nick

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='579811' date='Aug 25 2009, 07:59 AM']Nick - did you mod yours at all for bass freq's or use standard component values?[/quote] Hi Al, First two I built with the 'stock' 68nF. Second pair I used 1uF caps, because I didn't have any of the former in my bits box at the time. So I guess I had inadvertently modded them Though to be honest, didn't notice a massive difference between the two values of input caps, found enough bass getting through either way - the next one I build for myself will have the 'Al Heeley phat /norm mod' switch in it, as per yours. Cheers

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='578439' date='Aug 23 2009, 07:26 PM'].....Green Red Llama with my Phat Norm mod, which switches out the 68nF cap of the original for a 1uF cap to let the bass tones breathe a little more. Superb pedal for bass or lead, even better than the Tubescreamer, more high end bite and nmuch higher gain range. marvellous! Again, can be used to boost fairly clean or shockingly dirty[/quote] Love the Red Llama pedal, it really is a great overdrive IMO - a classic. Built four of them so far, everytime I've lent one to someone to try, they've also loved it so much, I've ended up giving it away! Got to get round to knocking up another one for myself, this time to keep.

[quote name='ritch' post='578609' date='Aug 23 2009, 10:07 PM']I'm trying to make a Sovtek Big Muff from a tonepad board/project, and I've soldered it all together. The true bypass works, as sound goes through that way, but nothing when I click the switch. Currently it's not assembled in the case, but should it work if I just plug in all the cables without it in the enclosure, or is there some kind of grounding issue that could cause it to not work? Thought I'd ask incase that's something I should try! It all appears to ground to the input jack socket - one from the board itself, one from the switch, one from the output socket and one from the DC socket. Rich[/quote] Hi, Ummm.....should all work OK outside of the box, albeit probably with some noise due to it being unshielded. Could be any number of reasons, why it doesn't work. Off top of my head, obvious things first; are the polarized components (caps,diodes, transistors) right way round?, power getting to effect OK?, DPDT switch wired up right....etc Whereabouts are you based? If you're near me, I can have a look - might be able to suss it out.

The Digitech Bad Monkey is cheap, has not a bad sound & not too extreme .

'82 Tokai Hardpuncher (Webstrings flats 50-110) 2.5, 4, 4.5 - another bass with 'man action'! er medium(?) '81 Ibanez Blazer (Elites Nickels 45-105) 1.5, 3, 4 Low 60's Commodore semi (32" scale d'Addario Chromes 45-100) 2, 3.5, 4 Low

Brilliant idea - very innovative.

[quote name='Mickeyboro' post='569473' date='Aug 14 2009, 08:40 PM']I play in a functions band and dep with a party band. They have two or three duplicate numbers (eg Saw Her Standing There, Ruby) which are played in D (one band) or E (t'other) depending on the singer's ability to hit the high notes. I have to engage brain before moving fingers, not an easy thing to do at my age...[/quote] I have the same issue, with couple of bands I play with. I note the keys on the setlists, though even then still manage to cock it up occaisionally

Hello Mate, Can't think of any bands off the top of my head, but can tell you of a couple from previous audition/debacle experiences to avoid! Could be worth trying an advert in Gumtree & [url="http://www.bristolrock.co.uk/Pages/MusiciansWanted.htm"]Bristol Rocks[/url] ; bassist wanted ad there at the moment which could be of interest(?) If I hear of anything, will give you a shout. Good luck with your search.

Nice looking & fairly decent [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Kay-Bass-Guitar-Thru-Neck-Epiphone-style_W0QQitemZ280380283913QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item4147f79c09&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]Kay[/url] Mate of mine has 6-string version of this & it's not bad. Not the usual Kay crap.

Lovely looking [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/El-Maya-EB-2200-Bass_W0QQitemZ290336204846QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item439962e82e&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14"]El Maya EB-2200[/url]

[quote name='Silent Fly' post='556347' date='Jul 30 2009, 05:15 PM']If you look for a nice warm overdrive that can go from mild saturation to solid distortion, I recommend you the Digitech Bad Monkey.[/quote] +1. Great pedal, modded mine for bass, but TBH some find stock version copes OK with low end anyway. Cheap as chips - you should be able to pick one up for £20 or less. So definitely wont break the bank.

[quote name='alexharvay' post='549871' date='Jul 24 2009, 10:29 AM']Thanks for the links guys.[/quote] What are thinking of building mate?

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='548361' date='Jul 22 2009, 10:43 PM']I don't know, it's a difficult topic. I sort-of know Al off other bits of the internets and I know he's a good guy, I'm not trying to paint anybody as a crook. Thing is though, if - for example - I bought one of Alex's Barefaced cabs, took it apart to see how it was constructed, then made my own and one for my mate without making a profit, and called it a "Bear-faced Compote", is that OK?[/quote] I would have to say yeah....sorry. You've already bought one. *IF you could easily, without requiring particularly advanced skills, make another one for a fraction of the price of a Barefaced cab. Your mate's not got a lot of money, & not in the forseeable future ever going to be able to afford an original anyway, whilst also helping him improve on his rubbish rig. You could call it what you like really, it doesn't matter - it's only between you & your friend.

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='548321' date='Jul 22 2009, 10:15 PM']Nope he ain't. (making any money that is...) The above one is my own personal test kit version to play around with R & C values. This thread has sparked off a lot of interesting debate though - far more than I imagined![/quote] Thinking away from actual pedal cloning.... Lets say someone saw (for the sake of argument) a lovely ornate handmade table in one of those posh shops for a ridiculous sum of money, and wanted it for their house. If the person had the required carpentry skills, cheap materials & the ability to make one in a small amount of time - I think most people wouldn't be surprised if the carpenter made one for himself, regardless of whether or not he could afford the expensive table in the shop.

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='548276' date='Jul 22 2009, 09:40 PM'] You will see from the extensive custom graphics i have emulated that "decorated by a 10 year old" feel of the original Zvex boutique pedals but adopted a more post-renaissance feel to the art-deco felt pen work, altogether more contemporary and yet strangely tasteless.[/quote] Like it Al, you should copyright that design. Those garish finger daubed finishes done by a primary school art class that other manufacturers do are [i]so[/i] 'yesterday'

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='547239' date='Jul 22 2009, 05:05 AM']Well... I think if you want to clone a Mammoth for yourself, nobody's going to know are they? But making money out of cloning it for other people is poor form.[/quote] From all the posts in this thread, it's pretty evident that no one here is cloning pedals for profit. With all due respect, I think what you're saying in the context of is this thread is not relevant & universally agreed upon. [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='547239' date='Jul 22 2009, 05:05 AM']You can say "It's a Fuzz Face" all day, but a fuzz face doesn't have four knobs. Why aren't you producing a two-knob fuzz if you're just using the Fuzz Face circuit? Because you're not, you're cloning a ZVex pedal.[/quote] Ive cloned a Zvex pedal, a Fuzz Face,... and will do pretty much anything else I fancy, so long as it's cost effective; because I can [quote name='thisnameistaken' post='547239' date='Jul 22 2009, 05:05 AM']Nobody here who's producing Woolly Mammoth clones would be doing it if the Woolly Mammoth didn't exist, clearly. So saying it's based on a Fuzz Face fuzz doesn't make reproducing the Mammoth OK. IMHO.[/quote] True, but I don't think anybody's really using 'derivative of Fuzz Face' as a justification to build a Woolly Mammoth. Think we all just want to see if it lives up to the hype. Oh and BTW, Al you're not morally corrupt, at least no more than a lot of us. Possibly some may be a little peeved at not being able to do it themselves(?) Afterall £200+ as opposed to to about £15 is lot of wonga

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='546342' date='Jul 21 2009, 12:53 PM']It's like thinking you will have the same level of build quality with a home-made clone as an original/boutique pedal costing 3 times as much, if it shares a similar name - well that clearly isn't going to happen.[/quote] Understand where you're coming from there, but don't totally agree. Have you seen the guts of some of these so-called 'boutique' pedals! Not for a second am I saying any of my clone builds are better than the originals, I don't spend enough time on the aesthetics, sometimes the wires are a bit long, holes slightly off centre etc....but at least they work & have never conked out. However, if I was building one for someone else, at even half the price of certain pedals....... [quote name='Musky' post='546356' date='Jul 21 2009, 01:01 PM']....but I have seen pedals clearly linking themselves to Zvex designs with rather Myrold-like hand painted finishes - a step too far IMHO.[/quote] Am I the only one who thinks those handpainted efforts look a bit naff?

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='545748' date='Jul 20 2009, 09:31 PM']Appreciate that Nick, had to order some more stuff anyway so I got a couple. Be interested to drive this thread o/t a little and ask where you go to buy your components (pots, resistors, caps, transistors, etc.) I tend to get a lot from bobs bits box, he has an online and an ebay shop.Good prices and very fast turnround.[/quote] Yeah can't fault [url="http://www.bitsbox.co.uk/index.html"]Bitsbox[/url], for all the same reasons - they are good. Used to to go to a small local shop, until it was put out of business by the big boys. Gave up on Maplins a while ago [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?act=Search&CODE=show&searchid=9beccc49c3e5859b3a604d7efd77ed33&search_in=posts&result_type=posts&highlite=%2Bmaplins"]Maplins 'Electronics Specialists'[/url] For audio transformers 42TM018 etc, tend to use Banzai as I not been able to find them in the UK. My old man also gets me a lot of stuff from radio fairs with being a radio amatueur. I've had NOS Mullards, germanium transistors/diodes, tropical fish capacitors....all sorts.

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='545688' date='Jul 20 2009, 08:08 PM']Heres the little stripboard layout for the mini blend - not tried it yet, need to find out about alternative/equivalent transistors to use[/quote] Cheers for that Al 2N5484,2N5952,MPF102,J201,....etc May have something of the above knocking around in my box - PM me if you get stuck.

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='545472' date='Jul 20 2009, 04:54 PM']I've made a little mod to try out on the Elephant Fuzz, it's a tiny blend circuit on a postage-stamp sized piece of stripboard, consisting of 3 resistors, 2 capacitors, a transistor and a 50k pot. This sits between the input jack and the output of the effects board in parallel with the effect, and should allow a degree of control to mix in the wet and dry sound together in order to take off some of the harshness of the fuzz. I will try it out tonight and report back if it seems a useful addition to an already knob-filled pedal.[/quote] Hi Al, Nice looking build there. Would be interested to hear results of your mod. Keep meaning to add a mini-blend to mine, but the box is too small, there's just too much crammed in that tiny thing! [attachment=29271:068___Copy.JPG] Looks like you're improving on the original - cool!

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='544477' date='Jul 19 2009, 04:02 AM']I'm surprised people are doing stuff like this. Maybe I'm naive. Al - knowing you from elsewhere I'm surprised that you'd be doing this.[/quote] You shouldn't be. There are loads of us doing it & several forums out there dedicated not only to those who clone, but also to people who share their own ideas & improvements on established models like the Fuzz Face If someone has the ability to do it (for themselves) - then why not? I built a few of this type of bass fuzz myself now. First one was entirely out of curiousity, to see if it lived up to the hype. Didn't have the oppurtunity to try one out or £200 spare in my pocket to buy one. Found the schematic, was a ridiculously easy build & probably cost £15 in total. Since I've had a chance to compare it with the 'real McCoy', mine for some reason seems to have a bit more low end I would never have spent £200, on what is a basic fuzz, in the first place, so the manufacturer IMO has not lost a sale from me building a copy.

Another recommendation for the Bad Monkey - think Tubescreamer with a more versatile EQ section. Should get you in the ballpark of the bass tone on 'Should I stay...'

A nice old [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-1960s-ELECTRIC-BASS-GUITAR-COMMODORE-JAPANESE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ65Q3a12Q7c66Q3a2Q7c39Q3a1Q7c72Q3a1688Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem35a2493b38QQitemZ230355974968QQptZUKQ5fMusicalQ5fInstrumentsQ5fGuitarsQ5fCVQQsalenotsupported"]Commodore Semi[/url] & what I think is overpriced, considering what looks like a below par refinish [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VINTAGE-MAYA-PRECISION-BASS-Fend-r-copy-70s-Japan_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ65Q3a12Q7c66Q3a2Q7c39Q3a1Q7c72Q3a1688Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem19b4ffa97fQQitemZ110410836351QQptZUKQ5fMusicalQ5fInstrumentsQ5fGuitarsQ5fCVQQsalenotsupported"]Maya Precision copy[/url]

Hi, Could I please add to the order 1 x medium nickel (4 string), if still possible. BTW, their guitar strings; electric & acoustic are pretty good too. Thanks