Cherry Pie Tremolo

[SYLV9ST9R]

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.

 

[dawson]

That turned out really nice- I had no idea there's a Twin Peaks clone PCB floating around

 

[Bricksnbeatles]

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

 

[Barry]

Wow! Nick that thing is gorgeous inside and out!

 

[peccary]

Wow, very well done. You've really got this down, dude.

 

[SYLV9ST9R]

That turned out really nice- I had no idea there's a Twin Peaks clone PCB floating around

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.

 

[fig]

Beautiful mountain backdrop, and build!

 

[SYLV9ST9R]

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

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.

 

[SYLV9ST9R]

Wow! Nick that thing is gorgeous inside and out!

Wow, very well done. You've really got this down, dude.

Beautiful mountain backdrop, and build!

Thanks for the good words!
Always fun to work on design stuff with you guys.

 

[YC_DIYpe]

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

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

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

I'm no help here but I like your enclosure.

 

[YC_DIYpe]

I'm no help here but I like your enclosure.

Thank you.
I practice etching on enclosures, if U wanna see more :

Yves Cirio (@yc_diype) • Instagram photos and videos

56 Followers, 108 Following, 107 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Yves Cirio (@yc_diype)

www.instagram.com

 

[SYLV9ST9R]

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

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.

 

[YC_DIYpe]

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.

Many thanks for sharing these settings.
It sounds really good now.

 

[Graal]

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!

 

[SYLV9ST9R]

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!

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.