total sonic annihilation

[1878]

I've been reading about this thing for a while now, but most of the posts on this site are a couple of years old. Anyone got an up to date schematic or info ?? It looks like an easy build and it's something I'd have a use for.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[cloudscapes]

well, it's just a bypass box with a feedback loop and a pot between, and a really kickass case! I think one project that resembles it is the krok over at experimentalistsanonymous.com

[MikeH]

Yeah, knowing that it's about 15-20 bucks worth of parts really makes you cringe at those 100+ price tags people pay for them on ebay.  My friend called me really excited a couple of months ago saying that he'd bought one on ebay.  He paid 120.  I told him I could have built him one for 100 less than that.  I think he dropped the phone.

[Hanglow]

Is this it/similar? http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/v/NaBos-Layouts/NaboLoop.gif.html

or am I wrong

[remmelt]

http://remmelt.com/electro/#switch

^ same thing


Forgot the pot value, but I don't think it's very important. The feedback loop isn't footswitchable on mine but when you get down to that level of sonic mayhem, you're already fiddling with knobs anyway. It's then safe to set the guitar aside and turn pots. Don't forget the guitar's volume: it's now a tone! Crazy stuff.

[railhead]

What's it sound like? Just a bunch of noise? Squeal? Feedback?

[bumblebee]

depends what you run through it, on its own it doesnt sound like anything as it dont make any noise.

high gain distortion, phasers,delays are really good.

[ambulancevoice]

total rip off, dont ever buy one
its just this in a box pretty much
total waste of money, it should cost like $20 rather than $150
biggest rip off

its just that minus the feedback i/o switch and it has 3pdt and an led


also, feedback loops are just devices which feed the out put of several effects pedals back into themselves
just makes distortions turn into like, pseudo tone generators and farting machines, some modulation effects go ape sh*t, pitch shifters take on whole new characters etc
its really for noise makers and people who want to utilize weird noises into there music

personally, id prefer to build this
http://experimentalistsanonymous.com/stuff/index.html
scroll down to the Buffered death loop

[1878]

Thanks for the replies...

I was looking at the experimentalistsanonymous.com feedback loop earlier. I wanted to add an LED, but being a newbie to most of this, the way the diagram is shown confused me ?!?! It says, 'Wire the third column like this'. Ok... Where do all the rest go ?? Also, do I need a stereo jack as a way of turning everything on ??

But, I've just been looking at this:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/tbbox/tbbox.jpg

This is the type of thing I like. It explains everything VERY simply for my increasingly confused mind. Where would I put the SPST and pot to turn it into the 'Newspaper Pedal' ?? I like the idea of the LED indicator and switchable loop.

Thanks again everyone.

[ambulancevoice]

initiative brother
the rest of the 3pdt switch gets wired like the dpdt switch above in the schematic

if you want to save battery then yes, you could use a stereo jack at the input with the batteries negative wire soldered to the ring of the jack

(btw, on that picture, swap ring with sleeve and sleeve with ring, then its correctly labeled)

also, check this site out, www.beavisaudio.com
got sh*t loads of stuff on there about building stomp boxes, and it has some feedback loop info too
actually, its got a better version of the layout on there

ugh!! i just checked his layout, and he has the jacks labeled wrong
should be the opposite way around

[1878]

Cheers. This is EXACTLY what I've been looking for !!

http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/PedalHacker/LooperWithFeedbackLoop.gif

ambulancevoice:
ugh!! i just checked his layout, and he has the jacks labeled wrong
should be the opposite way around

Which jacks ??

[ambulancevoice]

all four of them, input, output etc
im pretty sure from experimentalists anonymous layout that you can see how the jacks are wired
remember, tip is where the signal goes in, sleeve is where all the grounds go
in the case of a stereo jack, ring is usually where the right channel would go in, when used in a stomp box, the negative wire is connected to the ring, which is why when you unplug a pedal at the input, the whole thing turns off

[1878]

Right. I thought you meant the jacks themselves, but you mean the poles. So basically, if I substitute sleeve for tip and vice versa, everything will be cool ??

I don't think I asked for this much help for the UglyFace !! Thanks everyone.

[ambulancevoice]

not substitute, correct
its not the layout thats incorrect, its the way the jacks are labeled

[dano12]

all four of them, input, output etc

Sorry, I'm missing it.....what is incorrect, exactly?

[slacker]

Dano's layout looks ok to me. Signal goes to tips and ground to sleeves.

[Rodgre]

Layout seems fine to me too.

Saying that a Total Sonic Annihilation should cost $20 instead of $150 is pretty unfair. We sometimes forget that just because most everyone here knows how to solder and can understand a schematic, we are in the minority. Most musicians can't and won't bother repairing their own broken guitar cables, let alone build a pedal. If someone devises an interesting and unique pedal, and builds it into a sellable pedal that people want to buy, it is worth a hell of a lot more than what the parts themselves cost.

That's sort of like saying that a Strat is only worth $50 because wood grows on trees.

Roger

[MikeH]

Right, but the point is... it's a little off in the cost-to-price-ratio department compared to other pedals.   If a boutique distortion costs 50 bucks to make and sells for 150, this thing would be a little more fair to price at around 60 bucks.  They're playing on the ignorance of the average consumer,  Who are led to believe that there's just as much going on inside that box as the average distortion pedal.  When in actuallity, if they really knew, they'd never buy it because it's just not that special.  On the other hand a lot of consumers are ignorant (even moronic it seems) they might not think it's worth anything if it's not overpriced.

[Krinor]

all four of them, input, output etc

Sorry, I'm missing it.....what is incorrect, exactly?

Dano, I think what ambulancevoice is reffering to is this:



Sorry for copy/pasting from your excellent site. I just thought it made things more clear.
The lugs are "wrong" but the marking is correct. It's just a graphical thing. No big deal.
I built this one and have been playing around with it for a week now. I keep finding new uses for it. Try it with delay and some oscillating fuzz! Really wild. 

[ambulancevoice]

yes! thank you, some one understands! (no offence!)
i was trying not to confuse 1878 but having him wire the ground to the tip, and the signal to the sleeve
because the layout is MARKED/POSITIONED wrong, the connections are correct
where the tip thingy is located on the diagram is where the sleeve should be, visa versa
which i what its like on a real jack, and if 1878 got his jacks are from the layout saw that the tip lug was sleeve, he would have ended up wiring it wrong
just looking out for the beginners!