dbreslauer Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 tonight I finished building my first mindbender fuzz: a variant of the Sola Sound ToneBender as found on FuzzCentral. FuzzCentral ToneBender Page i documented my build with pics, here it is! i like to draw my PCBs rather than try to transfer with films, etc. i do a light pencil sketch first, then trace with a sharpie. once drawn to the size i want, i trim down to size and etch it. soaking in the etchant, lightly agitated by shaking until all excess copper is gone. cleaned up, marked the pads for drilling the holes. drilling complete populating the board with parts. attached pots next time i use a full size box instead of the small one... VERY tight fit! it did fit though, with only one gaffe: i had to relocate the jacks to make enough room for the PCB. done! complete with a blue LED. i still need to fine tune a bit and then mount the DC in jack, and pick some paint. :) i did some preliminary testing, and it is a very interesting fuzz: i will make some sound clips tomorrow when i can crank the amp up. enjoy! Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lungimsam Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Far out! Nice pics! Truly mindbending for me to see someone do this. Are you going to make any other types of effects? Truly one of a kind sounds! Can't wait to hear it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvanPC Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Uber cool. Totally impressed. Would love to hear some sound samples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Nice job sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreslauer Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 thanks all! i got the DC jack attached and dialed in the collector voltage on Q3 playing this through my 5F2A amp, and it is wild! really interesting overtones, very controllable attack. i am recording some samples right now. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 That's great Don. I've always wanted to do something like that. I have most of the tools except the multimeter. Great job. I look forward to hearing it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiz Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Yowza. That turned out awesome. I like those smaller chassis, but at my current skill level, I don't think I could fit everything in one. I need all the space I can get. Haha. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 That's great, I started a pedal a while back and never completed it, my problem is the PCB. I did not even know you can make your own based on the exact circuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreslauer Posted February 20, 2011 Author Share Posted February 20, 2011 That's great, I started a pedal a while back and never completed it, my problem is the PCB. I did not even know you can make your own based on the exact circuit. making circuit boards is actually kinda fun. the materials are very cheap and readily available too. you just draw whatever you want to stay with a sharpie marker. :) i'm priming and painting tonight. i used bondo to fill in the holes from the relocated jacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreslauer Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 painted the pedal today: decided on a "60's" feel blend from glossy blue to glossy green. i used cheapo rustoleum stray paint, on top of a few coats of white primer. i filled in the errant jack holes with bondo, and it came out ok.. you can still see where the holes were, but as this is my pedal i don't care so much. gonna label the pots and jacks, etc. with a silver sharpie before the clear goes on. -Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 making circuit boards is actually kinda fun. the materials are very cheap and readily available too. you just draw whatever you want to stay with a sharpie marker. :) i'm priming and painting tonight. i used bondo to fill in the holes from the relocated jacks. Seriously?That's it? just trace it with a sharpie? Wow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreslauer Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 Seriously?That's it? just trace it with a sharpie? Wow... i know, right? if you use an ultra-fine one, you can get very detailed. it's only the really tight traces that get tricky... or very populated boards where components are very close together. you also want to make sure your pads are proportionate, so that the components fit. i pay especially close attention to the socket rows, because they don't bend so well. :) here's my personal attempt at labeling. i may trace the border carefully with black to make it pop, but i kinda like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Looking good, I'll have to resume the work on mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreslauer Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 finished!! tweaked paint, and sealed with several coats of clear. the painting took me longer than the wiring... :) i am not a painter... lol sound clips soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 the painting took me longer than the wiring... :) The paint always takes forever! Great job though. I really enjoyed seeing you make the PCB. Never seen that done. Cool stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowdiddley Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Excellent job, thanks for sharing! [thumbup] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbreslauer Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 here's a really quick clip i just made of the effect: i tried to get some chords, some runs, some straight picking, some hammer-ons, some vibrato... everything to give a feel for this thing. http://homepage.mac.com/dbreslauer/mindbender/mindbender.mp3 mindbender sample the clean is just my little princeton clone amp, and i used my new LP studio 60's tribute which showed up today... :) its sharper with the P90s: i think it's way too muddy with humbuckers. i'm gonna have to experiment with it to see what i can tweak to make it crisper. if you can listen past my bad playing, you can hear where it "swells" on held notes, and the attack control has a pretty decent effect. since recording this clip, i'm finding that rolling back the level a bit helps a bit with clarity too. what do ya think? Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimbabig Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Awesome playing man, your fuzz sounds immaculate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Mindbending Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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