Rehousing cheap pedals

superttramp · Post by **superttramp** » 24 Oct 2008, 18:11

I think the Cool cat Vibe is THE BEST Uni Vibe clone , even better than the real thing (I made a DIY clone of the Uni Vibe) , I paid 33€ for that it's INCREDIBLE !!

rmendozajr · Post by **rmendozajr** » 30 Oct 2008, 22:27

I have reached the end of my rehouse project and I have to say I love it! I also found that the power supply works a ton better than the battery for this little monster! All in all...very nice little project!

DWBH · Post by **DWBH** » 30 Oct 2008, 22:31

So, have you solved that thing about the volume boost and the 'delay' after engaged?

rmendozajr · Post by **rmendozajr** » 31 Oct 2008, 03:32

Actually...no, I wasn't able to fix the volume boost or delay! With it being such small components...I was afraid to fry something on it so I passed on fixing it! The components were too small to reach and read!

No problem though...I've learned to work with it. I changed a couple of the pot values to reflect more traditional vibe clones like a dual gang 100K log speed pot, a B100K mix pot and I left the intensity the same!

Overall I'm happy with the outcome and I have just worked the little boost in with the pedal.

As for the delay...one member made a comment that the bulb should remain on at all times and the it just be bypassed when the pedal is enabled...I didn't know how to do this so I didn't bother trying once I saw the size of the components.

I thought about changing the LDR's to some that I had ordered from SmallBear some time ago but again...I didn't know if it would be worth the upgrade of the LDRs and bulb.

For the meantime, I am able to coax some pretty mean vibe sounds...so I am happy!

axeman · Post by **axeman** » 01 Nov 2008, 14:34

rmendozajr wrote: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.

I have a NeoVibe build called the "Viberator"

Squigglefunk · Post by **Squigglefunk** » 14 Nov 2008, 18:03

Hi there, I'm looking for some help and a friend directed me to this place as "the" place to go.

I have a french toast and it's a very nice sounding pedal. The bypass is horrible tho, not only does it suck tone, it has a bit of fuzz bleed thru... crappy.

So I figure I will rehouse it and at the same time put the octave switch on a footswitch.

Any help from people who might have taken on this project would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!

RnFR · Post by **RnFR** » 15 Nov 2008, 02:15

i think supervelcroboy did this and has something on his blog. maybe do a search for him, he has his blog in his signature.

Fuzzer · Post by **Fuzzer** » 15 Nov 2008, 04:02

Remember, there's the search function;

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3057&p=33639&hilit ... ast#p33627

Cow4Prez is the same Supervelcroboy.

Barcode · Post by **Barcode** » 15 Nov 2008, 07:36

Squigglefunk wrote:Hi there, I'm looking for some help and a friend directed me to this place as "the" place to go.

I have a french toast and it's a very nice sounding pedal. The bypass is horrible tho, not only does it suck tone, it has a bit of fuzz bleed thru... crappy.

So I figure I will rehouse it and at the same time put the octave switch on a footswitch.

Any help from people who might have taken on this project would be greatly appreciated.

thanks!

by the way, you may want to check your unit over. though the construction using plastic everywhere isn't the best, the bypass is generally flawless on danelectro...

Squigglefunk · Post by **Squigglefunk** » 15 Nov 2008, 14:59

Barcode wrote: by the way, you may want to check your unit over. though the construction using plastic everywhere isn't the best, the bypass is generally flawless on danelectro...

This is only my second "food" dano, the bypass on the chicken salad I have isn't bad but this one is not up to snuff.

It definitely altered the response of my guitar signal and I could hear a bit of fuzziness in the background when the french toast was bypassed. I'm not sure what to check over tho, I would think if it is working properly then it's as good as it gets. The switch works flawlessly and quietly just not as clean and pure as I like. This is going into a very clean fender amp that picks up all those little details that many amps don't have the fidelity to uncover. At a gig I'm sure it would be much less of a problem but I figured it would be a fun project.

Squigglefunk · Post by **Squigglefunk** » 15 Nov 2008, 15:04

Fuzzer wrote:Remember, there's the search function;

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3057&p=33639&hilit ... ast#p33627

Cow4Prez is the same Supervelcroboy.

yah, I did see that thread but I was looking for just any pointers people have

I see that he seemed to ditch the whole circuit board with the power and I/O jacks and what not. Looking at that board there's quite a bit of components there and I wasn't sure if any of that was necessary for the basic operation of the pedal. If not I was also trying to figure out what each of the wires that jumps the two boards together is for. I figured the red was for power but from that point on I wasn't sure.

Squigglefunk · Post by **Squigglefunk** » 15 Nov 2008, 21:01

oh well, I tried and failed, the pads for the micro pots ripped off and I just don't feel like messing with it any more. Too bad, it was such a great sounding pedal except for the bypass.

John G · Post by **John G** » 15 Nov 2008, 21:35

Hi,
I did a rehouse a while back and did the F/SW mod to bring in the "Octave" as well as true bypass.
I reconfigured the Octave diodes to eliminate the "thump" when switching.
John

Cow4prez · Post by **Cow4prez** » 16 Nov 2008, 08:20

okay this is how i do this rehouse.

First look at the schematic i drew and trace the parts on the 2 boards and what where the components are located. Here are the wiring assignments. Essentially, almost all of the important stuff is on the main board and you can throw away the switching board. Well almost, you still have to apply the power filter and some minor stuff. Just use the schematic and you'll be dandy.

blue = input
green = 9v
yellow = ground
orange = i remove this one
red = output
brown = usually the LED (just ignore)

Cow4prez · Post by **Cow4prez** » 16 Nov 2008, 08:22

Squigglefunk wrote:oh well, I tried and failed, the pads for the micro pots ripped off and I just don't feel like messing with it any more. Too bad, it was such a great sounding pedal except for the bypass.

that happens all the time. Just follow the trace and solder to the next best point.

Squigglefunk · Post by **Squigglefunk** » 16 Nov 2008, 12:06

Cow4prez wrote:
Squigglefunk wrote:oh well, I tried and failed, the pads for the micro pots ripped off and I just don't feel like messing with it any more. Too bad, it was such a great sounding pedal except for the bypass.
that happens all the time. Just follow the trace and solder to the next best point.

yeah, I tried that but for some reason all it did was a squealing oscillation then...

I used 100K pots, could that cause the problem?

thanks for the help everyone

Squigglefunk · Post by **Squigglefunk** » 16 Nov 2008, 12:09

Cow4prez wrote:Well almost, you still have to apply the power filter and some minor stuff. Just use the schematic and you'll be dandy.

maybe this is my problem, I was trying to wire it straight up to the main board...

Cow4prez · Post by **Cow4prez** » 16 Nov 2008, 15:25

Squigglefunk wrote:
Cow4prez wrote:
Squigglefunk wrote:oh well, I tried and failed, the pads for the micro pots ripped off and I just don't feel like messing with it any more. Too bad, it was such a great sounding pedal except for the bypass.
that happens all the time. Just follow the trace and solder to the next best point.
yeah, I tried that but for some reason all it did was a squealing oscillation then...

I used 100K pots, could that cause the problem?

thanks for the help everyone

all 3 pots are 50k

sevinisthenumber · Post by **sevinisthenumber** » 28 Dec 2008, 05:20

I recased mine and added a volume pot as well as another LED that flashes in time with speed.

DougH over at diystompboxes.com helped me out on the flashing led.

wire the led as:
+leg (with 1k resistor) to lug 3 of speed pot and the -leg to ground. Easy mod that rocks! It even stays on when the pedal is off so you know what the speed is!

sevinisthenumber · Post by **sevinisthenumber** » 28 Dec 2008, 05:24

The volume fix was easy as well. Fust add a 100k pot inbetween the PCB out and where it connects to the 3pdt.
Lug one=PCB out Lug two=to footswitch Lug three=ground