Spatialist Reverb with Bonus programs

MichaelW

Well-known member
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Getting a little better at drilling these 6 hole pedals. I noticed that my pilot hole bit tends to wander even with a center punched hole. I may need to look into a better quality 2mm bit for my starter holes.

I been on a roll lately with my foray into non-Overdrive pedal builds. Tickled pink I've had zero issues and they all fired right up. (I guess that means I'm due a "tear your hair out build" soon.....hahah)

I ordered the Spatialist Reverb board a while ago but it took me a while before I could find an FV1 chip to build it out. Managed to snag a couple at StompBoxParts when he had them.

I read through @mosst's post over in the Modification forum about tapping into the default FV-1 patches and planned that into the build.
Many many thanks to @JamieJ and @mosst for the pointers!

I initially built it stock to make sure everything worked. This is my first FV-1 build and I have to admit I was a little nervous at soldering the rather pricey chip.
I had to use my big magnifier and I could have sworn every joint looked like I created a solder bridge. But once I cleaned the PCB off all the joints looked good, WHEW!

I soldered in the R5 resistor that taps into T0 pin on the FV1 with loops to make it easier to do test and do the mod.

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Mod installed...
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Kinda cool having a multi-fx unit now with a very usable Chorus, Tremolo, Flanger and a plate reverb (that was missing from the Spatialist).

I was planning to also build the "Radium Springs" reverb but now I'm debating whether or not to just order a custom Eeprom with the Blackface and Brownface reverbs.
 

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"Pics or it's a DS-1" that is TOO funny a tagline......Have you heard the clips at Chase Tone where they show how their Secret Preamp can make a DS-1 sound? It's darn impressive.
I stole that line from @Coda

I hadn't heard the clips, but now the Clandestine Preamp gets onto the next purchase list. This is an expensive hobby growing a backlog!
 
I stole that line from @Coda

I hadn't heard the clips, but now the Clandestine Preamp gets onto the next purchase list. This is an expensive hobby growing a backlog!
I'm really liking mine, but don't make the same mistake I did thinking that it would be like an Xotic EP Booster, it's much more subtle and a lot less gain than the Xotic. It's more of a "tone conditioner" than a boost pedal. It's also a lot more transparent than the Xotic which I think really colors your tone too much.
 
You're really kickin' out the jams!

I really like your looped resistor idea. Q: is the loop nearest the TL074 even necessary? Looks like you only needed the outboard side looped, and if so, that's what I'll do when I get to my own FV-1 builds, loop just the one side.
 
You're really kickin' out the jams!

I really like your looped resistor idea. Q: is the loop nearest the TL074 even necessary? Looks like you only needed the outboard side looped, and if so, that's what I'll do when I get to my own FV-1 builds, loop just the one side.
No it wasn't but I wasn't really sure if it would make a difference, so I looped it just in case. But I'll only loop the one side if I ever build another Arachnid pedal.

I ran both the Spatialist and Dark Rift through my amp efx loop for the first time today and cranked it. Sounds awesome! I've reached a milestone in that all my commercial pedals have been replaced with ones I've built! (Except for a tuner pedal, I doubt anyone makes a PCB for that...)

Putting up my Strymon El Cap and Neunaber Immerse on Reverb! I'm not completely sure about selling my Keeley Compressor yet. My AionFX Oceanid Compressor is really growing on me but it's not a very typical pedal compressor. I guess because it's not based on a Ross circuit. Takes some getting used to.
 
Quick update, I just ordered a custom eprom with the 3 "Radium Springs" reverb patches and 3 of my favorite "Spatialist" patches (and I threw in a couple of the "Unison" patches in the remaining slots. I think this will become my main reverb unit going forward. If the Radium Blackface spring reverbs sound as good as the Spatialist sounds, then I will be very happy!
 
That will make @Big Monk very sad. But hey, a girl has to do what a girl has to do. 🤷‍♂️
Hahaha, I just also ordered the PCB for the Hydra. I guess that maps more to the Strymon Volante or other Ecorec-type delays. Really looking forward to building that and seeing how it sounds. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Strymon. When I first started using them it was like no matter what every pedal was $299. Of course fast forward a decade and it seems like there are more and more high dollar pedals than ever. So $299 is pretty common any more.
 
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I’ve got the VHS program in my Arachnid atm. I think I’ll build it next or the spatialist (based on reviews).
I don’t know much about pedals beyond what I build, play, or hear from the demos here. I had a few in the 70s & 80s but never really connected with them at the time.

Again, really nice builds Michael. Your initial apprehension regarding your ability was definitely unwarranted sir.
 
I’ve got the VHS program in my Arachnid atm. I think I’ll build it next or the spatialist (based on reviews).
I don’t know much about pedals beyond what I build, play, or hear from the demos here. I had a few in the 70s & 80s but never really connected with them at the time.

Again, really nice builds Michael. Your initial apprehension regarding your ability was definitely unwarranted sir.
Thank you! That is high praise coming from the Village Idiot:)

I'm learning a little more with each build and my favorite forum to read is the "Troubleshooting" forum. I've learned so much from just reading through all the troubleshooting threads!
 
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