The Talk-a-lizer experiment.

[digi2t]

Hi guys,

@ Ronan - Stainless 3mm nyloc, with 3mm x 12mm stainless buttonhead (allen) screws. I use nylon tubes, that I cut to size as standoffs. The buttonheads allow me to drill right through the casing, yet not have a great big honking screw head showing on the exterior. It's low profile, and doesn't upset the external surface esthetic too much.

As for the pedal orientation, I have it set up to give me the "YOY" when I rock from heel to toe. It feels natural to me. If I start at the heel, and I want a YOY, I just step on it. I've found that the most vocal setup is to have the pot at the maximum of it's rotation when the pedal is in the heel down position, as it's wired here. When you swing from heel to toe, you get a good solid "YOY!".

The pots after filters idea is interesting. Keep me posted on that. It would be an easy mod to an existing circuit. Actually, (possible diabolical idea here  ) a 5K pot in place of the 2.7K resistor after the upper filter, and a 10K pot after the 4.7K resistor after the lower filter. Independant control of the two filters. Or... we can get real funky here.... get a 5K dual gang, and a 10K dual, open them up, and swap out one of the tracks to build a 5K/10K dual gang pot. Then, wire it as a cross-fader, a la Skyripper buffer control. Center would be just about normal, while one way or the other would boost/lower the upper or lower filters. Ohhhh, I'm a twisted shit . I really need to go to bed now!

@ Morocotopo -  I'll tell you what, I'll draw it up in TinyCAD for you. That should make it much better, just give me some time though. As for the wah shell, maybe post a want ad in the "For Sale/Wanted" section of the forum. You might get lucky there. Ebay is where I scrounge mine from.

*UPDATE* - Here is the new (cleaner  ) schematic. Should be easier on everyones eyes. This is exactly as per my pedal.

[Ronan]

Dino, what I found from breadboarding today, was the circuit seems optimal as is, which is what you have probably already worked out... But I did find some stuff relevant to the EH talking pedal, and will keep working on that. The only thing I came up with that may or may not be helpful, is that changing the 2K2 resistor leading to pin5 of the CA3080 will shift the range of the F1 filter, maybe similar to (or better than or worse than) the FREQ pot you have on the feedback of that CA3080. Just be careful not to exceed the input current for pin5, I think the max is 3mA, you can measure the current by measuring the voltage across the 2K2 resistor and use ohms law. I tried 1K to 4K7, but the same or similar effect can be had by changing the filter caps also. It's a minefield full of gold coins that circuit, proly best off using it exactly as posted above.  

[digi2t]

Hmmm... probably best to leave pin 5 alone, I've been told that 3080's can be rather fragile where current load is concerned. That minefield may yield turds in a hurry otherwise. I have to agree with you at this point though, anything else we do to this circuit might be a "six of one, or a half-dozen of the other" type of deal.

Maybe we should take Jimi's idea of being able to switch off the YOY side (kill half the filtering), to have a normal wah as well. Like the Schaller Bow Wow Yoy Yoy pedal, with an external switch. Make it less of a one trick pony. Could you play with that idea Ian?

[joegagan]

demo sounds killer. this forum is great!

[Keppy]

Excellent work! I dig the sounds you're getting. I think you really did get the best of both pedals.

[digi2t]

Thanks guys. Many thanks to all involved from my part. The big break through was the switch from the RC and LM chips, to the TL074 (accidental really  ). That REALLY cleaned up the tone when you roll the fuzz off, and really improves they playability with other effects.

I almost feel sorry for my Vocalizer now  , just sitting there in the corner, all lonely and dejected...

[Ronan]

Maybe we should take Jimi's idea of being able to switch off the YOY side (kill half the filtering), to have a normal wah as well. Like the Schaller Bow Wow Yoy Yoy pedal, with an external switch. Make it less of a one trick pony. Could you play with that idea Ian?

Yes, I gave it a go, but nothing really came of it, with the wah side of things. The only wah I could find was at the other end of pot rotation from the yoy sound, and it was deep/dark. However I did find some variation in the effect by swapping the 2K7 and 4K7 resistors at the output of the two filters, which makes it sound just a bit more vowel-like, but nothing too dramatic. Swapping the 47K resistor connected to the 5uF tant cap for 91K or 100K seems to smooth the sound out a bit, and adjusting the 2K2 resistor between the upper filter and the 22K pot can affect the relationship between the two filters. I need to find another wah housing on ebay...

[Morocotopo]

Digi, excellent! Many thanks for the redraw.

[CUTTER]

if any of you wants to build me a talk a lizer for a record, pm me and let me know

[pinkjimiphoton]

I really like your demo, I will put this on my "to build" list.
Anyone knows were I can buy a (metal) wah shell for not too much?

I initially thought that buying an empty shell retail would be cheap, but it turned out that scanning the net or Ebay for an actual Crybaby is cheaper. Keep your eyes peeled, you'll see more than the occasional teen/disgruntled picker looking to ditch a CB on the cheap. That's how I get mine, and gut them.

i stumbled on this the other day, which shows a bare wah shell...for 7-10 dollars. didn't investigate it yet tho:

http://sell.lulusoso.com/selling-leads/722716/guitar-effect.html

[paulyy]

Nice find Jimi but makes me wonder about the quality of them. But still worth a try.

[pinkjimiphoton]

i'd be more leery about them showing up these days...

or it being like "white" or "pot" metal or whatever they call it..
that cheap ass crap they make belt buckles from, or digitech jimi hendrix pedals, the ones with all the vegematic sounds, and the treadle that falls apart as you rock it. 

[paulyy]

More than likely they are cheap a## pot metal. I'd rather pay a few bucks for something sturdy.

[ch1naski]

How have I been missing this thread all this time ?
I've got to build this thing. It sounds bitchin' !

[deadastronaut]

i stumbled on this the other day, which shows a bare wah shell...for 7-10 dollars. didn't investigate it yet tho:

http://sell.lulusoso.com/selling-leads/722716/guitar-effect.html

i just contacted them about a ''sample'' for my international company  , for just a few dollars i'll take a chance on one..

see what he says..

[digi2t]

i stumbled on this the other day, which shows a bare wah shell...for 7-10 dollars. didn't investigate it yet tho:

http://sell.lulusoso.com/selling-leads/722716/guitar-effect.html

i just contacted them about a ''sample'' for my international company  , for just a few dollars i'll take a chance on one..

see what he says..

Nice one Rob. Let us know what happens, and the quality, if you get one. It was the shipping cost to Canada that turned me off.

[~arph]

I like that it can be drilled.. or not. 

[deadastronaut]

@dino:  yep, worth a look eh... how much did he want  for pedal + p+p then?...just curious.

@arph...yep undrilled is perfect for me too..

[ch1naski]

In the photo, judging by the recessed holes for the jacks, the aluminum looks pretty thick.

[digi2t]

@dino:  yep, worth a look eh... how much did he want  for pedal + p+p then?...just curious.

Shipping (I think) it was 30$ for one unit, and (for sure) 100$ for 10 units. DHL was the only option.