Also some noob issues, had LEDs reversed and wrong input pins on jacks. Overalll a great PCB, very solid for resoldering also, pads are solid.
I really like the USB ability, kind of future proofs it or lets user ability to add/edit own patches. Only issue is it only has 3 presets. Would love if Pedalpcb made a dev board with rotary switch for 8 presets.
Soldered most of components for pedalpcb dev board. Not the greatest solder job on FV-1. Next one I’ll drag solder and add a ton of flux to it. Hopefully I didn’t burnout usb or fv-1 chip.
Installed Eclipse to use SpinCad Builder. This will allow me to create new blocks. The major limitation is no main frequency knob on Ring Modulator block, the control on there now control the LFO speed. The main Frequency is locked into the patch. I’ve made some cool patches but the frequency is set usually around 220 for A note.
Original Ring Modulation code made from Frank Thomson, Experimental Noize. http://www.spinsemi.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=95
;POT0 : Control frequency
;
equ s reg0
equ c reg1
;Then initialize the oscillator by setting one to xero and the other to -1
;we do this just once, during the first cycle of operation
skp run,endset ;do not execute if already running
wrax s,0 ;set s to 0, (acc should be zero)
sof 0,-1 ;set accum to -1
wrax c,0 ;write to c
endset: ;jump-to label
;Now do the LFO, using pot0 as a control for frequency
rdax s,0.02 ;read the s register, change this value between 0.001 and 1.0
mulx pot0 ;multiply by pot value
rdax c,1 ;read the c register
wrax c,-0.02 ;integrate the c value, this value MUST be the negative of
;what ever you set the value in 'rdax s,X' to above
mulx pot0 ;multiply by pot value
rdax s,1 ;read s reg
wrax s,1 ;integrate the s value
;Either the s or c register will be producing s waveforms (just shifted in
;phase), so either can be used as a modulation source. The maximum
;frequency of this LFO is Fs/2pi, which should be high enough!
mulx adcl
;and output the result
wrax dacl,0
Copying and editing spincad files here, when saved, generates all the java files for blocks and control panels.
Tremolizer.spincad below. This are what I’ll copy and edit to create new patches, I do have to convert it from spinasm code. Just have to figure the assembly code and all the “@” lines conversions to add a control output. I think the easiest way is going through all the readily available patches and reading the fv-1 manual. The patches have a lot of notes in them especially from spinsemi.
// This control block takes a signal (usually an LFO) that goes from 0.0 to 1.0 and
// allows you to adjust the width via a control input.
// There is also a control panel setting for maximum depth
@name Tremolizer
@color "0xf2f224"
@controlInput input 'LFO Input'
@controlInput width 'LFO Width'
@controlOutput output 'Control Output'
equ depth 0.75
equ output reg0
// variable - Name - low - high - multiplier - precision - option
@sliderLabel depth Depth 0.5 0.999 1.0 100.0 2
@isPinConnected 'LFO Input'
rdax input, depth
@isPinConnected 'LFO Width'
mulx width
@endif
sof -0.999, 0.999
wrax output, 0.0
@setOutputPin 'Control Output' output
@endif
To Rebuild the .jar file, so you don’t have to keep running eclipse to check your new blocks out. Click Project Folder > Export >Runnable JAR>”SpinCADFrame – SpinCADBuilder”>Finish
C Many changes to tone stacks. Put a mid cut on clean and only volume filtered the high end hump. Lowered Ring Mod LPF and added a 1 band EQ to bring up low end purring. Happy with this one.B LPF 1621.8Hz from 2564.4Hz more clarity, Both HPF lowered to 40Hz from 70/134Hz . 6db Boost at end.A LPF 2564.4Hz 44000Hz
My LFOS are too wild?! Have to tame the LFOs a bit? Checking out some of the popular analog ring mod pedals like ringworm and Randy’s Revenge. Trying to be different but at same time usable. Fairfield one is just amazing. Not sure if their square is that hard. Scale Offset down to .25. Can still get pretty wild but unlike my other patches. This one is a little more subtle but ultimately more usable. Crossover blend for the Triangle and Round Sawtooth power shape. Tried square but was way too noisy and got annoying pretty quickly even with LPF lowered, had an annoying click. Not sure I implemented it right though, but rounded sawtooth sounds different. The Slow Clean blend tremolo controlled and synced to POT 0, tamed this a bit too. Should be better for cleans also since the volume kind pumps like a sidechain compression. This replaces the first ring mod patch I did, just had to salvage that one. Just too many bad sounds in original. This one sounds much cleaner. Safer ring mod but can get wild. The blend adds a different taste.
POT 0 Ring Mod Frequency/Volume Tremolo Speed POT 1 Ring Mod LPF POT2 TRIANGLE/Rounded Sawtooth Blend, full left triangle/ full right hard sine/ middle blended
Recorded new test demo for spincad. Slightly raised to about -4db gain. In case someone has active pickups. More dynamic playing up and down neck. Also Spincad seems to still have the control panel bug, that’s why I’ve screenshotted the panels. Not sure what causes it, seems to randomly. Edit- cause is on some blocks. LPF and HPF blocks uneditable if you save it with control panel open. Also happens when you set the LPF HPF to the minimum and then close control panel and try to reopen. But not all blocks error like that. I’ll see if I can go through the blocks and provide info to Larry.
EDIT- After running audio to Ableton. The cube drive exaggerated the mid hump, had to remove. Also changed the low and high pass of the clean, allowing more in. Should compensate for the mid hump from ring mod. Could also try a mid scoop. Pot 1 really helpful in cutting highs.
So I think the Rounded Sawtooth LFO from Power block gives it that unique sound. One side of LFO is rounded and the other sharp. So it ramps asymmetrically. Has a Purring Cat quality. Same LFO also filters the clean blend but after the power block. This brings some clarity the to almost overdrive like Round Sawtooth. Balancing out much better and probably better for stacking drive pedals. Always better to stacks pedals with some clean blend to keep note definition. Trying to make this sounds usable. Ring Mod can get pretty hairy. Creating this digitally so much easier than doing it analog. Analog kind of limited to one or two LFOs. So maybe I need to push the digital LFOs and take advantage of the flexibility.
Spincad is really helpful with a Spectrum Analyzer. Great for viewing filter changes. Exporting audio from Spincad is really easy and helpful but exporting doesn’t allow hearing the knobs tweaks. When exporting spincad mutes audio.
Couple things you need though. Reamp Box – I made mine homemade for under 40 bucks, but they run about $100+. Really easy, just solder a few components https://youtu.be/xR3LqemYXOU Audio Interface with at least 4 outputs and only need 1 input I use Motu M4. Any Audio DAW program should work, I use Ableton Spincad app https://github.com/HolyCityAudio/SpinCAD-Designer/releases
Connect reamp box to the secondary output, typically 3 and 4- I just use 3 with a TRS to mic cable Connect reamp box to input of DAW, I use input 2 Open Spincad set audio to go to soundcard Window Sound settings, set to secondary output of DAW, mine were 3-4 Run DAW make sure secondary outputs are activated Assign the input from reamp box to audio track , may have to tweak input levels. Enable monitoring on track and you should be able to run spectrum analyzer in realtime!
Also find out my Motu M4 has a loopback function also. But not all audio interface have one. So if not adding extra external fx then, loopback function works really well, just select enable and select loopback on input. The issue though is that the loopback causes echo from not being able to mute the loopback monitor. So reamping is best solution unless your interface can seperate or mute the loopback monitor while recording
This one is pretty nuts. The Clean is set to a about a 5th interval Vibrato but with a hard square from the slicer block that feeds into the same Ring Mod Pot that controls and syncs. It’s slightly atonal with the a 5th. I may play around more with the Pitch Coefficient. 8192 is about 5th interval divided by 7 is about 1170.28 per half step note.
m3rd should be about 3510.85 3rd should be about 4681.14 5th 8192 Octave 14043 Not sure how accurate these are, actually test it, my theory fails. I’d have to measure it to be precise.
Used a crazy ramp LFO with Power block- Ring Mod effects the delay feedback loop only. Ring Mod needs a clean. Never go full retard.
Larry’s ringmod already has a low pass filter in the block. The Hi range goes up past 1000Hz. I do agree with Larry anything higher is going full retard. “Never Go Full Retard Ringmod” sounds pretty long as a pedal name. Maybe Something more robotic like an R2D2 Ring mod. HAHA. https://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=107751.0
Created the Low Frequency Ring Mod. Clean Volume synced to Ring Mod LFO Frequency and Width Pots. Wow really amazed how the scale offset really lets you explore that lower range. Really love the grunginess of the power block
This Ring Mod has a squarish wave lfo using power block on level 5. Clean path goes to pitch shift controlled by same lfo and pots for Ringmod, so they sync together. Really hypnotic sound. Syncing Ring Mod Frequency to LFO of Clean pitch shift. Very responsive to playing. Could probably add a delay or reverb for pot2.
Created a Ring Mod patch from spincad block. Frequency tweaked with Ramp LFO and Power. Smoothing also works good. A lot of tweakability frequency on Ring Mod can further be tweaked. I’m working on a good base sound and applying a reverb, delay and tremolo versions. This one uses no delay ram yet, definitely can further tweaked. Looking at 2 Ring Mod presets to make, One Harsher and Smoother LFO. Seems ring mod sounds amazing when blended with clean. Best place IMO for a ring mod is before distortion or amp.
1 Ring Mod Hi Range Triangle Hyper Sawtooth blend 1 Ring Mod Low Range Hyper Sawtooth, add another blend? 1 Ring Mod Hyper Sawtooth feedback Clean Delay 1 Ring Mod Hyper Sawtooth Tremolo Clean Square preset 1 Ring Mod Vibrato Clean Hyper Sawtooth preset 1 Ring Mod Shimmer Reverb TBD 1 Ring Mod pitch preset Mix octave??? TBD 1 Ring Mod Ds-1 like Digital Distortion TBD- mid cut Dood I wasn’t even tryin to extensively try to use the Hyper Sawtooth. Just sounded like my favorite. Didn’t even know what it was called. Possible name “Hyper Sawtooth Ring Mod” Meh Doesn’t really have a ring to it.
Renamed the pedal to Dancer. First pedal with new pcb worked. I made some change to general gadgets schematic. Might have been an error with A/B toggle leds. Switched the ground leds so that Loop A led corresponds to correct loop. Also swapped the LED behavior for bypass switch. The light now turns on when in bypass mode.
Plastic shoulder washers on 1/4 inch jacks were successful in removing ground loop. Kept the input jack to shield the chassis. Yet maybe a way to isolate the the power ground also? But I definitely hear a change in noise levels. The no bleed 4pdt works great also. No more bleeding of loops, which made hi gain pedals bleed to other channel. Really annoying. These issues plague the other A/B toggle loopers out their, including Loop Master and American Loopers and EX loop pedal on Amazon. Only I heard without this issue is the Boss LS-2, but that doesn’t have a master bypass switch. These all use 3pdt and the bleeding is apparent with big muff, hm-2, ds-1.
Rhinoceros 3d has support for single line fonts. The MecSoft_Font-1 font worked perfectly. This makes life easier and the engraving follows a path and is pocketed. In illustrator I would have to rasterize text and create the vectors manually, very time consuming. Minor issue with double line in “Y” character, easily fixed in Rhino. Not perfect but very helpful in getting the best engraving text results.
Also gonna work on a relay version for clickless toggles. Not entirely noticeable or annoying the click sound. Just want to see if it is possible. Also will redesign pcp to incorporate the 3pdt and 4pdt switches, would save me ton of time on wiring and removes many points of failure. Also may try stereo pcb jacks
These 125B’s are a little tighter than the “Love My Switches” ones. Had to scan it because their tech drawing wasn’t to scale. Started PCB drawing. I’ll make 2 versions. One with and without relays to compare. The price to add relay is only about 10 bucks, but I’d probably need 3 of them.
My Boss DS1 JHS Synth Momentary switch is super useful. Playe for an hour straight, can manually tap in tremolo beats or use the synth to accent parts and quickly go back to default DS1 sounds. Just connected the lugs to S1, didn’t need an additional dpdt switch. Momentary is normally off so S1 can function as normal, and to activate momentary switch, just turn S1 to off position. I tried so many different tone and gain mods. Seems like the original filters work best. I only kept one that a may change the mid High Pass a hair, definitely noticeable only when a/bing pedal. Mid hump isn’t as drastic but I change back.
Think this is the first pedal I’m gonna make. I have a dirty A/B loop switcher, but bypass channel bleeds high gain pedals. Hopefully the 4pdt will fix it, not too sure.
Looks like the 4pdt will ground the tip of sends when switched off, hopefully that will kill the bleed from hi gain hm-2 or muff pedals
Final part of the modifcation to Boss CS-3 compressor. Definitely worth the wait. Tayda order and guitarpedalparts order came in to finish this mod. I tried testing and stacking different IC chips, including TL062CP, TL072CP, RP4558P and OPA2134PA.
Results of IC Stacks: The TL062CP and TL072CP were a bit noisy, stacked with each other and the RP4558P. The RP4558P stacked with itself sounded pretty good, some noise The OPA2134PA stacked with a RP4558P, the quietest one. Really sounds amazing with this combo. I can see why OPA2134PA is so expensive.
Last Cap changes C1 100uF 16V 105C JRB Radial Electrolytic Capacitor 5x11mm SKU A-972 C8 4.7uF 35V 105C JRB Radial Electrolytic Capacitor 5x11mm SKU A-974 C3 47uf 10v same value, just replaced with from my shed, forgot to order a aluminum cap on Tayda
Totally pleased now with the modifications. Sounds so much better than stock, no noise or hiss, comparable to an optical compressor but with better punch. Yeah this is staying on my board as always on.
So if you are going to this mod, you can buy the Monte allums mod that changes both IC chips or you can just by his adaptor on Reverb and by your own IC chips. Or you can just replace all the caps to save money, that will take care of most of the noise. Totally can skip replacing all the resistors. Just did it for kicks. Wouldn’t say it improved noise. And the Diodes, definitely would change if you want something warmer.
This pedal builder from Australia is sending me a compressor he built. He shipped to me for free to test out, will definitely compare it to this. It has a release knob on it. All my changes listed below. Lol Boss should just release these mods as a waza craft compressor, you know they would sell a shitload.
Up for sale is a Modified 2007 MIT Boss DS-2 Pedal. Check out the Video for a demo of the wampler mod. Also changed 5 ceramic capacitors to film caps of same value. Details below. Selling because, as you might be able to see, I have 22 pedals in 2 loops lol. The gearits is real and expecting 2 more….
The Fluff Sounds much different, the hiss is gone, and stacks really well with a compressor and overdrive before unit. The Mid boost is not a not as drastic. I feel it is more usable and doesn’t completely change your sound. More noticeable if gain is above 12 oclock. Definitely better for humbuckers or if you downtune. If you don’t like the original DS-2 you might like this one better.
Let me know if have any questions, Firm, FREE SHIPPING!
Modifications Wampler Mod LED mod to White LED HIFi mod, changed 5 ceramic caps to Film caps of same value
Mod Details R57 from 4.7k to 3.3k – More Bass adds a bit of compression R62 from 4.7k to 1k – More Gain R44 from 22k to 1k – Will take out highs C28 from .0047uf to 1k resistor in parallel w/stock cap – Scoops mids a bit C28 from .0047uf to .01uf – Make Rhythm channel fuller D8 from ISS-333 to 1n4001– Clipping distortion much fuller, more asymmetric D9 from ISS-333 1n4001x2 in parallel – Clipping distortion much fuller, more asymmetric D15 from 1ss-188FM to LED – Clipping distortion much fuller, more asymmetric D11 from ISS-333 to LED – Clipping distortion much fuller, more asymmetric C29 from 470p ceramic to Film Cap same value – Hifi C6 from 470p ceramic to Film Cap same value – Hifi C5 form 220p ceramic to Film Cap same value – Hifi C3 from 220p ceramic to Film Cap same value – Hifi C4 from 470p ceramic to Film Cap same value – Hifi
More Boss CS-3 mods. Replaced most all diodes with Germanium IN34As, didn’t notice really any difference. Replaced most all capacitors. I did notice that the ceramic capacitors that I pulled had values that were way off. Didn’t notice much of a difference until I stacked a Boss DS2 after it. The hiss was lowered slightly and can drive it a littler harder. Which is great because I love the DS2. My custom optical still performs cleaner as expected, but now I can run the CS-3 to get that punch that I love without the hiss and noise.
I also grabbed all the components for Boss CS-3 Services notes and noted all their original values and changes I made. I am going to order some electrolytic caps for C1 and C3 and OPA2134PA IC chip from Tayda, taydaelectronics.com, diy stompboxes recommends them. Their prices and inventory are pretty massive.
Part 2.5 Resistor swap changes I changed all the 10k resistors with metal film ones. The resistors have a better tolerance. Can’t say it cleaned up noise, more like gave more clarity, will definitely replace the 28 remaining ones. So far so good, no dead solder joints. – After that I can try different values, maybe play with the attack resistor on the vr board a little bit, be cool if I can make it more punchy.
Part 2.75 Replaced all resistors with metallized ones, same values Maybe a little more clarity but noise levels were not significantly improved.
Also worth of note is the pickup height on your guitar really alters the sustain and noise levels of compressor. My pickup height was too low and it grabbed more noise. I set up all my guitars at 1/16″ height on treble side and 1/8″ on bass side. I setup this height while depressing last fret. If both sides were set to same height, it sounds muddy to me, with bass strings dominating.
Way more headroom now and I can stack a compressor, overdrive and DS-2 distortion now without hiss. For humbuckers it is totally usable and improved noise with single coils, but for single coils the optical compressor is still has lower noise.
Overall I’m really happy with it now. The noise is tamed and I can now have 3 levels of gain staging before going to amp and the attack makes my single notes more articulated and punchy. The compressor alone can drive the amp a little bit when volume cranked, but no so much when stacking DS-2 distortion. But that may an issue solely on the DS2 noise, which I’ll probably tweak next with the Wampler mods. Think this pedal will stay on my board a long time. Going to do those last two capacitor swaps and IC chip mod just for kicks. Not bad for a 58 dollar investment, now it sounds amazing. Will do part 3 when tayda shipment arrives. Cya
Modified by Boss CS-3. Purchased on eBay for $58 dollars. Wanted something with good attack. I already own an clean optical one. The noise on this thing was horrible, the tone lackluster, was not really usable for what I wanted, but it has awesome attack, super punchy!
Purchased the Monte Williams noise decimator kit because I wanted to keep the attack.
Researched and changes made C4, C6, C14, C17- kept stock value of 1uf and swapped for Tantulum 1 uf caps. Made noticeable difference in noise. Measured the old ones and they were still up to spec.
C1 changed .027uf to .047uf– pretty tame modification some go all the way to over 1uf. This was a pain to get to. Monte said I didn’t have remove the mini pcb, but I did anyways. The struggle was real. IC1 replaced with Brown Burr OPA2134PA– The Monte Williams adaptor kit is ingenious, makes your life easier. It is a super tight fit. You must bend Q1 and C14 out of the way for it to fit. Also the wick for removing the solder was also really helpful. Noticed less noise for sure, but not as notable as just changing the caps. I think you can use the compressor after those first cap changes.
Diodes D2, D3, D6- Replaced with IN34A germanium diodes– This one gave it warmth, It can now drive my amp a little bit. Not as much as the JHS Pulp n Peel, more like a light overdrive. Before I could raise the volume and sustain but was crushed by noise. Now it usable like a drive effect. That combined with the attack I love.
Future mods- Possible replace the IC2 with adaptor from Monte and buy the chips somewhere and experiment stacking different ones. Links for information and where to buy below. C2 change and maybe replace all the resistors to metal film, keep default value, maybe get noise a little lower?
Tips for Noobs Use the wick Monte gives you to remove all the solder. This made removing the IC1 chip a breeze. Also don’t force it out, the part should slide out easily. I tore one cap pad buy doing this. Tried a solder sucker at first but it is just so awkward using one and it doesn’t always work at first, definitely a skill I haven’t mastered.
Use flux every time- just do it, finally got into the habit of doing this every time I use solder something. Don’t run the hassle of making cold joints, it’s a pain to troubleshoot. Solder flows way better, I’ve ruined so many guitar pots by overheating them.
Clean tip with flux after finish using. So far I’ve had the same tips for 10 years. no joke.
Use Digital Multimeter to check and troubleshoot continuity. I also test capacitors and resistors when replacing them and tested old ones too.
Document your changes, you may want to revert back. I test after replacing a handful of components, not every single one, that’s just tarded.
Wampler beginner guide below, more in depth guide he sells on … Read the rest
