Companion - Psychedelic Machine [schematic]
I have one of these beauties...
essentially a superfuzz abnd univibe in one (big) box... love the damn thing to bits but its just too cumbersome to take on the road. i have never found a schem so am wondering a) does anyone have a schem b) could it be made into a smaller format and c) has anyone else based a stompbox on it?
essentially a superfuzz abnd univibe in one (big) box... love the damn thing to bits but its just too cumbersome to take on the road. i have never found a schem so am wondering a) does anyone have a schem b) could it be made into a smaller format and c) has anyone else based a stompbox on it?
- analogguru
- Old Solderhand
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1.) I have only seen guts from the smaller (older) Honey (Electra) Psychedelic Machine. Judging from this guts it appears that the basic circuit is indeed only a Univibe and a Super Fuzz.
2.) Even when the pcb in that units has an edge-connector (so no solder work required), nobody took the pcb´s out to show the track side that this can be verified or differences be found.
3.) Also the photos of the (complicated) offboard-wiring I have seen are in a too bad quality to trace them.
4.) As you can see in the differences between the Electra (Honey) and the Companion Psychedelic Machine this offboard-wiring appears to be important for all the possible functions.
5.) The existence of a factory schematic is unknown.
6.) Due to the lack of good enough gut shots this unit hasn´t been traced yet to my knowledge.
7.) If you take your unit apart and make good gut shots from the pcb´s, their track side, the offboard wiring from different angles this unit can be traced. Don´t forget to look from the other side of the chassis below the pcb´s, there are also some components "hidden".
8.) I don´t know about that somebody ever has based a stompbox on this unit.
9.) It could be made into a smaller format, maybe in the size of a Lovetone pedal. A hammond enclosure would be too small because of the many controls. Maybe possible by putting two 1590 boxes side-by-side.
10.) An important question is if it should be a 100% clone or a workalike.
11.) A workalike is easier to make by taking the innards of a Danelectro Chicken Salad and adding a superfuzz circuit and the offboard wiring.
12.) After tracing a schematic, it is possible to decide which functions are not really necessary. By ommiting them the offboard wiring can be reduced.
13.) I would not recommend to use such an unit without an AC-adapter cause a 9V-battery would not last very long due to the power consumption. This should be considered too.
14.) Do you have a screwdriver and a camera ?
analogguru
2.) Even when the pcb in that units has an edge-connector (so no solder work required), nobody took the pcb´s out to show the track side that this can be verified or differences be found.
3.) Also the photos of the (complicated) offboard-wiring I have seen are in a too bad quality to trace them.
4.) As you can see in the differences between the Electra (Honey) and the Companion Psychedelic Machine this offboard-wiring appears to be important for all the possible functions.
5.) The existence of a factory schematic is unknown.
6.) Due to the lack of good enough gut shots this unit hasn´t been traced yet to my knowledge.
7.) If you take your unit apart and make good gut shots from the pcb´s, their track side, the offboard wiring from different angles this unit can be traced. Don´t forget to look from the other side of the chassis below the pcb´s, there are also some components "hidden".
8.) I don´t know about that somebody ever has based a stompbox on this unit.
9.) It could be made into a smaller format, maybe in the size of a Lovetone pedal. A hammond enclosure would be too small because of the many controls. Maybe possible by putting two 1590 boxes side-by-side.
10.) An important question is if it should be a 100% clone or a workalike.
11.) A workalike is easier to make by taking the innards of a Danelectro Chicken Salad and adding a superfuzz circuit and the offboard wiring.
12.) After tracing a schematic, it is possible to decide which functions are not really necessary. By ommiting them the offboard wiring can be reduced.
13.) I would not recommend to use such an unit without an AC-adapter cause a 9V-battery would not last very long due to the power consumption. This should be considered too.
14.) Do you have a screwdriver and a camera ?
analogguru
There´s a sucker born every minute - and too many of them end up in the bootweak pedal biz.
- DiscoFreq
- Resistor Ronker
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I would like a bigger picture of the outside too
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- analogguru
- Old Solderhand
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I am not aware of this.... the electra looked like this:ChrisFFTA wrote:someone else who knows about this machine said electra made something similar in stomp format??
http://filters.muziq.be/model/electra/p ... licmachine
and was originally sold as "Honey" (the former company of Shin-ei):
http://filters.muziq.be/model/honey/psychedelicmachine
analogguru
There´s a sucker born every minute - and too many of them end up in the bootweak pedal biz.
- DiscoFreq
- Resistor Ronker
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Do you have a bigger version of that outside picture on Flickr? Can you post a link to it?ChrisFFTA wrote:it would appear that the control layout of the electra (honey) is the same as the companion. i will get those guts shots up asap...
I want to add it to the site as well...
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- MoreCowbell
- Transistor Tuner
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This thread reminds me...I have a friend that has a Shin-Ei Reslytone RT-18....I'll try to get him to let me take some pics....
the pic on my flickr site is the same size. i will take a bigger one this weekendDiscoFreq wrote:Do you have a bigger version of that outside picture on Flickr? Can you post a link to it?ChrisFFTA wrote:it would appear that the control layout of the electra (honey) is the same as the companion. i will get those guts shots up asap...
I want to add it to the site as well...
couldnt get pix this weekend... sorry.
11.) A workalike is easier to make by taking the innards of a Danelectro Chicken Salad and adding a superfuzz circuit and the offboard wiring.
The above option is appealing... any more info, particularly the offboard wiring bit?
11.) A workalike is easier to make by taking the innards of a Danelectro Chicken Salad and adding a superfuzz circuit and the offboard wiring.
The above option is appealing... any more info, particularly the offboard wiring bit?
- analogguru
- Old Solderhand
Information
Therefore the pics would be needed.....The above option is appealing... any more info, particularly the offboard wiring bit?
analogguru
There´s a sucker born every minute - and too many of them end up in the bootweak pedal biz.
ok ok hold yr horses. i am not a guru so sage like and patience guidance is needed effecto-wan.analogguru wrote:Therefore the pics would be needed.....The above option is appealing... any more info, particularly the offboard wiring bit?
analogguru
well i am not confident taking this thing apart... i had a try tonight and the chassis is connected to the actual frame of the unit in a way i cannot determine how to dismantle.
inside is quite complicated with 3 boards and some pretty extensive wiring. i will get my lenses back from my buddy and take some decent shots soon.
inside is quite complicated with 3 boards and some pretty extensive wiring. i will get my lenses back from my buddy and take some decent shots soon.
- danielzink
- Resistor Ronker
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I had been thinking a lot lately about doing this same thing.
I do a lot of Chciken Salad re-housing so I have 4 or 5 boards laying around at any given time to experiment with.
I saw this monstrosity on the 'bay and thought it would be an excellent candidate for what we're talking about here:
http://pws.cablespeed.com/~danielzink/misc/hotwah.jpg
First order of business - paint it some (any) different color.
What I liked most was the separate on/off switches and of course the treadle - you could attach the speed pot to the treadle so you could have on the fly speed adjustments ala the original Univibe.
I've been experimenting lately with the fuzz both pre and post 'vibe and haven't come up with a definitive choice either way.
Dan
I do a lot of Chciken Salad re-housing so I have 4 or 5 boards laying around at any given time to experiment with.
I saw this monstrosity on the 'bay and thought it would be an excellent candidate for what we're talking about here:
http://pws.cablespeed.com/~danielzink/misc/hotwah.jpg
First order of business - paint it some (any) different color.
What I liked most was the separate on/off switches and of course the treadle - you could attach the speed pot to the treadle so you could have on the fly speed adjustments ala the original Univibe.
I've been experimenting lately with the fuzz both pre and post 'vibe and haven't come up with a definitive choice either way.
Dan
http://www.danielzink.com
MoonWatcher wrote: Silent ain't better. If someone cracks the shitwind, I want to know what's headed my way. Silence is for the library and the cemetery.
- DiscoFreq
- Resistor Ronker
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I've been thinking of buying one of those too, just for rehousing, but while the pedal is cheap, shipping to Europe usually isn't...danielzink wrote:
I keep coming to this thread for good outside pictures of that Companion...
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- celadine
- Solder Soldier
O.K., so if the fuzz part is just a Superfuzz, what voltage is it running at? I wonder if a Superfuzz type circuit would have more 'oomph' if designed for higher voltage than 9V.
- DiscoFreq
- Resistor Ronker
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As in november 15th? :pChrisFFTA wrote:tomorrow okDiscoFreq wrote:I keep coming to this thread for good outside pictures of that Companion...
EffectsDatabase: http://www.effectsdatabase.com
22000 pedals, 4000 brands, 350 brand interviews
NAMM 2016: http://fxdb.org/namm
22000 pedals, 4000 brands, 350 brand interviews
NAMM 2016: http://fxdb.org/namm