Anyone interested in a stomp box building workshop?

matta · 2009-03-29T18:16:44+00:00

Hey Guys, Many of you here know me in person, or by reputation (hopefully if the later, it's all good!), for those that don't and by way of brief introduction my name is Matt Allison. I've been a gigging muso for over 10 years (guitarist/vocalist) and been able to make my way around the world playing music from my 3 records and been blessed to pick up distribution for them in territories outside of SA and 2 garnered SAMA nominations (hey they are no Grammy's, but for a struggling muso it is the best we have!). For the past few years I've spent most of my time holed up on the otherside of the glass as producer/engineer here and abroad and currently run a commercial studio in Cape Town called Dockyard Studios (http://www.dockyardstudios.com). Along side that for the past 4 years I've been running Ashton Audio (http://www.ashtonaudio.com), specializing in custom built pro audio/recording solutions and have clients as far a field as the US, refurbishing classic recording gear from the 50's-70's and building inspired 'clones' of hard to get pieces, a few of which can be seen here: www.ashtonaudio.com/gallery.html For the past few months I've been playing with a few custom/boutique pedal designs and will be launching a new company later in the year with our first product, Fuzzsilla, a silicon based Fuzz box with the tones/warmth we have come to expect from Germanium's, without the instability problems and a few quirky aspects one has come to expect from guys like Zvex, Pigtronix etc. I LOVE imparting knowledge and have lectured both at Damelin and now SAE running/moderating their 'Basic Audio Electronics' modules which I pioneered and had a thought about running a 2 day 'stomp box' workshop teaching the basic of audio electronics, covering components and their uses, basic electronic theory and basic soldering skills culminating in the building up a simple stomp box like a booster/fuzz pedal etc. I've been lurking around the forum for some time and it seems there is a growing interest in DIY pedals and mods but many are lacking the confidence and skill sets and thought it might be a way of being able to 'give back'. Added to the fact economic times are tough and if guys want to be able to have access to more of the boutique designs out there DIY is a sensible/practical option that not only provides a new skill set, but produces some great sonics fruits of ones labour. Since I'll be launching the new line of pedals I'm buying bulk enclosures, switches, jacks, battery snaps and the like and am also thinking about making a basic kit available for the harder to get pieces as building blocks for pedal builders without the need to import expensive US/European parts once off. There is no timeline on this right now, just really wanted to introduce myself and test the waters if this is something fellow players/builders would be interested in? Cheers Matt

Spyke

Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Spyke wrote I find this surprising. Peg you to be the over inquisitive type.
Brain full. Need space for guitars. ?

Not because you were once a drummer? ???

Heath

bye spyke , nice knowing you .........

inflames

Kick his ass C Bass (Dumb & Dumber)

matta

Kick his ass C Bass (Dumb & Dumber)

Hah Hah, I love that movie!

If you ever sell DIY kits I would definitely be interested

Well that is what I'm going for, there will be something for everyone.

I plan on offering my own Fuzzsilla Fuzz Pedal as a workshop kit, but will also be a commercial unit (powder coated and silk screened etc).

I have also devised 6 killer/boutique 'mod' kits for the Boss CS-3, MT-2 and DS-1, ProCo Rat/Rat2, Ibanez Tubescreamer and Crybaby Wah, these will contain all the parts, explanation/instructions & photos on how to mod your own pedals, or I'll do it for a small bench fee for the less technically inclined.

Lastly I'll be providing a basic pedal 'kit' which will include jacks, power jack, battery snap, 3PDT switch and die cast enclosure. This is for the would be stompbox builder, you can put your own design in it or one of the MANY that proliferate the web, classic clones, new takes on old ideas etc.

Hi Matt

Long time no speak. I saw you joined a while ago, but were content to lurk for a while.

I also think the DIY kits are a good idea - guitar stomp boxes, mic pres, etc.. I'm comfortable knocking together stuff, but don't really want to know all the theory behind why it works, and I suspect others may feel the same.

Hi Alan,

Indeed! Been far too long, can't recall how I stumbled across this site, I think it was via an ad on MusicAds? I signed up on day one but only been bale to get into reading through the posts and share ideas of late as I'm freeing up my workload.

Seems a great place filled with great people, some Forums can turn downright nasty, it seems you do a great job of moderating and keeping things on track here.

RE not wanting to know how it all works, that approach works fine for MANY people, but I believe zeal without knowledge CAN be a dangerous combo. The best advice I was ever given by one of my electronics mentors was "Any Monkey can assemble a car, but not everyone can fix one"... I decided to learn the HOW and WHY as well and it has stood me in good stead.

The workshop I have in mind is not designed to 'freak people out', nobody is going to leave a rocket scientist, but will provide a great working/practical knowledge of electron theory/component basics and VERY practical hands on training in the way of building a Fuzz Pedal.

Welcome matt

That is a pretty good reseme you have there!!

The workshop sounds like a cool idea

Hi, Matt.

Just saw this thread now, and wanted to wish you a belated welcome!

Good to have you around ...

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the warm welcome and I look forward to being part of the community!

Cheers

Matt

Gearhead

matta wrote I have also devised 6 killer/boutique 'mod' kits for the Boss CS-3, MT-2 and DS-1, ProCo Rat/Rat2, Ibanez Tubescreamer and Crybaby Wah,

Okok! I have a CS-2 and a Crybaby GCB-95 that I would be interested in upgrading. What does the mod you have designed for the CS-3 address and does that apply to the CS-2 as well? What is the wah mod going to do? ???

matta

Gearhead wrote Okok! I have a CS-2 and a Crybaby GCB-95 that I would be interested in upgrading. What does the mod you have designed for the CS-3 address and does that apply to the CS-2 as well? What is the wah mod going to do? ???

Well lets start with the Crybaby... the first MAJOR upgrade, if you are a tone freak it to add a TRUE BYPASS switch. Even if you bypass the Crybaby it still bleeds through the circuit and rolls off some of the tops (hey for some this is a feature, not a flaw!)... newer GCB-95's have an active buffer to help this 'tone suck', but one can still bypass this if wanted/needed.

The other mods are tone related, you can play with the freq response (adding or cutting bass/treble of the sweep range) and add more of vocal/throaty sound ala the Vox Clyde McCoy pedals etc.

RE the CS-2, I have schematics for both the CS-2 and CS-3 and can devise a mod tailored to it if you want.

Just a quick look over the CS-2 schemo I can see a couple spots where we can improve tone, adding high quality caps and changing values of some of the bypass caps (helps quieten the 'noisy' pedal). We can change the freq response of the high pass filter (opening up to a fully tonal response) and look at adding a bass boost (if you are into that kinda thing).

Cheers

Matt

Gearhead

Doing CS-2 mods sounds good to me. I did buy the 2 as opposed to the 3 since the word on the street is they sound better (word on street = resale value) but at this stage would prefer sound over authenticity.

It would be interesting if the cap upgrades would also apply to my Roland GP-8 (basically a load of Boss pedals in a MIDI controlled 1up 19" case). I wouldn't want to change any values though. Same goes for the Crybaby; also true bypass already taken care of (parallel chains).

What I would like to learn more about is replacing transistor gain or buffer stages with mosfet equivalents and thus reducing local negative feedback. Count me in for a workshop if you can be of help there. ?

matta

Gearhead wrote Doing CS-2 mods sounds good to me. I did buy the 2 as opposed to the 3 since the word on the street is they sound better (word on street = resale value) but at this stage would prefer sound over authenticity.

It would be interesting if the cap upgrades would also apply to my Roland GP-8 (basically a load of Boss pedals in a MIDI controlled 1up 19" case). I wouldn't want to change any values though. Same goes for the Crybaby; also true bypass already taken care of (parallel chains).

What I would like to learn more about is replacing transistor gain or buffer stages with mosfet equivalents and thus reducing local negative feedback. Count me in for a workshop if you can be of help there. ?

RE the GP-8, yes, as far as noise/tone go ALL consumer pedals can do with upgrades...the caps used are pretty crappy quality, got to remember they build thousands of these things... so the cost difference between a 2cent and R2.00 cap in volumes makes a HUGE difference to the bottom line... that's beauty of DIY builds/mods... in a one off the difference is negligible.

RE the Mosfet swap, I got to ask why? There are other ways to deduce/increase feedback without going to Mosfets? Also remember that a Mosfet IS a transistor, there are MANY kinds, Mosfet,s JFET's and your more typical BJT's.

Cheers

Matt

deanBailey

lol I'm in, and I want(like) to know everything ?

Shawnvs

Im in! Plus my students would love this. Let us know.

(hey I liked the zvex fuzzfactory!)

« Previous Page