Maestro FSH-1, semi successfully built. Vid clip included.

[rousejeremy]

Using Tonepads layout, I built the Filter Sample Hold from Maestro. I decided to skip most of the mods, replacing the resonance, attack and decay pots with resistors of the same value. The only mod I left in was the up/down switch. I used LM13700, J201's, ICL7660 and 4558's.
The stock effect is working the way it should, with fat wah sounds and a synth like sample/hold that reminds me of a zVex Seek Wah. I ended up using a pn2222 noise tranny, and set the trimpots by ear. I'm not sure if I am supposed to set them for specific voltages on the Jfets?
The up/down mod is not working. It causes a drastic volume cut with no effect on the up setting. It's fine on the down setting though.
There is some LFO ticking, which I understand to be the nature of the beast but it is audible when the effect is bypassed. I will try to ground the input of the effect during bypass mode, hopefully it will make a difference.
I also ran the ground wires from the jacks to the 9v adapter jack, then from the adapter jack to ground on the board. I did this because of wire length in the box, I used the enclosure from a Doctor Q that I absolutely despised and could not sell. I've never wired to ground like this before and am wondering if it is a good idea or not?

Here is a short demo of my build. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEPs89nUxYA

[jacobyjd]

Sounds nice!

From what I've read about it, the better the noise transistor, the more diverse the wah steps will be. Have you experimented with different ones?

[rousejeremy]

Thanks Jacob. I did experiment with different trannys. The all sound different. Even two different 3904's gave different results. I have no idea how to test for noise so I just threw everything I had in there. Each different transistor required some trimpot tweaking to get it moving.
I should have mentioned the video clip is a 2N4401. It had a darker kind of wah sound to it. I changed it to the pn2222 because I found it had a more pronounced "stepping" sound and was a little brighter.

[rousejeremy]

BTW, grounding the input while bypassed didn't stop the LFO ticking so I ran the 9v+ to the 3pdt footswitch to turn the power off when the pedal is bypassed. No more LFO tick, but there's a pop when the effect is engaged. I'll keep it the way it is for now, the lesser of two evils.

[cathexis]

The up/down mod is not working.

Well, it might be. That's where those pots you removed come in handy IIRC, the up and down modes require very different settings of the controls. This pedal, fully modded, has lots of weirdness, can get a lot more extreme than your regular envelope filter, but it also has very many totally useless settings, where it's real easy to think it's busted. I never got around to boxing this one up, probably for that reason. Check out the sound clips in my gallery, I think there's examples of both directions.

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/cathexis/Veroboard+Layouts/Maestro+FSH-1/

LARS

[rousejeremy]

Hey Cathexis, your soundclips are what inspired me to build this thing! Your veros are also awesome. I built the Slow Gear using your layout.

I would love to isolate the Sample Hold section itself. It could probably fit into a 1590b. The poor mans Seek Wah.

I won't beat myself up for not having the sweep selection work, I like it the way it is.

The up/down mod is not working.

Well, it might be. That's where those pots you removed come in handy IIRC, the up and down modes require very different settings of the controls. This pedal, fully modded, has lots of weirdness, can get a lot more extreme than your regular envelope filter, but it also has very many totally useless settings, where it's real easy to think it's busted. I never got around to boxing this one up, probably for that reason. Check out the sound clips in my gallery, I think there's examples of both directions.

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/cathexis/Veroboard+Layouts/Maestro+FSH-1/

LARS

[Fp-www.Tonepad.com]

Now that sounds GOOD.

[rousejeremy]

Thanks to you Francisco. Keep up the great work!

[vacuumdust]

Here's how I did it.  Use a 3PDT switch.  Wire the 3rd pole for ground by bringing a ground wire to the center lug of that 3rd pole.  When the effect is on your giving ground to the negative of your LED indicator.  Pretty standard.  The other lug of the 3rd pole (opposite end of LED negative) should be a wire running to the wiper of your speed pot.  So when effect is switched off your grounding the ticking directly...you're right, grounding the input does nothing.  Done deal.  THIS WORKS.  I've spent hours debugging this pedal.  OR, you could put a 2n3904 in the noise spot and the ticking is goes away...but again, you're right, a pn2222a is the cats ass.

[rousejeremy]

I'm going to give that a shot this afternoon. Thanks for the advice.

Here's how I did it.  Use a 3PDT switch.  Wire the 3rd pole for ground by bringing a ground wire to the center lug of that 3rd pole.  When the effect is on your giving ground to the negative of your LED indicator.  Pretty standard.  The other lug of the 3rd pole (opposite end of LED negative) should be a wire running to the wiper of your speed pot.  So when effect is switched off your grounding the ticking directly...you're right, grounding the input does nothing.  Done deal.  THIS WORKS.  I've spent hours debugging this pedal.  OR, you could put a 2n3904 in the noise spot and the ticking is goes away...but again, you're right, a pn2222a is the cats ass.

[Slade]

Great work, Jeremy. I want to build one of these for my setup. Great demo, short but direct!  
Greetings.

[rousejeremy]

The Sample Hold section of the pedal distorts when the strings are hit hard, or humbuckers are used. Anyone else have this problem?

[jonasx26]

The Sample Hold section of the pedal distorts when the strings are hit hard, or humbuckers are used. Anyone else have this problem?

hey!
i've got the fsh-1 on breadboard and i've got the same problem.
seems like the OTA is VERY sensitve to input-level.
i get a lot of distortion when feeding it a 'bassy' signal, especially with the resonance-control maxed out.

i briefly tried messing with the 100k/3.3k voltage dividers.. don't know if that's the right way to fix it.

guess i'm gonna have to read up on OTA's..


/ J

[rousejeremy]

One year later I finally did what vacuumdust suggested and it worked.