I've decided on a (partial) solution to the
problems I had with Pedal Parts Plus' drilling service. (To recap - I ordered 24 drilled and painted boxes for Parallel Universes and Space-Time Continuums. I checked them out a couple months after receiving them, and they were drilled wrong, but PPP won't refund or do anything about it because of the time lapse). After some emails with Steven (aka Para) from
The Squarewave Parade I've decided to actually make the Parallel Universes, and sell everything else as parts.
The drilling error with the original Parallel Universe enclosures was that two of the holes for the jacks on the back (the expression jacks) were offset to one side. Because I'm using board mounted jacks, this was a big problem - they wouldn't fit. However, I found that if I enlarged the holes for the jacks a bit, in most cases I could fit the boards in there. Unfortunately, because of variability in the hole spacing and the placement of the jacks on the PCB, not all of them would fit normally like this. I am using the
Neutrik board mount jacks, which are necessary if you have also mounted something on the board that goes vertical (footswitches in my case). In the cases where there was a problem, the jack's face would be too far away from the enclosure, making it hard to screw in the nut. This would often end up with a nut that was a bit skewed, making jack insertion difficult. To get around this, some of them have metal washers instead of the plastic ones on one of the jacks. This might not make a whole lot of sense, but the net result is that with some kludging, I've been able to build all of the Parallel Universes. It's just that some of them look like this:
I like to think it makes the PU into a pirate. That's the input jack. Really it doesn't affect the functionality in any way, however funky you think it looks. So, I will be selling 12 of these for $175 each. I will post shortly with all of the details if you're interested, as well a couple other boxes I recently finished.
So what about the Space-Time Continuums? Well, those boxes were much more inappropriate for the circuit boards, so I can't come up with a way to make those. I could find someone else to drill the boxes, but for the sake of closure, I've decided just to sell them. It's been a really long journey with these (I had problems with the PCB manufacturer and part supplier too), so I figure I will just start fresh, and maybe tweak the design a little. As for the 20 enclosures I have that are drilled incorrectly and the 11 circuit boards (I'm keeping one), well, I am hoping to sell them all at cost.
First off are the boxes. I am selling them for $15 each. These are painted and drilled 1790NS enclosures. They're painted a gloss black, adn the paint job is really excellent. Let me also stress that the drilling is really good, it just won't fit my circuit boards! There are two varieties, and I have 10 available of each. Both of them have three holes for footswitches, and three corresponding holes for LEDs. They also both have 6 holes drilled in the back for jacks, and one for a DC jack.
Notice that the DC jack hole is smaller than typical - you will have to drill it out if you want to use the panel mount kind. Where they differ is that 10 of them have four holes drilled for pots and the other 10 have five. The set of 10 with four holes drilled also have the jack holes a bit closer together. The 5-hole variety's spacing is large, but the holes on either side (input and output, typically) are close enough to the edge of the box that you may need to drill those out a bit to fit the jack in there (I had no trouble doing this). Here's the four hole variety:
Please note that these are very well painted and in perfect shape. 1790NS' cost
11.25 from smallbear, so you are only paying 3.75 for a really nice paintjob and pre-drilling. This is more holes than your average box, but at the very least it will help you think of more features to add! You can always drill more holes for pots and switches, too. This would make a really ncie box for a complex TB looper or something along those lines. And, if you think you have too many holes, you can always fill them (perhaps with a part that does nothing - or you could wire multiple input jacks in parallel or something). If you are interested in purchasing a large amount of these (all 10 of one kind for that production run you've been wanting to do?), please let me know. $15 doesn't cover the price I paid for these, but I want to move them. For completeness, here is the 5-hole variety:
Aside from the enclosures, I also have 11 space-time continuum circuit boards. EDIT - These are
SOLD OUT. The S-TC is a low-fidelity digital delay based on the PT2395 echo chip. The PT2395 is behind such excellent delay tones as the Visual sound H2O (I think), the Danelectro PB&J, and other boutique delays (SIB Mr. Echo I think?). The S-TC takes it an extra step and allows the chip to be dramatically underclocked, allowing for long, bit-crushed delay times. It also features hold, an effects loop, and expression control of delay time and feedback. I really love this delay. It's definitely lo-fi though - the delays are fairly crunchy (but warm!) and it is not a noise-free box by any means. I owned a RE-201 for a long time, and at the risk of having someone hunt me down and kill me, I would say this is the closest I've heard a delay to a nice broken in tape echo. When most people attempt to emulate, they carefully tweak digital filters, but the S-TC just happens to sound very lo-fi. It's a bit more crunchy though. Here's the board:
Every component needed is there; it's a fully assembled board. Again, $60 does not cover the price I paid to make these, but I want to move them. The footswitches, jacks, pots, and ICs alone from smallbear is already over $60, and that doesn't include the PCB and all the passives. There are two boards connected by an IDC cable, one for the pots and one for everything else. Here's a picture of just the main board:
The boards were made by a professional boardhouse, they are silk screened with a solder mask and plated holes. Keep in mind that these will only fit in a 1790NS with some very careful drilling and some tweaks to the circuit board (I can explain if you're brave). Otherwise, I would recommend putting them in a larger box. All nuts needed are included. Here's the back of the board:
Keep in mind that this isn't your typical delay - it is a lo-fi beast. There is a certain amount of noise with the board just raw, but with some tweaking (and once it's in a grounded enclosure) it's just a little more than typical. Hopefully everyone who buys one can start a discussion and we can get everyone a delay they really love. If you're still unsure, I will be posting a demo video sometime soon (of the one I am keeping). I will also post full schematics and board layouts for everyone.
Phew, that's a lot of info - I will post more about the run of Parallel universes shortly, as well as some other pedals I have for sale. I'll also summarize the S-TC stuff for convenience. Stay tuned!
-Colin
