JHS Superbolt clone PCB and the missing JFETs

Hello solderers and pedal maniacs!

Here is my last build: a JHS SuperBolt clone! As you may know, I have already did a clone of this pedal, but I have finally designed a PCB for it!

Here are some pictures:

 

End of the crowdfunding campaign: what's next?

Here it is! The crowdfunding campaign is over, with a lot of success!
Thank you all for your support, Coda Effects is on the good tracks thanks to you!

Crowdfunding campaign for the Montagne Tremolo and Dolmen Fuzz

My crowdfunding campaign for the Montagne Tremolo and the Dolmen Fuzz is finally out there!

The Montagne Tremolo is my final version of the tremolo prototype I showed you in a previous post. It is an analog optical tremolo with tap tempo and 6 different waveforms available, thanks to the TAPLFO digital chip.

The Dolmen Fuzz comes from my love for EHX Big Muffs and especially the green russian version. I tried different prototypes and circuits, and it is quite close to a previous build I made as well.

Create your own pedal company: good or bad idea?

If you already have made a few pedals yourself, you surely have thought about selling them or at least build some of them for other people. Create your own guitar pedal brand seems like a good idea on paper, however there are many pitfalls.... Lets talk about it!

Disclaimer: I make effects myself, and this post is not intended to "kill competitors" (with my 30 pedals a year...)! On the contrary, I think it is way better to be transparent and to talk about it: this is only my opinion, and feel free to express yours in the comments section :)

It is a complex matter that is not always easy to discuss peacefully because of money, and there are many different opinions on the subject. It is also the source of really long yet exciting threads on DIY forums (check this one!). The simplest option for me is to discuss it from my point of view as a builder. Thus, I will talk about Coda Effects, and well, just once will not hurt, about me, and give you some tips if you want to jump in it!

Early 2013, I started to show interest in guitar pedal building: after opening a Fuzz Face, I was quite astonished by the simplicity of the circuit (there is almost nothing in there!), and I realized that building guitar effects might be simpler that I thought.

Big Muff PCB available!

The Big Muff PCB that I conceived finally arrived in its final version... And it is alive! I also wrote a detailed build document.

 

Happy new year 2015: Coda Effects in numbers!

Happy new year to you all!

 

I really want to thank you for your support and messages, 2015 was a great first year for Coda Effects, and I hope it will continue in 2016! Here are a few numbers about 2015

Big Muff circuit going to fab!

Here is my new Big Muff PCB!

Remember when I was telling you about PCB development? (yes, long time ago...) I finally finished one! It took me a lot of time, but now I am satisfied with my layout:

LPB1 mini PCB !

The LPB1 (Line Power Boost 1) is a boost pedal that was commercialized in 1968 by Electro Harmonix. It is the first boost pedal using a silicon transistor. Indeed, previous boosts like the Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster were using germanium transistors. Another novelty with this pedal was that it was boosting all frequencies and not only trebles, making it the first clean boost available!

  

Klon Centaur buffer boards

Today I just received my first PCB conceived by me! A really simple Klon Centaur buffer.

PCB development

I am currently working on conceiving PCB with Eagle software.
It will allow me to have some backup PCB of circuits that I make often or for specific projects. Also, PCB are really easier to work with than veroboard, and look much more professional!
And what a satisfaction to have something that you made up from scratch!

Will you manage to recognize on which circuits I am working on?

Laser engraved plates

I recently ordered some laser-engraved plates with the Coda Effects logo. I have ordered through HPM laser, a french company, which was affordable, and people there were really helpful and patient ! (not easy to know exactly what you need in some cases !)

Here is the result before cutting everything:

Ink was projected with the laser on a stainless steel plate. The result is really neat and with 3M double-sided tape, I can stick it to any pedal enclosure I made for a really professional looking stompbox !

Dead Astronaut FX Chasm Reverb PCB

Today I received a PCB from Dead Astronaut FX, the Chasm Reverb!
Dead Astronaut (alias Robert Henry) is an effects builder based in the United Kingdom. He builds a lot of different effects (fuzz, distorsion, tremolo, delays...), with beautiful etched enclosures.

I recently had a crush on the reverb he makes, the Chasm Reverb. It is a beautiful, deep sounding reverb that can auto-oscillate to create great sounding "waves" of sounds, ideal for post rock or prog rock. It is based on a Belton Brick, an IC allowing builders to make digital reverbs. Moreover, it has interesting options compared to other reverbs: a mix potentiometer to choose the amount of dry and wet signal, and a bypass system that let the reverb ends when you turn the effect off. It is called "trails". There is also a "damp" setting and volume.

You can find demos on youtube (chasm reverb or prismatic reverb) that are really great sounding!

Dead Astronaut can make the Reverb for you, or you can order a PCB to make it yourself. As being a DIYer, I ordered the PCB for a reasonable price of 11 pounds. If you want to make one, you can buy the PCB here. Robert is very helpful and replies quickly to emails, he gave me a lot of useful informations. The PCB is of very good quality, double sided with a nice ground plane. The Chasm reverb layout is quite nice, and not too compressed:

Vintage overload !

I got these little beasts yesterday :

  

Vintage NKT275 red dot transistors ! These are the original transistors that you could find in the vintage Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Faces:

Big Muff Variant (in process)

I am building a Big Muff variant. As a base, I am using a classic ram's head PCB (made by etronics, cheap and quick, really good manufacturing!), which was quickly populated with BC109 and MPSA18 transistors (cool combination!), metal film resistors and a lot of Wima film capacitor MKP2:

Fig. 1 Empty board, and populated PCB ! Very quick and funny to do !

Cheap resistor is cheap !

I needed to get myself a stock of resistors of different values.

It can be very useful when you want to try different values or when you forgot to order THE resistor that you absolutely needed!

I got this 1280 metal film 1% resistors pack on Amazon. There are plenty of offers of the same kind, it is directly imported from China, and resistors are perfectly fine.

I measured some of them and did not notice any significant difference with the theoretical value.

For me, it is really a good deal and a good start if you want to constitute a stock of components at a reasonable price! Of course, it is still a good idea to buy some small packs of the most used values like 1k for instance.