Ya’ll acting like you’ve never built a DEFX or GuitarPCB project……. Seems like every place has their quirks, weird layouts, use of mixed wattage resistors on the same board, non standardized footswitch wiring, etc. for me, so long as the build works, I will suffer the idiosyncrasies for a good sounding, interesting circuit.
Aion PCB's
- Thread starter music6000
- Start date
Short answer, yes. I'm sure I saw the "basic" board for sale along with 18v ones.
I don't the ones that fit only one or two circuits, or double footswitch are available
Paradox916
Well-known member
Im with ya
on all of that, I have torched more than my share of switches and boards learning how to desolder them. AION definitely has a different take on things and the breakout boards are less than ideal for repair of a footswitch. I’m not challenging anyone on that, I just haven’t heard of anyone having too. As far as replacement PCB I bet if someone emailed AION asking for one they would sell it. But this wasn’t my point, it seems like there is a fair amount of people that would rather toss a project aside (not just AION PCB but any project) or throw it away than try and learn a new skill… sometimes that means breaking something ( not on purpose 
) it happens. Every problem is an opportunity to learn just my two cents FWIW.
drgonzo1969
Well-known member
I popped my cherry on a AionFX zendrive clone. Fired right up first try. I love their build docs and descriptions. I have since graduated to big boy pcbs from PedalPCB but I still love AionFX too. I love all the PCB suppliers really (except one). I'm a pcb slut tho
eh là bas ma
Well-known member
Well, I understand that some recent circuits don't have much history to talk about, and you can't make it up.
However, i think that just a few words to describe the circuits, maybe a quick description about what's happening in the signal path, a simple mention of which circuit a variant is based on, would go a long way with the public visiting PPCB website.
In many case, some of us could avoid being disappointed or misguided on a project, and it would help us to find the right circuit that suit us best.
Basically, it's about helping people find what they are looking for, or find something they don't know yet, that will interest them.
Let's have one exemple : I've heard about JHS angry charlie online. Mostly good reviews about a MIAB circuit, "the best" they said.
I bought PPCB angry charles kit, built it, and struggled with it for 2 years, trying to figure out how to dial the right sound.
Until the day i posted on PPCB forum, asking for advice about a good MIAB circuit. Angry Charles aroused my interest for this kind of sound, but i was miserable with its controls.
Kind forumites led me toward MI audio Crunch box : PPCB Crunch Captain Deluxe. I finally learned that JHS angry charly was based on MI audio Crunch box. I ordered it, built it and still love it.
My point is : with a little more information i would have known that 2 years ago. For exemple by reading PPCB Angry Charles description, explaining to me what Angry charles really is, and i wouldn't have lost my time struggling with the wrong circuit.
Surely i could have posted sooner, or done my own research by myself. But who will search on utube every unknown PPCB circuit they come across ? Who spend hours searching the internet for every available information before spending money and time on a project ? I know that's what we should do, but we often just don't make the tidious preliminary research, for lots of various reasons.
I'm sure there are a lot of circuits on PPCB website that can interest me. I'll never know because even if i looked at every projects, i don't have the means to understand what i am looking at. Sometimes there is only one hint in the title and that's it, like with this Colossal Muffin project.
The original circuit is mentionned, but i wouldn't look that up online unless i 'd have a good reason. There are simply too much projects to search about them all in details.
That's why a quick description on the project page, or in the instructions, would go a long way, in my humble opinion.
It wouldn't be so hard, musikding already does it for you... or sort of. I mean they don't say much, unfortunately.
I hope PPCB, Robert and his brilliant team, would kindly consider this humble request from a faithful and loyal customer.
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eh là bas ma
Well-known member
It would certainly help to have some thoughts from a benevolent and honest expert who traced billions of circuits. In order to figure out what this or that PPCB project is about, what the circuit's main interest is.
As i said, a short description of what's happening in the signal path, for exemple, that would help.
At least some of us, who aren't experts.
Besides, it's not always possible to find good info by ourselves in some cases. Some circuits are under the radar, with few (or even wrong) information available.
And we all know utube demos can't really be trusted.
If Robert traced it, then he knows what's going on in there, and i think that's valuable information.
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eh là bas ma
Well-known member
Does that mean that you don't care about ignoring lots of great circuits that would better suit your needs ?
You don't care about having no information at all about a significant part of PPCB products ? Wandering in darkness for eternity ?
You are absolutely happy with just a stompbox name that will lead you to some vicious propaganda and senseless merchandizing ? To a trap ?
Avoiding losses of precious time and money by being correctly informed isn't high on your list ?
You'd rather spend your time searching online for informations on some obscure circuit, than playing music with the right stompboxes with your friends ?
Or perhaps you are also an expert, one of the chosen few who don't need explanations ? One look at the board and the schematics and you've already figured it out ?
Some people believe that ignorance is bliss. I'm afraid it's not always the case.
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szukalski
Well-known member
It doesn't take an expert to look at a schematic and work it out. Read a couple of Electrosmash pages. Honestly, most things are a couple of opamps with something in the feedback loop to stop the opamp clipping (diode or maybe a mosfet) or some hard clipping in the signal chain. Add a boost at the start/and/or end along with an EQ. Bosh. If there's more than that, then it gets interesting right?
Or it's a Fuzz Face with a "novel" twist. Or you have cascading JFET gain stages. The variations are not many. It's a bike. It's a bike with gears. It's a bike with gears and shocks.
I would love deep documentation and insights into the mind of the tracer (and designer), but I can guarantee if Aion was the only place in town then this thread would be "man, I love the stuff but wish there were more releases". You can have 3 releases a quarter, or have Robbo crank them out and (hopefully) still enjoy some passion in the work.
Documentation is intense. Unless you write something like Moonn (not hating on Nils, he has the most entertaining build docs), then it's multiple passes and you never want to do it again.
eh là bas ma
Well-known member
Well, you may be right. I still think that for some of us, including me, reading a couple of articles isn't going to cut it.
That's not enough to be able to gauge accurately any circuits, just by looking at the symbols on the schematics. These things take years.
A TL72 can be a gain stage, a buffer... all the parts can have many different functions...
I guess it depends on our background, these electronic articles can take some time to be assimilated. I need explanations to even decipher and understand the explanations (strange value symbols, technical words, equations, etc.). This is hard work in my experience, with my unscientific background.
If it's too much work, i understand.
Even a few words about the signal path though ? Even a few thoughts ?
I made my point, i won't bring it again.
...or at least not anytime soon.
Edit : maybe it could be something similar to the review system ? Every member could be allowed to submit a description, and all Robert has to do is push a button to accept or deny the descriptions ? I guess this way it wouldn't be too much work ?
Many reviews are like: "easy build, beautiful effect, great tone". Most people just want to say they are happy. That's not really enough to make a good decision. Good reviews, with good informations, are unusual.
I know i'd be happy to help, and write some accurate descriptions for some PPCB circuits i know. I order from musikding, so i can only write reviews on musikding.
Isn't a good description also a small but real contribution to the diy community ?
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szukalski
Well-known member
Don't be shy with opinions here, we're all adults and have different opinions. I just echo my thoughts with experience having to document versus just producing another solution.
I would still recommend having a look into some circuit walk-throughs. An op-amp buffer or set boost is really easy to see once you cross that line.
I would still recommend having a look into some circuit walk-throughs. An op-amp buffer or set boost is really easy to see once you cross that line.
mkstewartesq
Well-known member
I quite like Aion - although I’ve only built two of their boards, their Radian kit was the very first pedal I ever built and the documentation was so good at explaining what the previous parts were and how to install them that it emboldened me to start sourcing my own parts and building straight from PCB thereafter. Later, I built his PCB version of the Boss CE-2.
But I am curious about dinging on him for not including the component values on the board. I GREATLY prefer building PedalPCB boards with the values printed directly on the board – but is Aion really so different from other board creators in not doing so? In my experience building PedalPCB, Aion, MadBean, Lectric-Fx, Musikding, and General Guitar Gadgets, NONE of them other than PedalPCB print the values on the boards. So while PedalPCB is infinitely preferable for printing the values on the board, I don’t see Aion committing any “sin” that isn’t also committed by pretty much any other board maker out there with whom I’ve had experience.
Mike
But I am curious about dinging on him for not including the component values on the board. I GREATLY prefer building PedalPCB boards with the values printed directly on the board – but is Aion really so different from other board creators in not doing so? In my experience building PedalPCB, Aion, MadBean, Lectric-Fx, Musikding, and General Guitar Gadgets, NONE of them other than PedalPCB print the values on the boards. So while PedalPCB is infinitely preferable for printing the values on the board, I don’t see Aion committing any “sin” that isn’t also committed by pretty much any other board maker out there with whom I’ve had experience.
Mike
mkstewartesq
Well-known member
And, as far as documentation – I love Aion’s, and I’ve mentioned elsewhere here that I would like a bit more detail about what certain controls or components on certain PPCB boards do (I’m still pretty unclear on the various controls and the DIP switch on my Tearjerker, and the documentation for my Unison Double Tracker is just the generic documentation for the Pythagoras board, which makes some of the control labels on the board not quite “match up” with how they actually function on that specific build).
But for most pedals, PPCB’s follow the original so faithfully that you can just find the user manual for the original original pedal online, and for others I’ve been able to find most of the answers I need on these forums. And creating detailed documentation takes a lot of time, which takes away from tracing other boards. So, at the end of the day, if I had to choose between really detailed documentation with only a few new releases a year versus PPCB’s light documentation and constant stream of newly-traced quality boards to build, I prefer PPCB’s model.
But for most pedals, PPCB’s follow the original so faithfully that you can just find the user manual for the original original pedal online, and for others I’ve been able to find most of the answers I need on these forums. And creating detailed documentation takes a lot of time, which takes away from tracing other boards. So, at the end of the day, if I had to choose between really detailed documentation with only a few new releases a year versus PPCB’s light documentation and constant stream of newly-traced quality boards to build, I prefer PPCB’s model.
Ale_jellybelly
Well-known member
I too am always looking for something like this, especially for new circuits.
I was looking for a Big Muff with mids control to maybe replace my Deluxe Sovtek BM and if it wasn't for it being mentioned in this thread, I wouldn't know that PCB was one
That here, it's still foreign language to me. I can follow a schematic and reproduce the circuit, but still not fully understand. I'm waiting on a breadboard and willing to change that.
Robert
Reverse Engineer
Couldn't agree more about the product descriptions, for many reasons.
I was working with one of the folks here a couple years ago on getting that done, took a short break because I was doing some major work to the website, we both got busy, and that short break turned into a longer break. That was like 400 projects ago, I think it's grown into a task too big for one or two to tackle in a weekend now.
Maybe we should do a "Write a product description and get a free PCB or gift card" sort of thing.... I don't know.
I just realized you described almost exactly that.
You know what else I'm not good at? Reading. (or more accurately, comprehension)
I was working with one of the folks here a couple years ago on getting that done, took a short break because I was doing some major work to the website, we both got busy, and that short break turned into a longer break. That was like 400 projects ago, I think it's grown into a task too big for one or two to tackle in a weekend now.
Maybe we should do a "Write a product description and get a free PCB or gift card" sort of thing.... I don't know.
I just realized you described almost exactly that.
You know what else I'm not good at? Reading. (or more accurately, comprehension)
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