GuitarPCB Mini-Me Chorus (EHX Small Clone)

[MichaelW]

This was a board gifted to me by our resident philanthropist @fig. So while it's not something I would have sought out, I HAD to build it

I have to say, while Barry @GuitarPCB has some interesting projects, I don't enjoy building his boards. They seem unnecessarily complicated to me
and there's some stuff that just isn't very intuitive. I had to try 3 different times to get the LED to work. First it didn't work at all off the board. Then I moved it to the 3PDT pads and it worked in reverse (turned off when the pedal was on). Then finally I figured out that the Cathode had to go to one specific ground pad. Duhh.

Also, there's two ground planes in this board and if you don't ground both of them, the board won't work. Like wtf dude?

The drill pattern is confusing, it's not to scale and it implies a 1590BB enclosure, but the board is tiny. so why? The knobs would be really pushed together in a 1590BB.

Anyway, I decided to stick it in a 1590B and unfortunately this paint color I chose is another one of those that doesn't like to dry completely. So there's some scuff marks even though I let it dry overnight.

Having made all my complaints up front (hahah) the pedal sounds fabulous! It's a great, lush, but simple take on the Small Clone.
It's an easier build than say the Caesar but it's also got a little bit different voice than the Caesar Chorus.

I like the small footprint and dialing in the trimmer was a LOT easier than the Caesar, this seems to be a much more forgiving build.

I used a V3207 but you can use an MN3007 if you choose. So that's a bonus to be able to use some different chips.

Sweet sounding pedal! Thank you @fig!!!!



Wiring is a bit messy for me, there's just not a lot of options with routing. I tried to avoid having any signal wires too close to the BBD.

 

[steviejr92]

Sorry about the frustrations…but nonetheless I think you still pulled it off awesome build as always dude!

 

[Coda]

I built the Dark Side fuzz, and had a hell of a time with the LED. It called for a dual-cathode LED...which turned out to be a dual-anode...or maybe it was vice versa. Either way, I never bothered fixing it because the pedal sounds MEH. Volume and Fuzz controls work, but nothing else really makes a difference. It was the best artwork I'd ever done on a pedal, and its not worth playing. I'm glad your build at least sounds like its supposed to. The Small Clone is on my list...

 

[Mcknib]

Nice looking build the wiring looks good to me

I love this circuit and I've built around 10

Just for info the drill guide in the build doc is just there for the board mounted pots so you get your measurements correct rather than be a template for enclosure type, all of Barry's boards use common anode bi colour LEDs again outlined in the build doc with which pads you'd use if like me you prefer standard single colour LEDs

With any double sided pcbs I usually wire from the opposite side ie wires underneath and solder on the component side then I can hide everything under the board

 

[Locrian99]

That board layout does look a bit all over the place. I’ve got a spare set of chips about was considering a small clone. I think mbp has one as well. Would you say it’s worth building if you’ve already got a Caesar?

The pedal looks great btw, you mentioned paint drying? Do you just rattle can it? I’m starting to like the no decal look for simpler builds.

 

[MichaelW]

Nice looking build the wiring looks good to me

I love this circuit and I've built around 10

Just for info the drill guide in the build doc is just there for the board mounted pots so you get your measurements correct rather than be a template for enclosure type, all of Barry's boards use common anode bi colour LEDs again outlined in the build doc with which pads you'd use if like me you prefer standard single colour LEDs

With any double sided pcbs I usually wire from the opposite side ie wires underneath and solder on the component side then I can hide everything under the board

Yup, I like hiding everything under the board but in this case with the 1590B there really wasn't room. Not Barry's fault, it was an unforced error on my part because of my obsession with 1590B's......

 

[MichaelW]

That board layout does look a bit all over the place. I’ve got a spare set of chips about was considering a small clone. I think mbp has one as well. Would you say it’s worth building if you’ve already got a Caesar?

The pedal looks great btw, you mentioned paint drying? Do you just rattle can it? I’m starting to like the no decal look for simpler builds.

If you have a working Caesar I'd say skip this build and get the MBP version. I actually have the Touchstone board but haven't built it yet. But I think it's laid out better. They have different voices, the Small Clone is a but more lush and the Julia is can be more "whacky" if you want it to be

 

[mybud]

If you have a working Caesar I'd say skip this build and get the MBP version. I actually have the Touchstone board but haven't built it yet. But I think it's laid out better. They have different voices, the Small Clone is a but more lush and the Julia is can be more "whacky" if you want it to be

I agree with @Mcknib. It’s actually a very nice sounding chorus. I have a spare board and intend to build the modded one (attached). I think it’s @Cybercow’s mods so kudos to him as ever.



I’ve built a lot of Barry’s stuff and generally really like the results.

The trick with the LED is to remember that the central pad is always the anode. You might check the build doc but there’s a standard way of wiring an R-G LED so that it’s green in bypass and red when the pedal’s engaged. Takes a bit of getting used to but groovy in the long run and of course you can just use an ordinary LED. If I recall correctly the cathode goes to the RHS with the board facing you.

 

[MichaelW]

I agree with @Mcknib. It’s actually a very nice sounding chorus. I have a spare board and intend to build the modded one (attached). I think it’s @Cybercow’s mods so kudos to him as ever.

View attachment 35375

I’ve built a lot of Barry’s stuff and generally really like the results.

The trick with the LED is to remember that the central pad is always the anode. You might check the build doc but there’s a standard way of wiring an R-G LED so that it’s green in bypass and red when the pedal’s engaged. Takes a bit of getting used to but groovy in the long run and of course you can just use an ordinary LED. If I recall correctly the cathode goes to the RHS with the board facing you.

Yah I finally figured that out, I thought that either cathode would ground out a standard LED but after giving it some thought that wouldn't make sense for a bi-color.