http://www.musicsynthesizer.com/Diode%20Phaser/Instructions_All.pdf
looks cool. supposed to do thru zero flanging and all... hey dino...your ears burning?
;)
do you think this thing may be cool? anybody know anything about them?
The late lamented Jurgen Haible had replicated it. You can find all the information, and some sound samples here: http://www.jhaible.de/tau/jh_tau.html
wow,,,,,
http://web.archive.org/web/20040225180212/http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/soundsheet/the%20pipe%20phase.html
me wantee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
guess i better go look that link over closer...thanks mark!!
holy cow...sounds great!!
Strategy (of this board) has already built one as a pedal. The soundclip he posted is really nice! Check this thread out:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=85012.0 (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=85012.0)
Oufff!!! I took a look at the PCB :icon_eek:. A vero would be hooooge :icon_eek:. Strategy already built one using a PCB, the build report is here in the forum, including a clip with guitar.
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=85012.0 (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=85012.0)
Looks like some of the parts would be pretty pricey, and/or tough to find as well, especially the dual FET. I've listened to clips of this baby, and it sounds really nice, but it's not really "blowin' my skirt up" though. Besides, I've listened to a lot of clips and samples of different phasers, and it's not for nothing that people in the know say that anything more than 8 stages is overkill on guitar. 20 stages sounds great on synths, but to my ears, much of the stages get lost with guitar. I just can't hear the difference between 8 stages, and 12 stages on guitar. Thinking about it, I believe it was Mark that led me to somewhat educate myself on the subject, because a while back, I thought that "more is better". In this case, I don't think it is. It's sorta like trying to kill a mouse with a nuclear bomb :icon_mrgreen:.
I'm working on a Gretsh Expandafuzz vero right now, but that's just to tide me over until I get my case for my Ring Stinger clone. The populated boards are sitting there, waiting for their home. Then, I think I'm FINALLY going to tackle the Luddy clone.
"it's in ya, and it's gonna come out"...
all i know is it sounds great to me...didja hear the weird old demo i found? hang on a sec....
http://web.archive.org/web/20040225180212/http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/soundsheet/the%20pipe%20phase.html
it doesn't sound like any other phaser i can think of....
speaking of which...
i figured out what the "mini phase II" is....most likely....(from the couple descriptions, including the one in mass i was trying to find) it's a mutron phaser II.
i can see where peeps that don't know may get confused.
The Tau was the biggest project I ever undertook but one of the most rewarding.
Juergen Haible, guru of synth DIY and fanatic of exotic FX projects, died a few months ago, he was in his mid 40s I think. It's possible that www.bridechamber.com (http://www.bridechamber.com) still have the Tau circuit boards.
It's difficult to express exactly the level of loss of this important person in DIY but it's probable his projects will live on through the public domain. I think people are giving some space for his family and friends before taking the endeavor to keep his PCB and DIY projects alive and available
Strategy
hi bro,
sorry to hear about juergen. that's a true shame, mid 40's is way too young.
the website is gone, so no dice getting a board there.
may have to either bite the bullet and learn to make my own, or do it on vero.
this is one of the coolest phasers i've ever heard...it sounds like the stuff in my head. ;)
Quote from: Strategy on March 25, 2012, 04:56:18 PM
The Tau was the biggest project I ever undertook but one of the most rewarding.
Juergen Haible, guru of synth DIY and fanatic of exotic FX projects, died a few months ago, he was in his mid 40s I think. It's possible that www.bridechamber.com (http://www.bridechamber.com) still have the Tau circuit boards.
It's difficult to express exactly the level of loss of this important person in DIY but it's probable his projects will live on through the public domain. I think people are giving some space for his family and friends before taking the endeavor to keep his PCB and DIY projects alive and available
Strategy
+1
If anything, Jurgen became sort of the patron saint of impossiby large projects, demonstrating that they COULD be done, and done well. Missed, but unlikely to be forgotten by a big bunch of folks.
His website is still up, with all the documents, though I suppose it makes sense to snag the documents posted that you find relevant, since I can't imagine they will be up for years to come, as much as I would hope they would.
i got all the data there i could find associated with juergen's website and diy yesterday.
it's a shame i can't share my archive...i've accumulated about 5 gigs of lost and arcane projects and schematics for things that disappeared years ago.
the web archive has been friendly.
if it was ethical, i'd just up the whole mess to my website so people could take what they want and learn from it.
sadly, this action would end with me being waterboarded by dubya himself in gitmo most likely.
i hate to see this stuff vanish, too.
Pretty sure Bridechamber has those pcb's?
http://www.bridechamber.com/Tau_PCB.html (http://www.bridechamber.com/Tau_PCB.html)
Oh and @Digit2T:
Tau sounds GREAT on guitar - but not as a phaser, more as a vibe. You can get really weird "extreme" vibrato sounds from it, but not like BBD based chorus vibrato, more like voodoo vibe or univibe but way more intense. The phasing is so extreme you can get pitch bend effects, very Leslie like, very "Pink Floyd live at Pompeii" era sounds.
it wasn't a sound I expected to get from this box at all, kind of a side benefit to the more synth friendly sweeps...
Strategy
Quote from: Strategy on March 25, 2012, 05:06:31 PM
Pretty sure Bridechamber has those pcb's?
http://www.bridechamber.com/Tau_PCB.html (http://www.bridechamber.com/Tau_PCB.html)
weird, bridechamber.com was 404'ing yesterday...
thanks strategy
YOW!! this puppy ain't gonna be cheap!! ;)
I used the high end IC selection, but later I heard a friend who did one as a modular synth module, and he had used the "budget" IC selection; it sounded amazing as well, so I would say you could still go "budget" and you would NOT be cutting any corners on the sound at all. It would be still totally awesome sounding.
One thing I did not do that I would recommend, is follow the instructions about the shielded cabling. Parts of this circuit do attract noise so use the insulated cable where specified. it's a little bit of an extra pain in wiring.
In that regard also recommend using the headers like Juergen does. I have not used headers on several projects and after wiring, I'd wished I'd used the headers, after all.
Strategy
Quote from: pinkjimiphoton on March 25, 2012, 05:18:11 PM
Quote from: Strategy on March 25, 2012, 05:06:31 PM
Pretty sure Bridechamber has those pcb's?
http://www.bridechamber.com/Tau_PCB.html (http://www.bridechamber.com/Tau_PCB.html)
weird, bridechamber.com was 404'ing yesterday...
thanks strategy
YOW!! this puppy ain't gonna be cheap!! ;)
Quote from: Strategy on March 25, 2012, 05:14:16 PM
Oh and @Digit2T:
Tau sounds GREAT on guitar - but not as a phaser, more as a vibe. You can get really weird "extreme" vibrato sounds from it, but not like BBD based chorus vibrato, more like voodoo vibe or univibe but way more intense. The phasing is so extreme you can get pitch bend effects, very Leslie like, very "Pink Floyd live at Pompeii" era sounds.
it wasn't a sound I expected to get from this box at all, kind of a side benefit to the more synth friendly sweeps...
Strategy
Hmmm... I've followed a lot of your work, with much respect as well, so I'll take your word on that. I guess the clips just aren't doing it for me. Then again, the opposite can be true as well, you can hear something really cool on the net, go to the trouble of building it, and then be left completely unimpressed. Been there, done that.
Veroing this would be epic though. I mean, I could do it, but it would need a really big enclosure, and pedal board space is always at a premium. This would be something that I would prefer to have on PCB, but like Jimi says, the link was 404'ing, but up today. It's pricey for the whole kit, but build-wise, I believe the price is justifiable.
Maybe I'll take a break on the Expandafuzz, and research this some more. I'm gonna have supper now, and mull it over.
dino, enjoy your supper.
;)
didja listen to the clip i found on the web archive?
the thru-zero phased flanging is pretty hip...and it gets into formant areas, too.
i don't think this would be a pedal...more like a rackmount if you did vero i'd think.
as it is, the pcb is double sided and 6x3 " or something like that.
but man...i just have a feeling it would be worth it!
@digi2t - you've heard my music??? I've (mostly) been able to be on the forum with relative anonymity ;) glad you have enjoyed.
my early sound clips were done before I had really fully explored the Tau, but I've now done a lot of music that really uses it. At some point I can forward something that shows the thing more in context. Actually my old band FONTANELLE reformed and we recorded an album that is going to come out on the great label Southern Lord. The Tau appears on a lot of organ and rhodes parts on that album and on the rhodes it really awesome through the Tau. On the organ it gets into kind of 1970s sounding phase territory but with the added stages it sounds pretty freaky and futuristic.
@ jimiphoton - so I did build mine as a pedal but that could have been overkill. I would say Rackmount is a good direction. I would like to never again deal with 4PDT wiring or any pedal with stereo outputs. It was the hardest part about the build, I had to have help figuring it out.
I would say this project is DEFINITELY worth it. I really regret I did not get to buy the STORM TIDE FLANGER PCB, another JH project issued shortly before he passed. I'm not a flanging fan but that thing is crazy. All those projects are just really *musical*.
I am working (slowly) on a the Marc Bareille/Papareil MUTRON BIPHASE PCB project, and it will be a desktop or rackmount, no foot bypass. I just don't want to deal with that again!
Strategy
hi strategy,
i'd LOVE to hear this thing on some of your stuff.
i avoided the 4pdt on the clone theory build i did...i just have the stereo output short to ground unless plugged in. otherwise, (since i don't use it in stereo anyways) i'd have used a 3pdt variant of
RG's millenium bypass.
would this even FIT in a stompbox? i'd rather have a pedal than a stomp personally. don't like to have to move rack gear at gigs...prefer stuff in a smaller package.
all the links to the project went down from jurgen's site (at least the ones linked to from the pcb site), but i DID archive all the rest if you or anyone else needs the stormflanger stuff or this project.
i'd really like to build this, but right now i simply can't justify the expense....too broke to boogie.
OK...
After careful listening, serious consideration, inquiring as to PCB and parts availability, and promising to cut down on my Tim Horton's addiction (OUCH!), I've taken the plunge.
PCB, components, and enclosure, have been ordered. I'm going to use the same type enclosure as my Ring Stinger clone.
Ludwig will have to wait... a tad longer. But not to worry, I ordered an extra enclosure of it as well :icon_mrgreen:.
Strategy..... IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!! DAMN YOU!!!! :icon_lol: :icon_lol: :icon_lol:
nice....no vero this time!!??? lol
can't wait to hear it!!
Quote from: pinkjimiphoton on April 05, 2012, 11:34:18 PM
nice....no vero this time!!??? lol
can't wait to hear it!!
Vero? Not unless I take a vow of chastity, become a monk, and retreat to some monestary high atop a rocky outcrop somewhere in the Greek interior. :icon_lol:
That thing sounds pretty f'n amazing... Worth the $50 for the pcb? I think so.
definitely worth the 50 bux!!
just like the concept of vero wherever possible..it's neat to make stuff by hand.
dino's done some masterpieces...but this would be HUGE!!! :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek:
Enjoy!!!
I would say this is NOT such a hard build just in terms of the PCB components...it is an incredibly legible layout...there's some repetition and lots of soldering...the only "hangups" to be aware of, like I said are:
- 4PDT switching if you do stereo outputs and want this as a floor unit
- noise proof your wiring
- calibration (but even that's not too hard, honestly)
If you *do* use Ring Stringer, or commercial pedals such as Moogerfoogers that have CV/Gate connectivity for "modular" interaction, I highly recommend doing the full panel buildout with LFO CV output and cutoff frequency CV inputs. Then you can create a little network of weirdness between your pedals...
I have been adding CV inputs to everything..so the other day I was sweeping the pulse width of my Escobedo PWM pedal with the LFO from my Tau. Crazy!
Strategy
Quote from: digi2t on April 05, 2012, 09:25:33 PM
OK...
After careful listening, serious consideration, inquiring as to PCB and parts availability, and promising to cut down on my Tim Horton's addiction (OUCH!), I've taken the plunge.
PCB, components, and enclosure, have been ordered. I'm going to use the same type enclosure as my Ring Stinger clone.
Ludwig will have to wait... a tad longer. But not to worry, I ordered an extra enclosure of it as well :icon_mrgreen:.
Strategy..... IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!! DAMN YOU!!!! :icon_lol: :icon_lol: :icon_lol:
i have to say , thats the best demo clip i ever heard !
http://web.archive.org/web/20040225180212/http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/soundsheet/the%20pipe%20phase.html
move over ebow user guide cassette .
That's kickass! I missed that before, somehow. The bass sounds so badass.
Quote from: pinkjimiphoton on April 06, 2012, 10:59:16 AM
definitely worth the 50 bux!!
just like the concept of vero wherever possible..it's neat to make stuff by hand.
dino's done some masterpieces...but this would be HUGE!!! :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek: :icon_eek:
Thanks for the kind word bro. I find that a vero that's got more than 50 cuts and/or 25 jumpers, starts to get a bit unruly, not to mention large. When you get into 1590DD enclosure territory, I find that costs start to increase almost geometrically as well. I've had the Gretsch Expanda-Fuzz in my sights for a while, and I've been trying desperately to keep it as true to the original as possible. But alas, five uA748 IC's just don't allow for an elegantly small footprint vero-wise. In the end, if I insist on staying true to original, the clone will end up being as big as the original.
At some point, you just have to know when to cut bait :icon_rolleyes:. Unless someone REALLY wants one, in a 19" rackmount vero size. That would cost them a bunch of doughnuts though! :icon_lol:
I also ordered the component kit along with the PCB. I figured that it would be best, considering that they know what works, and it would save me from the hassle of shopping from several suppliers.
i'm too cheap at the moment to buy the board and kit, tho that may change....i'm still re-building all the boxes of my mis-spent youth!!
i hear ya tho...there comes a point where it just doesn't make sense to vero some things. this would be too epic! :icon_mrgreen:
Hi guys, I have watched this forum for a while but just had to join after reading this thread. It seems like a big hassle at first, but I have built a perfboard tau, and it's not sooo bad. The circuit has a lot of repetition and the besides the all pass ladder the main circuit is not too huge. The whole thing (minus the power supply) fit on a 4" by 4 1/2" piece of rat shack perfboard. I like to keep board size down by putting components on the bottom side as well, not something everyone would want to do, but it works well for me. It's maybe hard to tell from the pictures but i laid it out so that the audio and control circuits each have their own power rail, starred back to the power supply.
It is a wildly intense phaser and totally worth building, there are some very nice subtle sounds to be had from it as well, nice chorus/vibrato type sounds with the resonance turned down. I also added a second LFO which is switchable between triangle, slewed square and sample and hold, another of Jurgen's ideas i took from his flanger project.
I second Strategys suggestions, use shielded wire for all the audio runs and try to keep audio wires away from the LFO frequency pot wires, I know mine looks pretty crazy, but it works great and was also reeeeeal cheep. (if i managed to actually get the pictures to show up)
Cheers,
jordan
:edit: tried to get the pictures to show up correctly, i seem to be doing something wrong, the pictures of the tau are 1 through 4 in the FX folder
http://s608.photobucket.com/albums/tt161/jordanaceto/FX/?action=view¤t=IMG_0053.jpg#!oZZ4QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs608.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ftt161%2Fjordanaceto%2FFX%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DIMG_0162.jpg
Holy crap I absolutely loath photobucket... what a crapass site, IMO. Imageshack is a bit less of a pain.
Anyways, for the 3 seconds that it actually shows the picture before it redirects to a full-page blank ad, it looks pretty nice!
Quote from: Jordan A. on April 08, 2012, 01:39:35 PM
Hi guys, I have watched this forum for a while but just had to join after reading this thread. It seems like a big hassle at first, but I have built a perfboard tau, and it's not sooo bad. The circuit has a lot of repetition and the besides the all pass ladder the main circuit is not too huge. The whole thing (minus the power supply) fit on a 4" by 4 1/2" piece of rat shack perfboard. I like to keep board size down by putting components on the bottom side as well, not something everyone would want to do, but it works well for me. It's maybe hard to tell from the pictures but i laid it out so that the audio and control circuits each have their own power rail, starred back to the power supply.
It is a wildly intense phaser and totally worth building, there are some very nice subtle sounds to be had from it as well, nice chorus/vibrato type sounds with the resonance turned down. I also added a second LFO which is switchable between triangle, slewed square and sample and hold, another of Jurgen's ideas i took from his flanger project.
I second Strategys suggestions, use shielded wire for all the audio runs and try to keep audio wires away from the LFO frequency pot wires, I know mine looks pretty crazy, but it works great and was also reeeeeal cheep. (if i managed to actually get the pictures to show up)
Cheers,
jordan
:edit: tried to get the pictures to show up correctly, i seem to be doing something wrong, the pictures of the tau are 1 through 4 in the FX folder
http://s608.photobucket.com/albums/tt161/jordanaceto/FX/?action=view¤t=IMG_0053.jpg#!oZZ4QQcurrentZZhttp%3A%2F%2Fs608.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ftt161%2Fjordanaceto%2FFX%2F%3Faction%3Dview%26current%3DIMG_0162.jpg
i got the pics, bro, nice!!!
man...any chance you could label the components on that puppy? cuz it definitely looks do-able...would be a hell of a project, but it looks great!!!
i wish i were evolved enough to be able to figure it out just from the pics!!
peace
jimi
Hmmm, I'll try to figure out a better photo system when i have a minute, probably should have done that first but i was excited by all the tau talk and wanted to jump on board.
Jimi, I just laid it out as i went, from one end of the schematic to the other. It would take way more time to label it all than it would to just build one. I'm used to building seat of my pants style, but I can try to help if anyone else is thinking of doing it perf style. I breadboard absolutely everything first, and if you do that for a while a perfboard layout kind of presents itself naturally, with IC's all in a row with the power rails running down the middle, R's a C's on the sides connected directly to the IC pins whenever possible, with a ground rail on either side of the IC's. Done that way you don't need to make too many connections with resistor clippings, as much stuff as possible goes right where it needs to be.
jordan
i'd need a bigger breadboard, i think. ;)
did you ever try diylayout creator?
http://code.google.com/p/diy-layout-creator/
you can lay out pretty much anything on vero, perf, or pcb, and it's free if ya get crazy.
i like the way you populated the perfboard...using both sides of it i'd imagine saved a lot of real estate on the top of the board..
really nice.
i'm always spooky about trying to do something like this on perf...never seemed to have much luck with it.
anyways, some better photos would be ace, but no worries jordan. thanks mate!
peace!
Yup, no matter how much I don't care for perf, I must give to Caesar what rightfully belongs to Caesar. Perf would make for a smaller board, especially since it's easier to cut across diagonally, whereas vero needs to zig-zag up/down to stay neat. Placing components on the underside saves space as well. Well done Jordan! :icon_cool:
Awesome, thanks for posting this stuff dudes! Might not start this tomorrow, but definitely on the list. Rad demo (http://web.archive.org/web/20040225180212/http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/soundsheet/the%20pipe%20phase.html)!
Finally got a good look at that... very nice, Jordan! I had to catch the pic with a right click "View Image" before it went to the blank page.
Direct Link to Image (http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt161/jordanaceto/FX/IMG_0053.jpg)
Great build!!
Quote from: Earthscum on April 08, 2012, 07:47:17 PM
Finally got a good look at that... very nice, Jordan! I had to catch the pic with a right click "View Image" before it went to the blank page.
Direct Link to Image (http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt161/jordanaceto/FX/IMG_0053.jpg)
Whoops, that pic is actually a mutron biphase + stereo panner from a while ago, the tau pictures are the first four pictures in the FX folder, sorry about that.
Jimi, i did try to get into the layout creator but I think I'm a pen and paper guy at heart, great program though.
cheers,
jordan