cebreez
October 30th, 2011, 01:26 PM
Just finished building the "Double Flush" tremolo pedal with a pcb from www.madbeanpeadals.com . Not the easiest build I've ever done but all in all not bad. Misdrilled the first box so I had to wait for a new one. Took extra care in drilling the second one. The problem is the pots and led are mounted on the pcb so the holes had to be spot on. And as far as the decorating and labeling the box. Well... let's not go there. Turned out looking really cool but I haven't locked down a method yet.... be it decals, dry transfer or other. I ended up getting stickers at Wal-mart for the letters. Works for now but I'm positive I will have to redo them.
Anyway the pedal worked great right from the start. The control for the Rate is a little on the sensitive side and is not really linear as you turn it up. The Rate is slow till you get to 3 o'clock then gets fast quick. And it has an intensity control that is only useful if you want that annoying helicopter sound.
Interesting notes: Sounds really smooth and reminiscent of vintage tremolo pedals until you place it after the compressor. After the compressor it gets a little harsh. Again thats fine if you like the tremolo to be in your face. I like mine more subtle. Also, I use the "Digitec Chorus Factory" and when I placed the tremolo next to it got a loud annoying hum and the tremolo sounded like it was dying everytime I strummed the guitar. That stopped when I moved it to the other side of the pedal board. Weird huh?
Conclusion: I would definitely build it again. With all of the parts sitting there it is a really fast build as long as you have the patience to solder all the small contacts. I actually found it more tedious to do the off board wiring. Tried to keeps my wires as short as possible. If your patient and good with an iron I'd say an hour tops. If not or your moving up from easier builds then a weekend would do it. That is of course assuming your not getting fancy with the box.
Getting ready for the work week so it will be next week before I can post any pics.
Anyway the pedal worked great right from the start. The control for the Rate is a little on the sensitive side and is not really linear as you turn it up. The Rate is slow till you get to 3 o'clock then gets fast quick. And it has an intensity control that is only useful if you want that annoying helicopter sound.
Interesting notes: Sounds really smooth and reminiscent of vintage tremolo pedals until you place it after the compressor. After the compressor it gets a little harsh. Again thats fine if you like the tremolo to be in your face. I like mine more subtle. Also, I use the "Digitec Chorus Factory" and when I placed the tremolo next to it got a loud annoying hum and the tremolo sounded like it was dying everytime I strummed the guitar. That stopped when I moved it to the other side of the pedal board. Weird huh?
Conclusion: I would definitely build it again. With all of the parts sitting there it is a really fast build as long as you have the patience to solder all the small contacts. I actually found it more tedious to do the off board wiring. Tried to keeps my wires as short as possible. If your patient and good with an iron I'd say an hour tops. If not or your moving up from easier builds then a weekend would do it. That is of course assuming your not getting fancy with the box.
Getting ready for the work week so it will be next week before I can post any pics.