Available soon: Bodhizafa analog reverb

Well, the PCBs look great. The faceplates - not so much. I must've made a mistake in the way I submitted the file as they came out smooth, shiny, white and totally blank.

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After chatting with JLC support and tinkering around, I figured out the problem with the color silkscreen.

After you upload the gerber, you select white PCB, then ENIG.

Then you scroll down and there's a hidden "Advanced" panel you have to click to dropdown those options.

Within those, there is an option for color silkscreen.

I clicked that and then the preview at the top showed the full color silkscreen on the PCB.

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Working and sounding great.

I'm going to play with it for a few days to see if I want to tinker with any component values. I also want to order an affordable 12V adapter to see if it's worth recommending.

New smoke record was achieved. At one point I'd taken the TO-220s off to make the lead bends prettier and when I put them back got them swapped. When I plugged it in, the smell came first. A few seconds later smoke was spewing out the bottom of the enclosure. So, be extra sure to not mix those up. The irony is pretty thick since I made the labels so huge on the silkscreen for that reason.

I also need to order some isolated RCA jacks. The other thing I'm considering is some other smaller connector and RCA adapters.


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One more capacitor and this one is done.

After getting a couple isolation washers from the hardware store for the RCA jacks and making a new tank output cable with Mogami instrument line, there was still a bit more noise on the recovery than I wanted. Dropping in a 47pF feedback cap from drain to gate on the MuAmp in the recovery stage totally sorted that out.

The final word on the power supply is that it can run on 9V 1A, but it does better with a 12V supply. I'm using this one ($13 at Amazon) and it handles the job and is perfectly quiet.
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jubal81 said:
Yup! I've already updated the layout with the 47pF cap and it's ready to go. I'll change the title of this thread soon.

Here's some really bad noodling into my iPhone.

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It drips!
I bet Brian at 60 Cycle Hum would love it.
I'm not him and I don't really like him but he does a great service to the drip community.

I know it probably has been mentioned here already but does your board take the same type of spring pan as the Surfybear?
 
andare said:
It drips!
I bet Brian at 60 Cycle Hum would love it.
I'm not him and I don't really like him but he does a great service to the drip community.

I know it probably has been mentioned here already but does your board take the same type of spring pan as the Surfybear?
Click to expand...

The drip is excellent! The tone control lets you fine tune how pronounced it is.

60 Cycle Brian and I have pretty similar tastes. I love the classic, lush analog gear and keep things really simple. I've been having a blast just playing clean with this reverb and some tremolo here and there.

The specs on the tank are the same, and the same as any classic Fender amp with a reverb transformer. The input should be 8 to 10 ohms and isolated. The RCA jacks on the pedal must be electrically isolated from the enclosure to avoid ground loop hum. This is going to be a really easy build with just a few components to add and no bias adjustments.

The trickiest bit will be drilling the top of the enclosure if you use a 1590BBS, as it's a bit of a squeeze. My drill template worked out fine and I'll share it.
 
Since the PCB is mostly populated, I'm just going to do this as a partial kit to try save you guys a separate order from Mouser/Digikey/etc.

Kit includes:
PCB with SMD parts installed and pre-programmed microcontroller
Faceplate
IRF510
LM317
2 power resistors
2 heatsinks

The cost is $60 shipped in the U.S. I can arrange international shipping, but that will definitely cost more depending on where its going.

Send me a DM to order. I'm hoping to get these to the fab house in short order. Once the've got it, it takes them about two weeks to get here.
 
Someone asked about headroom, so I'll share how it's set up.

Since guitar output can vary so much on pickup type, the gain for the tank driving stage comes after the "Dwell" control. There's plenty of gain for single coil pickups to push the tank. If you're using humbuckers, though, you'll be able to turn down the dwell control to get a clean signal through the reverb.

Also the opamps are OPA1678, which are rail-to-rail, so there's plenty of headroom on the dry signal as well.


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jubal81 said:
It costs a little more, but I'm recommending this Mojotone reverb tank.

The clarity and drip are much better than with the Mod tanks I have.

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I have an Accutronics and it's very bright. I put foam on the springs, just touching lightly, to cut down on the sustain without killing the tone. It's close to an old Gibbs now
I had a MOD tank that was too dark. Sold it.
Have you tried the Surfy tank? It's supposed to be close to a vintage Gibbs out of the box.
 
andare said:
I have an Accutronics and it's very bright. I put foam on the springs, just touching lightly, to cut down on the sustain without killing the tone. It's close to an old Gibbs now
I had a MOD tank that was too dark. Sold it.
Have you tried the Surfy tank? It's supposed to be close to a vintage Gibbs out of the box.
Click to expand...
I've always a lot of shopping at Amplified Parts (CE Dist) and didn't realize how dark the Mod tanks are until I got a Blackface amp kit from Mojotone that came with one of their tanks. It's not as dark, but there's also a lot more clarity.

I haven't tried the Surfy tank. That and the Mojo medium decay are the two I'd like to test drive.
 
Since tank selection was brought up, here's my .2 cents after years of my own testing;
  • MOD 4AB3C1B - My first tank, dark as others have said but still pretty good. Has plenty of drip but doesn't have the brightness to the decay like the others have.

  • Accutronics 9AB3C1B - Mine is an older (like 2012) one with the black housing. Sounds amazingly rich, long decay, deep. Less drip but more reverb. Almost sounds like a hall or plate reverb. Great for ambient music and sounds great with instruments other than guitar. Probably my favorite tank of all of them but not great for surf. I also tried a newer gray housing one that wasn't very good though and the transducers were made differently.

  • SurfyPan - Shorter decay, basically an Accu 4AB2C1B. Brighter sound with drip. But also not quite the same as the vintage one I have. I don't really consider it worth the money.

  • Vintage Accutronics 4AAC1B edit: Gibbs 4AA1C1C: I found this for a reasonable price by decoding the markings present. It has a lower output impedance but that doesn't seem to lower the signal by very much. Sounds exactly like what I expected out of a vintage tank. Has a bright "fluttery" short decay that sounds old.
 
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SpringReverbFan1234 said:
  • SurfyPan - Shorter decay, basically an Accu 4AB2C1B. Brighter sound with drip. But also not quite the same as the vintage one I have. I don't really consider it worth the money.
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Good to know since I don't want to buy products from that company.
I'm quite happy with my 2020 Accutronics slightly muted by a block of foam. It has the drip, the brightness and the short decay I like.
 
Any other good brands or sites to check out for tanks?

Previously, I’d just looked at Amplified Parts. And I’ve now had a look at Mojotone.
Seems like a pretty good assortment between those two, but I’m always on the lookout for good resources to bookmark 👍
 
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