Diplomat - Matchless DC30's EF86 Channel

[vigilante398]

Well I ended up spending more time on other things than I planned last night and I didn't get around to testing my tubes, but I went ahead and opened up ordering for PCBs and enclosures for those that either already have or are willing to procure their own tubes.

I'm going to try to get home early today so I can get the tubes tested and I hope to have them ready to add in tonight.

 

[vigilante398]

Alright, I slipped home early and got set up so I can test tubes while I'm sitting in online meetings. I have a Diplomat build hooked up to a looper and my interface, and each tube is going through the following procedure:

1. Insert tube into Diplomat
2. Power up Diplomat and allow the tube to warm up
3. Play the "test riff" from the looper
4. Verify that it meets the proper output level (peaking at 0dB on my meter)
   1. if the tube does not pass signal or does not reach 0dB, the tube is discarded
   2. if the signal reaches a peak of 0dB on the meter, proceed to next test
5. Stop the looper
6. Tap the tube with finger to check for microphonics
   1. if microphonics are audibly present and/or measured above the level of -42dB on the meter, the tube fails and is discarded
   2. if there are no audible or measurable microphonics, the tube passes and will be boxed up to be made available
7. Disconnect power and repeat for next tube

I should be able to get through all of them in the next hour or so, I'll keep everyone posted. I'll also be running enclosures on the CNC all day so I can start shipping the orders that have already been placed.

 

[benny_profane]

Play the "test riff" from the looper

What's the "test riff"? It better not be wimpy.

 

[JamieJ]

What's the "test riff"? It better not be wimpy.

It’s smoke on the water.

 

[vigilante398]

What's the "test riff"? It better not be wimpy.

The vast majority of my pedals are built for bass, so all the test riffs stored in my looper are bass licks. It's not anything in particular, just a neat pentatonic riff I made up a while ago that goes over a range so I can hear high/low notes and short/long notes.

 

[benny_profane]

The vast majority of my pedals are built for bass, so all the test riffs stored in my looper are bass licks. It's not anything in particular, just a neat pentatonic riff I made up a while ago that goes over a range so I can hear high/low notes and short/long notes.

That certainly makes sense. Appreciate your thoroughness.

 

[vigilante398]

Boom, done. 23 tubes passed testing and I've just added a "tube included?" drop down on the Diplomat ordering page, you can pick up a Winged C 6Ж32П from me for an extra $8.

Diplomat – DIY PCB – Sushi Box FX

 

[benny_profane]

23 tubes passed testing

Does that mean only half of your available stock passed?

 

[vigilante398]

Does that mean only half of your available stock passed?

No, the 50 tubes I originally mentioned was just an offhand guess, I had no idea how many I actually had on hand. I started with 32 tubes, 3 had failing vacuum seals and were discarded without testing, 4 failed testing due to microphonics, and 2 I hung onto for myself, leaving me with 23 available.

 

[zgrav]

And thanks for the really fast shipping on the order I placed! Good to know that you CNC your enclosures. That must have been a nice addition to your shop tools. : ^ )

 

[caspercody]

Do you have a sound sample of the Diplomat

 

[GizzWizzKing]

Does the Diplomat run on a standard 9volt supply?

 

[music6000]

Does the Diplomat run on a standard 9volt supply?

Yes, but it needs to be 500ma or greater.

 

[vigilante398]

Do you have a sound sample of the Diplomat

I do not, but I can certainly try to get one soon.

 

[astoria]

Is it safe to assume that if there is a discrepancy between the build doc and the silk screening on the board I should defer to the board?

 

[vigilante398]

Is it safe to assume that if there is a discrepancy between the build doc and the silk screening on the board I should defer to the board?

Probably, but I would of course like to know about any discrepancies so I can address them.

 

[astoria]

Probably, but I would of course like to know about any discrepancies so I can address them.

This is what I think is off but I haven't finished building the pedal so I could be just missing them.

Resistor Counts
(0) 1k5 instead of (2)
(2) 2k2 instead of (1)
(1) 220k instead of (2)
(1) 1M instead of (2)

 

[vigilante398]

This is what I think is off but I haven't finished building the pedal so I could be just missing them.

Resistor Counts
(0) 1k5 instead of (2)
(2) 2k2 instead of (1)
(1) 220k instead of (2)
(1) 1M instead of (2)

Whoops, yup it looks like a couple of those are left over from the Particle Accelerator build doc, I use a template to keep the same formatting between them and so I don't have to re-do all of the links when they have so many common parts, but I do miss things sometimes. You can see in both the schematic and the PCB layout that the quantities listed in the BOM are incorrect. I'll get that fixed.

So with regards to discrepancies between the BOM and the board, obviously follow the board, don't try to find a place for parts that are listed on the BOM but not on the board.

 

[jjjimi84]

Ordered! Excited about this!

 

[joelorigo]

Quick clarification. Based on an earlier post in this thread, the Diplomat could be used as a pre-amp in an fx loop of an amp? Or also into the front of an amp but will have lots of output available?