Pedal Order Tips and Suggestions
- Thread starter ADAOCE
- Start date
djmiyta
Well-known member
Yeah even my Yamaha G100 has it as reverb then tremolo. To my ears when trying with pedals the tremolo got lost and sounds “washy” before the reverb
bowanderror
Well-known member
Due to some weird characteristics of LED/LDR optocouplers, optical compressors tend to have much slower attack & release ranges than other compressor types. FET compressors are often known for their fast response times, and VCA & OTA compressors can be set up for fast response as well.
I like the optical compressor because of the relatively slow attack & release times, but any compressor should work. You may want to try longer attack & release settings to dial in the "swell" as the release kicks in.
bowanderror
Well-known member
I didn't know that, I'll have to give reverb->tremolo a shot!
djmiyta
Well-known member
Nice explanation thank you . I gotta say I really really like making and using optocouplers.In every build I’ve done I’ve used them and they work great I have no experience with the pre made vactrols at all and always wondered if there’s any noticeable audible difference between a homemade one vs pre made .I have had problems building boards that have to have matched trannys
bowanderror
Well-known member
On most DIY builds, a homebrew LED/LDR vactrol will work just fine. Many DIY circuits are even designed around a homebrew one, so subbing in a real vactrol might be problematic. That said, there are some builds that are just SUPER picky about vactrols, especially if they call for fast response time (attack/release essentially) or a particular resistance range at a given LED drive current.
I make most of mine in a hot-swappable format now, with male & female headers:
Here they are inserted into the female headers solder to a board:
djmiyta
Well-known member
That’s cool as hell. I always socket the swappable parts so as to do just that . I’ve been really lucky I guess cause I’ve no problems with using homemade ones as I’ve read others have on some forums.
Probably explains why I love the Morley wha’s pedals so much. I have my modded crybaby which is superb but Morley with its LED/LDR makes it so smooth and creamy and different
bowanderror
Well-known member
Close, the color is the LED color & the number refers to the type of LDR used. These were made with GL55xx-series LDRs, so "49" is GL5549, etc.
SIP headers are great for socketing bare transistor/resistor leads, but don't stand up to repeated use and your lead diameter plays a big role in making solid contact. If you're going to try 2-3 different values and leave it at that, they'll do just fine. The types of headers I use are super sturdy, and also happen to make a great structural frame for holding the LED & LDR against each other in the proper orientation. I usually adapt my layouts so the LED & LDR headers have 5 standard perf/vero holes between them so I can swap a bunch of different types in and out easily to find the best one for the job.
I just finished building a Hydra and the open spot on my pedalboard was in front of a BF-2.
So it was kind of an accident, but I got lost for 30 minutes playing simple scales through my little Peavey practice amp. The BF-2 was set with Res 0, Man pretty low, depth and rate low to medium. It was just filling out the sound and not doing anything stupid
Mentaltossflycoon
Well-known member
Y'all will likely assume I'm kidding but...
Roboto (voice 1, control dimed) > Ocelot (1 octave down soloed) > death cap fuzz >ehx H.O.G. (one octave up, slow attack) > hydra > low tide.
Sounds pretty bad but also good... to me. Like a.i. trying to guess what a synth sounds like with too little info. An imitation of a fake thing. Waiting to connect to AOL dial up while smoking dmt.
Roboto goes first because pretty much anything before it is moot. I put octavers before dirt except the H.O.G. which is more useful after with the lp filter and freeze settings.
Roboto (voice 1, control dimed) > Ocelot (1 octave down soloed) > death cap fuzz >ehx H.O.G. (one octave up, slow attack) > hydra > low tide.
Sounds pretty bad but also good... to me. Like a.i. trying to guess what a synth sounds like with too little info. An imitation of a fake thing. Waiting to connect to AOL dial up while smoking dmt.
Roboto goes first because pretty much anything before it is moot. I put octavers before dirt except the H.O.G. which is more useful after with the lp filter and freeze settings.
blackhatboojum
Well-known member
Exactly! None to minimal resonance and medium speed is how I run mine. It’s not quite chorus but, it’s not the quite the sound you associate with a flanger either. Just some slow swirly goodness. It adds some special sauce to delay repeats unlike any other effect.I just finished building a Hydra and the open spot on my pedalboard was in front of a BF-2.
So it was kind of an accident, but I got lost for 30 minutes playing simple scales through my little Peavey practice amp. The BF-2 was set with Res 0, Man pretty low, depth and rate low to medium. It was just filling out the sound and not doing anything stupid