Havent used site for a while, now the schmatics links are down

[menome]

hey.  I havent been back since i modded my ibanez powerlead like a year ago now.  I thought i botched the mod because there was 60 cycle humm, but i found out this week that its a problem with my apartments grounding. it sounded great in the music store thru a twin reverb- SUPER thrashy, the guitar salesman mentioned testament, a friend says anthrax.  i created an imbalanced rectifier diode setup, and upped a resister to give it a "ts808 front end" mod, and it sounds killer for thrash metal rhythm and lead now.

Anyway, i have been slowly ordering parts for a 4 band eq distortion pedal based on the ratt op amp/rectifier circuit and im finding that the schematic links are mostly down.  What is up?

[Ripthorn]

The problem is that photobucket recently stopped hosting 3rd party images and now tons of links across the web are dead for photos and the like.  That is probably what happened.

[Rob Strand]

ibanez powerlead like a year ago now.  I thought i botched the mod because there was 60 cycle humm

Those things are very susceptible to power supply ripple/humm.  If you filter the 9V DC power supply say with say 100 ohm series resistor and a 100uF capacitor it might improve things.  Its the transistor.  IIRC the Boss HM pedal had a better design as far as supply humm goes.

i have been slowly ordering parts for a 4 band eq distortion pedal based on the ratt op amp/rectifier circuit and im finding that the schematic links are mostly down.

Can you copy and paste the link into a post?

[GGBB]

The problem is that photobucket recently stopped hosting 3rd party images and now tons of links across the web are dead for photos and the like.  That is probably what happened.

It depends on how the author has copied the PB link. If it's done the "official" way, the placeholder image will be a link that will take you to the original image on PhotoBucket (and then usually I find I have to hit reload to make the placeholder go away and see the real image). But if they just copied the URL for the raw image, then all you see in the forum is the placeholder image. But the link back to the original is still there, so you can get it by looking at the page source if you know how to do that. I wrote a greasemonkey/tampermonkey script to automatically do it. Just install either the greasemonkey or the tampermonkey browser add-on, and then install the script by going to https://openuserjs.org/scripts/gtranter62/PhotoBucketImageReplacer and clicking the Install button.

EDIT: By "automatically do it" I mean it will replace the PhotoBucket image with a link to the image on PhotoBucket. If you get to PhotoBucket and still see the upgrade notice placeholder image, reload the page (usually the F5 key).

[roseblood11]

If I click on Install, the source code is displayed. (Firefox Android with Tampermonkey)

[menome]

im not as worried about the rat right now- i just picked up a clone for $25...  whats concerning me now is the eh microsynth. i can tell, right off, that the input trigger slider is broken.  It would be nice to know the value, and if it were some common size/shape.  even after that, everything, even the square wave, sounds distorted, even with the input source's output all the weay down (since the trigger input is stuck).  Perhaps i should crack the thing open before i say any more... please say the thing doesnt take a 9 volt...

[GGBB]

If I click on Install, the source code is displayed. (Firefox Android with Tampermonkey)

According to https://www.ghacks.net/2016/04/08/install-userscripts-firefox-for-android/, Tampermonkey for Firefox on Android doesn't work. The suggestion is to use Usi instead. I tried both in Firefox on Android - sure enough Tampermonkey doesn't work but Usi does. Not sure if it is just me or maybe it's DIYSB, but it takes a long time for the page to finish loading, and the script doesn't run until the page finishes loading, so the image links don't get created until then. This happens for me both in Firefox and Chrome (and I don't have the extension in Chrome).

[davent]

The problem is that photobucket recently stopped hosting 3rd party images and now tons of links across the web are dead for photos and the like.  That is probably what happened.

It depends on how the author has copied the PB link. If it's done the "official" way, the placeholder image will be a link that will take you to the original image on PhotoBucket (and then usually I find I have to hit reload to make the placeholder go away and see the real image). But if they just copied the URL for the raw image, then all you see in the forum is the placeholder image. But the link back to the original is still there, so you can get it by looking at the page source if you know how to do that. I wrote a greasemonkey/tampermonkey script to automatically do it. Just install either the greasemonkey or the tampermonkey browser add-on, and then install the script by going to https://openuserjs.org/scripts/gtranter62/PhotoBucketImageReplacer and clicking the Install button.

EDIT: By "automatically do it" I mean it will replace the PhotoBucket image with a link to the image on PhotoBucket. If you get to PhotoBucket and still see the upgrade notice placeholder image, reload the page (usually the F5 key).

Haven't been signed into or used Photobucket since they severed the links until today. Tried to see one of my own pictures but i couldn't get an image to display. Signed in and still couldn't get the image to display but did come to the realization upon being signed in and trying to use photobucket once again, that i can be eternally grateful that they are no longer a part of my life.

Wonder how the millions of ransom notes scattered on forums about the web are doing at drumming up new users to their non-service.

dave

[menome]

is it acceptable to use these forums regarding troubleshooting and repairing pedals, or just modding and building?  Id like to start a separate post about the microsynth once i open it up- i just dont know if that is acceptable...

i did find a good link to a rat schematic.  There were like 3 linked, and one is still working.  And totally separate note (perhaps post) id like to understand what i did when i modded my ibanez powerlead.  what  i might have done is biased the clipping on the input diode circuit, idk...  but i really want to learn more, learn what im doing- and not "just" reading schematics and soldering.

I have a huge bag of 1970'sd and 1980's resistors, capacitors diodes and ic chips of various types and values that i salvaged when i was a kid, and i picked through that pile to find the resistors and diode for my powerlead mod.  could i have used a germainum diode?

[GGBB]

Right - you said RAT schematic. Possibly the most comprehensive one (if I do say so myself):

[GGBB]

Haven't been signed into or used Photobucket since they severed the links until today. Tried to see one of my own pictures but i couldn't get an image to display. Signed in and still couldn't get the image to display but did come to the realization upon being signed in and trying to use photobucket once again, that i can be eternally grateful that they are no longer a part of my life.

Wonder how the millions of ransom notes scattered on forums about the web are doing at drumming up new users to their non-service.

dave

I've been on a handful of times since the DOB (denial of bucket) attack began and talk about your bad user experience. Extremely flaky performance. Images don't load, entire pages time out, features don't respond, ... I wonder if amateur hackers everywhere are fighting back by pommeling their site with bot requests. Not that I'm okay with that, but they sure had it coming. If paying customers and businesses are getting that kind of experience, PB will be out of business in no time.  At the very least, some corporate bigwigs ought to be dismissed.

I will not miss it in the least.

[GGBB]

is it acceptable to use these forums regarding troubleshooting and repairing pedals

Absolutely.

[menome]

i see the op amp and a single rectifier circuit, correct?  Then all that gain comes from resistor values, i take it.

Im looking at the powerlead i modded, and i got like 4 mods overlapping here, i think. i found what i believed to be 2 diode rectifier circuits, and i ran a diode of equal value parallel to one of the diodes, of each diode pair, to imbalance/bias (instead of swapping for different value)- however you would say, the diode clipping.

I believe i was told to replace resistor # 30 with another of 25 ohms (i think. gold, orange, black brown) to do a ts-808 mod.  Is that where changing resistor values come into increasing the gain? 

But, theres another resistor on the underside- jumpering from resistor 23 to capacitor 13- and its a Much larger-sized resistor (gold, brown, purple yellow) than any used on the actual circuit board.   I dont recall what that resistor is all about- perhaps its a tone bias, i really dont recall...

[menome]

well, i went looking for the powerlead schematic so i could get an idea of where to wire in the power filtering circuit, and, lolz, the powerlead schematic link is down...

http://homepages.tig.com.au/~rstrand/ib_pl5.gif

[Shaggy45]

well, i went looking for the powerlead schematic so i could get an idea of where to wire in the power filtering circuit, and, lolz, the powerlead schematic link is down...

http://homepages.tig.com.au/~rstrand/ib_pl5.gif

[menome]

thank you greatly. It appears i mistook the pedal for a dual rectifier circuit, and ran another diode parallel to diode 4, thinking i was biasing a rectifier circuit.  that circuit seems to switch between dry and dirty, so i guess i just wasted a diode.  Looks like the resistor i changed affects output level (r 30), but im still lost at the resistor i jumpered between r 23 and c 13.

  Dunno, the pedal sounds much improved- very thrashy- i just wish i fully understood the theory behind what i did.

[menome]

or r 30 is on the distortion pot, and that is why the pedal sounds so thrashy now. i was told it was a "ts 808 front-end" mod. but something i did boosted the saturation by a whole lot

[Rob Strand]

Ibanez PL5

http://guitarwork.ru/electronic/firm/Distortion/Ibanez%20Power%20Lead%20PL-5.gif

(Another circuit but some of the part designators are incorrect, they don't match the board.
https://schematicheaven.net/effects/ibanez_pl5_powerlead.pdf
)

The part of the circuit that is sensitive to power supply ripple is the amplifier involving TR2.

Now look at the Boss HM-2,
http://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/s/schematics/boss-hm2-heavy-metal-schematic.png

Take a look at the amplifier Q6 (don't worry about Q7), there is a power filter C5 and R10.

Clearly, Boss know how to avoid the humm problem!.

[menome]

so, on the powerlead, i ground out a 100 uf capacitor after the zobel circuit and r 11, and, on the other side of r 11, run a 100 ohm resistor to the power positive? thats a lot of resistance. guess i wont know till i try.

[Rob Strand]

hats a lot of resistance. guess i wont know till i try.

The big cap prevents any effect on the circuit.  If you make the series resistance
1/100th to 1/20th the collector resistor then it should not affect biasing.

If you are isolating the filter to just R11 I would use 1k and 47uF like the HM2.
The 100ohm + 100uF is a generic fix.

You should be able to lift R11 and insert the filter.