Celius Preamp & Blue Breaker in a single 125B Enclosure

[retrogleam]

Totally new to DIY pedals so forgive my ignorance if this has been discussed already. I’d like to combine the Celcius Preamp and the Blue Breaker into one 125B enclosure.

I’m thinking I can just have the Celsius > Blue Breaker and just use a toggle switch to turn on/off the overdrive, instead of 2 stomp switches. Is this possible? The main thing is I only have room for one more pedal so I need it to be in the 125B enclosure.

If anyone can help point me in the right direction to achieve this that would be awesome! Thanks

 

[Feral Feline]

Considering each PCB was designed for a single 1590N1 enclosure, you'd be hard pressed to fit both PCBs into one N1.
Two N1-sized PCBs won't even fit side by side in a 1590BB enclosure, generally, and usually require a 1590XX to make a combo pedal.

If you knew where to source low-profile components, and offboard wired at least one PCB's controls, if not both, and knew how to prevent shorts and troubleshoot and somehow managed to stack the boards and still have room for a bypass for the BlueBreaker while the Celsius is always on...


I only have the Celsius PCB but don't have the Blue Breaker board or would try to mock it up right now to see if it's remotely feasible.
I won't say it can't be done, but I'd highly recommend getting some experience, a few builds under your belt, before you tackle such crammage.

 

[retrogleam]

Considering each PCB was designed for a single 1590N1 enclosure, you'd be hard pressed to fit both PCBs into one N1.
Two N1-sized PCBs won't even fit side by side in a 1590BB enclosure, generally, and usually require a 1590XX to make a combo pedal.

If you knew where to source low-profile components, and offboard wired at least one PCB's controls, if not both, and knew how to prevent shorts and troubleshoot and somehow managed to stack the boards and still have room for a bypass for the BlueBreaker while the Celsius is always on...


I only have the Celsius PCB but don't have the Blue Breaker board or would try to mock it up right now to see if it's remotely feasible.
I won't say it can't be done, but I'd highly recommend getting some experience, a few builds under your belt, before you tackle such crammage.

That makes sense. I’ve seen some stacked PCB’s in pedals like the VIIB VB-2 clone that’s in a N1 enclosure so I figured there should be enough space with low-profile components like you mentioned.

Would it be possible to run the Bluebreaker’s output directly into the Celsius preamps input and just use the Celsius Level knob as the master output for both? Basically, getting rid of the Volume pot on the Bluebreaker completely.

Thanks a lot for your input!

 

[Feral Feline]

Yes, it's possible, but it's not so simple as just omitting the Blue Breaker's Vol-pot. It's part of a system that works with other parts to provide a specific output impedance and tone — not just volume. It might still work just taking out the pot, but it may not work as well as it should.

In that case, I'd just make the Blue Breaker's volume an internal trimmer — adjust it for unity OR to taste OR have the volume all the way up. If it's all the way up it might push the Celsius in a way that's unpleasing to your ear. You could sub out the BB's Vol for a fixed resistor value if you find the perfect setting. The only way to know is to build them both up and deep-dive experiment with all the settings, circuit order of which comes first — you might even find good settings with both orders that makes you want to install an order switcher... There are just too many variables for me to state "do it this way...", you'll have to mess around with it yourself to see what works for you and your needs/tastes/wants/druthers.


Just an observation about the stacked boards projects:
The difference between ...

projects on PedalPCB with stacked boards such as the Byzantium Flanger (Boss BF-2), Electrovibe Mini (Shin-Ei Univibe) and Low Tide Mini (Fairfield Shallow Water) or Aion's Blueshift (Boss DC-2 Dimension C)
and
DIY-Crammage of random boards never originally intended to be stacked...

...is that Robert and Aion's Kevin VandeKrol are Pros with tonnes and tons of experience and have carefully designed those stacked board projects from the ground up (enclosure up?) so the boards stack together seamlessly.



Still, the N1 is a good enclosure with lots of headroom that allowed for the stacked-board projects and I've seen people do cram a lot into them.
If there were enough room, I'd consider adding a smart-relay bypass that allows you to have ONE stomper that can turn the pedal on/off AND press-hold to bring in the other circuit when/as needed. You wouldn't be able to have them on independently, but from what you've described you're going to have one slaved to the other anyway.




BTW, I'm no stranger to cramming and have added mods and switches to 1590A pedals, stuffed a board meant for 1590BB into an 1590N1, orchestrated 4-5 circuits into a 1590BB with 3 footswitches... my tendencies have self-inflicted a lot of aggravation and incurred much trouble-shooting —
I guess that's what drew me in to your thread, like a moth to a flame.

 

[retrogleam]

This is a lot of great info! The internal volume trimmer for the BB makes a lot more sense. I have a lot to think about and experiment with. I ordered both with all the parts already, so I’ll just build them separately first and try out different combinations. Thanks again for helping me think this through!

 

[Feral Feline]

Please post a few pics of the unpopulated boards inside the N1, and then with them populated.

If you haven't been able to source compact electrolytics (and check this forum for how some SMD electrolytics can be converted to through-hole — IIRC it was cybercow's idea), and even if you have compact ones, at the least you can lay down the electrolytics comme ça:

Note that to the right of the orange circle is a yellow tantalum cap in place of the electrolytic as per the PCB's silkscreen. I chose a tantalum because some people have said they sound better than electrolytics when in the signal path — but tantalums are also far more compact than electros as you can see comparing the tant in the pic to the silkscreen. Unfortunately, tants are more expensive than electros, but given the overall cost of a pedal, I think the extra expense is not only negligible, but worth it whether in tone or space-savings.

Also note in the pic that everything that can be laid down was — Tants Electros and Box-Film, even the clipping LEDs. That was so I could include mods on switches seen below the board. The pic is of the 1590A build I mentioned in my previous post.

 

[jwin615]

Whole unappreciate your willingness to go all in from the begining I would just like to say:
This is an awesome and fun hobby.
Getting your feet wet by trying to cram 2 tons into a 20 pound box may result in a sour taste and drive you from the hobby. Or, just because you can doesn't mean you should.... (This has been a hard life lesson for me to learn)

Don't let me stop you. By any means. But, if you put them in their own enclosures you actually have more possibilities rather than permanently pairing them together...
And a lot less of a chance of issues and frustration.

 

[Feral Feline]

Yeah, what Jwin615 says.

That 1590BB I mentioned — I didn't say it was successful. Cramming 4 (or was it 5?) circuits into it, twas my very first build.
Each individual circuit worked separately before I put them all in the box, then nothing worked once they were in the box together.
I abandoned it, and I moved on to the 1590N1 with the 1590BB board, not having learned my lesson.
The N1 was more successful, at least.

There's been a few times I felt like quitting the hobby altogether from shear frustration.