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Boody posted:I got one of these for xmas. Easy to build and I've had a lot of fun with it. This seems like an ideal build for what I want, actually! Yeah, that wouldn't be worth the HP, but it still looks like a good introductory build. Flip Yr Wig fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Feb 16, 2022 |
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Feb 16, 2022 22:03
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Gaspy Conana posted:i'm a relative noob to DIY music stuff (though I did solder on an assembly line for a while, so I have that skill at least) and I was wondering about modding a motor speed knob to a cassette tape player. BTW, there appear to be a line of cassette deck made specifically for handicapped people that have a wide range of variable speed controlled by a single pot, I think. So ready-made. You can find them on ebay at a rather high price probably due to exactly this kind of interest. I think it may have been to economize on tape in the 60s and 70s, while playing mundane spoken word stuff like magazines or books for blind people. I do know they did that for records and used to ship magazines as like 12 rpm records on flexible vinyl sheets, they sounded like hell and their only goal was minimal intelligibility, not a pleasurable listening experience. But anyway, I think the tape deck has a pot and a pretty wide range of speeds. Just do a little creative searching on ebay. petit choux fucked around with this message at 04:36 on Feb 17, 2022 |
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Feb 17, 2022 04:33
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 Can anyone tell me if these old mullard caps I have are polarized and if so how to tell which side is +?
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Feb 18, 2022 21:18
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A quick google says they’re polyester caps, so no polarity.
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Feb 18, 2022 23:34
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Hey, don't know if you ever ended up figuring out the whole 'blend fuzz' concept but I came across this schematic for the Fender Blender which may also give you some stuff to think about. Been tinkering with some Fuzzrite stuff myself!
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Feb 19, 2022 10:56
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So I got my hands on my childhood NES and SNES, and I was thinking about finding a way to control the sound chip via midi. Looking around I've found a few defunct/sold out manufacturers of cartridges with midi adapters attached, that also seem to go for pretty marked up used prices. Does anyone know of any diy plans for making one? I imagine it could be done fairly easily using arduino, but I don't know anything about how to make it play nice with an NES or SNES sound chip, and honestly I'd rather follow a design than try to figure one out myself.
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Feb 21, 2022 23:12
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Try asking over in the synth thread I know there's a way to do it but google is failing me right now
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Feb 22, 2022 00:30
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So I recently found an actual LM308 chip that I thought I had lost, in great condition. I was wondering if anyone had any fun circuits to build with it besides a RAT?
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Mar 15, 2022 18:35
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Kvlt! posted:So I recently found an actual LM308 chip that I thought I had lost, in great condition. I was wondering if anyone had any fun circuits to build with it besides a RAT? Make a TS808 
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Mar 15, 2022 21:36
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syntaxfunction posted:Make a TS808 I would but I already have a TS808-HW and a bunch of other TS808 mods and clones. I'll probably end up experimenting with tweaking a RAT circuit. Or honestly if anyone wants it I'd sell it for dirt cheap, I don't really have too much use for it and would rather it go to someone whose nuts about RATs.
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Mar 15, 2022 22:44
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Crossposting because I asked this in the synth thread and I don't know that everybody here reads that one. Last night I got high and got all excited about a piece of lab gear that looked like it would make a good synth:  petit choux posted:I mean surely I'm missing out on something but these are the two inputs:
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Mar 21, 2022 19:45
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I'm not sure what the trig in input is for, but you could drive that with Eurorack signals just fine. The main mismatch is the input impedance, in particular the 5k ohm for the VCG in; Euro standard is 100k so you may see some voltage drop, especially when patching things in parallel. Won't do any damage though and shouldn't be an issue for the trig (unless you have a module in parallel that needs a very high trigger threshold). It also seems like the frequency control is V/Hz and not V/Oct, but that can be worked around with an exponential VCA or so and I doubt precise tuning is a concern. The 1K range looks like it'd produce some very useful audio frequencies.
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Mar 23, 2022 00:20
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Sinecure posted:I'm not sure what the trig in input is for, but you could drive that with Eurorack signals just fine. The main mismatch is the input impedance, in particular the 5k ohm for the VCG in; Euro standard is 100k so you may see some voltage drop, especially when patching things in parallel. Won't do any damage though and shouldn't be an issue for the trig (unless you have a module in parallel that needs a very high trigger threshold). I'm also seeing lab grade pulse generators, thinking that they could work with this and probably do some noise. And I put this question to the synth thread with no response yet: can I make an adequate pulse with a piezo drum sensor to work on the trigger input? Oh, and looking at the manual, there are several trigger modes. Gated, burst, continuous, trigger, all look promising.
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Mar 23, 2022 00:39
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so i haven’t read this thread for a while but i’ve been thinking about my electric guitar. it’s a piece of poo poo that i got for my birthday along with a garbage amp a decade + ago but i can’t really afford to buy a decent one. is it worth it to buy new pickups and tuning machines and all that stuff or will that just be an exercise in futility?
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Mar 24, 2022 16:46
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In my opinion a lovely guitar through a good amp > a nice guitar through a lovely amp. I'd save your money and focus on upgrading your amp before your pickups. The right pedal can also sweeten a lovely guitar. If you do decide to upgrade your pickups, whats your budget/what type are you looking for? We could suggest some good ones.
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Mar 24, 2022 17:18
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Depends on whether you want to do the work. You can get a completely fine guitar for the price of a good set of pickups and tuners these days from Squier, Epiphone, Harley Benton or basically anyone really. Oh and get a used Boss Katana/Yamaha THR for your amp situation.
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Mar 24, 2022 17:19
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i should probably have specified that the guitar is essentially broken. it’s more of a ratio of noise to signal than signal to noise at this point so its not like getting a nice amp will get me out of it
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Mar 24, 2022 17:49
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Do you know whats wrong with it? I'd hate for you to buy new pickups only to discover the problem is something else.
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Mar 24, 2022 17:54
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On one hand, you can get a working Squier or a Gio or any number of decent players for < $100 so it's probably not worth your time. On the other hand is your emotional investment into this guitar. And some really aren't worth fixing so much as repurposing. If you really want advice you'd better provide more detail.
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Mar 24, 2022 18:42
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Get your Sonic Youth on with that guitar imo.
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Mar 24, 2022 18:48
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Another option if you have an emotional attachment to the guitar, is to take it to a guitar tech for a nice tune-up. I take my electrics in about once a year or so, they get a nice truss rod adjustment, everything's tuned up and intonated nicely, cleaned and oiled, pickup height adjusted, and a tech with electronics knowledge can take a look inside and look at problems with your pickups/pots/electronics. A good tech can make a MASSIVE difference, and it's cheaper than buying a new guitar or amp. It might not be a viable option depending on what is wrong with your guitar though, as I know you said it's mostly noise.
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Mar 24, 2022 18:50
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i guess my more specific questions are. will new pickups be “wasted” on an old cheap guitar like will the body matter at all? also how difficult will the wiring and soldering be? i suppose that will subjective and depend a lot on the guitar and the pickups and whatnot but would i be getting in over my head as someone with limited electronics experience? i’m more considering it as a hobby project more than the most effective means of getting a good guitar but also i like how it looks, it’s a nice sunburst strat clone, and it has sentimental value
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Mar 24, 2022 19:19
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The neck could be warped so that you can't play some notes up the neck, or parts might be installed crooked so some strings don't intonate properly, or a bunch of other problems. Just download a tuner app on your phone and see if you can play every note. I use Boss's, it's free and doesn't feed me ads.
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Mar 24, 2022 19:38
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watho posted:i guess my more specific questions are. will new pickups be “wasted” on an old cheap guitar like will the body matter at all? also how difficult will the wiring and soldering be? i suppose that will subjective and depend a lot on the guitar and the pickups and whatnot but would i be getting in over my head as someone with limited electronics experience? I put a Seymour-Duncan JB Jr. humbucker in my $60 mail order Strat copy, and it loving shines now. If you've got the money to throw at electronics (plus, as mentioned, getting things tuned, intonation set, frets buffed, etc), you'll get more out of improving a mediocre guitar by beefing up the electronics than you will buying another poo poo tier Squire or whatever. The other problem Marie had was that the pots and switches were trash, and so was the soldering. Swapping out the hardware and redoing all the connections made a huge difference, even on top of my friend's blues guitarist dad's tune ups. I could have DIY'd it, but I was lazy and had 3 other guitars on my bench, so I took the whole lot to Centaur Guitar. (Highly recommended if you live in the Portland area!)
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Mar 24, 2022 19:45
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okay thanks a lot!
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Mar 24, 2022 19:57
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Unless your pickups are painful to listen to you're far better off upgrading the hardware. Tuners, bridge, even knobs cause they're cheap. But that's after you have an amp you can appreciate a guitar through. Good amp, good guitar. Pickups matter but not even close to the amount guitarists seem to think honestly.
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Mar 26, 2022 03:39
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These Atari Punk Controllers have me staring wistfully at my box of old console controllers. Wonder what you could do with an original Xbox controller... 
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Mar 28, 2022 15:27
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Been experimenting with diode clipping in classic Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face circuits. What I've learned so far: -soft clipping sounds better with this circuit -Extremely important to use trimpots to bias the circuit rather than fixed value resistors, especially when use NOS PNP Germanium (I'm using AC125s) -A 3rd recovery gain stage is needed after the clipping stage, which I'm working on now. I'm using a low gain Russian pnp for this stage, basically a modified LPB-1. I'll post a schematic and some pics/sound clips once all the parts come in and I'm able to build it!
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Mar 31, 2022 02:52
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Try an LED for the diode clipper
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Mar 31, 2022 04:34
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Thumposaurus posted:Try an LED for the diode clipper good idea, will do! I'll probably put a switch in for different diodes
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Mar 31, 2022 04:36
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I haven't really worked with ICs that much but I have a Sunface PCB that has holes for a chip and and I have an LM308, are they like transistors where I can just swap em out and see what happens? Idk what chip he reccomends usually
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Apr 16, 2022 18:02
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Kvlt! posted:I haven't really worked with ICs that much but I have a Sunface PCB that has holes for a chip and and I have an LM308, are they like transistors where I can just swap em out and see what happens? Idk what chip he reccomends usually Yes they're like transistors in that they're swappable but yes they're also like transistors in that you need to check they're doing the same job (so rather than subbing a bjt for a bjt in this case you'd want to swap an op amp for an op amp) and you need to be careful of pinout.
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Apr 16, 2022 20:38
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you gotta be really careful that the swap is gonna do what you think it does, check datasheets on both. I wouldn't go in blind. Some stuff is standardized (not to the level of transistors) but also some isn't, and like for example TL072s are very common (efficient space-wise) but kind of different than most of the other alternatives... because they're 2 crammed together instead of using the up to 8 pins for 1. LM308s will stand in for 8 pin TL071s but not 72s and swapping the TLs for the LMs might not work if you need the comparator circuit. Similar for THAT3X0s and TL074s (both are 4 amps on a chip w/ reference pins in the middle but implemented in different ways) That pedal looks like it wants a charge pump there and you could probably sub it with other power section stuff but you're just getting voltage effects at that point
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Apr 16, 2022 20:58
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Put stuff in randomly, see what happens, if anything fries rebuild the circuit and don't do that again. I call this bootstrap engineering. Genuinely with transistors I often suggest to people to just flip one around and test it to see what happens to the sound. It's neat.
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Apr 17, 2022 02:42
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That IC seems to be a TC1044S charge pump to generate the negative rail and not an op-amp, so I wouldn't put things in there willy-nilly (the transistors might be a different story).
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Apr 17, 2022 20:10
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Thanks for the help/advice everyone. I ended up ordering the proper IC from the parts list, I'm gonna use the LM308 to build a rat for my friend. Learning a lot about chips/OpAmps!
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Apr 17, 2022 20:36
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Just ordered my first pedal kit from Build Your Own Clone. I'm going with a Bass Chorus. My question is - what kind of paint do you use on the aluminum enclosure? I have no idea, I've never painted metal before.
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Apr 21, 2022 03:54
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I think the most important thing is to base coat with some sort of etching primer to improve the adhesion of whatever goes over it. Beyond that it depends on what sort of paintjob you're hoping to give it.
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Apr 21, 2022 05:10
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Bill Posters posted:I think the most important thing is to base coat with some sort of etching primer to improve the adhesion of whatever goes over it. Just solid blue, not fancy. I saw a YouTube video where a guy sands it with 150 grit sandpaper, then steel wool, then rubs it with mineral oil, then spray primes and spray paints it. I’d rather use a brush, personally. And what kind of paint sticks to aluminum? I assume not latex paint.
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Apr 21, 2022 12:59
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Rod Hoofhearted posted:And what kind of paint sticks to aluminum? I assume not latex paint. Bill Posters posted:some sort of etching primer to improve the adhesion of whatever goes over it.
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Apr 21, 2022 16:25
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