ElectroVibe Issue

[PedalGuy]

Hi! I need some help troubleshooting my ElectroVibe; The effect works fine with the jacks not touching the enclosure. As soon as I put them back in though, the effect stops working and I hear the dry guitar signal through my amp. There is no continuity between the tip and the enclosure so I really don't understand what's going on.
Also; when I use the ElectroVibe with my Twin Face it produces a loud whistling LFO effect that sounds like a siren. This only happens on the silicone side, not the germanium side. I can still hear the LFO even with the EV bypassed, though it is less noticeable.

 

[PedalGuy]

In the "vibenoise" clip, is there anything else connected?

What is the difference in configuration between "vibenoise" and "vibesolo"?

"vibesolo" is the vibe with no other pedals connected. "vibenoise" has some other pedals connected (Big Muff and bypassed hydra delay).

Edit: "VibeSilicon" = Vibe + Silicon Twin Face
Edit 2: I've just uploaded the EQed file.

 

[Big Monk]

"vibesolo" is the vibe with no other pedals connected. "vibenoise" has some other pedals connected (Big Muff and bypassed hydra delay).

Edit: "VibeSilicon" = Vibe + Silicon Twin Face
Edit 2: I've just uploaded the EQed file.

Barring the oscillation noise, which is not due to the Electrovibe anyway, it does not sound like there is anything wrong with your electrovibe.

For curiosity sake, where are you running the vibe in the chain?

 

[PedalGuy]

Barring the oscillation noise, which is not due to the Electrovibe anyway, it does not sound like there is anything wrong with your electrovibe.

For curiosity sake, where are you running the vibe in the chain?

Guitar->ElectroVibe->Twin Face->18V Colorsound Powerboost replica (with some mods)->Hydra Delay->Amp or Audio Interface. After reflowing the solder on the LDRs the oscillation noise has now improved a little (I think).

 

[Big Monk]

Guitar->ElectroVibe->Twin Face->18V Colorsound Powerboost replica (with some mods)->Hydra Delay->Amp or Audio Interface. After reflowing the solder on the LDRs the oscillation noise has now improved a little (I think).

Excluding the noise you are getting (oscillation) when running the twin face together with the Electrovibe, it sounds like your Electrovibe is working wonderfully.

If you are running delay and a muff at the same time (as you said you were in the clips), you'll have to accept an increased noise floor and some of that noise being accentuated and "swooshed" by the Vibe.

I think you are misusing the term oscillation. Oscillation is the noise I hear in the Twin Face Vibe clip. The sounds in the other clips are standard and normal noise levels and quality of the Vibe.

 

[PedalGuy]

Unfortunatly I "broke" the Vibe; I put it back into the enclosure but some capacitors were sitting to high/low. I was able to press down hard enough to get the screws back in but now the lamp is not oscillating and I'm not getting any signal when the effect is engaged. Any ideas?

Edit: It takes 1-2 sec. (at least that's what it feels like to me) for the lamp to turn on btw. I can see the LED turn on before the lamp.

 

[PedalGuy]

Well... I tried replacing components and broke the PCB (two of the pads are gone). I used jumper wires but the lamp still won't oscillate, so it's probably not the capacitors or resistors causing this issue.

 

[Big Monk]

Well... I tried replacing components and broke the PCB (two of the pads are gone). I used jumper wires but the lamp still won't oscillate, so it's probably not the capacitors or resistors causing this issue.

Sometimes it’s best to take a break.

I’m guilty of this as well. You want the effect to work so badly that you often go beyond reasonable means to “fix” it.

In this case, given all the audio clips you posted, I don’t think there was actually anything wrong with it.

Take a day or two off on this one and then come back and start fresh by checking all your connections and audio probing the circuit strategically.

 

[PedalGuy]

Sometimes it’s best to take a break.

I’m guilty of this as well. You want the effect to work so badly that you often go beyond reasonable means to “fix” it.

In this case, given all the audio clips you posted, I don’t think there was actually anything wrong with it.

Take a day or two off on this one and then come back and start fresh by checking all your connections and audio probing the circuit strategically.

I probably should take a break but I don't understand why the Vibe "randomly" stopped working; I had it in the enclosure working properly. Then I put the screws in and the effect didn't work anymore. I thought that maybe one of the capacitors was damaged but the only "tall" caps are C22, C11 and C17. I replaced C17 (and soldered a wire from the - side to pin 2 of the LT1054). C22 and C11 should not affect the lamp at all as far as I can tell (at least the rate at which it flashes).

 

[Big Monk]

I probably should take a break but I don't understand why the Vibe "randomly" stopped working; I had it in the enclosure working properly. Then I put the screws in and the effect didn't work anymore. I thought that maybe one of the capacitors was damaged but the only "tall" caps are C22, C11 and C17. I replaced C17 (and soldered a wire from the - side to pin 2 of the LT1054). C22 and C11 should not affect the lamp at all as far as I can tell (at least the rate at which it flashes).

In the future, just remember that what you describe is often a mechanical issue (working outside but not inside the enclosure).

Better to try and determine if something is snorting rather than put the iron to it.

 

[PedalGuy]

I'm getting lower voltage readings than expected with: 8.65V instead of 9V on the charge pump (pin 8), 15.7V instead of 18V on C11, 12.17V instead of 15V on the voltage regulator (output with 15.32 on the input) and around 15.7V on the lamp instead of 18V (with my current trim pot settings). Are those voltages fine?

BTW: I do hear my signal even when the effect is on but there is modulation happening as the lamp is not flashing/oscillating.

 

[PedalGuy]

I'm just an idiot! I had the intensity turned all the way down... Well the effect is working now. If only I hadn't ruined that pad... Then again; it's not like that limits the functionality of the pedal it just doesn't look too great.

 

[PedalGuy]

The high pitched noise is still present though! I don't know how old you are @Big Monk but according to my research you should still be able to hear this pitch well into your 40s maybe 50s depending on your lifestyle (e.g. being a musician) etc. I know for certain that there is an annoying 12kHz noise present that's ruining the pedal for me. I used the Ozone 9 EQ to visualise and isolate that noise. This noise is not present in this YouTube video I have found and does not seem to be "normal" for this pedal. Regardless; I do very much appreciate your help and would like to say thank you!

 

[Big Monk]

The high pitched noise is still present though! I don't know how old you are @Big Monk but according to my research you should still be able to hear this pitch well into your 40s maybe 50s depending on your lifestyle (e.g. being a musician) etc. I know for certain that there is an annoying 12kHz noise present that's ruining the pedal for me. I used the Ozone 9 EQ to visualise and isolate that noise. This noise is not present in this YouTube video I have found and does not seem to be "normal" for this pedal. Regardless; I do very much appreciate your help and would like to say thank you!

I’m 37.

Chalk it up to the audio quality of the samples as played through my equipment I guess.

How are you powering it? You might be hearing charge pump whine.

 

[PedalGuy]

I’m 37.

Chalk it up to the audio quality of the samples as played through my equipment I guess.

How are you powering it? You might be hearing charge pump whine.

I'm using a power supply (1 Spot Pro CS 7). The noise only seems to affect the dry signal as it is VERY quiet in the vibrato setting. I need to turn my amp way up to even hear it. On the chorus setting I can just about hear the noise at "bedroom playing" levels. I could try using a battery (edit: two batteries) and bypass the charge pump but there is no room for it in the enclosure. I've never had noise issues with this power supply though.

 

[PedalGuy]

Did you measure the BC108s? If they were in a high gain bucket (BC108B/C), oscillation is the likely issue.

Try tacking in a 100-220 pF cap across the feedback resistor (R8) on the Si sode and see if that eliminates it.

View attachment 26612

As for the Vibe noise, it sounds like you are getting oscillation with the Si Fuzz Face engaged and normal bleed through, possibly because of a non-isolated power supply when disengaged.

Update: The new transistors did not solve the noise issues I was having. I used a 470 pF cap across R8 for now as I currently don't have any spare 100-220 caps (they should arrive tomorrow). That has drastically reduced the noise with the fuzz knob turned all the way up (or down technically speaking). With the fuzz at 90% 60% etc. the noise is still very noticeable. Also the volume drop is insane especially when switching between Si and Ge. I'll try replacing it with a 220pF capacitor (hopefully) tomorrow.

 

[zgrav]

big volume drops between using GE and SI diodes is not unusual.
when your new parts arrive, trying a different value cap across R8 may improve what you are hearing.

try putting a different effect between your twinface and vibe to see if/how it changes the noise you are hearing.

 

[EGRENIER]

I'm using a power supply (1 Spot Pro CS 7). The noise only seems to affect the dry signal as it is VERY quiet in the vibrato setting. I need to turn my amp way up to even hear it. On the chorus setting I can just about hear the noise at "bedroom playing" levels. I could try using a battery (edit: two batteries) and bypass the charge pump but there is no room for it in the enclosure. I've never had noise issues with this power supply though.

With the 1 Spot pro, if you know how to bypass the charge pump, you could alway set the 1-spot for 18V and use the input jack.

 

[PedalGuy]

With the 1 Spot pro, if you know how to bypass the charge pump, you could alway set the 1-spot for 18V and use the input jack.

True... But I have already done that on my Aion Nucleus (Colorsound Powerboost) build and don't want to connect both pedals to the same output.