An In-Depth Look at my Pedalboard

Boss SD-1:

Comes stock as a Tubescreamer-type pedal, but with some modifications to the circuit to change the sound in a matter that I like. Even though it sounds great stock, it has too much compression on the tone, the bass response needs some improvement, and when used for extensive overdrive it becomes too thin of an overdrive and wimpy.

I modify them to have more increased output, a more touch-sensitive response, and a more complex gain character. The bass is far more stable than when stock and retains clarity at all settings. No matter what music it is used for, my modded SD-1 ALWAYS delivers far more than I could ever hope or expect from it.

Digitech RP80:

I've had this thing forever. It's a multi-fx unit and I use it mainly for extra modulations or delays and reverbs. It's a very affordable Whammy IV, just in a different box.

I'm still trying to replace it with either a Digitech EX-7, Digitech Reverberator XP-400, or (more favorably) a Yamaha Magicstomp UB99. I really LOVE the Magicstomp, it's so impeccably unique and wonderful.

• http://www.magicstomp.com/
• http://www.magicstomp.com/eng_flash/audiodemo/index.html

(But, it looks more and more everyday like I'm just keeping the RP80.)

Boss DD-20:

There's too much to say about this one. My first real Delay pedal. Has 11 different modes, at first glance, but once you know this thing there's almost nothing that it can't do.

Also my very first looper. THAT lead to really all my songs, since pretty much all of them have loops. :)

Peavey DDL-3:

Much thanks to Big Pawn in Clinton for this one. I walked in and found it broken. Took it home and fixed it. Possibly my favorite digital delay, even though the old-school quality of the memory chips adds some noise, it also adds a great flavor to it. It's really impossible to explain.

Line 6 MM-4:

A GREAT modulation pedal. I really like the chorus models on it. The Tremolo has me hooked, but the choruses are my main squeeze of it. The ring mod and pitch vibrato are fun, and plenty of other cool simulations on it. I do like the rotary speaker sound, but IMO the RP80 does it more like the way I like it.

Boss RC-2:

Very nice looper. Multi-function and storeable presets. Also cool to record songs when I'm not in my recording room.

My Pedalboard 2008

Yup, that's it. Those are my noise-making machines and I doubt I could be much happier with them.

The signal flow is:

Fender Deluxe HH Strat->SD-1 (modded, of course)->RP80(with small KORG tuner on right output)->DD-20->DDL-3->MM-4->RC-2->Hot Rod Deluxe

I'm still lookin' around, might replace a few different things; especially with some of my own effects.

An In-Depth look is on the way!

My SD-1

I got a replacement for the SD-1 I had to use in Joryn's Mods. I liked the way I modded his somuch that no SD-1, or any overdrive for that matter, sounds good without this mod. I've started on the soldering (ugh) and had to stop after I removed the solder that the components I change are on. Now I just have to put the rest of the components in and solder them to the circuit board.

I like what Boss has done on this run of SD-1s, they removed all the epoxy crap they had around the caps and on the board. i had to work around that on Joryn's, and it was a hassle. But now, it's really enjoyable to do what I need to do. :)

I might also try out some new extra mods to it to see if there's any way to improve it. I doubt I will though, I love it the way it is.

-Tater

~*&Happy Holidays&*~

VTech Little Smart DJ Jazz 'n Jam!

Another little circuit bending thing, but this time I'll (hopefully) have some soundclips and the project won't die on me.

I got it from my little sisters, because they don't sing or play on it anymore.

I added a quick 9v battery snap onto the regular battery supply's wires instead of the regular way. And, amazingly, with all the components that could cause possible crazy things, I wasn't able to find an amazing amount on first notice. I did find two small places where some buzzing noise is created when shorted (one is kind of loud, the other is more in the background). The coolest thing about this toy is that it can function as a recording looper, a keyboard, glitch/noise machine (once I'm able to dive deeper and explore it :D ), and an actual singing mic (nice and gravelly distortion on it too!) into some little speakers for playback. ^_^

For now I'm thinking:

• A Boss-style Power Adapter (in place of it's weird barrel or a quick snap)
• On/off LED for entire unit
• A On/off "bypass" for entire unit (Soft-Touch Pushbutton, latching SPST on 9v+ signal)
• An output jack
• Output volume control
• 1 switch: momentary SPST, triggers crazy pitch "fart" #1 (Automotive Toggle)
• 2 switch: momentary SPST, see 1 switch, "fart" #2 (Pushbutton)
• 3 switch: latching SPST, activates a ring mod-ish type noise that fights with signal (Toggle)
• 4 switch: latching SPST, activates a feedback loop type of noise that glitches the signal crazily (Toggle)
• A soft-touch momentary SPST on output jack, "Stutter" switch (Pushbutton)

For now, just those rough ideas. Might add a crazy echo unit into it (with the time or feedback as a footcontrollable wah pedal design), possibly a square wave tone generator, and maybe a dangerous fuzz or ring mod type thing into it.

-Tater

Back to '98

I have no idea how I managed to keep my old Bop-It for all these years. But I saw it the other day and decided I HAD to circuit bend it.

So I got it out of my room today and opened it up to see what it was like inside. I found a good spot and two that are somewhat similar, but one of those two sorta fried my Bop-It :(

My conclusion is that I have two good circuit bends for a Bop-It; one makes it sound very lo-fi, and the other makes it glitchy. :D

Heres where and what to do:

Okay, the yellow one; avoid it! That's what killed mine. I put it there to show you and tell you that it just overload the living crap out of the transistor to make it sound really glitchy, but subsequently kills it. :/ I think maybe a potentiometer would help if you really like the sound, or at least a resistor to keep it from killing itself.

The red one. :) That's my favorite. The lo-fi sound happens here; just put a 100 nF cap across it or on an SPST switch (to toggle it on or off).

Green is the super-glitchy one! :D It sends part of the transistor to the speaker. I have a push to make (latching or momentary SPST) to induce the bend into the circuit. This would probably work well with a potentiometer. Just use the 2nd and 3rd lugs (3 is in from transistor and 2 is out to speaker, leave 1 empty).

Happy Bending! =^-^=

-Tater

I'm Taller Than My Reflection

I had that relization today.  It's more than a physically true statement. 

The use of being, is more than just to exist. There must be something more; we are more than mere beings and are bigger than our bodies, on an abstract, astral, and spiritually-based level as well as millions of other planes of existence. There can be no reason to live, if we only live to die uselessly. Natural selection kills what isn't meant to be. We still live, so that is sufficient evidence (in my mind at least) that there is a reason for us being here. You may believe in a supreme being, higher than material things. Neither is there complete evidence of all mankind being made by supernatural causes, or evidence of it being completely by some chance reaction in the darkness of the beginning. It's all very confusing. 

But... What If there is a reason that we exist, aside from the same reason we believe everything was created. Maybe the creation and the purpose are seperately intertwined, and not directly hand-in-hand? If the reason for us to live is to enjoy and prosper in happiness, why are we so blind to that fundemental truth? Just the way the world is designed should be evidence enough that we are here for a reason. Though I don't know and can't tell you exactly what or who or how. In my eyes, to every thing, there is a reason; just as to every mood, there is a season. We will, more likely than not, never know the answers to these questions. Maybe that's the reason we shouldn't ask them, and if we wonder these things we get pains of thinking about it. What If we choose, by our own decision and freedoms, to live how we believe we should? Why would that not be a reason to live and enjoy what we have?

Just saying...

-Tater

Some Sites I Enjoy

Astrology, Moon-watching, or Stargazing -type activities:

• http://www.earthsky.org/article/getting-started
• http://stardate.org/nightsky/moon/
• http://stardate.org/resources/stargazing.php

My Most Often Visited Sites for Schematics and Research:

• http://www.muzique.com/lab/main.htm
• http://www.muzique.com/
• http://www.muzique.com/schem/
• http://www.circuit-projects.com/
• http://www.technologystudent.com/elec1/elecex.htm
• http://experimentalistsanonymous.com/
• http://cachefly.oreilly.com/make/resistor_calc/index.html
• http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/symbol.htm
• http://www.tdpri.com/forum/stomp-box/110883-l-e-d-s-effect-tone.html
• http://www.electronics2000.co.uk/calc/calccap.php
• http://analogguru.an.ohost.de/
• http://www.circuit-diagrams.com/
• http://remmelt.com/electro/
• http://www.runoffgroove.com/
• http://www.geofex.com/schemata.htm
• http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=178
• http://www.101science.com/Radio.htm
• http://www.falstad.com/circuit/e-index.html
• http://www.tonepad.com/projects.asp?projectType=fx
• http://freestompboxes.org/
• http://www.mif.pg.gda.pl/homepages/tom/schematics.htm
• http://www.schematics.ca/

Psychology/Neurology/etc.:

• http://psychology.about.com/
• www.dreamviews.com
• http://www.healthyplace.com/site/tests/psychological.asp
• http://www.teachhealth.com/
• http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page
• http://www.psychology.org/
• http://www.helpself.com/thinker.htm
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/index_surveys.shtml
• http://www.phobiaguide.com/
• http://www.mindpowernews.com/5Psychological.htm
• http://www.irintech.com/x1/blogarchive.php?id=1209
• http://listverse.com/health/top-10-bizarre-mental-disorders/
• http://yudkowsky.net/obsolete/tmol-faq.html
• http://changingminds.org/techniques/body/parts_body_language/parts_body_language.htm
• http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=decision-making-in-brain&ec=su_mm0805
• http://www.uplink.com.au/lawlibrary/Documents/Docs/Doc20.html
• http://www.brainexplorer.org/
• http://www.spaceandmotion.com/Philosophy.htm
• http://www.truthaboutdeception.com/relational_maintenance/public/love_styles.html
• http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=why-do-we-forget-things&ec=su_forget
• http://listverse.com/science/top-10-strange-phenomena-of-the-mind/
• http://grouphug.us/
• http://ifcsun1.ifisiol.unam.mx/Brain/memory.htm

Honorable Mention:

• http://www.stumbleupon.com/
• www.MySpace.com/
• www.SoundClick.com/
• http://guitargeek.com/
• www.ultimate-guitar.com/
• www.alexplorer.net/
• www.diyguitarist.com/
• www.Opera.com/
• http://www.iww.is/art/shs/pages/thumbs.html
• www.internalstruggle.com/gear.html
• http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page
• http://www.beavisaudio.com/
• http://deviever.com/fx/
• http://www.casperelectronics.com/
• http://squidpaste.net/?cat=3
• http://circuit-bent.net/furby-bending-tutorial.html
• http://www.ambiloop.com/index.html

Music Hosting Made Easy

Okay, Everybody has a myspace. But its not always the best for hosting your music.

I host my music here: www.soundclick.com

It is much more reliable, you can have protection on your music, or sell it through them. You can also host more songs than on myspace; and I even have some of my own music players embedded onto my myspace page so that they can visit my page and hear what I'm hosting on another site.

My Music:

www.soundclick.com/Nate+Williams

-Tater

"Honest Bypass"

It's this little idea I had. I know I'm nobody, but I think this may be something important. I have found what I believe to be a very ideal and efficient method of bypassing a circuit from the guitar signal.

The big trend right now is "True Bypass"; completely removes the audio circuit from the signal line (since electrons flow in a forward direction) and sends it through a jumper across two of the poles on the switch. For most purposes, a 3PDT switch is needed for an LED status indicator to know when it is on or bypassed.    The only things I have negative to say about it is: what happens when you're running long cables? A buffer? True bypass buffer (that's not ironic at all)?. Every inch of cable degrades your signal each little bit, and for true bypass, you need the most minimal amount of signal loss. But in these "True Bypass" switching systems, your signal has to go through an (in my opinion) unnecessary extra inch of wire before it can actually be bypassed. Then, if you're having to run off of batteries, it leaves the battery on, causing current draw of the electrons (the ones that compose your signal) to keep the battery draining even when it's off. Plus, the cost of those 3PDT switches is one of the additional negatives to me.

My solution is a different method of bypassing, one of which I believe to be the most effective and electronically correct; so I'll call it "Honest". A single DPDT switch works as an SPST switch for the battery signal into the circuit to turn off the current draw from the battery (so that it could stay in without drawing current, therefore not moving the electrons towards the circuit, and preserving the battery's life), while the signal is fed to the end path of the circuit, where the circuit would be in parallel to the dry signal (or so to say). The LED can be put on the path of the battery (not in series, but off with a resistor to ground). They are more cost-effective and easier to find. :)  No tone suckage will happen, because there is no extra jumper to pass through, no electrons moving towards the circuit (since the battery's off, there is no current draw tempting the elcetrons to flow that direction).

-Tater

*Special Note!!!   DO NOT send the second lug of the battery's switch to ground. This will recomplete the circuit of electrons flowing to the battery, and cause it to drain, even though it is only going back into itsself. Just thought I'd help out with that. :)

Joryn's SD-1

Okay, there's this friend I have . He asked me to customize a Boss SD-1 for him to whatever specs I thought would be best.

Here's the rest:

I did a couple of top secret modifications to the stock circuit to make it sound almost exactly like a pedal of my own in development "Angel Crank"

I gave the SD-1 more clarity, a more stable bass response, a more open sound, and more output in general (overdrive/clipping and volume-wise); overall just a better Overdrive.