Lovetone flange clone DeadendFX

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cniers13

Active member
Hello all! Looking for some help here. I have been trying to get my lovetone flange clone from Dead End FX to work, but I'm not having luck. The pedal turns on, LEDs light up, but when I try to bias via the instructions, it isn't doing anything. I did a reflow of the entire board, checked my chip orientation, and double-checked all values. I even traced the circuit as much as I could without taking the entire assembly apart. I am getting different LED pulses when I change the rate and different brightness. 2 weird things seem to occur. The space stomp seems to work, I get a very quiet tremolo effect that the selector switch and knobs affect. Finally, the IP/Gain seems to turn the volume down for the entire signal, not just when the pedal is on or off. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!! The LDR is a 9203 from smallbear on the daughterboard 1000033584.jpg 1000033583.jpg
 
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build docs :

E. NIGMA BUILD DOCUMENT.pdf

drive.google.com drive.google.com

I built a similar project from Aion, you might find some extra tips about the calibration there :


There's also a troubleshooting checklist p.29.

In my experience the BBD led is crucial to get some modulation, and to get the correct action from the controls.

Did you source the correct led, as mentioned in the build doc ? KSB-4234 or WP7113GT ?

If it's too bright it wont work correctly. Using a folded piece of paper between the led and the photoresistor might help to dim the light and figure out if the issue comes from there.

As Mybud said, if you try to calibrate with the photoresistor and its led exposed to the ambient light, it won't work correctly.
For calibration, you need to cover these parts with plastic tape or something.
However, in this circuit covering the BBD led and photoresistor isn't necessary, once the enclosure is closed.

Quoting Aion's doc :

"the original Lovetone unit does not use any sort of light seal on the LED/LDR pairs. When
developing the Quadratron (Doppelganger), it was found when testing against a real Doppelganger
that the clone only sounded exactly like an original when they were unsealed."

cniers13 said:
Finally, the IP/Gain seems to turn the volume down for the entire signal, not just when the pedal is on or off
Click to expand...
That's the expected behavior, it's the same on my build.

The tremolo is supposed to be noticeable. Aion's build doc mentions that vactrols won't work as well as led and LDR (p.16). They also give a link to the right leds, and the LDR are mentioned in the part list.

Another potential issue could be the multi-turns trimmers. I know some builders like them, but i cant calibrate anything with these, i get lost in all the turns, the usable range of action is impossible to find, i just turn and turn for ever...
I would replace them with these, for comfort :
trimmer-1-4-200k_1.jpg

Remember some controls are bipolar, meaning they are OFF when set at mid-rotation. It's the case for the Action potentiometer, which is your dry/wet control. At 12 o'clock it's only dry signal.

One last thing, the Deadend fx boss is often active on diystompboxes.com. His username is digi2t.
I'm sure he will be happy to help you.
 
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eh là bas ma said:
build docs :

E. NIGMA BUILD DOCUMENT.pdf

drive.google.com drive.google.com

I built a similar project from Aion, you might find some extra tips about the calibration there :


There's also a troubleshooting checklist p.29.

In my experience the BBD led is crucial to get some modulation, and to get the correct action from the controls.

Did you source the correct led, as mentioned in the build doc ? KSB-4234 or WP7113GT ?

If it's too bright it wont work correctly. Using a folded piece of paper between the led and the photoresistor might help to dim the light and figure out if the issue comes from there.

As Mybud said, if you try to calibrate with the photoresistor and its led exposed to the ambient light, it won't work correctly.
For calibration, you need to cover these parts with plastic tape or something.
However, in this circuit covering the BBD led and photoresistor isn't necessary, once the enclosure is closed.

Quoting Aion's doc :

"the original Lovetone unit does not use any sort of light seal on the LED/LDR pairs. When
developing the Quadratron (Doppelganger), it was found when testing against a real Doppelganger
that the clone only sounded exactly like an original when they were unsealed."


That's the expected behavior, it's the same on my build.

The tremolo is supposed to be noticeable. Aion's build doc mentions that vactrols won't work as well as led and LDR (p.16). They also give a link to the right leds, and the LDR are mentioned in the part list.

Another potential issue could be the multi-turns trimmers. I know some builders like them, but i cant calibrate anything with these, i get lost in all the turns, the usable range of action is impossible to find, i just turn and turn for ever...
I would replace them with these, for comfort :
View attachment 99776

Remember some controls are bipolar, meaning they are OFF when set at mid-rotation. It's the case for the Action potentiometer, which is your dry/wet control. At 12 o'clock it's only dry signal.

One last thing, the Deadend fx boss is often active on diystompboxes.com. His username is digi2t.
I'm sure he will be happy to help you.
Click to expand...
I did use the GD not GT version and a 9203 LDR. Seems like it would be similar to the NSL and GT that is in the build doc. I may order new vactrols, I can't remember where I got them from. I'm fairly certain it was from a reputable source but not sure. I'll try the paper between the LDR and LED. i can also do new trimmers, I'm with you it's hard to calibrate
 
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Aionfx also uses a different LDR. They use an NSL-19M51. I’m not saying the 9203 wont work but I know small bear quit carrying them for a while because they were inconsistent quality wise. It might be worth trying another ldr like the 1951. I have the project in my que and have sourced the parts but have not gotten to it quite yet.
 
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Thanks for the heads-up. Probably will order new LDR, GT version of the LED and new vactrols. I know the Aion build doesn't use vactrols but deadend does and he messaged me and said that the version I have may not be within tolerance. I'll also use new trimmers and report back once I get the new parts. Thank you everyone for the help
 
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@eh là bas ma I have swapped the LDR to the NSL19M51, Got the correct LED (GT version) I also socketed bourns 22k trimmers that I can control better. I also changed the vactrols 1 and 3 to VTL5c3 from Xvive and a NSL 32SR3 in vactrol 2 (that was all I had). The tremolo is louder but still cannot get a flange sound. Any help?

​

 
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So it seems like I get a chorusy effect on the tremolo when both Time and Space are connected. Still no solid delay signal or flange to be found. I redid my stomp wiring as well for the Time switch and nothing yet. I'm committed to getting this haha
 
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1753951232655.png
In the build doc i see jumpers on the jacks pads.

Did you notice ?

At first i was surprised by the wiring differences between Aion and DEFX projects. There are jumpers on a few jacks in Aion's project.

A closer look made me realize DEFX also use jumpers, but on the pcb soldering pads, although i dont see them mentioned anywhere in the build doc. I guess you could easily have forgotten them.
Note that they have some length, to make sure they wont touch the free pad in the middle.

The Time Out output should be the modulated signal only.

What can you hear from this output (when you only connect your guitar in the input and leave all other outputs empty) ?

It's probably fine, but i would also add a bit of solder on the mono/stereo toggleswitch pads, and check with a multimeter on continuity mode that there are good contacts with the next components, according to the schematics.
Sometimes the heat from the soldering can damage the toggleswitches, the plastic can easily melt from overheat, the soldering has to be fast. Let it cool off if you need to add solder twice, and before moving to the next pad.

The Feedback (bipolar, OFF when set at 12 o'clock) is very strong in this circuit, so if you get some modulated signal, you should be able to confirm it by making the modulation more noticeable with Reaction set at 9 or 3 o'clock.

Manual is also acting on the modulation, on Aion's build it's more noticeable with Manual set at 3 o'clock, or somewhere in the 2nd half of the rotation. Fully CCW the modulation is gone or very faint.
 
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cniers13 said:
Well I think I see the issue. I have IC1 and IC2 flipped on the daughter board 😂. What a doozy. Let me flip those and report back
Click to expand...
Yeah, that might be an issue. :)
When I pull my ? flanger, is there something specific you’d like me to look for? Voltages? Pictures? Let me know and I can dig more information for you.
 
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