The Mesmerizer ( weird pedal )

[griff10672]

I renamed this one ... based off of a old Three Stooges episode ..... anyway .... really cool ... weird pedal ... sounds like a overdrive sort of ... with some tremelo kinda .... lol ... I've only messed with it for 10 minutes or so ...

side note : I thought the Bicolor LED would do something besides just light up .... maybe I messed up but it looks just like both sides of the LED are on at the same time when I turn it on .... I thought it would flicker between colors or something based on the rate ... anyone know anything about this one ??

 

[Jovi Bon Kenobi]

HOT! Neat design!

 

[Mourguitars]

Looks fantastic !

Mike

 

[griff10672]

HOT! Neat design!

that " hot " pink is a cool color !

 

[griff10672]

Looks fantastic !

Mike

Thanks Mike !

 

[Robert]

side note : I thought the Bicolor LED would do something besides just light up .... maybe I messed up but it looks just like both sides of the LED are on at the same time when I turn it on .... I thought it would flicker between colors or something based on the rate ... anyone know anything about this one ??

The LED should cycle back and forth between the two colors along with the LFO.

 

[Barry]

Looks great!

 

[griff10672]

The LED should cycle back and forth between the two colors along with the LFO.

It's staying solid for both colors .... The pedal is amplifing the signal .... but has no effect ......I'm assuming the LFO isn't moving / working .... I re checked all component values everything looks fine .... don't know what voltages I should have ... I was getting 1.95 and 1.65 on either legs of the bi color LED ... but no flicker ... and no effect ... don't know enough to know where else to look .... in my experience building other pedals with LFO's this has happened to me when something was touching something it shouldn't have ... like 2 legs of an IC being soldered together by accident .... I've looked all over all my connections can't find any bad solder joints or wrongly married ones ... .... making me think the chip is a fake .... I bought 5 ... and have tried 3 of them ... same results ...

 

[Robert]

Where did you get the XR2206? I'd be suspicious of that.

I've built a few of these over the years from etched boards, vero, and this PCB... The most common culprits (aside from bad solder connections / shorts / etc) are the two 2N5457 transistors and the XR2206 IC. If the problem was the 2N5457's the LED would still cycle like it should.

 

[griff10672]

Where did you get the XR2206? I'd be suspicious of that.

I've built a few of these over the years from etched boards, vero, and this PCB... The most common culprits (aside from bad solder connections / shorts / etc) are the two 2N5457 transistors and the XR2206 IC. If the problem was the 2N5457's the LED would still cycle like it should.

thanks for the quick reply ...... I think I actually grabbed them from Amazon .... China seller with decent ratings ... how would I even go about finding if they are fake ?

 

[Robert]

Start by verifying that you have 9V on pin 4, and 0V (ground) on pin 1.

If you have an oscilloscope you can check for the LFO waveform on Pin 2.

If not, you can use your DMM.
You should see a fluctuating voltage (the LFO output) on Pin 2, adjusting the Rate control should change how fast the voltage changes.

 

[griff10672]

0V on Pin 1
8.79V on pin 4
no scope here ....
All the way counterclockwise on the rate gets me 2.30V
all the way clockwise gets me ( started at 2.87 V slowly climbed to 3.07 V )
yes the voltage was moving ...
the rate pot doesn't seem to do much ... the voltage just really slowly climbs ...

 

[geekmacdaddy]

Looks beautiful, Griff. As always. You'll get it sorted.

 

[griff10672]

I think I might have bought some bad chips .......seems all the pedals I want to build have obsolete and hard to find chips or trannies .....lol ....ugh

 

[music6000]

I think I might have bought some bad chips .......seems all the pedals I want to build have obsolete and hard to find chips or trannies .....lol ....ugh

This is a Must Have for Pedal Building !!! PEAK DCA55 Semiconducter component analyser
Video Link below:

 

[zgrav]

a seller on amazon has 2 of the XR2206 chips for less than $6 with free shipping if you wanted to diversify your shopping risks.

 

[griff10672]

a seller on amazon has 2 of the XR2206 chips for less than $6 with free shipping if you wanted to diversify your shopping risks.

yeah ...... I saw that .... pretty sure I got the five I have from them .... I'm ordering two from a company here in the states ... we'll see what happens

thanks for the heads up though

 

[griff10672]

This is a Must Have for Pedal Building !!! PEAK DCA55 Semiconducter component analyser
Video Link below:

holy crap .... I was just literally looking at that same thing ..... I should pull the trigger on one

I'd like a way to test chips though .....

 

[music6000]

holy crap .... I was just literally looking at that same thing ..... I should pull the trigger on one

I'd like a way to test chips though .....

I've had my DCA55 for nearly 3 years, Same Battery, also great for testing Diodes, Dead or Alive!, DCA75 is the next step up.
Look at the PEAK website, They might have one for CHIPS!

Test Instruments | Peak Electronic Design Limited

 

[griff10672]

I've had my DCA55 for nearly 3 years, Same Battery, also great for testing Diodes, Dead or Alive!, DCA75 is the next step up.
Look at the PEAK website, They might have one for CHIPS!

Test Instruments | Peak Electronic Design Limited

I think I'm going to get one either way ..... I'm assuming it would be great for building fuzzes ....