tiny tremoloOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[MetalUpYerEye]

That would be me, sorry. I've been swamped with work and have multiple PCBs (including yours) on my desk that I haven't been able to get to the post office. I'll get them all out this weekend, I promise.

No worries! I was just wondering what was going on with it. 

Thanks again for the PCB. I've got all my goodies together for this project. I picked up a CMOS 555, couple red LED's and a 'grab bag' of LDR's at radio shack. I think it had like 5 different LDR's in it. I had a little trouble tracking down a 47k pot so I went with a 50k but it shouldn't be a problem.

[deadastronaut]

Hey deadastronaut, could I bother you to repost that colorsound wah breadboard layout again? I tried building it from the schematic and must have done something goofy... Thanks!

@ratbones .its on page 8...i havent done this myself yet though...so its not a verified layout,....yet!.
if in doubt find the schematic and check ok....

@all. hmmm..so the led debate is still in the air then...hmmm...
i read that some use yellow,green and red for various projects also...!!!...

i know if i shine a superbright blue into an ldr it works though...on a wah,..(crap nurse quacky).
it opens right up..in daylight with no wrap... so theyre great for testing at least...

[tuckster]

Why do all my LED burn out if I don't use a series resistor? You don't use wann either.

[deadastronaut]

no idea..mines ok...

i havent measured the voltages off the 555 to the leds...

[pie-key]

.....

how about some BULBS?

i think they can make dramatic slow light ON/OFF sequence.... don't you think?


well ill go back to the lab now...

[deadastronaut]

do you want mood lighting inside it...

a chill out lounge for a 555.....

seriously...id stick with leds...

[Ratbones]

Weird, I found the post I had seen it in before on pg 8 but it's not showing up for me now for some reason...

[Ratbones]

Turns out my goofy antivirus was blocking it for some reason. I breadboarded it following your layout but didn't have some of the necessary cap values.

And... It didn't work. Dunno if it was my substituting, or the layout though.

I did manage to get it working using the optochopto schematic though. It sounds really cool. Now I'm working on a triangle or saw wave lfo so it sounds more perty.

[deadastronaut]

Turns out my goofy antivirus was blocking it for some reason. I breadboarded it following your layout but didn't have some of the necessary cap values.

And... It didn't work. Dunno if it was my substituting, or the layout though.

I did manage to get it working using the optochopto schematic though. It sounds really cool. Now I'm working on a triangle or saw wave lfo so it sounds more perty.

hi man, just breaded the wah, from schematic, not the breadboard i posted though!..all works fine
am messing with values on it today..and all the available mods..to try out...might add  buffer/boost on it..
as for the beavis optochopto, yeah that looks good, lets hear a sample when your done..sounds a cool idea..

[MetalUpYerEye]

I perf boarded this baby and can't get it to do anything for me. I used one side of a 556 timer. When I turn it on both LED's flash on for a split second and then turn off.

I built the version with signal and power grounds connected, input jack to turn it on, with a dpdt footswitch turning off the LDR and my rate LED (as an indicator) for bypass. I get the clean guitar signal but no LED's and hence no tremolo effect... Changing the pots has no effect either.

Any ideas? I need to check the voltage coming off the output of the 556 I think...

[Earthscum]

When I turn it on both LED's flash on for a split second and then turn off.

Same thing I get. Try increasing the resistor and pot by 10x and decreasing the cap by 10x... haven't tried it yet, myself. Should take a bit of the load off the chip, but your LED may not work. If so, try increasing your resistance by, say 2 times, and decrease your cap by 2 times, or 3x, etc. Just make sure whatever factor you increase the resistors, to decrease the cap by the same factor. This will keep it running like it should, timing wise.

[MetalUpYerEye]

I'm not getting any voltage on the output of the 556... For some reason the LED's will flash on for a second if I connect my input signal to ground... Not sure what I screwed up here... 

[MetalUpYerEye]

I have 9v to Vcc on my 556 but no voltage coming off the output of the chip. Any ideas?

[deadastronaut]

I have 9v to Vcc on my 556 but no voltage coming off the output of the chip. Any ideas?

hmmm strange, check the schematic on page 3...sounds like somethings wrong there..

i take it you havent got a 555..so are using one side of a 556..should be ok, just double check the pin connections though!.

[knealebrown]

so maplin sells LDR's in varying resistance bands,  which do u recommend?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=35962

i know i should be doing my uni work but this is so simple i can pick up the parts on my way home and have some 'me time' 

[MetalUpYerEye]

hmmm strange, check the schematic on page 3...sounds like somethings wrong there..

i take it you havent got a 555..so are using one side of a 556..should be ok, just double check the pin connections though!.

Yeah something funky is going on. I built it per the schematic since I used a 556 instead of a 555, so the board and vero layouts wouldn't do me any good anyway. Everything seems to be in order but it seems like both sides of my LEDs are connected to ground. I get 9v from Vcc of the 556 to either leg on both LEDs... I must be missing something here...

I built mine on perf... Could someone post a drawing with all the pot and switch connections minus the inline/bleed switch please? 

[tombola]

Beautiful design Deadastronaut, so simple. Love the way it's bidirectional - you don't need to label In and Out, because it doesn't matter which you use.

Only problem I have is with quite noticeable ticking. I built it with two grounds - checked with the meter, there's no connection between battery ground and audio ground. Have a 100uf cap between +9v and (power) ground. I've tried it with two adaptors and a 9v battery, different guitars, different amps. It's there when depth is at zero - i.e. the LDR isn't bleeding anything to ground.

Is there anything else I can try? Thanks!

[Earthscum]

I figured out with other oscillators (I can't get a 555 to do anything for me, so I cheat  ) that it's basically sending a quick spike to the LED when it switches on. I tried RC network that seemed to work pretty decent at suppressing the spikes, one that seemed to work fairly decent was just a 47uF between the output and the diode. That was working on a CMOS 40106 oscillator, but wouldn't work for crap (at least the way I had it plugged together) with the MV-52.

[Barcode80]

Beautiful design Deadastronaut, so simple. Love the way it's bidirectional - you don't need to label In and Out, because it doesn't matter which you use.

Only problem I have is with quite noticeable ticking. I built it with two grounds - checked with the meter, there's no connection between battery ground and audio ground. Have a 100uf cap between +9v and (power) ground. I've tried it with two adaptors and a 9v battery, different guitars, different amps. It's there when depth is at zero - i.e. the LDR isn't bleeding anything to ground.

Is there anything else I can try? Thanks!

if you are using a current limiting resistor, try increasing the resistor. Also, try moving your board around and see if it still happens. Sometimes proximity can cause bleed over.

[deadastronaut]

so maplin sells LDR's in varying resistance bands,  which do u recommend?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=35962

i know i should be doing my uni work but this is so simple i can pick up the parts on my way home and have some 'me time'  

hi kneale, i went with the n46ay's....ive had a few different ones though and there didnt seem much different in the response...

@metalupyaeye. both led legs to ground...have you got a breadboard?, i would sort this out on there first...

@tombola, yes i stuck a 1000uf across 9v - and it was silent, extreme i know but it worked and was quick to grab from a pile of bits
..maybe try a 220/470..!!!!!..or do what barcode recommends.

@earthscum, yeah the 40106 should be ok, as in beavis optochopto...check it out everyone...its an alternative...

anyway,hi guys . ive been a busy little bee again, and finally got round to combining the colorsound wah with the tiny trem,
into one unit/pedal design.. it will be a 3 in 1 pedal with 2 toggle switches, so you will have
wah, trem ,and a tremwah....switchable.....i kind of like the wah as a non treadle filter type thing..and its great with the trem too..quackolo..
the only problem i can see is running both off the same dc socket, anyone got any idea if this would be a problem?.....................

@perrow, your going to be busy with this pcb layout...
but it would be nice to have this on pcb, as the vero is understandably wide due to my veroing skills..(wheres adriano the master vero shrinker demon?.).
heres the idea..messy i know, was up late doing it...
here ya go...


basically i glued a wah to the trem with a couple of toggles................

any ideas, advice, any faults you can see...?.....