Help me build my own pedal

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antispatula

antispatula

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I've been getting into basic electronics, and want to try to actually make something, and have been learning a bunch and how to read schematics etc and had a few questions:

http://sound.westhost.com/p29_fig1.gif

So one thing that confuses me is that I see the + and the - of the power supply, they're in the grey bullets, right? Then what is that thing in the lower left had corner that says +15v?

And all the upsidedown arrows is simply saysing to tie that connection to ground, right?

And one of the caps (C2) has a rating: 150 n. N? What's that? Isn't capacity rated in farads?

I may gave more questions later, but for now this should do. Thanks a bunch!
 
its all in the main frame of the LED . cross the wires, then splice them. after that, put in a circuit board into the schmatics of the X module. do the same with the Y, but reversed.



i have no idea what im talkin about. sorry.
 
I am also just getting into electronix but probably dont know much more than you and I don"t understand that schematic either unless the Bottom IC"s can run off of a single 15v+ DC supply?.....

I"m sure someone here will be able to help figure it out for you...

What is it anyways?? Some sort of amp or effects unit or something ?? It looks something like that as the Input is going through a Transistor which I have seen it a Lot of effects units...

Yes those arrows go to Ground and the N is for "Nano Farads" usually it is displayed as "nF" , These are pretty small values so you would probably use a Ceramic Capacitor for most nF values...

You will also see pF (Pico Farads) which is even smaller than nF....
All capacitors in the audio path should be Polyester or Polypropaline Caps were ever possible and most Larger values (Over 1uF) will generally be Electrolytics ....

I am doing my First Real project right now Building a Green Mic Preamp...
I just Etched my PCB"s the other day and did about half of the Stuffing for one channel yesterday but I have to get some more Parts......

Good Luck
 
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This is a tremelo circuit. It requires a +/- 15V power supply. The down arrows are ground. 150n is 150 nano Farad capacitors.

Most caps used today are in very tiny percentages of a farad. The names are micro, pica, and nano for example.

If this is your first electronic effort, consider simpler projects like a doorbell or a flashing LED. Then branch out into semi-conductor efforts.

Ed
 
antispatula said:
I've been getting into basic electronics, and want to try to actually make something, and have been learning a bunch and how to read schematics etc and had a few questions:

http://sound.westhost.com/p29_fig1.gif

So one thing that confuses me is that I see the + and the - of the power supply, they're in the grey bullets, right? Then what is that thing in the lower left had corner that says +15v?

And all the upsidedown arrows is simply saysing to tie that connection to ground, right?

And one of the caps (C2) has a rating: 150 n. N? What's that? Isn't capacity rated in farads?

I may gave more questions later, but for now this should do. Thanks a bunch!
Click to expand...

The capacitor is a 150 nano Farad cap-which is 150 to the -12 Power, a very small negative value because a Farad is a Huge value of capacitance. Is the pedal a tremolo or vibrato pedal? The circuitry kind of looks like it may be, and you will be using a 15 volt + and - power to the circuit.
 
find the schematic for a Dist + and build it. very easy. if memory serves one opamp, single power supply (battery), a couple of diodes, resistors and caps.

I wouldn't recommend starting with any sort of circuit that oscillates.
 
Anfontan said:
The capacitor is a 150 nano Farad cap-which is 150 to the -12 Power, a very small negative value because a Farad is a Huge value of capacitance. Is the pedal a tremolo or vibrato pedal? The circuitry kind of looks like it may be, and you will be using a 15 volt + and - power to the circuit.
Click to expand...
Little correction; it's actually to the -9th power and not 150 but 150*10^(-9), and it still remains very much positieve... the day one can buy negative capacitors in radio shack is yet to come ;)

About that +15 in in the bottom left corner; you'll have to connect that end to a +15V line. Soldering that end left to the the R11 resistor should do the trick. You could sloder it directly to the +15V connector, but I think leaving the 100 ohms in would be safer. I could be wrong though.

Good luck with the pedal antispatula. Please do post some audio samples when it's done.
 
Oops I changed it to a picoFarad, I should have checked my electronics guide before the post. Oh well it was too late in the evening, as you can see.... :o
 
antispatula said:
So one thing that confuses me is that I see the + and the - of the power supply, they're in the grey bullets, right? Then what is that thing in the lower left had corner that says +15v?
Click to expand...

You need to build a +-15V power supply, which is not shown in the schematic. Then you hook up the power supply to all the points as shown.

And all the upsidedown arrows is simply saysing to tie that connection to ground, right?
Click to expand...

Yes.

And one of the caps (C2) has a rating: 150 n. N? What's that? Isn't capacity rated in farads?
Click to expand...

1 uF (microfarad, the u is really supposed to be greek letter "mu" but everybody is lazy and uses a "u") = 1000nF = 1,000,000pF. Personally I find using nF annoying, so I just would say 0.15uF.

I am also just getting into electronix but probably dont know much more than you and I don"t understand that schematic either unless the Bottom IC"s can run off of a single 15v+ DC supply?.....
Click to expand...

The power supply connections to the ICs are not shown, it's assumed you know to connect them. The voltages shown are bias supplies or power supplies to the transistors.

If this is your first electronic effort, consider simpler projects like a doorbell or a flashing LED. Then branch out into semi-conductor efforts.
Click to expand...

Well it probably is advisable to make something simpler. But if you're interested in audio, stick with an audio circuit, distortion circuits are usually a bit simpler, they can be done with a single opamp and a couple of diodes, along with the associated resistors and caps. Also you can use a single-ended power supply, and it doesn't need to be anything like 15V. Actually, I doubt any guitar pedal really needs that much juice.

And doesn't a flashing LED circuit require a semiconductor? ;)
 
mshilarious said:
You need to build a +-15V power supply, which is not shown in the schematic. Then you hook up the power supply to all the points as shown.
Click to expand...
Two 9V batteries should do. If not, then four for +/- 18Vdc

I'd stay away from building an AC powered power supply right now. Maybe projects 201 :)
 
I would tell you to opt for a different project that uses 9 volt. You can get an inexpensive SPOT adapter at GC which will power up to 5 pedals at a very low cost and never have to use batteries again. Most of the commercial pedals you buy run on 9 volt with a few at 18.

15 volts would require another power supply which is dedicated to this project. Space is precious on the pedalboard in my view and its best to try and keep wiring to a minimum.
 
antispatula said:
one question: The input has two conductors + a ground, but the output doesn't? So for the input, do I have to get a TRS jack?
Click to expand...
the input jack acts as the On/Off switch. You need a jack with a NO contact.
 
ahhhhhhh, I get it now! That's kind of brilliant!

EDIT: Holy crap I can't find normally open 1/4" jacks anywhere. I guess these are not used often? Maybe I could just add a slide switch and make it easier.
 
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antispatula said:
ahhhhhhh, I get it now! That's kind of brilliant!

EDIT: Holy crap I can't find normally open 1/4" jacks anywhere. I guess these are not used often? Maybe I could just add a slide switch and make it easier.
Click to expand...



It's a standard 1/4" TRS jack. The power supply (ie. the battery) has it's negative leg hooked up to the ring conection. When you plug in your guitar, the sleave makes a conection between the battery and ground, completing the circuit, thus turning on the pedal.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
antispatula said:
ahhhhhhh, I get it now! That's kind of brilliant!

EDIT: Holy crap I can't find normally open 1/4" jacks anywhere. I guess these are not used often? Maybe I could just add a slide switch and make it easier.
Click to expand...

Does it really call for that? I thought it was a standard TRS jack :confused:

The other thing that is confusing me is why are the input impedances so low in these designs? Are these strictly to follow other pedals :confused: It wouldn't be a terrible thing to have a switch in the second design, either :confused:
 
To clarify, a TSR jack where the Sleeve and Ring are not connected when the Plug is removed. That is NO. Don't purchase a TSR with the Sleeve and Ring NC when the Plug is removed... that will not work.
 
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