several questions need to be answered!

[g.e.o]

hello everybody for once more. i've already built 5 projects and i start feeling very proud about it. although that i need to built some more and seriously need some answers in things i dont understand and about what pedals to built in the future. so here we go.

1. i want recommendation for which project should i built  for a: flanger, b: phaser, c: octaver d: delay. to help u give me some suggestions i must say that i love the analog sound and dont like the digital one. also i play blues/funk/jazz stuff.

2. i live in greece and the ac power here is 220V. is there any project to give 9V regulated power supply to my pedals? meaning transforming from 220V ac to 9V dc and also have many power outs for several pedals?

3. what does a buffer, ic buffer or input buffer as i found it sometimes really do? i read several stuff about it but still want a simple explanation of it.

4. how do i stop the clicking sound of my pedal's switch? do i have to place a resistor or something else somewhere? i use true bypass switching with the millenium pcb.

thanx a lot in advance guys. hope i get some good suggestions. will help loads if i could have some samples from the things u will recommend. thanx again.

George

[Seljer]

1)
phaser: the MXR Phase 90 works pretty well, theres a bunch of different phasers out there
octave: octave up or octave down? do you want a clean octave? as most of the ones you can build yourself that aren't the fancy digital stuff come with a fuzzy in your face hendrix style octave
d: the Rebote 2.5 delay seems to be pretty popular for a DIY delay

2) the regulation that gets your AC down to 9v is prettymuch the same for most power supplies (rectifier diodes -> filter capacitors -> voltage regulator), all you need is the transformer. You should be able to get 12V AC transformer/wall wart prettymuch anywhere and it'd work fine for a pedalboard power supply.

[g.e.o]

1st of all thanx for the reply seljer. i want an octave up mainly.would prefer something like the Z. Vex Jonny Octave which is 2 octaves up but dont think theres any project like that right? i found a project for an octave up and down but dont feel its good. i was thinkin of the mxr phase and the rebot delay as well. have u built any of them? if yes how do they sound? did u have any problems?

as it comes for the power supply i know what u say but would like to have a shem or a pdf with a pcb layout etc coz i wanna built a pedal board  which i will just connect to my ac power. so i want to built this inside the pedal board.

thanx again

[g.e.o]

also i wanna know if there's any project for a sustainer. havent found one yet. cheers!

[QSQCaito]

Check geofex for spyder power supply. You can also use the search function.
As for sustainer i understand a compressor. These effect compresses the signal(if imnot wrong) and gives a sensation of the note lasting longer..
For a compressor.. i haven't try it.. but seems to be a popular one, the orange squeezer, i'd rather go for the ross compressor and some mods suggested by Mark Hammer if im not wrong.

bye bye

hope it helps

dac

[g.e.o]

thanx a lot QSQcaito. will try to find reports about the projects u suggested and...we see. take care!

[Seljer]

the orange squeezer is rather subtle compared to the Ross compressor, which comes on really strong if you turn up the knobs (little clip I recorded just earlier http://www2.arnes.si/~spribe/slike/rosscomp.mp3 )

for a simple octave up (no knobs! ) try the Green Ringer. Or the more classic Octavia which probably comes on a little stronger. Or find something out of here http://www.geocities.com/tpe123/folkurban/fuzz/snippets.html

and for a basic power supply: http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_reg_power_supply.pdf

[RaceDriver205]

For a flanger, the Ultraflanger is a good one. (search)
For a phaser, the MXR Phase 45, is very good. Bit less strong than the 90. If you want even stronger than the Phase 90 the Bad-stone is good. tonepad.com
For the octaver, the Green ringer is an analog style one. generalguitargadgets.com (with clip there)
For the delay, the Rebote 2 works very well. tonepad.com
For a sustainer, the SupaSustain claims to do this. generalguitargadgets.com
Checkout www.tothemax.web1000.com for clips of the rebote2 delay, the phase 45, and the ultraflanger

You should be able to buy a power-pack in greece which gives 9V output.

A buffer prevents tone sucking. You don't normally need one, especially if you use true-bypass.

Those mechanical switches will always make that click. To get rid of it you need a momentary foot-switch (smallbearelec.com) and extra switching circuitry.
(Argh, 3 people posted while i was typing this, thats so annoying  )

[QSQCaito]

Excuse my total offtopic-ness, just a small question to Race Driver. In the images, part 2 there is a choke on one of the circuits(the largest one) is it for filtering??

bye bye

sry..

DAC

[g.e.o]

thanx a lot race driver. have a question though. why not electric mistress as a flanger? is it worse than the mxr45? sorry if my questions are silly. cheers

[g.e.o]

also the pdf for the power supply by ggg doesnt say if its ok to use it like that at 220V. it says u can change the dc Volts but what do i need to change if i wanna use this for 220V ac?

[Seljer]

also the pdf for the power supply by ggg doesnt say if its ok to use it like that at 220V. it says u can change the dc Volts but what do i need to change if i wanna use this for 220V ac?

all you need is some sort of transformer that gives you 12V AC from 220V you get out of the wall (if its a bit more its not a problem, I believe the 7809 can even take more than 24V, also make sure the capacitors you're using can take the voltage)


http://geofex.com/Article_Folders/Power-supplies/powersup.htm

[g.e.o]

thanx seljer. have a very silly question though. when we say octave up we mean an octave lower(more 'bass') right? if so then i made a mistake. i want octave down. sorry guys. am big trouble. i know!

[brett]

Hi
ocatve up is to higher frequencies.  More treble.
The Octavia is an absolute classic octave up.  It has the excellent RM axis fuzz built in.
a: flanger, This is herectical, but it might be best to buy one.  They are complex and expensive to build, while commercial ones are cheap (I recently bought a fairly good one in a sturdy metal case, NEW for US$25.  I think it's a Chinese copy of a Boss BF-2.).
b: phaser, Phase 45 is excellet (note that it's a phaser, not a flanger)
c: octaver - Octavia first, then all others well behind
d: delay  Rebote 2 (though 1 is slightly simpler).

If you build a power supply, be very careful with those 220 volts.  Every one is a killer.

A good option is to buy a 12V wall adapter, then build a DC conditioning box: it's just a big ripple-eating capacitor (2200uF or more), then an LM7809 regulator.  Simple but very effective.  You'll find a schematic in the LM7809 datasheet or application note.  This is very simple to do, and much safer (and potentially cheaper) than messing with transformers and 220V.

cheers

[RaceDriver205]

why not electric mistress as a flanger?

Well you could, its just that the ultra-flanger has the best reputation as a strong (high flange-ratio) flanger. Better at getting jet-engine sounds like the clip.

is it worse than the mxr45?

A phaser, like the mxr45, is different to a flanger.
A flanger produces a similar sound to a phaser, but with a 'metallic' edge. Hard to explain, you really have to hear some clips of phasers and flangers.

In the images, part 2 there is a choke on one of the circuits(the largest one) is it for filtering??

Nope, no chokes. If you mean the black tube in the bottom-right corner, thats a home-made optocoupler for a tremolo.

[g.e.o]

hey guys. thanx for the advices. brett i think thats what am gonna do with the power supply. seems as u said more logical and less expencive. and i was not makin a mistake about the octave up at the end. i got confused coz i heard a sample from the green ringer and it sounded like when it was turned on it was more bass and i thought coz its an 'octave up' octaver that i was makin a mistake. anyway. thanx for the explanation brett. also u guys almost convinced me about the phase 45 and rebote delay. about the octavia now.

1. is there a pcb layout somewhere? havent found one yet. also i think i need an octaver somehow like the boss one. if u remember gilmours solos at the division bell album thats with that octaver. is the octavia good enough to provide me a good result? i wanna mainly use it with a slide.

and some more questions.

1. what do u think of the easy vibe and the EH poly phase?

2. i have found hundreds of amp shems but never a pcb layout. are there any? if not is there a program that can transform a shem to a pcb? i know its easy and fun to make ur own pcb from a shem but coz am new yet i would like to be sure about the layout and if have any problems to be able do debug just the simple stuff and not the whole pcb.

thanx a lot for the help

George

[RaceDriver205]

what do u think of the easy vibe and the EH poly phase?

Both are fairly good, but are much larger and more complicated.

not is there a program that can transform a shem to a pcb?

Express PCB. I use it for everything and its simple and brilliant.

[g.e.o]

ok race driver. i did download the express pcb but cannot find how to transform a shem to a pcb. can u give me instructions?

[bwanasonic]

ok race driver. i did download the express pcb but cannot find how to transform a shem to a pcb. can u give me instructions?

ExpressPCB doesn't work that way. You must place your own parts and make your own layout. The link between schematic and pcb is just for *error checking* purposes. The help file that comes with ExpressPCB is a good place to start. It includes a brief tutorial.

Kerry M

[RaceDriver205]

Indeed, the PCB must be designed. ExpressPCB allows the PCB to be designed fairly easily.
First step is to create a copy of the schem using the ExpressSCH program.
Once you've done that, you can ask us if you need more help.