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Author Topic: Stupid Pedal Idea
joe
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Posts: 224
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Post Stupid Pedal Idea
on: November 20, 2012, 20:12
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I've been wanting to make an "Ennio" pedal — a box that conjures Ennio Morricone spaghetti western sounds. It would include:

1. A really brittle, cheap-sounding fuzz.
2. A big, juicy tremolo.
3. Either a fake-analog reverb (using the "Belton brick" processor), or maybe some crappy pseudo-reverb delay?

I mean, it's nothing you couldn't do with three stompboxes. I just want to do it as a Morricone tribute.

One of the last stories I did during my years at <i>Guitar Player</i> was a Morricone interview, talking about his guitar writing. I was never more starstruck.

Any ideas, folks? Maybe a group project?
smgear

Posts: 170
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Post Re: Stupid Pedal Idea
on: November 21, 2012, 07:46
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I'm in! I love that sound. Is that interview online anywhere?

So while I don't have any gear with me, I can at least pitch in and possibly do some ltspice modeling. I'm thinking that the mosrite fuzzrite might be pretty close to that original fuzz sound: Image

The BYOC belkin reverb would probably suffice for the reverb. There are 'springier' circuits, but I haven't tried to build/clone them before and the belkin chip is just easier to work with.

I'm not sure what tremolo would sound best so I'll defer to the experts.

Were you thinking of fuzz -> verb -> tremolo? because I think small fuzz both before and after the reverb might sound nice. Perhaps a brighter mosrite fuzz on the front end and a bit of dark distortion after the reverb to thicken it up and more closely approximate a tube driven reverb before hitting the tremolo.

bear

Posts: 153
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Post Re: Stupid Pedal Idea
on: November 21, 2012, 09:13
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Fuzzrite is indeed the fuzz sound -- that or one of the circuits people speak of in the same breath, like the Maestro. Everybody seems to love the EA trem for traditional sine wave stuff (though I prefer choppier, edgier stuff from pedals). No cheaper/easier reverb than Belton Brick is likely for DIY-er.

If you have spare cash and were content with two pedals, Fuzzrite and the Strymon Flint would get in the same zone, with better reverb and maybe better trem.
joe
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Posts: 224
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Post Re: Stupid Pedal Idea
on: November 28, 2012, 11:29
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Feeble minds think alike! I love the Fuzzrite circuit — I use a close cousin in my Trilobite pedal, and that's <i>exactly</i> what I was envisioning here. I dig it because it has a tone stack that actually sounds, you know, <i> good</i>, plus it works great with a lot of modern transistors. Same with the EA trem — I love that thing, and a "extra choppy" mod must be pretty easy. And I love how the Belton brick reverbs sound, but I'm kind of curious to try a fake-analog delay with tightly clustered echoes mimicking reverb. You know — something to waste a week or two on before I come back around and just use the Belton! 😉
smgear

Posts: 170
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Post Re: Stupid Pedal Idea
on: November 28, 2012, 14:48
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Sweet. Some quick notes before I head out.

A possible 'issue' with the fuzzrite is that the original used -9v. It's easy enough to switch the polarity for that portion, but it might cause problems if we wanted everything tightly integrated. It's probably not a big issue, but I've never worked with -9 so I'm woefully ignorant about all the practical considerations. I'm sure one of you brilliant folks has a work around. Perhaps Joe already solved this issue in the Trilobite.

For the analog reverb, I once heard a DOD FX45 that sounded kinda cool. I believe it used a BBD (I think technically they're considered analog, but it's a grey area in my feeble mind). I'm not sure if those can still be found or not, but that circuit might be fun to play around with. I found a thread with schematics on FSB: https://freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2748&sid=5b27137fc03591604e86ecd8ea681779&start=20

Keeping in the BBD vein, there is the realistic reverb: https://electro-music.com/forum/topic-26470.html
and this design which is more of an echo-verb:
https://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=45823.0
and this nicely explained ramsey project: https://www.ramseyelectronics.com/downloads/manuals/RV1.pdf
bear

Posts: 153
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Post Re: Stupid Pedal Idea
on: November 28, 2012, 19:47
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Madbean's Charge-Pump circuit has instructions for getting positive-ground power off from a standard negative-ground source.
Digital-
Larry

Posts: 192
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Post Re: Stupid Pedal Idea
on: November 28, 2012, 21:50
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I don't see any reason the Fuzzrite circuit can't be flipped around for +9 volts operation. Send the URL for the schematic you want to use and I'll get cha straightened out.
smgear

Posts: 170
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Post Re: Stupid Pedal Idea
on: November 29, 2012, 04:04
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excellent. The schematic I'm looking at is here: https://eu11.stripper.jp/pulcino/blog/images/fuzzrite.gif

The charge pump would work (and a 7660 on the front end), but I think it would be easier in the long run to flip the circuit than to bookended conversion stages. Enlighten me please.

Digital-
Larry

Posts: 192
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Post Re: Stupid Pedal Idea
on: November 29, 2012, 05:10
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OK IMO no reason at all to add a negative supply.

The following should get connected to "Ground":

    Battery "-" terminal
    Vee
    R6
    Volume pot
    C4
    Ground of input jack

The following should go to +9 volts:

    Battery "+" terminal
    C6+
    Q1 emitter
    Q2 emitter

Image

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Can someone find a YouTube clip with the sound being sought?
Digital-
Larry

Posts: 192
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Post Re: Stupid Pedal Idea
on: November 30, 2012, 11:09
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Let's take a look at the EA tremolo now. I found an "improved" schematic which seems widely copied.

Image

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