My =ultimate= multi-fx pedalboard...W.I.P

[Auke Haarsma]

'Product placing'... or... 'spaghetti incident'...


This is a picture of all effects that (as of now) will be put inside the enclosure. No footswitches or channel_selectors yet. It looks like a mess, and yup, it is a mess. Helps me trying to figure out how I can best organize the guts... Most of the wires are still too long, they will be shortened and grouped.

I think I'll add supports in the area where now the pcb's lay. This allows for the pcb's to be fastened vertically (except for the Neovibe and the PT80...those are too big).

The powersupply as I have it now doesn't fit at all. So that has to be redesigned.

[Auke Haarsma]

While searching in my local DIY-store for the right 'supports' for the PCB's I ran into some metal washers. I think it will look cool, but more importantly, it will make the connection between the wooden enclosure and the stompswitches much stronger. I also found a piece of wood that I will use for the supports. It has a small side, here I will secure the PCB to with a screw, and a bigger part which gives extra support.



And I decided to already do the shielding. Initially I wanted to figure out all the wiring etc...but I thought 'well, I need to do the shielding anyway, no matter how I lay out the wires...'. I used two sheets of alu-foil. And, it seems to work. I have/cannot test its shielding capabilities yet, but my DMM shows that the foil is connect to itself from every corner of the board.

[carrejans]

Nice project.

But to be honest, you have put so much work into it; and now you just use a not-so-pretty enclosure.
And if you really want to do it in wood; use some thicker. Now it doesn't look nice, but cheap.

But still, nice work!

[Auke Haarsma]

Hoi Jan,

Thanks for your comment. The wood indeed isn't top notch at the moment. But remember, the wood I now use is 'test-wood'. Just to practice my skills.

There are four options for finishing the enclosure:
1) I keep using this wood as it is (very unlikely)
2) I keep using this wood but go into lengths to sand and coat it (viable option).
3) I keep using this wood, but will use thin sheets of veneer (likely option).
4) I redo the enclosure and start with good looking quality wood (expensive and time consuming option, not likely to be honest).

Each option has its pros and cons, but for now the main focus is not on 'the looks' but on getting this beasty to work.

Oh, why should I use thicker wood? If this wood is strong enough, than why take the heavier, thicker wood?

[tranceracer]

Nice project.

But to be honest, you have put so much work into it; and now you just use a not-so-pretty enclosure.
And if you really want to do it in wood; use some thicker. Now it doesn't look nice, but cheap.

But still, nice work!

Another idea to make the top look nice is to use thin aluminum or steel sheet metal to cover the wood.  You can paint and place labels on the sheet metal.  This would double as shielding for the tip of the multi effect box.

[tranceracer]

Another idea to make the top look nice is to use thin aluminum or steel sheet metal to cover the wood.  You can paint and place labels on the sheet metal.  This would double as shielding for the tip of the multi effect box.

...Correction:  This would double as sheilding for the TOP of the multi effect box.

[petemoore]

  Here's my take.
  Putting aesthetics aside, partly because I can't really see the corners etc.
  I've seen uglier under my foot, not to worry, at this point it looks like prototype.
  What looks to be of possible concern is when stomping, the top board will bop up and down when the switch catch trips, it's better if this type of motion is reduced...of course depends on the wiring, but it ~invites noises or problems to be jostled repeatedly in the same way.
  It looks as though there's room for hardwood struts [or metal] to span the wide dimension, along/between the 2nd and 3rd row of [looks like switch holes] the 'checkerboard' spaced holes. If made sort of thick but almost as deep as the bottom allows, signifigant stiffening is possible. Fitting this strut to touch the top and bottom helps a thin top survive supporting greater weight.
  I have faith that if you believe it is worthy of your needs, it is or will be made to be.
  At any rate, it looks like the inertail energies of flexing and popping when switching may be directly transferred to the wiring and switching.
  That represents a great amount of work !
  I'm working on a multi effects panel unit, a much more 'humble' approach though, it is an attempt mostly to replicate my effects PB while eliminating about 84% of it's jacks and patch cables .
 

[Auke Haarsma]

Thanks for thinking with me here!

@Tranceracer: Though I set off to build a wooden enclosure for this multi-fx, I have considered using metat/alu-sheets. Some look really really nice, I agree. But, I've decided some time ago to stick to wood. Covering the wood with anything but (semi)transparant coating is really not an option.

@Pete: Ok, you have a point there. I do plan to use supports around the switches. I will give it some more attention based on your explanation.

I do think the enclosure will turn out to be strong enough for 'normal' use, but well.... there's only one way to find that out

Do you have topic for your Multi-fx unit? I'd like to see it (or the plans).

[tranceracer]

Keep up the great work!

[sjaltenb]

Auke,

I myself am tackling a similar project. I am building a cornish style board like David Gilmours. It has been a LONG, hard, expensive project!!! It seems that nothing goes quite as planned, but when you figure it out, it is very rewarding.

The first version of my project, I hastily built the enclosure by myself and it looked so so, and I went with it, but never loved it. I ended up ditching the entire enclosure about 3/4 of the way through and starting from scratch! I am glad I did, i got a craftsman to build the new one, and it looks perfect.

I will tell you that grounding is your biggest enemy! I have Ac and DC powered pedals so its definitely a challenge to eliminate the noise. I think I am almost there. I will post a thread of my board so ya'll can all see. Anyways, good luck! And if you have any questions I may have already figured out the answers to regarding the multi box, shoot me an email:
sjaltenb@olemiss.edu

I will tell you, your best friends are Heat shrink tubing and wire ties and shielded cable. There is not a single wire that is not shielded (except pots) and not only shielded, but the shield is grounded to the main ground. Its a pain, but it will do wonders, i promise!

[Auke Haarsma]

Hi Sjaltenb,

Thanks for sharing! I saw your board and as I said, very impressive. It seems we both have our own challenges. I'm not working with AC to feed the pedals (just 9V DC and 18V DC). My current challenge is how to do the wiring....in a tidy fashion. Last night I've just been 'staring' at the board for too long. Laying down some wires, imagining the other wires... trying different routes. Considering different types of wire.

The way I designed the switches, fx-pcbs and channel_selectors over a year ago, now dictates for a big deal how the wires will run. As you see, a signal goes into the Channel Selector. The Channel Selector (if the FX is selected) sends the signal to the stompswitch (all the way down....over 15 cm avg). The stompswitch sends the signal to the fx-pcb (which is about ~10cm up). Next the output of the fx goes back to the stompswitch. And then finally the stompswitch returns the signal to the Channel_Selector.

And so it goes for all 17 effects.

My approach thus far has been:
-reading a lot on this board and other boards
-thinking, writing, drawing and posting to receive (valuable!) feedback
-adapting my ideas
-trial and error. I just try and see how it works out.

There are so many ways to do the wiring, and there are some many issues that can pop up... but at the other hand, why not just try and see how it works out? With so many variables it will be very hard to predict how it will turn out (sound/noise wise).

[Auke Haarsma]

Got myself some 'telephone' cable for a couple of euro's. It has 4 signal wires in one cable, so this could fit very well between the footswitches and the channel_selectors.

I'm not sure if I can expect problems with high-gain effects (Boogey, Box of Rock). But if so, I can use shielded wires for these effects. The other effects (simple boosters, modulation) should cause no problems.

[petemoore]

  That is a great deal of equipment.
  You've done what looks like a great job creating and debugging and tweeking and compiling extensive guitar effect circuitry.
  It would benefit by going from 'might work fine' to a more solid construction...short run, or long run.
  Attaching aluminum to wood..I think Gorilla glue, and a 'T bar' shape of aluminum strip...the glue is nasty, pour a blob of it out on full sheet of newspaper, get the top of the T-bar covered with it by pulling it through or touching it to the poured out blob [use breadbag or gloves...stick it carefully to the marked position on the underside of the switch portion of the board [repeat at next row?]. The longer the upright of the 'T' shape [looking at the end of the strip] the better.
  Another way to stiffen would be to use oak or hardwood under the board, then, above that [and on top of the panel, 'in view'], add oak moulding, say 3/4'' x 1/4'' strips with quarterrounded top [available at hardware store, to create a 'strut sandwich'..oak 'bread', plywood 'meat', having oak fibers spanning across the panel, above and below a 'width' between them, would make a strong strut...not that hard, and two-tone wood grains finishes look cool to me...clamping after wood glueing being the 'tricky' part, I would use two drill bits, one for the shank and threads, another to countersink into the 1/4'' inch wood [which could split..just tighten them to pin the glued board down only] clean the drill-exit splits so the screw doesn't raise grain between wood contact areas, sand, glue, then screw the sandwich together from top.
  Gueseppe says you can't not use too much glue to get a great glue joint, and even though I disagree with this, using a wettish rag to clean up may still leave glue stains...I like just the right amount, let that set a bit, then clamp and liberally wipe the slight excess off, clean portion of the rag for second swipes.

[Auke Haarsma]

Pete, I don't really get the T-bar suggestion. Let me see if I understand you correctly. You suggest to glue to top of the T-bar (the - part) to the top of the enclosure (on the inside ofcourse) between the 2nd and 3rd row of stompswitches.
Next, the upright part (the I part) of the t-bar goes where? To the bottom of the enclosure? I'm not sure if such T-bars exist (haven't seen them yet that is). Besides, the top is angled, so I wonder how strong this construction is.

Maybe I misunderstood you. I'm thinking for now I'll go with what you said before:

  It looks as though there's room for hardwood struts [or metal] to span the wide dimension, along/between the 2nd and 3rd row of [looks like switch holes] the 'checkerboard' spaced holes. If made sort of thick but almost as deep as the bottom allows, signifigant stiffening is possible. Fitting this strut to touch the top and bottom helps a thin top survive supporting greater weight.

[Auke Haarsma]

Today I found some time to test the 'supports' and PCB-holders. And: So for So GOOD! It looks like this solution gives extra strength to the enclosure and keeps all the PCB's solidly in place.

Here are the pics.
Topview. PCB's are small ones: a SHO and a signal-splitter:


Sideview:


It is not glued to the enclosure yet, so that's why you see the black/blue claw holding it in place:

[Steben]

Verdorie man!
Hoe lang ben je daar al mee bezig zeg?
Superbofantastisch dat je doorzet...
ik hoop dat je niet dyslectisch wordt eens d eknoppies er op staan. 

[Auke Haarsma]

Thanks!
How long I've been working on this... well on and off since the start of this thread: April 14th 2007. So yeah... long time indeed
Sometimes it becomes a drag, but most of the time it is a pleasure to work on it/ think and come up with solutions/ debug/ take pics/ etc 


Glueing in process:


/edit: pic added. And yeah Yorick, I'll try to be ready

[Valoosj]

Just make sure it's ready for the meeting in November 

[Auke Haarsma]

Slacker's EchoBase inspired me finetune my PT-80. I modified the repeats, and... I 'stole' the LFO section of the EchoBase and added it to the PT-80. WICKED

So now I have one of the finest digital Delays out there, with a great tone and with modulation possibilities. All the wacky stuff the EchoBase can do, the PT80 can do now as well.

First I made an add-on board on stripboard. But, me and stripboard don't get along too well... so after long debate with myself I decided to start Eagle. The result is a nice little PCB. If anyone wants the PCB, drop me a line/pm, I gladly share it.

The add-on pcb for the PT80:


happy together:

[Auke Haarsma]

I also posted this in the Echo Base thread, but in case some1 reading this thread wants the PCB as well, here it is:

Here is the PCB to use the EchoBase LFO section on a PT-80 delay. I am pretty sure it will work on a Rebote as well, but I have not tried that.

Just the PCB, size is correct if printed at 600 pdi:


And the layout: