Ludwig Phase II settings and sounds demo.

[digi2t]

Hi all,

Since the clone project is more or less done, I decided to do another video going through all the different settings, and demonstating the sounds. It may give the diy'er some sort of audio baseline as to tuning the unit. I'm still working on a basic setup guide insofar as all the trimmers and pedal are concerned. I've taken countless voltage, and resistance readings, but I'm waiting for my USB oscilliscope to arrive so I can get some scope shots it as well. That way I can really focus on what's going on where, especially since some trimmers are highly interactive with each other (Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! ). I figure that I should be posting something within the next couple of weeks, at most.

As I mention in the video, I have my two units tuned almost identical. There are just some really teeny weeny differences between the them sound wise, but basically they sound the same. When I get into the Fuzz (percussion) repeat section, I kind of forget to work the pedal until I'm almost done (9:48), but the pedal does sweep the tone in all formant modes. Sorry for the brain fart. Here's the vid;

If anyone needs more info, don't be shy.

[newfish]

That was brilliant!

Whilst I'm in no position to build one of these things at the moment, the fact that Forum Members (you know who you are!) have put the hours in to clone / understand how these things work is astonishing.

Thanks for such a thorough demo of what the 'Ludwig' should sound like.

Cheers!

[pinkjimiphoton]

awesome, dino! had mine out today, let my little brother try it...he damn near shat his britches!

then i let him try the vocalizer.

i think he's addicted. 

[pinkjimiphoton]

bro, you just proved what i said about the formant switches being interactive. parallel mode is JUST THE PARALLEL SWITCH ON (GREEN) ...same with the vowel and counter.
in the video, you have all three on at once. lol...

see, you CAN use one...or two...or three...and they all sound different, depending on the combination!!

also, on mine, the ffm works regardless of where the fuzz repeat switch is. when in fuzz repeat, you get a percussive fuzzy echo in addition to the speed of the ffm.

very interesting!

[Ry]

Thanks for doing this!  I need to get back to my project, this will be very helpful when I get far enough to fire it up.

[R.G.]

Ry, there are actually several of us who are very interested in how your boards come out. Yell if you need help.

[joegagan]

wow!

i have not looked at the clone thread ( til now!), you guys are on a mission. incredible stuff.

[digi2t]

Thanks for doing this!  I need to get back to my project, this will be very helpful when I get far enough to fire it up.

As R.G. mentioned, anything you need, just hollar. We're all curious as to how your clone turns out. Let me know when you get to the tuning stage, and we'll crunch numbers.

Cheers,
Dino

[Ry]

Thanks for the encouragement guys!  I still need to align the holes for the switches on the PCB, then I should be able to start populating components.  I'll probably get a couple hours in on it tomorrow.  I'm being very careful and test fitting everything before I start populating (after I buzzed out the boards and isolated a bunch of traces).  I don't want to run into issues with board half done!

Ry

[pinkjimiphoton]

well, you're building the first actual build after the prototype, so we are all watching close ry!   

[UKToecutter]

RY

Have you made any progress with this?

[digi2t]

Ry,

Look here; http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=94478.0 , I've written up my procedure for tuning the Ludwig (second post). Not really scientific per se, but it works pretty well. Hope it helps.

Sidebar: Just a lesson to all you "multi-taskers" out there. I re-capped both my units, but when I did the second unit, I strayed from my usual method of place component, solder, clip leads, repeat. This time around, on the console board, I placed all the caps, soldered them all in one go, and then clipped all the leads... or so I thought. I over looked one pair of leads, on the edge of the board. When I manipulated the board, the leads bend, and shorted together. The "TICK" of the voltage regulator tranny blowing was quite... well... shocking.

It so happens that I've been slowly stocking for the clone build, and the BD679's had come in. So, out with the old, in with the new. Works perfect, and lesson learned. No more speed soldering for this yahoo  . Knit one, pearl two. Knit one, pearl two.....

Dino

[Ry]

Hey guys, thanks for the nudge!  I have this week off of work, and will be getting back at this thing tomorrow.

Dino,

I had seen your write up on the tunings and bookmarked it last week. 

Sorry that I've been slow to work on this, I've had a few personal issues come up that will continue to distract my progress for the foreseeable future.  I will get it done, thought!

[digi2t]

No problem. Take care of the important stuff first. We're not going anywhere.

[Ry]

Ok, so I set aside half an hour and managed to get the board finished.  I had to drill out the holes for the board mounted pots to almost 0.1", which is much larger than the board traces are designed for.  Unfortunately, my drilling skills aren't good enough to allow me to perfectly line up the drill for the matrix of pins for the switches, so I had to open up to holes to allow for each being a little off center.  As a result, I'm going to have to cut and jumper a number of the traces as I've drilled into them. 
when I solder in the switches some of the adjacent traces will certainly make unwanted contact with the switch posts...but at least I'm in now in the business of stuffing the boards!  I'll get time to start with resistors tomorrow (until my new squire J. Mascis Jazzmaster shows up at my door

In the back of my mind, I'm wondering how to best deal with the wah type control pot for this thing.  I have some old wah pedal shells (just the unconnected tops and bottoms) without any of the guts.  I'm not sure how to wire one up, but that's a problem for another day.

Here't to progress!

[R.G.]

Cool! Let us know if you run into difficulties. We're fairly panting to find out how this iteration of the board works! 

If you're going to put the pedal in a crybaby shell, remember that it's a 5K linear, not a 100K linear like stock wah pots are.

[Keppy]

My board had part of a ground trace missing (jumpered) and several pads that were so small they pulled up or ripped up when I drilled (leads bent & soldered to traces). Still worked first try, once we corrected the schematics. Just take your time and all will be well!

I was able to get a normal 16mm pot with 1/4" knurled shaft mounted into a wah enclosure without issue. There are three connections in the treadle, one of which is ground, so you'll need a stereo cable and jacks (sleeve is ground, other leads are what you make them).

In fact...

Top wire (purple) is ring
Wiper wire (black) is tip
Bottom wire (brown) is sleeve (ground)
Resistor is between top two lugs
Treadle teeth on the bottom of the pot shaft (away from toe)

Ignore the switch on the right side. It's a relic of the Rogue wah I gutted for this project, and not connected in any way. Hope this helps!

[digi2t]

Just because I ran into this situation with my Mr. Multi clone build, I figure it's worth mentioning here. Pay attention to the orientation of the rack and pinion in the particular wah shell you will be using. Example, the original Mr. Multi, and a Dunlop wah, have the racks on opposite sides of the pinion gear. This means that the toe-heel rotation will be opposite as well. In this case, you'll have to think about the wiring scheme of the pot, as well as the placement of the tapering resistor. Initially, when I first fired up my Mr. Multi clone, I wired everything as per the diagram, and pictures, overlooking this. I eneded up with a backwards sweep.

It's not a big deal, just thought I'd throw that out there. I think there are some pictures detailing the rack and pinion of the original unit floating around here, if not, hollar, and I'll snap some for you. If your wah shell's rack setup is on the opposite side of the pinion vis-a-vis the original, then you'll have to reverse your wiring, and move the resistor.

Actually, I think when I have some time, I'll do a intensive inside-out photo shoot of one of my units. Tons of close-ups, and put them in the gallery, and Photobucket, for posterity. I think it would be nice to have some visual reference available for everyone in the future. I'm not planning on holding on to these babies for ever, so once they'll be gone....

[UKToecutter]

Boards are due sometime next week.
I'll take some pictures when they arrive and post them....

:-)

[pinkjimiphoton]

sweet.