So..... Im a univibe pheen and had to try it for the money. As you know it runs about $40, has true bypass and solid metal construction and jacks!
I hooked it up and it sounds crazy good. One of the best vibes ive ever heard.... seriously.... Great controls and feel. It honestly sounds as good as my Deja Vibe! Sorry fulltone fans.
One thing that i dont like is the volume boost when engaged. Does anyone know how i can fix this. What resistor do i need to change?
Does anyone know if this actually uses ldr's and a bulb?
Thanks!!
Quote from: sevenisthenumber on September 19, 2008, 10:52:31 PM
Does anyone know if this actually uses ldr's and a bulb?
Thanks!!
According to the review it uses a bulb,suppose you would need to look to be sure but it sounds pretty good. I've just etched a Neovibe board but for RRP £50 in UK I probably would be cheaper buying one of these but just my tuppenceworth,cheers Crawford.
http://www.coolcattone.com/pdf/G&B_CoolCat08.pdf
wonder where we can find schematics?
Quote from: sevenisthenumber on September 19, 2008, 10:52:31 PM
One thing that i dont like is the volume boost when engaged. Does anyone know how i can fix this.
Bump
I just got a Coolcat Vibe and love it too. Yeah it does have the volume boost, seems to only be a problem if its first . Would be interested if there is a way doing something about it. Read somewhere that the second version this will be sorted.
There is a Youtube video of Coolcat pedals and the rep says it uses a bulb.I havent had a look yet ;D
I'm hoping there's a trimpot inside :P
Theres got to be a simple way to adjust the volume?????
If nothing else, it should be fairly easy to add an internal volume control trim to the input or output of it, inside the bypass loop. Then you could just set it and forget it.
Keep in mind- "should be fairly easy" are famous last words, YMMV, etc.. It's worth looking into though if it's a problem.
You could add a volume pot to the output of the effect before the bypass switch.
Bossa, why don't you take a look inside? (a take some pics while you're at it ;D)
Quote from: DWBH on September 27, 2008, 06:15:20 PM
Bossa, why don't you take a look inside? (a take some pics while you're at it ;D)
Will try and borrow a camera and take a gut shot. From what I can see it's pretty much all surface mount stuff in there.
Scary for me, Man I don't want to break it I just got it :icon_redface: ;D
Damn. Wonder if the light bulb is also SMD ;D ;D
I probably uses that black encased photo bulb like the tuna melt and chicken salad.
There is a thread on rehousing a Coolcat Vibe over at Freestompboxes .
http://freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=3308&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=danelectro
just FYI, your link doesn't work because that site is censored here :icon_rolleyes:
Why not try to build the Easy Vibe from geofex. Then you can fit in a Volume knob, not that it is necessary but it is easy.
http://www.geofex.com./PCB_layouts/Layouts/easyvibe.pdf
It sounds just grate and is easy to build. You don't have to worry about getting the real mojo light bulb cause the light comes from 4 LED:s still it sound fantastic.
//Solderman
Just bought one of these...
Cant wait for it to get here and try it.
So what is this delay issue I am hearing about?
Quote from: snoof on October 06, 2008, 04:00:46 PM
just FYI, your link doesn't work because that site is censored here :icon_rolleyes:
Oops ! Sorry I did not know about that
Is this volume boost in the entire signal when engaged, like every single part of the sound is boosted? Volume control trimmer, then, I say. Should be simple enough.
The volume boost is the overall volume when the effect is engaged. Mine doesnt have a delay issue??? I dont know what people are talking about.
Well, the one I tried out, besides having that volume boost, had a "delay" when engaged. After stomping the switch, the sound wasn't effected right away. I mean, the vibe sound didn't start right after you stomped, but a moment later.
Like:
a) Playing -> b) stomp the Vibe -> c) the sound is still clean (dry) -> d) the sound is now wet (a there's also a volume boost). There's a delay between b and d. |
|
\/
this happens for a short period of time (like half a second)
Regarding the volume boost...
Since the switch is wired in our ever so familiar 3PDT fashion. Why not connect a 100K pot to the OUT of the effect have another lug going to ground and the wiper where the OUT used to be on the switch? Just a simple standard volume control that are very common.
Find what is unity gain, measure the resistance. Add a resistor from OUT to ground, ya some other stuff would need to be done but that's basically it I would think.
Yeah, I think the biggest issue is really the delay thing.
Has no one reversed engineered this and got a schem?
The whole true bypass/mechanical switch yet there is a delay confuses me. Yet some say there is no delay.
Maybe the newer pedals have that problem fixed.
I thought these were brand new pedals...? Already a rev 1.1?
They just came out in like July. There are no updates yet.
Haven't got my pedal yet (expecting it this week!) but I have figured out a few things.
Regarding the delay when engaged....The bypass is wired in such a way so that the switch turns on the B+ for the circuit.
Why would they do this?
On other vibe units like the Neovibe you'll notice it isn't battery powered. One cause it would use two batteries in series and two it draws major current with that bulb and other active components. The same can be said with Dano's last vibe effect the Chicken Salad. Ya it could (and was) be battery powered but the battery sure did not last long. It draws around 75mA of current when off I believe, which is quite large for an analog pedal. Also because the lamp is incandescent (I believe) power switching would make more sense to save the life of the bulb. I would imagine it would be a real pain to change the bulb.
O right so with the power switching the light takes a second or so to warm up then the vibe effect starts. Kinda like the filaments of a vacuum tube.
So the solution I would think is to wire the switch for audio switching and leave power switching out of it.
So it seems a 9V wall wart is the key for the pedal for really the best tone. Also make sure it's regulated as these circuits really pick up on the noise generated by the power supply.
i just recased mine and im selling my deja vibe. this really is a really great vibe with more control than any ive tried.
thanks to kurtlives i did the volume fix and its great!!!!
Anyone know how to make the LED flash with the Speed knob?
I don't know how the LED is wired in this pedal, but when I did my Phase 90 I connected the LED to the third pole of the 3pdt, through a series resistor, to the LFO output (which was on the speed control). It was pretty simple in that case.
BTW, I tried out the Cool Cat Vibe today at Sam Ash and it was very impressive. :icon_wink: I can understand the annoyance with the volume bump, but that should be fixable with a 100k trimmer. It really has a good vibe sound, low noise, and is a very solid build. For $58 it makes me wonder if I should even bother with that Easy Vibe PCB I have... :icon_wink:
Quote from: DougH on December 27, 2008, 04:40:57 PM
I don't know how the LED is wired in this pedal, but when I did my Phase 90 I connected the LED to the third pole of the 3pdt, through a series resistor, to the LFO output (which was on the speed control). It was pretty simple in that case.
The LED is wired off the switch just like a normal 3pdt arrangement.
You might try disconnecting the LED from its power connection and connect it to the speed pot. Make sure there's some series resistance in the LED circuit somewhere to limit the current so you don't burn it up.
Quote from: DougH on December 27, 2008, 06:04:23 PM
You might try disconnecting the LED from its power connection and connect it to the speed pot. Make sure there's some series resistance in the LED circuit somewhere to limit the current so you don't burn it up.
Your my hero!!! It worked! Only prob is, when the pedal is off the led still flashes. I left the stock as is and hooked up anew one with the +leg to lug 3 and the -leg to ground with a 1k resistor. Awesome Mod!!!!
Does this work on any time based pedal? I have the cool cat trem and that would be great on it.
So adding a speed-LED is as simple as connecting to lug 3 of the pot and ground (through a 1K resistor)? Cause THAT would be a great mod...
I may try the trimmer to wire a resistor and get rid of that volume bump. I don't mind it in front of an overdriven amp/pedal as it adds gain just a little gain but in front of a clean channel it bumps the volume quite a lot.
easy as 1,2,3.
Could the delay in the pedal comming on be from the bulb taking time to warm up? Is there possible a faster bulb?
I had a similar delay with the EH Small Stone phaser (Russian). Not sure what caused it.
Quote from: sevenisthenumber on December 27, 2008, 06:37:35 PM
Quote from: DougH on December 27, 2008, 06:04:23 PM
You might try disconnecting the LED from its power connection and connect it to the speed pot. Make sure there's some series resistance in the LED circuit somewhere to limit the current so you don't burn it up.
Your my hero!!! It worked! Only prob is, when the pedal is off the led still flashes. I left the stock as is and hooked up anew one with the +leg to lug 3 and the -leg to ground with a 1k resistor. Awesome Mod!!!!
Does this work on any time based pedal? I have the cool cat trem and that would be great on it.
Hi.
I don't see that as a problem. If is flashes when the pedal if off you can see the LFO speed in the dark on the stage befor you hit the switch. This way you know that you have the correct speed you anticipate for the tone you are about to use it in. If you use a two color LED (Eg red and green) with common catode you can use it as a status led (red=off green =on) I have wired some of my effect builds like this. among those the MXR Phase 90, two tremolos and the easy Vibe. Not all LFO:s can handle the "to speed pot" connection. I tyred it on my MXR 45 build but that interfered too much with the LFO and the sound.
The delay might be a bigger cap that needs to be charged trough a resistor some where. I have a seen this in a tweaked EA Tremolo that lets the cap charge via the LED if the led is switched of the tremolo takes 1-2 sec to "warm up" before working.
//Solderman
Here are my mods to the Cool Cat Vibe. Solves the delay and adds a flashing LED when pedal is on. I don't find the volume boost to be a problem so I left it alone.
(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/294/vibe1kb4.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/vibe1kb4.jpg/1/w640.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img228/vibe1kb4.jpg/1/)
(http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/810/vibe2lu5.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/vibe2lu5.jpg/1/w640.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img71/vibe2lu5.jpg/1/)
(http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/2763/vibe3fi4.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/vibe3fi4.jpg/1/w640.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img71/vibe3fi4.jpg/1/)
(http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/1594/vibe4pb9.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/vibe4pb9.jpg/1/w640.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img71/vibe4pb9.jpg/1/)
(http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/6849/vibe5ql4.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/vibe5ql4.jpg/1/w640.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img139/vibe5ql4.jpg/1/)
Nice, great pics.
Did you try my suggestions for the volume drop and delay?
So... messing with the LED solved the delay problem? Cool... How come?
No, messing with the LED didn't solve the delay problem. If you look at picture 3, what you are doing is removing the pwr from the switch and jumpering it on permanently. That is what solves the delay problem. Then you are using the left over switch contacts for switching the LED which is getting its pwr from pin three of the speed pot. The LED has current limiting through a 2K2 resistor to ground on the PCB. Hope this helps.
Oh yeah, got it. Didn't notice the power thing.
I didn't get some of the instructions from the pic tutorial (sorry... :icon_redface:)
After picture 3 everything becomes a little blurry. Which wires are which...? Thanks...
Quote from: Ripdivot on December 28, 2008, 05:53:23 PM
Here are my mods to the Cool Cat Vibe. Solves the delay and adds a flashing LED when pedal is on. I don't find the volume boost to be a problem so I left it alone.
(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/294/vibe1kb4.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/vibe1kb4.jpg/1/w640.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img228/vibe1kb4.jpg/1/)
(http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/810/vibe2lu5.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/vibe2lu5.jpg/1/w640.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img71/vibe2lu5.jpg/1/)
(http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/2763/vibe3fi4.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/vibe3fi4.jpg/1/w640.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img71/vibe3fi4.jpg/1/)
(http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/1594/vibe4pb9.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/vibe4pb9.jpg/1/w640.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img71/vibe4pb9.jpg/1/)
(http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/6849/vibe5ql4.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/vibe5ql4.jpg/1/w640.png) (http://g.imageshack.us/img139/vibe5ql4.jpg/1/)
There are two red wires that go to the switch board. Cut each of them in about the middle. This will leave two cut red wires coming from the switch board and two cut red wires coming from the main circuit board. Solder the two cut red wires from the main circuit board together (photo 3). Now solder one of the wires from the switch board to the LED anode. Then solder the remaining wire coming from the switch board to pin 3 of the speed pot (photo 5).
Thanks for the nice photo-essay, Ripdivot. :icon_wink: Nice job!
QuoteOnly prob is, when the pedal is off the led still flashes.
Somehow you left the switch out of the circuit. Follow Ripdivot's photo-essay and it should fix you up.
7, you got this for $40? I can only find it for $60, $55 on ebay.
Also, it doesn't look like one could kludge an extra speed pot in there, right? Or a fast/slow stomper instead of the toggle? (without a rehouse, that is).
I can't pull the knobs out. Did you guys use pliers?
pliers. ;D
Great pics RIPDEVOT!
Dang... all I succeeded in doing so far is damage the knobs. Not a big deal but they're stubborn :icon_evil: I honestly can't wait to get this one right though, once I do this and get rid of the volume issue it'll be used a lot more I think!
Try slipping a flat head screwdriver (the wider the head the better) under the knob and gently leveraging the knob up. Once it loosens, it should be fine.
I wedged the knobs up using a flat blade jewelers screw driver just as BEN N suggested. Also to get the LED anode out you will need to remove the LED, bend the anode out, tack a wire to the anode, then solder the cathode back where it came from.
I'm glad you guys liked the tutorial. I have an easyvibe and a neovibe, I use to have a real univibe and a chicken salad vibe ,and I have to say I really like the cool cat vibe. It sounds awesome!
Quote from: Ben N on December 29, 2008, 11:54:35 AM
7, you got this for $40? I can only find it for $60, $55 on ebay.
Also, it doesn't look like one could kludge an extra speed pot in there, right? Or a fast/slow stomper instead of the toggle? (without a rehouse, that is).
I got mine off eBay new for $40. They have went up since then I guess. I re-cased mine so I had room to add a volume knob and extra flashing LED. I love it!
Ah yes figured out the screwdriver thing... off to work on it this early afternoon then! Thanks guys, I'll report back.
CRAP: the bolt nuts are of course totally recessed. Not got any sockets. No modding for me.
Quote from: Ben N on December 29, 2008, 11:54:35 AM
7, you got this for $40? I can only find it for $60, $55 on ebay.
http://www.instrumentalley.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CV-1&click=35 (http://www.instrumentalley.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=CV-1&click=35)
They have them at my local Sam Ash for $58 as well, Ben. It sounded real good when I tried it out, but I don't remember if the LFO had the "wobble" or not.
Thanks, Doug! They beat the best price I could find by $8 shipped. Now we'll see how fast their fulfillment is--and how good this vibe is. BTW, although I'm not looking to buy any overdrives (there are plenty to build), their's sounded quite good in the demo. If these pedals are as good as they seem, and Dano has licked its reliability issues, and they can actually make a profit at these prices, these could be giant-killers.
WOOOT did it! Everything works great, there's no delay. The LED's a little blinding, I have to remember not to stare at it :icon_lol: Thanks so much guys!
Quote from: Ben N on December 30, 2008, 11:30:45 AM
Thanks, Doug! They beat the best price I could find by $8 shipped. Now we'll see how fast their fulfillment is--and how good this vibe is. BTW, although I'm not looking to buy any overdrives (there are plenty to build), their's sounded quite good in the demo. If these pedals are as good as they seem, and Dano has licked its reliability issues, and they can actually make a profit at these prices, these could be giant-killers.
I tried it on the "dano" board with all the other dano pedals. It seems to be built very solid. The switch has a very satisfying "click" when you step on it and is very sturdy. Overall it seems like a very good buy, and most importantly it sounds great. I may get one in a few weeks. I tried one of their drives but I didn't like it. It could have been the guitar/amp I was using, etc. I didn't spend much time trying to dial it in. But the vibe sounds great.
Those switches on the Dano feel VERY nice I think. I really dig it.
Has anyone figured out something for the volume boost?
I removed my switch at one point and when I reinstalled it , it broke. The threaded portion came apart from the housing but I managed to get it back together. Be very careful not to over tighten these switches. They are actually pretty cheap. They should be durable if left alone though.
Just put a volume pot in between switch and output
I bought the cool cat vibe and it sounds really good to me ! The only problem was (as mentioned) the huge volume boost. I drilled and added a 16mm 100k alpha pot on next to the output jack (fits nicely) and it works just wonderfully. What I did was I cutted the shielded wire coming from the circuit board to the footswitch in the middle. Then I soldered the shiels together and that conjuction to the side lug of the pot. The wire coming from the pcb I soldered to the other side of the pot. The wire going to the footswitch I soldered to the middle lug of the pot. I did not have to add extra wire for the mod. Easy cheap and most usefull mod 8)
Check this out:
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Danelectro-Cat-Pack?sku=501248
$140 worth of pedals for $99, free shipping...so $33/pedal is pretty good!
Vibe, Tremolo, and Transparent OD
There are some nice demos of the trem on u-toob. That looks like a great deal.
Quote from: Matt505 on January 21, 2009, 06:15:48 PM
Check this out:
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Danelectro-Cat-Pack?sku=501248
$140 worth of pedals for $99, free shipping...so $33/pedal is pretty good!
Vibe, Tremolo, and Transparent OD
Thanks for the link! That looks pretty cool!
Errr.. So about this censored link? Is there a reason? I don't really understand... And I would love to re-house one of these.
Maybe do a two-speed upgrade with a ramp up/down type mod...
OK, got mine from Instrumentalley.com (thanks for the tip, Doug). First, the vendor: A little slow-moving, but I did order just before New Years, so a little extra patience is only fair. When I asked about it, they responded immediately and refunded me the shipping, and, anyway, now I have it, at what I'm sure is the best price around.
Had it on the pedalboard over the weekend, and I am digging it. To my surprise, I don't find it at all redundant with a P90-style Maxon phaser--actually, more so with the vibish settings on an Electric Mistress, which is for now off the board (not enough space). I think I have to learn to play Cold Shot or Bridge of Sighs or some such thing to really get the measure of this thing. I'm also working on placement in the chain. So far that is post BD-2 (which in general likes to be first) and fuzz (the vibe gets lost in the fuzz), but pre-OD. I do find the volume boost to be, well, startling, so I think I will have to wangle at least a trimpot, or perhaps a fixed voltage divider in there to tamp it down. But for now I am really enjoying it.
i picked this thing up today for $25 !!!!!! i couldnt say no.. anyways, i want to fix the vol problem with out sticking a pot in there, could i just put a resistor in its place?? and if so what value???? yhanks dddddduuuuuudddddeeeeessssssssss
just use a trim pot. leave it inside.
As an easy fix for the volume problem, a simple 27k Resistor from the FX in pin on the switch to ground did the trick for me.
Hope this thread isn't too old to resurrect, but I'm a little bit stumped at something I've done - and probably done wrong.
I wanted to get rid of the volume bump, so I used a meter to find the FX board out to add a resistor. The switch confused me at first because I didn't realize it was installed with the throws sideways. Anyway, I used a pot to find a value that matched the effect on volume and effect off volume. When I measured the resistance I'd inserted to achieve the match, I discovered it was only 300 ohms. I inserted a 300 ohm resistor and the effect was the same with the volume being approximately equivalent. My question: Is this even possible? It would seem to me that the effect-on would be nearly inaudible with such a small resistance to ground. I remetered the switch and board just to make sure, and I'm almost positive I chose the correct pin on the switch as the FX board out. (It was the bottom right one, if anyone remembers their peek inside the casing.) I was expecting to have to use a much larger value resistor more in line with the 27K mentioned in an earlier post in the thread.
If anyone has any suggestions as to why this is even working, I'd sure appreciate it. It works fine as I've got it, but it just doesn't make any sense. Thanks!
I don't know if I understood you question correctly (I need some sleep), but here it goes:
You put a 300 ohms in series with the output signal?
If you want to decrease the level (volume), you have to use two resistors set up in voltage divider fashion.
A volume pot is a variable voltage divider. What you want is a fixed voltage divider.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Voltage_divider.svg/230px-Voltage_divider.svg.png)
You need values for R1 and R2.
Well, no... I didn't put a 300 ohm in series. I ran it from the output of the effect (our what I thought was the output of the effect board, anyway) to ground. This really should have made it almost inaudible from everything I've ever tinkered with. I will try a voltage divider to ground, but I think I'm probably overlooking some bigger point. The 300 ohms to ground should have been almost functionally nearly equivalent to a wire to ground from the output if any of the other circuits I've built are any indicator. (Actually I tried running a straight wire to ground from the same point and it did indeed shunt the signal entirely. I'm still thinking I must be missing something about the wiring of the footswitch although I can't imagine what it could be. I'm used to using double pole, double throw in the millenium fashion so maybe there's something about 3-pole switch bypass wiring I'm not following.
I will certainly try, and thanks much! This is such basic stuff, I can't believe I'm having trouble with it. It's probably all those tiny little SMD components making me dizzy when I'm looking at the regular, fun-size parts. :) :) :)
One cool easy mod if you rehouse it would be to add an expression pedal output. That would be nice. I'll do that when I get one.
I have a friend who just got a Mojo Vibe, so of course I had to compare my Cool Cat Vibe to it. I really like my Cool Cat, but the Mojo Vibe blew it away (which I expected). The Cool Cat seemed very dark compared to the Mojo. Any ideas on how to "brighten" it? I haven't opened mine up yet, but I'm assuming it's all surface mount parts, so I'm guessing that replacing caps and resistors would be a pain.
There are some normal size electro caps in there, but most of it is SMD.
I just did the delay and blinking LED mods yesterday. It rules.
Reviving an old thread here...
I finally picked up a Cool Cat Vibe last night from my local Sam Ash. I really love this thing- very nice vibe. I played with it for an hour or two last night.
They didn't have any left on the shelf so I bought their display model from them, the one under the glass counter. I stopped by their "demo area" on the way out. They had one set up on a pedal board that I had been trying out. I wanted to make sure it worked. It did, but it didn't sound as good as the "demo" unit. It did not have as much of the phasey "swish" and had more pitch bend. I tried lowering the "mix" but it just sounded weak. So I swapped them and took the demo unit home. I didn't remember the pics in this thread, but figured it probably had a trim pot that could be adjusted, which it did of course. But it requires some disassembly to get to it so I'm glad I took home the "good" one.
Anyway, I found instant Robin Trower sounds by dialing the speed down a little and dialing up the intensity. When you dial up the intensity, you can really hear the "wobble" and it is *very* deep sounding. I was playing through my modded 100W Windsor and the pulsating bass response was just awesome. The volume bump doesn't really bother me. Sometimes, modulation fx need a little bump as they can sound lower than unity as the LFO cycles. In fact, when I built my Phase 90 I tweaked it for a little volume bump as well. The delay is interesting, but doesn't bother me either. Most of the time I turn fx on and leave them on. I don't switch on/off during songs. And if it helps preserve the bulb life, then that's a good thing AFAIC.
Right now I'm really loving this thing. And at $59 I question whether I'm going to even bother with the EZ Vibe, although I may get curious at some point.
Quote from: DougH on October 20, 2009, 09:36:11 AM
Reviving an old thread here...
I finally picked up a Cool Cat Vibe last night from my local Sam Ash. I really love this thing- very nice vibe. I played with it for an hour or two last night.
They didn't have any left on the shelf so I bought their display model from them, the one under the glass counter. I stopped by their "demo area" on the way out. They had one set up on a pedal board that I had been trying out. I wanted to make sure it worked. It did, but it didn't sound as good as the "demo" unit. It did not have as much of the phasey "swish" and had more pitch bend. I tried lowering the "mix" but it just sounded weak. So I swapped them and took the demo unit home. I didn't remember the pics in this thread, but figured it probably had a trim pot that could be adjusted, which it did of course. But it requires some disassembly to get to it so I'm glad I took home the "good" one.
Anyway, I found instant Robin Trower sounds by dialing the speed down a little and dialing up the intensity. When you dial up the intensity, you can really hear the "wobble" and it is *very* deep sounding. I was playing through my modded 100W Windsor and the pulsating bass response was just awesome. The volume bump doesn't really bother me. Sometimes, modulation fx need a little bump as they can sound lower than unity as the LFO cycles. In fact, when I built my Phase 90 I tweaked it for a little volume bump as well. The delay is interesting, but doesn't bother me either. Most of the time I turn fx on and leave them on. I don't switch on/off during songs. And if it helps preserve the bulb life, then that's a good thing AFAIC.
Right now I'm really loving this thing. And at $59 I question whether I'm going to even bother with the EZ Vibe, although I may get curious at some point.
I was really tempted to pick one up last week--I ended up getting an RC-2 instead, but that's a different story.
If I come across a used one, I might check it out, but the allure of DIY will lead me to building my own, eventually. The trick will be deciding among Easy, Forum, or Neo to build :)
Well I have an EZ Vibe PCB, which I've had for ten years (or since the EZ Vibe was created) and I still haven't built the damn thing. :icon_wink: This Cool Cat definitely scratches my "vibe itch" though...
Quote from: 64fx on May 01, 2009, 09:18:06 PM
I have a friend who just got a Mojo Vibe, so of course I had to compare my Cool Cat Vibe to it. I really like my Cool Cat, but the Mojo Vibe blew it away (which I expected). The Cool Cat seemed very dark compared to the Mojo. Any ideas on how to "brighten" it? I haven't opened mine up yet, but I'm assuming it's all surface mount parts, so I'm guessing that replacing caps and resistors would be a pain.
I have a Mojo Vibe, and it has two settings, vintage (darker, like original Univibe), and modern (brighter, for darker guitars or people who don't like the vintage sound). So your friend's Mojo Vibe might be set to the Modern setting, and perhaps the Dano pedal only has the vintage sound. On the Mojo, the setting can be changed by setting the internal dipswitch as per instructions in the manual. I believe that the Mojo Vibe modern setting uses a buffer of some kind to achieve the brighter tone.
Al
I saw a youtube vid where someone compared the cool cat to the chicken salad. The chicken salad had a "brighter" sound. At $29 maybe that's the answer, in spite of the plastic construction...
Just rehouse!
The other day, I finally got around to opening my Cool Cat Vibe up and screwing with the internal trim. Made a HUGE difference in my sound, or rather the tweakability of it, but now it's darker than it used to be... ???
Quote from: DougH on October 21, 2009, 08:57:39 AM
I saw a youtube vid where someone compared the cool cat to the chicken salad. The chicken salad had a "brighter" sound. At $29 maybe that's the answer, in spite of the plastic construction...
Yeah, well, when I had a CS, I found that the sound completely lacked bottom, so there you go.
just wanted to put it out there, that has to be the UGLIEST pedal enclosure i have ever seen.
amirite?
Hey, it's seafoam green! I love it!
pffft.
Quote from: pazuzu on October 21, 2009, 06:45:58 PM
just wanted to put it out there, that has to be the UGLIEST pedal enclosure i have ever seen.
amirite?
YOU'RE the ugliest pedal I've ever...um...what?
YOUR MOM IS THE UGLIEST PED...crap....that doesn't work either...
Quote from: zombiwoof on October 20, 2009, 05:20:50 PM
I have a Mojo Vibe, and it has two settings, vintage (darker, like original Univibe), and modern (brighter, for darker guitars or people who don't like the vintage sound). So your friend's Mojo Vibe might be set to the Modern setting, and perhaps the Dano pedal only has the vintage sound. On the Mojo, the setting can be changed by setting the internal dipswitch as per instructions in the manual. I believe that the Mojo Vibe modern setting uses a buffer of some kind to achieve the brighter tone.
Al
Thanks! That makes sense. I'll have to get him to see how his is set.
I've rehoused my Cool Cat Vibe and done the mods to fix all of the issues, and I'm very happy with it. I know I can't expect it to sound like the Mojo Vibe, so for the price and the sound I'm content. I actually had a lot of fun rehousing it (except removing the pots from the PCB), so I've rehoused all of my Cool Cat pedals.
64fx, can I see pictures of your rehousing process? I'm about to rehouse my Vibe, and put my two Transparent Overdrives into an enclosure. What mods did you do?
Quote from: jacobyjd on October 21, 2009, 11:02:23 PM
Quote from: pazuzu on October 21, 2009, 06:45:58 PM
just wanted to put it out there, that has to be the UGLIEST pedal enclosure i have ever seen.
amirite?
YOU'RE the ugliest pedal I've ever...um...what?
YOUR MOM IS THE UGLIEST PED...crap....that doesn't work either...
nice.
Quote from: obblitt on October 23, 2009, 06:12:09 AM
64fx, can I see pictures of your rehousing process? I'm about to rehouse my Vibe, and put my two Transparent Overdrives into an enclosure. What mods did you do?
Obblitt,
I'm posting these photos, but you have to promise not to laugh at the guts shots. I was experimenting on this, so it's pretty bad looking in there.
Rehoused Vibe
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3449/3934745061_1e666548d0.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2421/4038140022_9078639794.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2457/4038139760_6494df548c.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2605/4037390233_820991f45a.jpg)
Rehoused T.O. Guts
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2656/4037390403_32a0e7990d.jpg)
I rehoused several of the Cool Cat pedals, so I'll tell you some of the things I learned through the process.
- Most of the pedals will fit into a 1590B enclosure except the Vibe. The PCB on it is too large to fit the board and a foot-switch in the enclosure. I used an enclosure from Radio Shack. It's a little big, but I kind of like it. I've seen a lot of vibes in large or different shaped enclosures, so it didn't really bother me.
- I would recommend using a 125B. It will give you a little more room.
- I moved all of the pots and LED off of the board. Removing the pots is a little tricky. They use lead-free solder which is a pain to desolder using just desolder braid. I ended up adding lead solder to the joints on top of the lead-free solder. Then I was able to remove it easier. If you're going to replace the pots all together you can be a little less careful and just rip the pins out of the pots, but I don't recommend doing that.
- If you use the 1590B or a box that's the same height, try removing the connectors that connect the switch to the board and solder the wire straight to the board. That helps with the height issue. I ran into a problem with the bottom of the enclosure shorting something out.
- The footswitch is reusable, but if you want to replace it just desolder the switch that's there and replace it with a 3PDT using the PCB in the pedal.
- The tremolo is a pain to rehouse, so if you decide to do it make sure you really, really want to! I wasn't able to remove the switch that switches between hard/soft, so it has to go out the back of the pedal. I ended up messing up the enclosure by drilling the hole in the wrong spot.
As far as the mods go, I did flashing LED mod, the mod to get rid of the delay in the effect coming on and added a volume pot on the inside to compensate for the volume boost. I did these mods following the info posted in previous posts. (Thanks to those who posted these mods!)
I think someone posted the supervelcroboy link earlier. That provided some good info as well. Some of these things I just learned by messing with it, but hopefully all of this will help you. I'd love to see your rehouses when you finish.
cool work.
honestly you could rehouse it in an altoids tin and i think it would be better looking than the stock enclosure.:D
And not just better looking, I absolutely @#$%ing hate the enclosure design. I hate the way they put the knobs and jacks right on top of each other. Dumbest idea I've ever seen.
64fx, your work looks great, and I'm a noob :D ! Thanks for the info and I'll let you know how it goes! Actually... can I PM you?
Thanks obblitt! Feel free to PM me.
Thanks for the great photo documentation. I realy like the "pulsating LED" mod.
To fix the slight volume-boost you add a 100k or 120k in parallel to the existing 47k in the feedbackloop of the output stage (Tl072 IC on the bottom right on the PCB. put the resistor between pin 7 and pin6).
Hope this might help....
Snyder80
Quote from: obblitt on October 26, 2009, 02:33:26 AM
And not just better looking, I absolutely @#$%ing hate the enclosure design. I hate the way they put the knobs and jacks right on top of each other. Dumbest idea I've ever seen.
Yeah, that design pretty much forces you to set and forget, especially the ones with dual concentrics,like the "Transparent Overdrive." I must say, though, Other pedals aren't much better--and I'm thinking of Line6, here. I can't set my Echo Park with reading glasses.
Try picking harmonic intervals on a Boss PS-5 on a dark stage... I need my glasses and almost a magnifying glass too. I still love my CC Vibe and the way it's housed. I usually set and forget this stuff anyway.
It's not so much adjusting the knobs I'm worried about, it's having to bend and twist my patch cables to make everything fit on my pedal board. If it weren't for those knobs being in the way, I wouldn't have a problem... maybe I'll post a picture :icon_biggrin: to show y'all how bad it looks on my board.
I've built an Easyvibe and modded it to my taste, but the "vibe-sound-in-my-head" was not really there. Then I was waiting for the spare time to buld a neovibe...
In the meantime I went to this music store and saw the CoolCat pedals. The price was so inviting...
I tested everyone they had. I left the place with nothing less than 5 pedals: CC Vibe, CC Fuzz, CC Transparent Drive, CC Tremolo and the CC Overdrive.
Since then I have 3 of them permanently in my main pedalboard: the vibe, the transparent drive and the fuzz. I liked the design, no problem for me.
And one of the mods I did in my Easyvibe was to add a signal boost to get that same boost the old Univibes were known for. So...
The only thing I don't like about the CC vibe was the oscilator delay. So I would like to ask who did the mod to avoid the delay: Some oscilator click is bleeding through the signal path?
Quote from: obblitt on November 27, 2009, 01:30:01 PM
It's not so much adjusting the knobs I'm worried about, it's having to bend and twist my patch cables to make everything fit on my pedal board. If it weren't for those knobs being in the way, I wouldn't have a problem... maybe I'll post a picture :icon_biggrin: to show y'all how bad it looks on my board.
True, dat, but I just live with it.
I'm about to get one of these vibes and rehouse it.
As a relative newbie, I'm reading through this thread for best ways to do it. I'd love to hear more about the best ways to:
1) Remove the pots from the PCB
2) Fix the volume boost
2a) I'd like to install the pot, but where do I wire the pot from/to?
I'm thinking of using a Hammond 1590BB enclosure and have the footswitch and oversized speed knob on the bottom half of the top of the pedal. And then the intensity, mix and hopefully volume knobs on the upper top half.
Ripdivot's post on page 2 is what I followed for the mods. For the volume boost I just inserted a pot and left it inside the enclosure (didn't have a spot to drill a hole in the enclosure without it looking weird.) I can't remember whose post I followed on where to install the pot, but it's somewhere in this thread.
Removing the pots is by far the hardest part to me. If you're not going to reuse those pots you can just rip them off and then unsolder the pins (this is what I recommend). If you're going to reuse the pots you have to unsolder each pin and carefully remove it (not so easy to do). They use lead-free solder which was a pain for me to deal with. I would just get replacement pots of the same values (the values are printed on the pots in the vibe) and wire them into the board. You can just solder the wires into the holes where you pulled the original pots out.
One thing that I've seen that I wish I had done was to mount the speed pot on the side of the pedal where you can roll your foot over the top of it to adjust the speed. It looks really cool and seems like it would be easier to adjust while playing live. Just a thought.
Please post pictures when you finish your rehousing.
I hope it's not to late to BUMP this thread, but I'm new to tearing stompboxes open (and electronics in general). Shot in the dark , I'm hoping someone might have a pic or small schematic for installing this volume trim pot. At my level of experience a picture IS worth 1000 words . . . Thanks.
Oh well . . . figured it out . . . old fashioned trial and error.
Don't know if anyone is still here but I have a quick question.....I have done the trimpot mod on the fx out to fix the volume problem but it still has a big volume bump until the bulb kicks in. Soooo, I want to wire it so the power is always on the bulb. I don't care about a pulsating led, I never touch it live anyway.
Any help is appreciated, thanks
Since those wonderful folks at ROG posted the Tri-Vibe, I decided not to mod it--the better to sell it once I build me a Tri-Vibe.
Hmmm, the tri-vibe clip I heard sounded more like a "vibrato" than a "univibe" to my ears. It reminded me a little of the vibrato setting on my space chorus.
Well, I certainly wont sell it until after building the Tri-Vibe. But in the meantime, I'm keeping it pristine.
This pedal sounds pretty good. I did the listed mods above and it works great with no delay and witht he flasing bulb it helps to visualize the rate
Question: I there a cap or other part that can be changed put a little more shine or treble highs to this pedal?
I tried the pedal with a Strat and I noticed a high end rolloff when the effect is engaged. do any of the mods correct this?
Supposedly that is part of the "vintage vibe" sound.
Would it be hard to add a expressionpedal jack connection?
Quote from: PaulBass on August 12, 2010, 07:08:53 PM
I tried the pedal with a Strat and I noticed a high end rolloff when the effect is engaged. do any of the mods correct this?
Funny... I added a .001uF to ground to cut out some of the suck. Perhaps mine has a factory defect.
Just bought this and tried the mods. Kind of. Firstly the flashing led - I got the led to flash, but the sound disappeared - my wiring isn't *quite* the same as that in the (excellent) photos, so maybe I need to cut/connect different wires?
Secondly, the volume boost. Exactly where do you connect a resistor to? I tried it between the output pin of the f/s to earth, but I just got a squealing sound. A photo would be useful, if anyone is still reading this?
Here's a pic of the wiring I tried.
(http://www.nickrobinson.info/music/images/vibe.jpg)
My light allready pulsates with the speed.... So do I have a revision one? I did open up mine.... Hmmm I'll check...maybe something is written on the inside...
I'm pretty sure the people at Dano and other companies are watching us all the time...
I have a problem with this pedal. I didn't modded it yet but sometimes the light blinks, and the worst part, after 10 minutes of using it the sound almost disapear, I only get some fuzzy/awfull sound.
It never worked with batteries too.
Anyone can help?
Quote from: mrrain on January 03, 2011, 02:34:02 PM
I have a problem with this pedal. I didn't modded it yet but sometimes the light blinks, and the worst part, after 10 minutes of using it the sound almost disapear, I only get some fuzzy/awfull sound.
It never worked with batteries too.
Anyone can help?
What kind of power supply are you using?
Did you buy it new? It sounds like something is defective. Can you return it to whoever you bought it from?
Quote from: Muziekschuur on November 11, 2010, 07:36:17 PM
My light allready pulsates with the speed.... So do I have a revision one? I did open up mine.... Hmmm I'll check...maybe something is written on the inside...
Does it also have the volume boost removed? Got a newish one on the way...
Mine does too.
I wonder where I can see what revision I own.
Hey guys, just looking at getting one of these, trying one out at the moment. A couple of questions (I have read this entire 7 page thread):
- Is the volume boost less noticeable after you fix the delay? Effects like this really need a slight boost to sound like unity gain, and I think the big problem is that the boost sounds really obvious until the effect kicks in. Have people found that fixing the delay lessens their distaste of the boost?
- Is there an easy way to make the LED indicate not only the speed (yep seen the instructions on doing that), but also the intensity? I was looking on the inside of this pedal and noticed that the throbbing light inside the pedal changes with the intensity knob - could one connect another LED in parralel to that one to make an 'always on' pulse indicator?
- Has anybody else taken the switch cover off? I noticed that if you take off the cover that goes over the switch, you end up with a slightly more conventional looking footswitch and two convenient sized holes on either side of the switch (where the screws for the switch cover went). I was thinking about using one of these holes for mounting a pulse indicator - if I can find a way of rigging one up - and the other as a screwdriver access hole for a volume trimpot. Thoughts?
Oh yeah, one other thing, on the one I have at home, I notice a slight crackle as the note dies. I actually work at a shop that sells these, so I'll find out tomorrow whether this crackle is common to the other Danovibe's we have in stock, but just thought I'd ask if anyone else has noticed a crackle? Could be an issue with my power supply, but I don't get it with my Phase 90.
OK, never mind about the crackle, doesn't seem to be the pedals fault. But still interested on peoples thoughts from my first post.
OK, well I seem to be talking to myself here, but anyway, I answered my own questions today by modding the pedal. I fixed the delay and rigged up the pulsing LED as per the instructions on page 2 of this thread, but with one slight difference. I found that by connecting the LED to the middle terminal of the intensity knob instead of pin three on the speed knob, I could get the LED to pulse not only as a speed indicator, but also as an intensity indicator (LED throbs less strongly with less intensity). There was a slight trade off though - the LED is slightly less intense overall (not really a negative in my view) and it also has the effect of turning down the intensity control slightly. It's easy enough to bring the intensity to where it was by turning the control up more, and if you're like me, you found that there was a sweet spot with the intensity control and mix control that gave you that perfect Pink Floyd 'Breathe' warble anyway. I just find now that sweet spot is higher up on the intensity dial. I'm wondering if with further experimentation I might be able to find a balance with my new intensity control and the internal trim pot to restore the original range of the control.
I also found that fixing the delay greatly reduced the annoyance of the volume boost, which is most noticeable before the effect kicks in on the stock version. With the delay gone, the volume boost seems almost welcome, as the ear perceives it closer to unity gain, like you find on a tremolo effect, so at this stage I'll probably leave the volume alone.
These mods make the DanoVibe a complete no brainer. Best bang for the buck Vibe pedal anywhere.
Hi mr_sooty,
I also have a CoolCatVibe brand new in a box and I didn't already find the time to improve it against the problems mentioned here - that I have noticed, moreover... Nonetheless, I read your explanations and find it interesting to try - so you were not talking alone : someone (at least me) was listening ! I record it for the day when I will re-open the box of my CCV !
Thanks & A+!
Thanks Tubelectron!
I've found that there's a trade off wherever you connect the LED - if you connect it to the spped pot only, you loose a little speed, if you connect it to the intensity pot, you lose a little intensity. For me personally, I got the sound I wanted on the stock pedal with the intesity at about 1 oclock. With the LED connected to the intensity control, I can still get that sound, but I need to have the intensity control nearly all the way up.
If you're somebody who uses the Vibe more for a Leslie type sound, with the intensity control right up in stock mode, you might want to leave the LED as is. As I say, even if you just connect it to the speed control as per the original instructions, you do seem to lose a little of the top speed range.
Guys i'm new here just picked up a Danolectro CCV wondering what the little trim pot does and how to adjust it.
any help much appreciated.
thanks
Brendan.
Adjust it with a small screw driver. It basically seems to alter the intensity of the photocell inside the pedal. I like to play a chord and adjust the trim pot until I hear the deep bassy low end throb, which seems to be at about 3 quarters of the way around. This is the best way to get that really nice swirly univibe sound.
Thanks Mr Sooty, i'll give that ago :icon_mrgreen:
Bump -
Does anybody know if there's a way to have the LED connected to the intrensity pot without it messing with the intensity? (same question for the speed knob I guess). I'm thinking a diode or a resistor or something?
I just picked one of these up in a bunch of pedals and opened it to do the mods, but somebody beat me to it....and put it back together with electrical tape. Nice...
Michael
My vibe modded like this.
(http://s9.postimage.org/5c4b4y18v/cool_vibe_mod.jpg) (http://www.postimage.org/)
png image hosting (http://www.postimage.org/)
Information from the net and some personal experiment with the volume problem.I did not try the trimmer method from the output because of impedance.
Correction make the resistor from 47k to 27k(not 22k)
I actually successfully added the from pot and made a video that I hope explains it well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSJ8TReL5tU
Thanks to this thread for inspiring me do complete the mod, it works great! I'll keep the pedal now. A speed out control jack would rock. I also run all my pedals at 12V but thats another thread...
I know that this is an old thread but a good one at that.
I did the delay mod this afternoon using a 27k resistor soldered to the switch PCB as per Aperio guitars instructions - a really easy way to do it.
The instructions are at http://aperioguitar.com/2011/06/13/a-better-mod-for-cool-cat-vibe/
The LCD is dim when the pedal is in true bypass but there again I didn't want to be blinded by it.
The mod is quite simple
(http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d41/bluesplottboy/cb0b7a72.jpg)
But I really have to get rid of the volume bump. Trouble is I am sooooo electrical incompetent, but good at soldering and I can follow a picture like the mod above. Unfortunately I cannot understand entirely the video link posted above in the thread.
Can anybody help me wire my 100k trimpot into the Danny - providing pictures on how to do it please?
Aperio guitars also give great instructions on how to wire a 100k trimpot but my Danny Cool Cat Vibe's PCB is nothing like the picture on their site so I'm loathe to start scraping away at the track on the PCB. My PCB looks like this
(http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d41/bluesplottboy/804a6da5.jpg)
Re the above - I think it could be that the footswitch is mounted 180 degrees differently to that one shown on aperio guitars website ???/
MMMM now what can I do to be sure???
nope that was no joy!!
I really want to get rid of that volume kick and have looked at the link on you tube in Guitarist's link above on how to install a trim pot.
Now I am an electronics novice but I can solder and I can follow instructions - I 've done the delay mod on the pedal and that works just fine.
So I was hoping someone can clear up Guitarist's commentary for me - he loses me a bit!!
At 0:28 of his video the narrative goes some thing like this
....."Going to that jack where it goes to the 3PDT switch the inside part (which confuses me) is the wire that you unplug from the connector underneath and that got soldered to the outside leg of a 50K pot"
So that I can fully understand what wire to remove from underneath the 3PDT switch, is it the grey wire that runs from the true bypass connector on the biscuit coloured PCB to the far left of the connector plugged onto the green switch pcb? - I would then solder that wire to the trim pot?
Just so that there's no confusion the sequence of the colours on the connector still plugged into the 3PDT switch PCB prior to the mod is
grey left/ grey middle/red - presume it's the grey left wire I remove?
I've also attached a photo should it help.
(http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d41/bluesplottboy/66ae5eee.jpg)
I'd really appreciate anybody's help on this and thank you for your time.
No reply? - oh well I took the plunge and jobs a good un.
Here's a picture of the finished install. Just so that it's clear to other newbs -
To cure the delay I soldered a 27k resistor to the ... ... lugs on the 3PDT PCB
To cure the volume boost I used a 100K trimpot - on the trimpot there are two legs together. One of the legs I soldered a fly lead connected to the middle lug left hand side of the
switch pcb ... ...
The lead that gets soldered onto the second leg is the grey wire underneath the switch PCB that goes into the molex connector. Remove this lead
Grey left grey middle red. It is the grey middle wire - the one that goes to the middle pin = middle lug on top of the switch pcb.
The third leg of the trimpot I have grounded to the screw that goes into the switch lug.
(http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d41/bluesplottboy/caf5be05.jpg)
Realising that this thread is rather old, but curious for those who have done the delay fix, how long ago and are there any noticeable degradation of the vibe (incandescent photo cell life span shortened?)
I'm not a amateur/professional player, but I'm not wanting to shorten the life of the CV-1 prematurely! :-\
Hi! im thinking about gtting one of these and re-housing it, would there be a way of adding a expression pedal jack so i could control it via my expression pedal? cheers!
every adapter I tried with this pedal is noisy. I either get a buzzy or high-pitched noise. But when I use a battery the pedal is silent. Is there a mod that can fix this? what adapter can I use with this pedal?
Quote from: Anon on May 18, 2012, 10:21:45 PM
every adapter I tried with this pedal is noisy. I either get a buzzy or high-pitched noise. But when I use a battery the pedal is silent. Is there a mod that can fix this? what adapter can I use with this pedal?
my friend actually brought his over last night to do the mods to take care of the vol boost & the delay. Both the Danelectro adapter and 1 Spot we had worked with no problems.
I've just complete the (Aperio) volume mod on a brand-new pedal.
As I was adusting the trimpot, the effect disappeared.
I can still hear the guitar, but clicking on/off does nothing.
No loose/disconnected wires found.
Battery is new and has plenty of voltage.
Inner lamp is blinking fine.
I've now disconnected the trimpot.....the problem remains.
Advice?
Thanks!
Mike
I finally got around to doing the volume and startup delay mods to my Vibe. I followed the Aperio Guitar instructions, but I made things a lot easier by using an old computer CD-ROM cable to connect the trimpot using the existing headers. Less soldering and no PCB alterations. I also removed the existing output to ground resistor to keep the output impedance and original tone the same. Click on the pic below for full details:
(http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z460/GGBB1/CCV_P_zps8ae6a3c4.jpg) (http://s1190.photobucket.com/user/GGBB1/story/13395)
Hello DIYers,
I brought a cool cat vibe yesterday, and it looks like danelectro made some tweaking. There's a trimpot for output level in the battery compartment. But the delay is still here.
(http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b513/fabien-c/IMG_20130904_195023_zps4099ac06.jpg)
(http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b513/fabien-c/IMG_20130904_195031_zps8e43c76d.jpg)
(http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b513/fabien-c/IMG_20130904_195101_zps96eb4ca2.jpg)
I know this is an old thread, but I thought keeping all the CC Vibe stuff together would be better than starting a new thread.
I really like the basics of what this pedal can do, but it seems quite dark, I know they mention this in the manual so it's not an issue or anything.
But is there anyway a guy could add a tone control to this thing?
If there was, this would really be the whole package as far as I'm concerned.
Cheers.
I haven't been able to find a schematic or trace for the cool cat vibe. I have this pedal, and have done the mods to improve delay startup and volume. I like it, except I get oscillator clicking... which I'm hoping to improve with rehousing and power filtering. Does anyone know if the mix knob really is a blend between chorus and vibrato? The univibe circuit does look like the chorus/vibrato switch is pulling in a different ratio of phased signal, but I'm not sure if the Cool Cat Vibe mix knob is having the same effect. Obviously, I don't have a univibe or clone to compare the sounds.
Hi everyone!
I have been following the process and tips from this thread (and others here and on other sites) to rehouse and modify a Cool Cat Vibe for my friend. Unfortunately, I seem to have hit a snag or two and I cannot get this thing to work. I feel like everything is wired as it should be; however, when I engage the effect, the LFO bulb doesn't light, the LED doesn't light, and I just get my dry guitar signal as output (the same dry signal I get when the effect is in bypass; however, I can adjust the volume of that dry signal using the 100k "volume pot" I installed).
One interesting thing I have noticed is that the LED does light up when I touch the cathode if the effect is on (the LED also lights up when I touch the unused lug of the 3PDT switch when the effect is bypassed). In my mind, that tells me that the LED is not connecting properly to ground; however, the 3PDT's "ground" lug of the LED section (others seem to be calling this the "power section") is DEFINITELY well connected to ground).
Based on my best probing with a multimeter, I seem to have 9V at the DC jack, 9V at the input to the PCB, and 9V exiting the LED so I *THINK* the board is getting power.
Aside from the LFO bulb being burnt out (which it wasn't when I pulled everything from the original enclosure), does anyone have any ideas on why the effect isn't working (i.e. why the LFO bulb isn't lighting) and why my LED isn't lighting?
Perhaps I am best to strip everything from the PCB and start from scratch again (maybe even wire it "stock" without the volume pot...)?
- brad -
Sounds like the volume mod is fine, but the startup delay fix isn't. Post pics of what you've done - close up and clear. Also note that I believe there are a couple of variations of the 3PDT daughter board, so make sure you have used the instructions that go with the type of 3PDT board you have.
Yes...my volume mod seems OK (although I noticed several post mention FX output to Lug 1 and Lug 3 to ground where I have them the opposite way and I get max volume at max clockwise rotation...which seems "correct" to me...).
As for the rest...the delay is definitely NOT fixed - the bulb NEVER turns on!
I am going to adjust some of the wiring before posting any photos as everything is a bit of a mess now as a result of me pulling everything back out of the enclosure and retrying a few variations. I have a bad feeling that it won't work even if I remove any mods and rewire as close to stock as possible...but I'll let you know ASAP.
Note that I am running everything to a new 3PDT switch so the variations won't impact me very much.
One thing I don't really understand is why some folks are calling the LED section of the 3PDT the "power switch". I thought that the LED and LFO bulb would get power from the "brown wire" 9V connected directly to the PCB board...
Perhaps my interpretation of the switch is all wrong...this is how I am wiring mine:
123
456
789
1 = input to PCB
2 = output from PCB (centre lug of 100k volume pot in my case)
3 = LED cathode
4 = input jack tip
5 = output jack tip
6 = ground (red wire running to 3rd "pin" on PCB board (beside "input" and "input shield")
7 = jumper to 8
8 = jumper from 7
9 = open (could run jumper to 1 to ground PCB in bypass)
If those are all correct, my assumption is that the second set of "pins" on the "input" side of the PCB are 1 = - lug from DC jack and 2 = +9v lug on DC jack.
Does this seem right?
- brad -
Sooooo....
Spent a bit more time with the Cool Cat Vibe and got the wiring back to where I think it all should be. Guess what? It still doesn't work...well, when the effect is engaged the blue LED still lights up when I touch the cathode and the volume pot I added still controls the volume quite nicely. Other than that, nothing!
I snapped a few photos...my apologies for the rat's nest of wiring - it looked a lot neater when the components were all inside their openings in the enclosure. Am I able to post them directly from my computer or do I have to host them on a site and insert the links?
- brad -
Quote from: debrad on July 18, 2014, 10:02:59 PM
Am I able to post them directly from my computer or do I have to host them on a site and insert the links?
You need to host them.
Thanks GGBB...just read that after posting my question!
Just set up a photo account so here are some relatively decent shots of my wiring...again, sorry for the rat's nest that resulted from pulling all the components from the enclosure - hopefully you still get an idea of what is going where:
(http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah3/debrad21/Cool%20Cat%20Vibe%20Rehouse/IMG_0439_zps4b85cacf.jpg)
(http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah3/debrad21/Cool%20Cat%20Vibe%20Rehouse/IMG_0431_zps38264bac.jpg)
(http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah3/debrad21/Cool%20Cat%20Vibe%20Rehouse/IMG_0434_zps342fab01.jpg)
(http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah3/debrad21/Cool%20Cat%20Vibe%20Rehouse/IMG_0433_zpse748d30e.jpg)
(http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah3/debrad21/Cool%20Cat%20Vibe%20Rehouse/IMG_0438_zpsbdfde3df.jpg)
- brad -
I'm having a hard time following what you've done, but it looks like you've hooked up the LED to where you should be taking the output to the volume control. Where your volume control is hooked up to I can't tell because I don't know which pot is the volume control. In the photo below, the white arrow points to the PCB output (white wire on right side of connector) that needs to go to pin 3 of your volume control. It looks like you have the LED connected there, but the photos don't actually show that very well. Maybe sketch out what you've done and post that.
(http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z460/GGBB1/CCV_A_zps4fbf221c.jpg~original) (http://s1190.photobucket.com/user/GGBB1/media/CCV_A_zps4fbf221c.jpg.html?sort=2&o=0)
I agree...the photos didn't make it a whole lot easier to see what's going on (sorry about that).
I didn't think my PCB output wire was the issue but I just double checked and it is going to Lug 3 of my newly installed volume pot (phew!).
Before drawing up a sketch for you, I checked all the wiring again and noticed that the +9V pin on the DC jack is a little loose. I suspect that a broken or loose +9V pin might have some impact on the effect...definitely might explain why the bulb and LED don't light up. Having said that, I did check my DC voltages in several places a few days ago and all seems to be OK. Perhaps I should pull the jack and try another...
Along those same lines, I'm curious to know if a broken or loose LFO bulb would cause the same symptoms I am experiencing?
Finally, I noticed in the photos that the resistor beside the LED pins looks like it might have taken some heat from my soldering iron. As a double check, I tested it with the multimeter and everything looks good...just covering all my bases!
Anyway, here is a sketch of my current wiring. Anything look amiss?
(http://i1376.photobucket.com/albums/ah3/debrad21/Cool%20Cat%20Vibe%20Rehouse/CurrentWiring_zpsff449133.jpg)
That looks right, but I'm not 100% certain. However it also looks like the plans for building a parrot. :icon_biggrin:
Did you check that the lamp isn't burnt out? Might be time to following the what to do when it doesn't work thread - post voltages etc. http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=29816.0
Wow...there really is a parrot there!
I did probe around the lamp with my multimeter but wasn't 100% sure how to REALLY test it. If it's an incandescent bulb, I suspect there should be continuity between the two solder lugs? Would the "diode test" feature light up the bulb the same way that it lights up the LED. Again, do you think that a dead bulb would cause the symptoms that I am seeing?
I also read the full "What to do when it doesn't work" post last week and definitely considered all those points. My only real concern was my lack of a) a schematic to know what leads to what and b) understanding for where and how to measure voltages throughout the PCB.
Perhaps I will start with replacing the DC jack...seems like the easiest step. A friend suggested I replace the 3PDT switch "just in case" but I feel like I have tested that pretty exensively without finding any glaring issue.
- brad -
I would think the lamp comes out somehow - probably screw mount or bayonet. Test for continuity.
User your meter to check for voltage, continuity, ground etc. where you expect those things. Replacing the DC jack might not accomplish anything - you are getting power when you touch the LED cathode.
Well, there seems to be continuity across the LFO lamp so I guess that rules out another option. I did read on another forum that Vibe effects can suffer from issues with the "lamp driver transistor" so I suppose that's another possibility...but not one that I am going to know for sure unless I follow the voltage proceedures from "What To Do When It Doesn't Work".
Fortunately, I know a local guy who does pedal repairs so it's nice to know that I have a "last resort". I have to admit that going to him will be a hard pill to swallow considering a) that I've modded several pedals without any real issues, b) the rehousing process really shouldn't be this difficult, and c) MANY others appear to have rehoused this pedal without issue.
Oh well, time to fire up the multi-meter again and see what I can find!
Thanks for all the help so far...
- brad -
UPDATE:
Just wanted to let you know that I took the forum advice to create a formal "Debugging" thread on my broken vibe pedal...complete with all the measured voltages, etc., etc...rather than fill this one with my trials and tribulations. Thanks for all the feedback so far. Hopefully the new thread will help me solve this thing. Here's the link:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=108154.0 (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=108154.0)
- brad -