having multiple switchable independent overdrives/distortions in one pedal

[~nick~]

here are some brainstorming ideas I've had for a little while. i'm wondering how best to switch between completely separate overdrives yet let all the controls control whatever circuit is active..

how best would you do this with a single switch? perhaps if you controlled which circuit actually gets power that way you can wire each control like a tree root spreading to multiple boards. i imagine this would look like a massive cobweb of wires..

Anyone have any thoughts on this? would having the output of each circuit always connected to the TS jack effect the quality of tone or would i need to cut off the the circuit power AND input/output?

alternatively it'd be nice to have a switch divert the signal.. but that would mean the circuits would all remain juiced to the rails..

the idea: have a metal type, op fuzz, and a OD-BE/Shirley in a single box controlled by the same controls. perhaps even have the option to send one into the other in series. or even parallel for mad scientist tones(though you'd be controlling both circuits simultaneously with the knobs. i bet this setup would be very touchy.

 

[phi1]

Hmm I don’t exactly have great ideas on how to do this diy, except to say i think unpowering the pedals as part of the switching would not be good (recipe for pop sounds, I don’t think the pots would like the tree setup). Not to mention different gain pedals use a different compliment of pot values.

something to consider for learning is the Chase bliss brothers. He accomplishes essential this idea (gain vol and treble knobs control either boost, od, or fuzz). How he does it is the pots are wired to a digital brain, which then Controls optocouplers which are part of the analog drive circuits. So that method is pretty advanced for diy.

one other thought, so simple it’s like cheating, if you have 2 circuits with the Same pot values, you could use dual pots.

Out of personal curiosity I’m wondering why do this? if you’re putting multiple drive circuits together, chances are your enclosure will be big enough to house independent knobs anyway. Not trying to shoot ideas down, love the outside the box thinking, just hopefully leading to more discussion.

 

[~nick~]

Thanks phi1. much appreciated feedback.

what if i used a capacitor for each power rail to drive circuit? would that reduce the popping? perhaps even hum/unwanted noise? i forget the correct terminology for that capacitor.. anyway, this was a concern of mine tbh. my idea was to tweak the circuit of each on a breadboard hooked to the same pots.

I will definitely give that chase bliss brothers a look. and i'd have to sit down and take notes to understand what the heck an optocoupler is XD. that's a new word i never heard. maybe too advanced.. i haven't built a pedal yet, but have been studying and figuring out what my first build would be. i guess i'm just dreaming too far ahead of myself.

Do you mean concentric pots? that would solve the perceived issue of a gaudy drive pedal with more knobs than the Space Station. Boss uses those knobs AFAIK on some of their pedals. unless you mean one knob to control stacked pots. the issue would be needing to source for mix match pots that aren't the same two values stacked on each other. the deeper i go into thinking about this the more problems pop up. interesting though.

I guess i could have small trim pots for secondary controls for each circuit and have full sized eye candy vol and gain knobs separate. the idea is to avoid a eyesoar and overly complicated layout.

as for the enclosure, i was planning on making it double height to have the same footprint as a normal pedal, that way the circuitry would be sandwiched like layers. much like an Ogre.

would be cool to add a TS out/TRS in fx loop in this pedal too..

 

[phi1]

Optocoupler in this case I believe is like an led/ldr combo. Digital brain lights up the led a certain brightness, and the ldr light sensor reads it as an analog resistance.

I meant straight up dual pots, like theKlon uses for gain.

Im still dubious about the power situation, both in how it would sound pop wise and if it would help the pots chained to multiple circuits.But you could always try it up and see how it goes.
Thanks for Clarifying the intent, would definitely be interesting.

 

[~nick~]

so i looked at the chase bliss brothers pedal.. i feel defeated XD that's basically what i want but i want more control over eq and tightness etc. like a Brown Betty. I basically want a pedalpcb Brown Betty, an ecstasy red or blue, and an op muff. the expression switches are also something i was thinking about but not to the extent that the Chase Bliss Brosephs pedal did. sheesh. expression option overkill. much needed..