bobbass4k

Got this on a bit of a whim and it's fantastic but just way more than I need for what I'm doing at the moment, I can't justify having the money tied up in it that would pay for a big chunk of something I actually need.

Owned from new, only ever been used on the desk, pristine condition with the box and everything. Hard to know what to price it, however given the new price and condition I think £185  posted in the UK is pretty fair. Trades considered, interesting pedals, cheap and cheerful basses, nothing specific in mind really. Pickup possible from York or Leeds.

4 hours ago, Sibob said:

I already have a Sansamp BDDI, so looking for something Sunn or Pierce based I think. Thanks though  

 

Si

There's a few Sunn clones, mostly guitar aimed though, fuzzdog do a model T, aion do a beta bass/lead (musikidng aren't selling aion pcbs atm though, just kits)

There's no DIY Pearce unfortunately - i breadboarded it a few years ago but I could never get it to sound quite right. 

1 hour ago, Sibob said:

I’ve got an enclosure that I want to build something into, it’s a bit bigger (footprint) than a 1590BB, I think it’s a 6500 (without measuring it). Anyway, there’s plenty of space basically.

 

I’d love to build a fairly fully featured bass preamp, probably something quite dirty sounding, kinda like the Sunnbather from Abominable or the BC2 from Suncoast.

 

Any thoughts on a kit? Would want a PCB rather than a vero build.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Cheers

Si

Madbean do a sansamp BDDI PCB, I forget the name of it. The growling krizzly would be a good choice too. There's a surprising lack of bass preamp kits around, at least full featured ones with good eq options.

Is pickup an option? Whereabouts are you located?

4 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

I wasn’t expecting it to work and then stayed up far too late sorting the calibration.
 

The daft thing is about PedalPCB that the forum seems to have most the info on it, including schematic - https://docs.pedalpcb.com/project/LowTide-Schematic-PedalPCB.pdf

but you have to root around to find things - one post on one thread - LDSS needs for the barbershop, another post is someone telling you how to bias it… another is… 

it’s not beginner friendly 

 

Yeah, I basically had to beg for that low tide schematic - claims it's not included in the build doc because it's visually very large, but... Split it over 2 pages? Include it as is and let people zoom? Include a link to it hosted somewhere? I guess he makes no claim to being beginner friendly, and if you know what you're doing his boards are very usable, and the forum's do a great job of plugging the gap, but I do wish he'd just be honest about why the schematics are so scarce.

1 hour ago, LukeFRC said:

My low tide mini works. I’m very excited. 

Be mindful that it needs to be calibrated very carefully. I say that because PedalPCBs documentation for his $30 PCB doesn't mention it at all..... He makes good boards and I get that his focus is on tracing and pumping out new boards, but the lack of information makes them risky investments. He claims it's just a manpower/time issue, but it is interesting how many of the boards without schematics published are the unique and exciting ones that he's traced himself, like the low tide...

Got this before Xmas and I've been umming and ahhing it but I just don't think I'm going to use it's full capabilities.

The new iteration of the classic and very unique sl-20, in a single pedal format with USB editability. 

This has only been out of the box to use a handful of times and as such is completely mint. 

To reflect the condition I'm after £125 Posted - postage will be by tracked 24 only as cheaper services do not provide sufficient insurance and at present royal mail seems to be hosting a nationwide parcel losing competition that they're all taking very seriously. 

Collection from York possible or Leeds if you want to venture into Armley where I work.

20 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

I must say it confuses me - CPC seem more aimed at b2c and the Farnell are more b2b? 

Basically yeah - farnell is aimed at design engineers, small volume manufacturing, repair/servicing etc. and the main focus is on board level components. CPC is aimed at anyone with money and is focussed much more on businesses, trade and normal consumers. Basically they sell plant pots, and we do not.

22 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

I searched CPC Farnell for LTC1144 and couldn't find it, then I tried searching with that part number and also couldn't find it. Are you going via the website or the internal stock system?

That was on the website on my phone. As neko says, CPC are for all intents and purposes a different company - especially on components they don't stock nearly the range we do, as it's not big business for them.

3 minutes ago, Wilson_51_ said:

Yeah pins 1 and 8 are connected, I’m unsure if it fully is the charge pump but it’s a siren type sound almost like a flanger noise. 
 

Thanks for this! The mouser ones have a £12 postage on them which feels massively steep. 

If it sounds like a flanger then the frequency is shifting which suggests it's probably not the charge pump, and the boost should take the charge pump noise well out of audible range. Probably worth looking at other culrprits.

All mouser stock is held in the US - they do a good job on intl. Shipping but it is still expensive.

I edited my response above, farnell have the LTC1144. Delivery is free but there's a £10 handling charge under £24, and a £6 handling charge between £24 and £48. Over £48 is free, so if you wanted to stock up it could be worthwhile.

Full disclosure I do work for farnell, please buy components so I can continue to spend my wages on components.

20 hours ago, Wilson_51_ said:

 

The green one in my post above i am currently having a struggle with. It sounds brilliant but when muting the guitar i can hear an oscillation type noise which is really annoying. i have a feeling it is the 7660S i am using in the charge pump. The original circuit has a LTC1144 however i couldn't find any in the UK, The build doc suggested replacing with either a 7660S or Max1044. I don't know if it is not optimal 7660S or not so i am going to do a bit of experimenting with trying a few out.

Are you using the 7660s in boost mode (pins 1 and 8 connected)?

Also the LTC1144 is available at farnell (search 4029296) - they are expensive though.

On 11/01/2023 at 13:02, Wilson_51_ said:

I ordered a couple of enclosures from Tayda between Christmas and new year for a couple of projects I have on the go. I went for the custom drill and uv printing service. took me a while to actually wrap my head around it all. 
 

I usually drill, paint and design myself but wanted to find out if their any good. 
 

They arrived yesterday and I have to say the quality is impressive.

 

The purple one is a megalith clone from a pcb, i already have one but I built this one to reduce the footprint and remove the heavy button. 
 

The green is stripboard version of a Dunwich D-120 for my guitarist. Which is based on a matamp. Hence the look. And the band logo. 

 

 

 

Those look very good, may I ask what the final landed cost was, and how long it took? I've been tempted by them but I had a bad shipping experience from tayda many years ago and I've been hesitant to go back.

2 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

On that point, where does everyone buy their solder from? My last lot came from Maplin RIP

Contrary to apparently very popular belief, there's no blanket ban on the sale of leaded solder. The RoHS/REACH/WEEE etc. Regulations apply to commercially sold products. There's also a lot of confusion due to the soldering crossover with plumbing, where obviously it is banned. 

Many retailers restrict the sale to "professional users" due to new guidelines from the HSE. Some places like rapid and I think RS do this by limiting it to credit account customers. Farnell and CPC have the same restriction in principle but you can successfully check out as a guest. A variety of smaller places will also sell it freely with similar restrictions in principle, but no enforcement.

The fumes from both forms are largely the flux, you're not inhaling lead (or tin) from 60/40 fumes no more than you're inhaling silver from lead free fumes. Flux isn't exactly good for your health either, so extraction is always advisable.

60/40 is a health Hazard because of the solid lead particles that are inevitably released when handling it. How many of us who use it as hobbyists are washing our hands thoroughly after soldering, wearing disposable gloves, making sure we don't cross contaminate tools, coffee mugs etc.? I used to work for a CEM and our work instructions for leaded builds included the phrase "raw chicken".

26 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374164049337 perhaps? No nasty chemicals, just don't look into the laser with remaining eye.

I've been considering going down the CNC route myself - It's a lot of money and space investment but the results are hard to argue with - see dissa's immaculately clean enclosures.

1 minute ago, LukeFRC said:

Ah - clarification … etching thr enclosures! 
 

(I looked at etching pcb and it was cheaper and easier to learn kicad and get them produced by a Chinese company )

Ahhhh, there may have been context I missed.

To be fair the same complaint applies, I could never find a combination of paper and printer that gave me a perfect transfer - but with access to pro equipment you might haver much better results. The upside of enclosures is you can etch with bog standard caustic soda (make sure it's pure though) which can obviously go straight down the drain. I got some good results but I could never get a perfectly clean etch or mask of the sides properly, and sanding the paint off is exhausting work. It'll take a few tries to get it right and figure out times and balances. Eventually i settled on using a very strong caustic soda mix and sponging it on rather than submerging the top in a weaker mix. I do it every now and then but it's pretty labour intensive. It would be nice if someone UK based offered an equivalent of Taydas UV printing service, but I guess that's a pretty massive investment for someone like bitsbox or fuzzdog. 

It can be difficult to get good results at home the basic way with glossy paper and an iron - you'll need a proper drill too - a dremel or something smaller and the proper very tiny bits with several spares (they WILL snap). The UV method is less fiddly but does require more investment (might be easier for you though if you've access to printing gear etc.)

Etching is pretty straightforward, you just need to be sensible - do it outside, gloves, goggles (do NOT skip the goggles). You can't pour spent etchant down the drain so you'll need a sizeable bottle to store it in (it's reusable though, you'll get a few etches out of the same batch with some topping up) - the skip here takes spent etchant but i know in some places it's appointment only.

My advice would be it's more trouble than it's worth - if there's a premade PCB available buy it. 

8 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

Anyone here ordered from PedalPCB? 
How long it take to get here? Mine reached the UK two weeks ago so guess caught in customs limbo

I had one order that took 3 days to get from Georgia to London, then over 2 weeks to get from London to York

A quick straw poll for you to help me out at work - 

Would you buy, or at least be interested in a Peak/atlas style transistor tester at a lower price from a very reputable UK/EU supplier (not playing the Chinese eBay lottery).

I've considered buying them before but 50 quid ish is a lot of money for something I'm going to use sparingly, so it seems like a big gap in the market to me, but I'd be interested to get your view.

19 hours ago, admiralchew said:

Wow! For some reason I wasn’t expecting self-made pedals. They are excellent! I really need to up my game and get building.

 

@fuzzonaut the designs on your pedals are fantastic, particularly the Fuzz Boxx. How did you apply them? I’m happy to go along pretending you’re not obsessed for now but you are making it difficult.

@bobbass4k that is a spectacular board! Is that Laika towards the bottom left? Do your pedals do similar things or do they run the gamut?

 

@KingBollock please post a picture if you do make A Doom Coloured Sun with an inverted Welsh beach. It may not be sci-fi exactly but it does sound interesting.

Close, it's Cosmo the space dog from the guardians of the galaxy comics - a Russian space dog who got sucked through a wormhole (I think?) and got superintelligence and psychic powers.

My designs are usually related to the pedal or its name, even if it only makes sense to me. So that ones because it's a clone of the Spaceman redstone, and it uses a Russian ge transistor. The one next to is a heavily modified centaur clone, the guy on it as a centauri from Babylon 5... Etc.

There's a lot of drive pedals but I build a range, the top row is mostly modulation, the star wars rebels in the bottom right is an EQD organiser clone. I'm probably due a PYPB post actually, I'll do one with a full walkthrough.

Like fuzzonaut mine are all self built. I don't have individual pictures but there's a fair few niche sci-fi and sci-fi adjacent ones on here -

Yeah it would need to be on the loop return. I built a phase inverter in a 1590a box that is absolutely invaluable. I keep meaning to try and squeeze one in the 1590lb so it can live happily under the board. Why the ls-2 doesn't have one on board I'll never know.

Another vote for musikding, I don't buy kits but all the PCBs and components I've had from them have been good - reasonably priced DHL usually arrives in a few days - no import fees as yet either, but obviously that could change.

8 minutes ago, JPJ said:

Being a fan of the Yamaha NE-1 parametric eq but having stupidly owned two and sold both, I’ve just ordered a clone kit from Germany https://www.musikding.de/NE_04-bass-preamp-kit and I’m going to have a go at assembling this myself. This will be my first attempt so who knows the outcome but I’ll keep you guys and girls updated on here for the comedy value if nothing else.

 That's a pretty good choice for your first kit actually, not too complicated and schalltechniks documentation is very good for beginners - just do what the nice german man says and you should be fine.

On 04/08/2022 at 13:13, paul_5 said:

I'm wondering how they do analogue for £10; last time I looked the MN3007 bucket bridge chip was £20 on its own!

 

The demand is such that a few Chinese manufacturers are producing new bbd chips - a very large volume direct factory order will probably be pennies per chip.