Rehousing cheap pedals

A forum devoted to mod, tips and suggestions for upgrading and rehousing your VERY CHEAP commercial stompbox to near boutique excellence.
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rmendozajr
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Post by rmendozajr »

As promised...here are the bulb pics for everyone to see!
IMGP4156 rev.jpg
IMGP4158 rev.jpg

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John G
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Post by John G »

Hi,
If the new vibe is like the old chicken salad, them a well regulated psu is required and best sitting at a healthy 10Vdc for consistant results. The trimmer can then be adusted for the sweet spot and providing the psu remains constant you should get a repeatable sound every time.
If I remember right the battery only lasted for 5 minutes on the old chicken salad !!! drew something in the order of 50mA.
It looks as if on the new vibe the lamp is only activated when the stomp switch is operated, I can't remember but the chicken salad LFO was on all the time ?? could be wrong on this one though. But is this the answer keep the LFO activated continiously and just switch the audio signal and indicator ??
John

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Ripdivot
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Post by Ripdivot »

I agree with John G. Keep it running all the time. Then you could mod it to see the speed with a flashing led even when bypassed which is handy...

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DWBH
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Post by DWBH »

Well, the 3PDT should only bypass the signal and not turn on/off the LFO..
Those Danelectro newbies... :lol:

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rmendozajr
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Post by rmendozajr »

DWBH and all,

I agree the LFO should remain on at all times to remove the delay in effect activation but that isn't the case. I opened it up and watched as I activated the circuit and sure enough...the bulb is off until the stomp switch is activated and then voila...the bulb lights up!

Any ideas on how to rework this circuit to keep the bulb lit?

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rmendozajr
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Post by rmendozajr »

So here is what it is hopefully going to look like with the rehouse! I was thinking about renaming it to something like "Vibratone" or "Mr. E Vibe" or as my good friend wanted to call it "Viberator".

For now...it's Cool Cat vibe!

i'll keep you all posted.
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vibratone.jpg
vibratone.jpg (26.93 KiB) Viewed 34773 times

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John G
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Post by John G »

Hi,
I have had a look at the Chicken Salad Schematic and VCC is present all the time and audio switching done by a 4053 IC.
I assume on the new Vibe the designers have opted to switch the volts so as to preserve battery life when the effect is bypassed ?? This was a major critisism of the chicken salads batt life.

I can't quite make out from the pictures posted as to which F/SW contacts are signal switching and which are for the DC..........maybe the DC points can be bridged to see if continuous DC is then available to the circuit..........the downside would be the indicator on all the time, maybe use the contacts on the stomp switch to activate the indicator only ????? and keep the DC always present and forget about the battery.
John

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superttramp
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Post by superttramp »

Yes fine ! How would you do that ?

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John G
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Post by John G »

Hi,
I am sorry but I don't have a unit to investigate and do some measurements, one of the posters here may be able to do so though.
I have experience only with the old "Chicken Salad" from a few years back.
John

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rmendozajr
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Post by rmendozajr »

Hey John G,

Would you be so kind as to share with me the values of your Chicken Salad pots? The current setup of CC Vibe pedal has:

B50K Linear for Mix
B50k Linear for Intensity
C50K Reverse Log for Speed

The reason I ask is because I have seen various pot values for vibe clones and I actually have a 100k reverse dual gang pot that I was going to use in my original Neovibe layout. I also read a couple of other posts stating other values and I am just messing with it to see what sounds better!

I appreciate it!

Update-- already drilled the housing out and am working on soldering new parts...next up PAINTING!!

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John G
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Post by John G »

Hi,
Tried to mail you did you get it ???
John

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rmendozajr
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Post by rmendozajr »

Yep got the email, I am figuring the schematic is going to be different but I have a hunch on how to fix the volume boost in the pedal and I am thinking the issue lies in the pot values! I am thinking the mix needs to be 100k instead of 50k.

I'd appreciate any and all help with the schemo! Many many thanks, sir!

Rich

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John G
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Post by John G »

Hi Rich,
Reply to my mail address and I will attach schem and send back.
Cheers
John

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superttramp
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Post by superttramp »

John G wrote:Hi Rich,
Reply to my mail address and I will attach schem and send back.
Cheers
John
Hello
Could you send me too a copy of the chicken salad or cool cay vibe schematic at adadasur@hotmail.com ?
thanks
Rémi

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superttramp
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Post by superttramp »

superttramp wrote:
John G wrote:Hi Rich,
Reply to my mail address and I will attach schem and send back.
Cheers
John

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John G
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Post by John G »

Hi,
Here it tis.
Cheers,
John
DJ-15.pdf
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Cow4prez
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Post by Cow4prez »

Would you be so kind as to share with me the values of your Chicken Salad pots? The current setup of CC Vibe pedal has:

B50K Linear for Mix
B50k Linear for Intensity
C50K Reverse Log for Speed
on the CS, the values are dual ganged B100k (speed), B50k (depth) and 100 (bias)

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rmendozajr
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Post by rmendozajr »

UPDATE:

So the painting is going great and I am just waiting on the new pots to come in before mounting.

On a side note, the change between the original B50K mix pot with a A100K mix pot seemed to adjust that little pesky volume boost issue but then again, I couldn't tell precisely because I couldn't turn the effect on and off to compare since its not in a box. I will let you all know for sure after I mount the hardware and the new B100K comes in!

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rmendozajr
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Post by rmendozajr »

And so here it is for all to see...my housing for the Danelectro Cool Cat Vibe rehouse!! Not done yet but getting closer.

Parts came in but may have to order a new speed pot because my dual gang log pot is super sensitive and it seems the sweetspot speed in between 7-8 before it becomes super fast the remainder of the way...way too sensitive so I opened up my buddy's '02 gold DejaVibe and it has a dual gang B100k linear speed pot instead of dual 100k log! Gonna give this a shot and see what happens :-)

Almost there!
Attachments
the viberator small.jpg

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rmendozajr
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Post by rmendozajr »

with knobs...

Hey does anyone know the difference between a dual-gang B100k Linear pot and a dual-gang reverse B100k linear pot?? Just wondering which would work for this application! Thanks.
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the viberator 2 small.jpg

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