Scrambler Expression Pedal w/ sound clips!

[tcobretti]

Ok.  I've been thinking for a while about building a scrambler expression pedal.  Instead of making it an expression pedal, I just built it into an old volume pedal I had laying around that was too neat to remain unused.  After doing it, I think it is pretty cool, very easy to do (if you have a wah/volume shell to work with) and much more flexible than just a typical octave stompbox.  I used a PCB from GGG, put a 10k resistor across the texture pot connection (maxes the texture), and made the pedal spin the blend pot.  There are no switches; the buffer in the scrambler is active all the time.  The pedal adds no hiss at all even when stacked with the Metal Zone.  I didn't EQ or effect the clips in any way. 

Also, notice on the end of the first clip I'm moving the pedal back and forth in tempo and it sounds kind of like a Univibe.  Weird!








These Clips are all thru the scrambler into my Line 6 set for Non-topboost Vox AC30:

No pedal beside the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler vox NTB.mp3

Dunlop FF after the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler FF vox.mp3

Behringer DS1 after the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler DS1 vox.mp3

Boss Metal Zone after the Scrambler (This is my pitiful attempt at some pseudo metal playing)
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler MZ vox.mp3

Black Russian Big Muff Pi after the Scrambler
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler BMP vox.mp3

On this clip the Scrambler runs into the Mesa Dual Rectifier setting on my Line 6 with no other stomp boxes.
http://the23rdcentury.com/scrambler mesa dual rect.mp3

Enjoy!

[JimRayden]

Wow, sounds cool. A great way to create fake feedback. Pluck a note and then start adding the up octave.

Gotta try that out with my spare shell.

---------
Jimbo

[oldrocker]

Wow!  Nice playing.  That expression pedal rocks with the Scrambler.  I'll have to hit some pawn shops and music store to see if I can find an old Wah or volume pedal to destroy.  Thanks for the awesome clip examples.

[Mark Hammer]

Those clips make a very compelling case for not only doing this with the Scrambler, but doing it with a lot of pedals.  It lets us all be Jeff Beck, if only for a moment, and if only in our imaginations.

I'm a sucker for riff-wise use of effects, and I think this is an excellent example of why it's such a nifty thing to be able to do.  That Scrambler build sounds nicer than the one I made (offered it up with 2 other pedals as prizes for a "battle of the bands" at my kid's high school a couple years ago).

[8mileshigh]

Totally sick sounding !  Congrats on the build and those sweet Hendrix like riffs.  My wife would hate me if I built the scrambler 
Really sounds great !

8

[tcobretti]

Thanks for all the kind words.  It is certainly a pretty fun pedal to play with, and I am amazed that it works as well with a Metal Zone as with a Fuzz Face.  I haven't tried it yet, but I'm wondering if the buffer in the Scrambler will help a stock non-buffered wah work better with a fuzz.

What do you guys think?

[tcobretti]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I recorded all the clips using the front p/u of my Burns Brian May with the tone knob wide open (not turned down at all).  I think on one of the metal clips I switched on the middle p/u also to get a more humbuckery sound.  You can use the rear pickup, but you lose the defined octave. 

[Toney]

 

Really great sounding!

Hey, did you do any mods? That just sounds so much sweeter than the one I built.

Any reason for the carbon comp?

[tcobretti]

I didn't do any mods besides the texture pot omission, and the one I built that had the texture pot sounded pretty much the same with the texture pot maxed.  I wish I could take credit for this thing sounding good, but I just populated the PCB.  I think the one difference from the schematic is that I used 1N4148 diodes.

About the resistors, I just used what I had in the junk box.  I haven't gotten to the point of experimenting with different types of components.  If it's the correct value (or sorta close), I use it.

Thanks again for the kind words!

[dacaumodo]

Sounds amazing. Nice licks too!

[Elektrojänis]

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm wondering if the buffer in the Scrambler will help a stock non-buffered wah work better with a fuzz.

I haven't tried, but I'm quite sure it will help.

[rousejeremy]

This is still a great idea. Worth bumping.

[tcobretti]

Thanks! 

I agree that an expression pedal could be fun in a number of different applications.  I've been thinking that with any pot, you could wire in a switching stereo jack (that breaks the signal path to the pot when a stereo cord is plugged into it), and then use an expression pedal when you want. 

I recently got a Colorsound Swell on ebay, and I've been thinking of a using a dual gang pot so one side can work the Swell (actually the inductorless Colorsound Wah), and the other can be wired as an expression pedal.  That way, I can use the wider sweep of the Colorsound design on any wah circuit by boxing it and wiring it as I described above.  Or, in fact, I can use the wider sweep with any circuit that has 100k pot in it.  If an application called for it, I could even put a 100k resistor across one side of the pot to make it a 50k pot.

Possibilities abound!

[rousejeremy]

I just tried putting my Scrambler into an old crybaby wah enclosure using the old hot potz 100k from the wah for the blend. When I push the pedal down the blend should go to Octave, what's happening is a sudden drop in volume and not much Octave at all.
It must be the pot from the old Wah, but why?
What kind of pot did you use tcobretti?

[rousejeremy]

because it's supposed to be 10K!
I feel like such an idiot when I answer my own question after I calm down.

[tcobretti]

You should feel the exact opposite: when you find it yourself, you win.

Hope you like it!

[Mark Hammer]

I will draw to everyone's attention here that the car-race/driving controllers one often sees for video games (the ones that come with a plastic steering coloumn and a two pedal floor unit) tend to have 50k pots in them.  The also have a spring return to the "heel" position.  Strikes me that such a chassis (which can often be purchased pretty cheaply; I've bought a couple, new in box, for about $10@) would be easily adapted to a controller for both a Scrambler and one other pedal.  Or, if you can position your foot juuuuuuust right, you could control texture and blend at the same time.

Worth a thought.

[frokost]

It's a good idea for sure, but I'm worried about how solid it would be.

[tcobretti]

That's an interesting idea, Mark!

[Mark Hammer]

It's a good idea for sure, but I'm worried about how solid it would be.

Well I doubt anything could be as solid as the cast aluminum Sho-Bud chassis!  Think of the $10 plastic foot controller as a "consumable".  Buy a couple of them, install the electronics, and when the plastic foot pedal craps out, move it to another chassis.  Besides, you can always mount the unit on a wooden or other base, and install a bypass switch somewhere more solid.