pdaconq9
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« on: December 15, 2003, 07:24:17 PM » |
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Hi everyone, I'm pretty new here. I really know next to nothing about pedal construction, but I'm a huge tonal explorer (read: pedal junkie). Now I'm getting a new amp for Christmas (Line 6 Spider II 210, absolutely love it), as I blew my little Crate GFX15's speaker, but I had an idea. If I turn the gain to 10 on the Crate, it stays surprisingly undistorted and sustains extremely well, it's a beautiful tone that I've never gotten from a pedal before. So, I had this crazy idea, what if I made the preamp into a stompbox-sort-of-thing? Now, I really have no experience with this sort of thing, so is it even possible to convert an amp preamp into a footswitchable stombox? And how would I go about doing it?
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Hot_Rats
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« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2003, 08:06:34 PM » |
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i think you would need a true bypass box to do what you want to do (that is put the amp into your chain and take it out with a stomp). im not sure though, the volume changes would be insane. would you want to A/B switch between preamps into the power amp? true bypass boxes are easy to make, all you need is a DPDT switch a couple of jacks and a box. this explains how to do it if you dont know how: http://www.singlecoil.com/tb-strip/tbstrip.htmlhe made about 10, you just need one. |
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expanoncolin
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« Reply #2 on: December 15, 2003, 08:34:23 PM » |
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Well, rehousing would be a pain and you'd need a decent sized box, but it's certainly possible.
-Colin
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Anonymous
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« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2003, 09:50:14 PM » |
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Well, rehousing would be a pain and you'd need a decent sized box, but it's certainly possible.
-Colin Brilliant. I'm not even so concerned with rehousing, as the preamp, once removed from the combo speaker housing, is really actually no bigger than a large stompbox (Line 6 MM-4) anyway, and I have enough space on my pedalboard for that and more. Really my plan is to fashion (or qcquire) a single-effects loop true bypass box, connect the effects send on the box to the amp input, and then somehow install the equivalent of an effects loop send on the Crate preamp that goes back to the true-bypass box. So, once again, is this possible, and if so, what would be the best way of going about doing this? Oh and by the way, Colin, two things. One, I listened to the Parallel Universe clips, and I must say you are a sonic genius. I would kill to be able to build custom effects of that quality for myself. And secondly, this board is a really good idea and I see it eventually flourishing as a refreshing source of origniality. Not trying to butter you up or anything, just figured between the effects, the forum, and whatever else you're doing, you're hard at work, and figured a few compliments wouldn't hurt. |
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expanoncolin
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« Reply #4 on: December 15, 2003, 10:08:13 PM » |
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Well, it would probably be pretty easy, if you could fit the preamp into there, to just get a very very large aluminum box and wire the jacks on the ends and just put a DPDT stomp on there. Do you know how to wire one?
If you don't want to rehouse the entire preamp, a TB loop box would work just perfectly. The only problem is you'd have to lug around the damn thing!
Thanks for the kind words.
-Colin
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Anonymous
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« Reply #5 on: December 15, 2003, 10:13:42 PM » |
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Yeah, I'm totally new to this world of effects construction. Do you know of any place that would give more specific instructions on how to do rehouse something like this? And a quick question - if I did rehouse it (which sounds easier), would I still be able to use things like the EQ?
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expanoncolin
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« Reply #6 on: December 16, 2003, 07:57:19 AM » |
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Yeah, I'm totally new to this world of effects construction. Do you know of any place that would give more specific instructions on how to do rehouse something like this? And a quick question - if I did rehouse it (which sounds easier), would I still be able to use things like the EQ? Of course, but you'd have to put holes in the box for the knobs and whatnot... I don't know, it's up to you. Check google for true-bypass box schematics, there's a lot of good ones out there. -Colin |
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pdaconq9
phpBB Junior Member
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« Reply #7 on: December 16, 2003, 07:27:21 PM » |
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Okay sorry I don't want to seem pestering but I have a few more questions:
1) It looks like the pre- and power amps are wired on the same board. Do I need to separate them, and if so, how would I go about doing it?
2) I assume that for the "FX Send" lug on the 2PDT stomp, I can just use the existing wiring for the amp input jack. But how would I go about wiring from the preamp to the "FX return" lug?
3) What do you recommend I do for a power supply?
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expanoncolin
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« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2003, 10:13:39 PM » |
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Okay sorry I don't want to seem pestering but I have a few more questions:
1) It looks like the pre- and power amps are wired on the same board. Do I need to separate them, and if so, how would I go about doing it?
2) I assume that for the "FX Send" lug on the 2PDT stomp, I can just use the existing wiring for the amp input jack. But how would I go about wiring from the preamp to the "FX return" lug?
3) What do you recommend I do for a power supply? You don't NEED to seperate them, go ahead and try it without seperating them-but keep in mind, it will be very very loud. The FX send lug goes into your amps input, FX return comes out of your amps board (headphones or line out jack). For power supply, I recommend you drill a hole for the amp's chord, and just use that. -Colin |
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Anonymous
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« Reply #9 on: December 17, 2003, 08:00:23 PM » |
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i took an old squire 15 watt practice/combo amp and turned it into a pedal using just these techniques, and it is loud, it can sound good, though...also i was wondering the voice circuits for keyboards, if used as a stomp box for guitar would they have the same effect? like a timbale sound, or a harpsichord...just wondering...
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expanoncolin
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« Reply #10 on: December 18, 2003, 06:04:31 AM » |
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i took an old squire 15 watt practice/combo amp and turned it into a pedal using just these techniques, and it is loud, it can sound good, though...also i was wondering the voice circuits for keyboards, if used as a stomp box for guitar would they have the same effect? like a timbale sound, or a harpsichord...just wondering... It suprises me that a 15 watt squier would sound good!  But if you want to do the same thing, go ahead. Sorry to say, but modding your keyboard like that would plainly not work. -Colin |
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pdaconq9
phpBB Junior Member
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« Reply #11 on: December 18, 2003, 04:38:15 PM » |
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Schism, which method did you take? Did you re-house the whole amp circuitry or use a TB Box? How does it sound in relation to the sound of your original amp?
To make this easier, can I have your E-mail/AIM address so we can talk about it a little more in depth? Cause I'm doing essentially what you did.
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