Riptide Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 I going to be making (probably not until after school's out) my own distortion pedal and I have a few questions. I'm going of off this guide. http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-an-easy-guitar-distortion-pedal-STEP-BY-STEP/ 1. He sais to use a capacitor from .1uF-100uF the higher the number the more bass and I want to know what you think would be a good number to start at because I like some good bass but I don't want it to kill me. 2. Any diodes you specifically suggest? 3. Could I put a tone control on this pedal? If so where? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FarnsBarns Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 I going to be making (probably not until after school's out) my own distortion pedal and I have a few questions. I'm going of off this guide. http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-an-easy-guitar-distortion-pedal-STEP-BY-STEP/ 1. He sais to use a capacitor from .1uF-100uF the higher the number the more bass and I want to know what you think would be a good number to start at because I like some good bass but I don't want it to kill me. 2. Any diodes you specifically suggest? 3. Could I put a tone control on this pedal? If so where? Hard to say, is go halfway and try it. A thought though, you could wire several, in parallel, temporarily. Try several setups and then go permanent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 There are different diodes to use - common one these days are the 1n4001 and 1n4007 but others work. http://www.smallbearelec.com/Categories.bok http://pedalpartsplus.com/ Yes you can add a tone control but being new at it I suggest that you start with a design that already has the tone incorporated. Check out these places: BYOC MadBean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riptide Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 Thanks for the tips and links. I think I am going to start with a LPB-1 clone and then go on so a simple distortion... like you said for my first one I'm just going to do a volume knob. I was thinking of either using 1N914 or 1N4148 diodes... I just like the sound of the pedals those are in a figured that would be a good place to start. I have another question which isn't directly related. One schematics what does the "ground" wire attach to? You know like the wires on the schematic that go to the bottom of the screen with like a half arrow? @FarnsBarns What do you mean by adding several in parallel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FarnsBarns Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I have another question which isn't directly related. One schematics what does the "ground" wire attach to? You know like the wires on the schematic that go to the bottom of the screen with like a half arrow? @FarnsBarns What do you mean by adding several in parallel? The ground on those schematic would generaly go to the chassis which is grounded too. Avoid ground loops! In electronics (or plain electrics) connecting components in parallel means to connect them in such a way that the current is split between them, connecting in series means to put them in a chain so that the current goes through all of them one after another. With capacitors, conecting them in parallel means you add the capacitance together, unlike resistors where connecting 2 in parallel halves the resistance (impedance). Connecting multiple caps in series will yield some off results, so don't. So, if you took ten 10uF caps and put them in parallel it is the same as having one 100 uF cap. Take one out and you have 90uF, one more and its 80uF and so on. I'm thinking as I write this, it may not work depending on the circuit and whether the caps are electrolytic or not, this could be solved with some diodes but the more I think the more I realise you are probably better of buying a selection of different caps and try them out separately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riptide Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 I think I'll try them out separately for starters. So (again, not going to do this the first time) if I wanted to put more diodes in the circuit would I put them in parallel or series with the other diodes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FarnsBarns Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I think I'll try them out separately for starters. So (again, not going to do this the first time) if I wanted to put more diodes in the circuit would I put them in parallel or series with the other diodes? You'd put the caps in parallel with diodes to stop one cap discharging into the other. I actually think a variable cap would be an excellent solution... http://gb.mouser.com/passive-components/capacitors/Trimmer-Variable-Capacitors/_/N-5g94/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riptide Posted March 31, 2011 Author Share Posted March 31, 2011 Does that just work like a pot does with resistors except with a capacitor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FarnsBarns Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Does that just work like a pot does with resistors except with a capacitor? Yes! Interesting ain't it! Never seen them in music gear, why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djroge1 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Yes! Interesting ain't it! Never seen them in music gear, why not? They are in some gear: Mad Bean Aquaboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riptide Posted March 31, 2011 Author Share Posted March 31, 2011 Hmm... maybe I'll try one of those out! I need a volume pedal as well and I was just planning on buying on but since I saw that the wiring for one is childs play I'm thinking of trying to make on. Any idea how the gears work with the pedal though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FarnsBarns Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 Hmm... maybe I'll try one of those out! I need a volume pedal as well and I was just planning on buying on but since I saw that the wiring for one is childs play I'm thinking of trying to make on. Any idea how the gears work with the pedal though? I just read this for the second time and it came to me, they use a pinion gear on the pot with a rack attached to the pedal, you could use a rack and pinion from technical lego! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riptide Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 I just read this for the second time and it came to me, they use a pinion gear on the pot with a rack attached to the pedal, you could use a rack and pinion from technical lego! Nice! That's pretty straight forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riptide Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 So say I wanted to put two effects in the same box (once more, not going to do this the first time) I assume I'd just run the wires from one effect to the other effect instead of going to the output/input jack but what about the power? Would I hook one power jack up to both effects? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest FarnsBarns Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 So say I wanted to put two effects in the same box (once more, not going to do this the first time) I assume I'd just run the wires from one effect to the other effect instead of going to the output/input jack but what about the power? Would I hook one power jack up to both effects? I would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fixr1984 Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 So say I wanted to put two effects in the same box (once more, not going to do this the first time) I assume I'd just run the wires from one effect to the other effect instead of going to the output/input jack but what about the power? Would I hook one power jack up to both effects? I would use the same power for each effect. Are you going to use a 3pdt switch for these? If so I would recommend using this... http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/DRAGONFLY-LAYOUTS_0/The-Mod-Zone-_/WIRING_2_FX_IN_1_BOX.gif.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riptide Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 I would use the same power for each effect. Are you going to use a 3pdt switch for these? If so I would recommend using this... http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/DRAGONFLY-LAYOUTS_0/The-Mod-Zone-_/WIRING_2_FX_IN_1_BOX.gif.html Yes. Cool, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.