What’s on *YOUR* workbench?

So I've been going hard with my Xtool F1, not least because I wanted to have a couple pedals in working order for this noise gig I'm opening this Saturday, 6/27(Seattle folks, if that's your thing, 8 PM @ Monkey Pub in the U District!) and boy howdy am I stoked. Amir of Amir's Noise Devices remains among the most generous folks in the game as he put me on to not only really consistent laser settings, but also the technique of using paint and an isopropyl alcohol wipe to color the engravings.

I built a Carcass and a Mold Spore. I knew for sure the Carcass would be a great fit for my noise stuff, by gadDAMN I had no idea just how terrific the Mold Spore would be as well. The Chameleons graphic lift on the latter came out too small and after an initial misprint, but it looks messy in a kinda artsy way? Whatever, I just got a jig set in the mail so here's to better alignment going forward!
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vigilante398 said:
The implication was that the 6.3V and 345V combination makes a pretty good setup for a tube power supply, but if you really want to overclock your personal massager, there's no law against that either.
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How much current it’s able to supply? I’ve been scratching my head and just waiting for a right moment with an amp build on hold for a year. Need to use 240-12VAC trafo for heater filaments as main PT available used series DC heaters previously and there’s no way it can supply enough current for heaters. 4x6L6GCs and 3x12ax7. Suppose power tube filaments should be series connected pairs in parallel and pre tubes paralled through pins 4&5?
 
JohnnyCreepy said:
How much current it’s able to supply? I’ve been scratching my head and just waiting for a right moment with an amp build on hold for a year. Need to use 240-12VAC trafo for heater filaments as main PT available used series DC heaters previously and there’s no way it can supply enough current for heaters. 4x6L6GCs and 3x12ax7. Suppose power tube filaments should be series connected pairs in parallel and pre tubes paralled through pins 4&5?
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6.3V rail is good for 3A and 345V rail is good for like 30mA, this one is intended just for preamps. I have a supply that can do 5A of 6.3V and 140mA of 350V, but the components are physically bigger than I would want to fit in a pedal. They are still smaller than a comparable power transformer would be though, so that's neat. I use those in my tube tester where I need to be able to power things like a 6550.

EDIT: one thing to consider if you're looking at an SMPS for tube heaters though is inrush current, you should typically expect the tube to try to pull at least 200% of its specified current when the tube is heating up, so for 4x 6L6GC and 3x 12AX7 I would target at least 9A for a shared 6.3V heater rail if you're using an SMPS.
 
vigilante398 said:
6.3V rail is good for 3A and 345V rail is good for like 30mA, this one is intended just for preamps. I have a supply that can do 5A of 6.3V and 140mA of 350V, but the components are physically bigger than I would want to fit in a pedal. They are still smaller than a comparable power transformer would be though, so that's neat. I use those in my tube tester where I need to be able to power things like a 6550.

EDIT: one thing to consider if you're looking at an SMPS for tube heaters though is inrush current, you should typically expect the tube to try to pull at least 200% of its specified current when the tube is heating up, so for 4x 6L6GC and 3x 12AX7 I would target at least 9A for a shared 6.3V heater rail if you're using an SMPS.
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I’m using traditional EI trafos. Don’t have any clue about 12VAC trafos current rating, but it’s heavy and salvaged from 80-90s PA/club light unit with metal/gas bulbs. Just gotta be careful and monitor temps under load when finally getting it in use!
 
Pretty sure this is the most SMD I’ve ever soldered… I’ve had the micro hand piece for a while and no tips yet…. had to order one after doing this …. Having something smaller would have come in handy IMG_9618.jpeg
 
lrgaraujo said:
Very nice pedal! How do you like the octave mod? For the bass mod is it a wire in place of R21?
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Thank you! The octave mod is just adding an SPDT switch to the 220K resistor for R14. Honestly isn't super audible for me in the context of the harsh noise setup I use it in, the Carcass/Yellow King is one of three pedals in a feedback looper. It was definitely more distinct (and sounded awesome) when I was testing with guitar during the build process, especially if you keep in mind Chuck's optimal settings for the mod.

Bass mod is a B500K pot instead of the switch, more info here. If I'm reading Chuck's thread above correctly, you can also just stick an ON/ON/ON switch in instead of an ON/ON and get a third, even bassier voice mode.
 
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You know when you have a spell where EVERYTHING goes wrong.
Not “I’m sorry sir but that’s cancer” or “so we are reducing our headcount and your job doesn’t exist” wrong, let’s get this into perspective, but everything takes 4-5 times as long with lots of issues with every little thing in life…

oh well I enjoy making things and soldering things … that will be fun to do, stuck Switzerland vs Canada on on the telly…

So this in photoshop is the output board of a Korg sv1 - and the caps are crap and the left and right channels don’t match and get quieter each time you use it - so let’s recap the main electrolytic caps…
One out - but can I clear the holes of solder - not at all. The ground is just full ground plane, no thermal relief thingys - so my cheap iron is as hot as it will go but can’t heat the whole ground plane up enough … and my solder sucker sucks - but not in the right way…

Balls - any tips? Better sucker? braid?


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So next my wee little project - a jptr jive which is a SHO with clipping doides in a gorva m45 with top jacks … and then I manage to solder the pots on the wrong side of the board!! Maddening

Recued it, it’s a mess and hopefully it work, can’t be bothered right now to do off board wiring.

Argh 😠
And Canada lost, and it’s so flipping hot globalwarmingputtingmeinabadmood
 
vigilante398 said:
This has been a huge amount of work, but I think it's finally ready for the world. It currently tests 20 different types of tubes (preamp and power) and I'm planning to add a handful more just in case, then it will go to a handful of local amp techs for testing and evaluation. It checks for internal shorts, then measures heater current, plate current, and transconductance. And all easy enough to use that my 7 year-old can run it.

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I have seen this in action, in person. So rad.
 
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