Danelectro Fab Distortion

[disto]

thanks ive had a quick search around but havent found anything for the black coffee did you actually see some info on it newbie?

[jjucius]

So would I just cut the wires to the existing footswitch when I wired up the new 3pdt? So with the "arming" I would always have that on, and with that on it would still be true bypass, and then clicking on the 3pdt would engage the effect in the signal?  I thought about a TB loop, but the main reason for a rehouse is durability and because I wanna get more expierence making/modifying my own effects. That's a great diagram, thanks!

Yep, you can cut the existing footswitch out and just solder a jumper wire where the switch wires were. Thusly, the pedal will always be "on". Your new jacks and 3PDT will add true bypass which ends up sort of turning the pedal off.

This should be an awesome good project to get your skills and confidence level up. And if you toast the pedal, well it's only 15 bucks

Feel free to ask if you have any questions along the way.

Witch pins do i put a jumper on so the pedal is on all the time? i am doing a neil young pedal, prof tweed, dano chille dog, fab echo and fab flange all in one box. any help for wiring this up would be helpfull.
Thank You
Joe

[dano12]

So would I just cut the wires to the existing footswitch when I wired up the new 3pdt? So with the "arming" I would always have that on, and with that on it would still be true bypass, and then clicking on the 3pdt would engage the effect in the signal?  I thought about a TB loop, but the main reason for a rehouse is durability and because I wanna get more expierence making/modifying my own effects. That's a great diagram, thanks!

Yep, you can cut the existing footswitch out and just solder a jumper wire where the switch wires were. Thusly, the pedal will always be "on". Your new jacks and 3PDT will add true bypass which ends up sort of turning the pedal off.

This should be an awesome good project to get your skills and confidence level up. And if you toast the pedal, well it's only 15 bucks

Feel free to ask if you have any questions along the way.

Witch pins do i put a jumper on so the pedal is on all the time? i am doing a neil young pedal, prof tweed, dano chille dog, fab echo and fab flange all in one box. any help for wiring this up would be helpfull.
Thank You
Joe

If it is a FAB unit, look at the diagram I posted. Specficially, look at the swtich area. For other pedals, find the momentary switch. It should be just two connections. That's the on/off you want to jumper.

[jjucius]

Thank you very much. i am puting 3 dano pedals and a prof tweed in this

i just got done with the silk screen and need to shoot clear powder over it.
again thanks for your help.
Joe
www.kustompowder.net

[disto]

i was going to say wow how the hell did you get such amazing graphics onto a pedal, i though screen printing equipment was hard to get hold of! i then clicked on your website and you actually run a company producing screen prints a powder coating, so theres my answer!

looks very nice i must admit!

[jjucius]

Thank you, by the way if you look around you can find some deals on used equipment, it's not as expensive as you think it just takes a lot of practice to get it right.
Joe

[disto]

oh right where abouts could i look for some equipment! I'm not sure where to start but screen printing would be useful for alot of things, tshirts, CDs, promo work, and of course the odd pedal

[jjucius]

You can check e-bay for used or go here
http://www.silkscreeningsupplies.com/site/799934/page/45029
this is where i get my supplys from, check out the starter kits.
Later
Joe

[disto]

ok great thanks alot

[newbie builder]

Not specifically on the black coffee, but here is a lot about danos: http://thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=130262
I just remembered where I heard the black coffee was good- Bjorn Juhl of bjf electronics spoke of it as being a cool pedal on the music toyz forum (later I could look it up for you) I don't remember exactly what he said, but I remember it was favorable.

[dano12]

Thank you very much. i am puting 3 dano pedals and a prof tweed in this

i just got done with the silk screen and need to shoot clear powder over it.
again thanks for your help.
Joe
www.kustompowder.net

Wow! Very nice. I love the idea of multiple circuits in one box. Good work.

[disto]

how would i go about tracing an existing pedal i stripped down my danelectro black coffee (pic here) from looking at it (and i only have one so cant compare to others) the board with the jack sockets is standard tot he DJ mini series and the second board is individual to the effect, can any one comment on this? I'm considering creating a multi effect or perhaps just a autowah followed by the black coffee with a mix so that i can control and blend the clean guitar with the distorted guitar creating a  less distorted sound if needed.

[Processaurus]

Joe, that box looks really great, I'd like seeing more diy alternatives to the common jimi-in-a-box.  Neil in a box...  I'm just wondering if you can get that trademark total saturation out of the tweed sim...
Say, since you're rehousing the fab echo, you owe it to yourself to add the delay time pot, its so easy especially since you aren't trying to find a spot for it in the tiny dano box:  Heres how.  Scroll down to the picture.  To get the surface mount resistor off, I go back and forth melting each sides solder as quick as I can, then it'll push right off.  Use a 50K pot for the delay time and the longer delays won't get all f-d up sounding. 
Getting O.T., but have you heard Neil's "Dead Man" soundtrack? Some of my favorite effected Neil sounds.  Its powerful, grungy, mysterious, American (apple pie, not waving flags, y'know?).

[jjucius]

Thanks, i can get perty close by using all j201 trannys but most is from my amp a jackson 50 watt all tube head i converted to a combo it is a single channel with two gain stages, and i'm running it hot. and the guitar i use is a cheep stagg lp copy that i added a bigsby to and a humbucker sized p-90 at the neck and a firebird pu at the bridge.

i think i will add that extra pot, and dead man is great, i love the tone he gets out of that set up.

[dano12]

Getting O.T., but have you heard Neil's "Dead Man" soundtrack? Some of my favorite effected Neil sounds.  Its powerful, grungy, mysterious, American (apple pie, not waving flags, y'know?).

Wow, I've yet to meet anyone who's heard that! One of my top ten favorite movies, and the soundtrack, well it's in the top five. Incredible guitar tone. It is haunting.

[Uma Floresta]

Question: what about the foil? Is that rendered unnecessary by rehousing it in a metal enclosure? Or does it need to stay?

I'm planning to rehouse both a Fab Distortion (which sounds AWESOME with Dano's dying battery simulator principles - it sounds like a gated fuzz ala Big Cheese or something) and a Fab Echo with the various mods mentioned on this forum (delay time, increased feedback for self-oscillation) as well as an expression pedal out.

[Processaurus]

Absolutely, ditch the foil.  It was a cheap way for them to get RF shielding in their plastic cases. 

Thanks for the tip on the fab distortion, I'll look it up, I really like that pedal, especially the tone knob.  There isn't a schematic lying around with the values for it, are there?  Its nice because it goes from no highs to what sounds like a mid notch (or flat) with plenty of high highs, to a narrow, upper mid boosted and less bassy sound, really nice range for one knob.

[Uma Floresta]

Absolutely, ditch the foil.  It was a cheap way for them to get RF shielding in their plastic cases. 

Thanks for the tip on the fab distortion, I'll look it up, I really like that pedal, especially the tone knob.  There isn't a schematic lying around with the values for it, are there?  Its nice because it goes from no highs to what sounds like a mid notch (or flat) with plenty of high highs, to a narrow, upper mid boosted and less bassy sound, really nice range for one knob.

Cool, thanks! Yes, I agree it's a very nice, versatile distortion. I mean, it's got quite a lot of gain on tap, it's difficult to get a bad sound out of it. It also does light od, clean boost, and it's even "touch sensitive" (I hate that phrase - so overused). It is a little generic at times, but it still sounds good. When I got the gated fuzz sound out of it on top, that clinched it for me. Must do a rehouse.



This is the only way I was able to get the "dying battery" effect to work while using an external power supply. IIRC, I could get it work while using batteries and keeping the power jack where it is, but I hate using batteries. The way I've done it, I think it would get immediately fried if it was plugged into a wall wort AND a battery.

[Processaurus]

Thanks for that! 

It is a little generic at times, but it still sounds good.

Exactly my feeling too.  I'd like at some point to try grafting it and a proco rat together, to get some of the interesting character of the rat (from the hp filtering and slewing distortion from the lm308), but the softness of the clipping and the more refined tone control of the fab...

[jepoysaipan]

Hi Guys,

I've re-housed my Fab Distortion just for vanity Below is the pixs, enjoy!