Cherry Pie Tremolo

SYLV9ST9R

SYLV9ST9R

Well-known member
My build of Delyk’s Cherry Pie Tremolo, which is based on the Drolo Twin Peaks.
Build it with vactrols as I was already ordering the TapLFO chip from electric Druid so picked those up at the same time.

I wanted top jacks to fit on a specific spot on my pedal board, so I went with 1590BB2, but I measured it wrong and I should have the pcb sit more towards the footswitch.
Figure as much when it was time to box it and then it was a bit of a pain, as the input jack was right where the vactrols were. So I had to desolder one side of each vactrol and wire them back in arching over the jack… Also, the way I indicated the time division (musical note length) was kind of inverse to the rotation, as it was getting faster as the note length was getting longer. Once again, that was when all was in after pushing, pulling and squeezing stuff, so no way it was getting out again. So I snipped the 2 outside pot legs and wired them back inverted.

So, really not the best experience inside the box, but anyway, it’s for me and it works great. I just still have ticking noise in the Normal Trem/Blackface setting when Depth is past noon, but I think I can dial it down a bit more.

Didn’t have time to play with it that much, as I’m in the middle of reordering/changing stuff on my pedalboard, plus a bit hectic at work (heck, I didn’t even have time to build my lightbox!), but had some playing time while setting the trimmers, and I think it will cover what I’m looking for, between the great harmonic setting, and the different waveforms and speed options.

IMG_9980.jpg IMG_9999.jpg
 
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Looks fantastic!
I’ve got a few of these PCBs I’m waiting to build. Been thinking about putting the level and calibration controls (the HP and LP trimmers at least) on the outside, as well as doing a relay bypass so I can have fun momentary tremolo craziness. Just gotta figure out my graphics scheme. Your graphics look incredible! Really sleek and classy
 
dawson said:
That turned out really nice- I had no idea there's a Twin Peaks clone PCB floating around
Click to expand...
Thanks. It’s quite nice. My waveform and time division are a bit off from the sweep, but I’m really happy with how the print turned out.
 
Bricksnbeatles said:
Looks fantastic!
I’ve got a few of these PCBs I’m waiting to build. Been thinking about putting the level and calibration controls (the HP and LP trimmers at least) on the outside, as well as doing a relay bypass so I can have fun momentary tremolo craziness. Just gotta figure out my graphics scheme. Your graphics look incredible! Really sleek and classy
Click to expand...
Thanks. In retrospect, I think I would put multi turn trimmers, as there’s pads for both type. I found there’s a narrow spot to attenuate the ticking.
 
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Hello,

I know that I'm probably not in the good thread but...

I've built the Cherry Pie and it sounds (good news), but I have some difficulties to set it with the internals trimmers.
I've found David Rolo's instructions for the biasing :
1: set offset so LFO is centered about half of operating voltage
2: set HF and LF for maximum depth without clicking
3: goose volume to make up for loss.

setting the offset is already a problem for me, I understand that I have to do this :
"The LFO's PWM signal goes through 2 inverting op amp stages to drive the Optos. The first one has a trimmer connected to the negative input that allows to apply an offset voltage to get the TAPLFO's signal (0-5V) centered around the half-supply bias voltage."
but I don't know where I have to mesure the 4.5V (that I have to adjust with the offset trim) on the Cherry Pie PCB (I think I can do this in B2, but not sure... cause B1, B2 and B3 are not there just to look pretty ;))...
another question : when I mesure the voltage, what must be the positioning of the knobs (I put them all to zero, maybe I'm wrong)...

Sorry for all the noobs questions, I've built more than a hundred pedals in 1 year and a half and I'm stuck with a (certainly basic) question of settings.

Thanks for your help 🤘
 

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YC_DIYpe said:
Hello,

I know that I'm probably not in the good thread but...

I've built the Cherry Pie and it sounds (good news), but I have some difficulties to set it with the internals trimmers.
I've found David Rolo's instructions for the biasing :
1: set offset so LFO is centered about half of operating voltage
2: set HF and LF for maximum depth without clicking
3: goose volume to make up for loss.

setting the offset is already a problem for me, I understand that I have to do this :
"The LFO's PWM signal goes through 2 inverting op amp stages to drive the Optos. The first one has a trimmer connected to the negative input that allows to apply an offset voltage to get the TAPLFO's signal (0-5V) centered around the half-supply bias voltage."
but I don't know where I have to mesure the 4.5V (that I have to adjust with the offset trim) on the Cherry Pie PCB (I think I can do this in B2, but not sure... cause B1, B2 and B3 are not there just to look pretty ;))...
another question : when I mesure the voltage, what must be the positioning of the knobs (I put them all to zero, maybe I'm wrong)...

Sorry for all the noobs questions, I've built more than a hundred pedals in 1 year and a half and I'm stuck with a (certainly basic) question of settings.

Thanks for your help 🤘
Click to expand...
I'm no help here but I like your enclosure.
 
YC_DIYpe said:
Hello,

I know that I'm probably not in the good thread but...

I've built the Cherry Pie and it sounds (good news), but I have some difficulties to set it with the internals trimmers.
I've found David Rolo's instructions for the biasing :
1: set offset so LFO is centered about half of operating voltage
2: set HF and LF for maximum depth without clicking
3: goose volume to make up for loss.

setting the offset is already a problem for me, I understand that I have to do this :
"The LFO's PWM signal goes through 2 inverting op amp stages to drive the Optos. The first one has a trimmer connected to the negative input that allows to apply an offset voltage to get the TAPLFO's signal (0-5V) centered around the half-supply bias voltage."
but I don't know where I have to mesure the 4.5V (that I have to adjust with the offset trim) on the Cherry Pie PCB (I think I can do this in B2, but not sure... cause B1, B2 and B3 are not there just to look pretty ;))...
another question : when I mesure the voltage, what must be the positioning of the knobs (I put them all to zero, maybe I'm wrong)...

Sorry for all the noobs questions, I've built more than a hundred pedals in 1 year and a half and I'm stuck with a (certainly basic) question of settings.

Thanks for your help 🤘
Click to expand...
Here are the instructions I got from Kyle @Delyk, which offer a bit more guidance on what you were wondering.

ADJUSTMENTS
  1. Turn the DEPTH pot fully CCW, SYMM and TONE in middle position.
  2. Set HP and LP fully CCW.
  3. Start by measuring the supply voltage at bias point B1.
  4. Adjust the OFFSET trimpot until you get the same voltage (about half of the voltage of B1) on bias points B2 and B3. This action will center the LFO signal (originally 0-5V) around the bias voltage of IC2.
  5. Now adjust HP and LP to have a good balance between bass and treble. As you turn CW, the optocoupler gets more current and the signal gets louder. But increasing the current also increases the chance of getting audible clicks, especially with sharp wave shapes. So it’s best to be conservative and compensate for the volume with VOL.
I was able to well adjust it, but I still had some clicking on the Blackface setting when the Depth was over noon (that might have been interference from the LFO though), but apart from that sounded really good.
 
SYLV9ST9R said:
Here are the instructions I got from Kyle @Delyk, which offer a bit more guidance on what you were wondering.

ADJUSTMENTS
  1. Turn the DEPTH pot fully CCW, SYMM and TONE in middle position.
  2. Set HP and LP fully CCW.
  3. Start by measuring the supply voltage at bias point B1.
  4. Adjust the OFFSET trimpot until you get the same voltage (about half of the voltage of B1) on bias points B2 and B3. This action will center the LFO signal (originally 0-5V) around the bias voltage of IC2.
  5. Now adjust HP and LP to have a good balance between bass and treble. As you turn CW, the optocoupler gets more current and the signal gets louder. But increasing the current also increases the chance of getting audible clicks, especially with sharp wave shapes. So it’s best to be conservative and compensate for the volume with VOL.
I was able to well adjust it, but I still had some clicking on the Blackface setting when the Depth was over noon (that might have been interference from the LFO though), but apart from that sounded really good.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for sharing these settings.
It sounds really good now.
(y)
 
Hi guys! I've built the Cherry Pie too some time ago and sounds amazing.
I was wondering about adding an exp jack to control the rate.. maybe some of you already tried this mod?
Thanks!
 
Graal said:
Hi guys! I've built the Cherry Pie too some time ago and sounds amazing.
I was wondering about adding an exp jack to control the rate.. maybe some of you already tried this mod?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Nope, but I would definitely check the Electric Druid site, as they have stomp boxes designs and info about the TapLFO which the Cherry Pie relies on.
 
Just wanted to add a bit to this thread. Anyone building this using TAPLFO-3C or TAPLFO-3D can access an extra 8 waveforms by putting a SPST switch between the two empty lugs for C7. Or just use two lugs of a SPDT. It switches between grounding pin 3 and leaving it unconnected.

On the Tagboard Effects blog it says when using either of these two ICs that pin 6 should be grounded to help prevent ticking/noise. I haven't tried this yet but will be building one this week. I'll post my findings when it's finished.
 
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Finally finished it. Sounds sooo good. Also got some more info about grounding pin 6 of the TAPLFO directly from Tom at Electric Druid. Essentially the Cherry Pie pcb was designed to be used with the TAPLFO 2C which didn’t have a smoothing filter so pin 6 was left unconnected. The TAPLFO 3C and 3D both have the smoothing filter so pin 6 can be connected to ground to make use of it. I decided to put it on a little switch inside the enclosure so I can switch it on and off if I ever want to.


I recommend 6 things to anyone thinking of building this:

1. Use side mounted jacks. I wanted to use top jacks but they come really close to the vactrols and it seems like it could increase the chances of a ticking issue. I was able to dial out all ticking with the offset trimmer. I maxed the Depth knob and turned the trimmer until the ticking disappeared. The Phase 2 I built a while back had ticking that was fixed by moving the input wire to the opposite side away from the LDRs.

2. Change the volume trimmer to a 50k linear pot outside the enclosure. If you always play at the exact same volume it wouldn’t be a problem but having it outside makes it so much easier to tweak on the fly and find unity.

3. Add a switch between the two empty pads of C7 to access 8 extra waveforms. (only if using TAPLFO 3C or 3D)

4. Mount C1 flat on the bottom of the pcb or use a smaller multi layer ceramic cap. The TL074 sticks out over the edge of the socket leaving very little room for the cap. It’ll fit if it’s bent forward but it just bothers me seeing it like that.

5. Connect pin 6 of the TAPLFO to ground or put on a small switch to turn on and off if needed. The empty upper pad on C6 is ground and can be used for the connection. (only if using TAPLFO 3C or 3D)

6. Use the X-vive VTL5C1. They cost a bit more but sound great. There’s just enough room to fit two of them.


Here’s what Tom said:

“The TAPLFO3 chip was designed to be as compatible as possible with the earlier TAPLFO2, so if pin 6 is left unconnected, an internal pull-up on the chip ensures that the input is high and the smoothing filter is turned off (since this was the original behaviour on the TAPLFO2 - there was no filter).

You might find that connecting the pin to ground to engage the smoothing filter gives you better results with something like the Cherry Pie. The filter softens the edges of the waveforms just a touch, and this can help reduce ticking from the tremolo when there's no signal present. My advice is certainly to give it a try. You may find it makes no difference, but many people find it helps and makes the pedal less "fussy".”
 
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