SVDS / SoloDallas Storm

[Chuck D. Bones]

This is a clone of the SoloDallas Storm, same as the Closed Circuit Booster Limiter. I built the Aion Gale because the PedalPCB board was not yet available at the time. Nice tone, subtle limiter, plenty of clean boost available and the 386 can drive a mile of cable. Read the Aion build docs about the origins of the SoloDallas Storm, pretty interesting! The Aion board contains two optional capacitors, both of which I ended up installing. One is a 120pF cap at the input to filter out RF interference. Most pedals have that, so including it was a no-brainer. The 2nd cap is a 10uF in parallel with the opto's LED. I started out with this cap omitted. Notes at the bottom end of the scale had some distortion at higher limiter settings. Bench testing confirmed that the opto's response time was fast enough for the LED ripple to modulate the LDR's resistance at low frequencies. Some optos are slow enough that this is not a problem. I installed the 10uF cap and the distortion was gone. The limiter's attack is still plenty fast. I socketed the 4558D with the idea that I might try swapping opamps. I was plenty satisfied with the sound, so I left well enough alone.

 

[cooder]

Nice one! I have the pedalpcb one in the works, only the opto coupler missing.
Yes the Aion build docs are really well done with a lot of research and effort.

 

[Gordo]

Nice! I built the Aion's board as well and it's a regular on my pedalboard. I never did install the caps, but will try them.

 

[Barry]

Nice looking build

 

[HamishR]

If it ever starts to sound a bit crooked it's because your boards are installed crooked. Does it ever sound crooked?

 

[Mourguitars]

Awesome Chuck !

How does it sound ?

Mike

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

If it ever starts to sound a bit crooked it's because your boards are installed crooked. Does it ever sound crooked?

I was waiting for someone to bust my balls on that. I didn't notice that the board was cockeyed when I was soldering the pots. I wasn't going to reflow the pots just to straighten out the boards. I like asymmetrical clipping, so an asymmetrical board doesn't bother my sensibilities.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Nice! I built the Aion's board as well and it's a regular on my pedalboard. I never did install the caps, but will try them.

You won't hear the 120pF cap. I'd only install the 10uF cap if you notice unwanted distortion when hitting the low notes.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Awesome Chuck !

How does it sound ?

Mike

It's pretty transparent, just a little bit of the top end sparkle is shaved off. With the LIMITER dialed down, the dynamics are pretty much intact. Turning up the GAIN and the LIMITER up reduces the attack, just like you'd expect. It's quite smooth, no "breathing." Plenty of gain and volume available if you want to overdrive an amp. Makes me want to play an AC/DC song.

Now here's the stupid part: When I first reassembled it after painting, it hummed like crazy even in bypass. I didn't follow my own rule of cleaning the paint off of the inside of the box. It looked pretty clean, but it turns out there was a thin coating of over-spray around the jacks on the inside, just enough to screw up the grounding. Some cursing and a few minutes with some emery cloth and now it's working like it should. For that, I'm awarding myself Asshat of the Week.

 

[music6000]

Yes, That looks better!

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Hey, while you're at it, can you clean some of the paint out from the inside?

Thaaaaaaaaaaaaanks. That'd be great.

 

[K Pedals]

This is a clone of the SoloDallas Storm, same as the Closed Circuit Booster Limiter. I built the Aion Gale because the PedalPCB board was not yet available at the time. Nice tone, subtle limiter, plenty of clean boost available and the 386 can drive a mile of cable. Read the Aion build docs about the origins of the SoloDallas Storm, pretty interesting! The Aion board contains two optional capacitors, both of which I ended up installing. One is a 120pF cap at the input to filter out RF interference. Most pedals have that, so including it was a no-brainer. The 2nd cap is a 10uF in parallel with the opto's LED. I started out with this cap omitted. Notes at the bottom end of the scale had some distortion at higher limiter settings. Bench testing confirmed that the opto's response time was fast enough for the LED ripple to modulate the LDR's resistance at low frequencies. Some optos are slow enough that this is not a problem. I installed the 10uF cap and the distortion was gone. The limiter's attack is still plenty fast. I socketed the 4558D with the idea that I might try swapping opamps. I was plenty satisfied with the sound, so I left well enough alone.

View attachment 4140

View attachment 4141

Sweet!!!
I like that enclosure ...

 

[HamishR]

Sorry mate. How are the balls?

 

[joelorigo]

Cool! I also have this PCB and the parts are starting to arrive. I didn't include the 2 optional caps however, hmmmm...

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Sorry mate. How are the balls?

That reminds me of a golfing joke.

 

[HamishR]

You know I was only kidding. Who wants to be a straight? That has artistic flair with a slightly rebellious slant. I think you are saying to the viewer "don't push me Mutha". They can see that you are a fellow not to be messed with because YOU DON'T CARE!! You don't play by their rules, oh no. Sometimes you even use the wrong colour wire - deliberately, not just because you ran out of white.

Or maybe I'm reading to much into it and it's just sloppiness.

 

[geekmacdaddy]

nice, as it usually is

 

[Gordo]

Best ball I hit all day was stepping on a rake in the sandtrap...

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

 

[HamishR]

I feel bad now. Sorry Chuck. Your pedal is beautiful and individual.