it out a lot and gives a huge volume boost.  The FTM along with the Rebote delay can give good Zeppelin - 'You Shook Me' tone and everyone should have an orange squeezer.

The effect order is :  Orange squeezer --FTM--Rebote--Sparkleboost/Fetzer.

My only complaint about the Foxx Tone Machine is that it doesn't clean up well with the guitar volume.  Anyone know if there's a mod that would allow this or does the FTM's design preclude this?

Can anyone suggest a good Fuzz that cleans up well?

I'd also like the option of having a second switchable fuzz in there but there's no more room for pots and I you couldn't share pots.