Nice ce-1 clone!

[dubs]

A nice build from retrotown!






Anyone else made their own?

[Lonestarjohnny]

nice build Dub's,
Johnny

[dubs]

NO I didn't build it, just saw it on the web!

[cd]

WTF?  That thing is $250, more than a real CE-1 (I've seen used ones $150-250).

[petemoore]

Looks kool with the map where you can see it.
 Sheee whaa, a direct clone or did you fiddle with the design?
 N I C E

[Mark Hammer]

The builder is Tim Larwill, a resident of the Quebec side of the Ottawa region, and someone I'm honoured to call a buddy.  Tim has been working hard on perfecting this particular product, with feedback from customers, especially the noise and distortion which tends to take away from the original.  We've had numerous discussions about mods and small component value changes, and it keeps getting closer and closer to an "ideal" CE-1.  I've tried one and it's a nice pedal.   Good sound, good package, solid build.

Personally, CE-1's never wowed me all that much, but if you're partial to them, this is a very nice version (with a real MN3002) that is optimized for guitar.  The original was intended to anticipate a broader range of input signal types and may have made some poor compromises for guitar for that reason.  Obviously not as cheap as a Rocktek or Rogue chorus, but not as expensive as scoring an original CE-1, and thankfully not as bulky or noisy as one either.

[Ed G.]

WTF?  That thing is $250, more than a real CE-1 (I've seen used ones $150-250).

That price doesn't seem unreasonable at all.

[BDuguay]

Hey Mark.
It seems your friend had a booth at the annual Toronto vintage guitar show. A friend of mine had a booth at the show too and tried out Tims 808ish pedal. He was mighty impressed and approached Tim about repping his line in and around Ontario. I'm even more curious now that he's gotten props from M. Hammer!
B.

[Rodgre]

Yeah, it's interesting that the board has traces on the component side. I wonder if it's double-sided in order to fit in such a small space.

It also seems professionally wave soldered, which is pretty cool looking.

Roger

[puretube]

happens to be featured here this week:
http://www.musictoyz.com

[Mark Hammer]

Tim told me they had picked up some from him.  I guess a congratulatory phone call is in order!

It took him a while to get a layout that would keep clock whine away AND fit inside a 1590BB, but from what I gather, most of the space savings is from using a wallwart instead of the onboard transformer and big honking power caps found in the original.  It should also be noted that the original didn't actually NEED all that space.  A not insignificant portion of what was under the hood was empty real estate.

[dubs]

Yeah, it's interesting that the board has traces on the component side. I wonder if it's double-sided in order to fit in such a small space.

It also seems professionally wave soldered, which is pretty cool looking.

Roger

Or perhaps the other side is a ground plane to minimise interference/noise?

[george]

this is a very nice version (with a real MN3002) that is optimized for guitar.  The original was intended to anticipate a broader range of input signal types and may have made some poor compromises for guitar for that reason.  

I know one mod on a real CE-1 is to change the level pot from 25K to 250k to stop the "tone sucking" - are there any other mods that can be done (that your pal is willing to share with us, that is .... ;-) ?

george

[Gil]

Does anyone have the layout for CE-1 ? (or CE-2)

[Mark Hammer]

I know one mod on a real CE-1 is to change the level pot from 25K to 250k to stop the "tone sucking" - are there any other mods that can be done (that your pal is willing to share with us, that is .... ;-) ?

george

It's his product, so I'll leave it to him to decide what information ought to be divulged.  However, it is worth noting that while the pot-value change (posted around in many places as a recommended mod) reduces tone-sucking, it would appear that it also introduces some problems with respect to level-matching between bypass and effect.  Tim has worked out a solution to that after much discussion and pondering (and actual field-testing), and apparently the problem is solved.

[Tim L]

Well, I've gotten a lot of good info from this forum, and have been lucky enough to meet and become buddies with Mark since we're both in Otttawa, so I guess I can pass one some findings I have on the CE-1 without giving away any trade secrets!

First off the schematic for this thing is correct. The only mistake I found was the .047 cap in the noise killer circuit. Actual value is .47.
-If you want true bypass you can get rid of the two switching FETs at the dry and wet outputs and use 3pdt.
- As for a layout, I would use the one from the service manual that someone said they had a couple days ago, it will need a bigger box (not as big as the original), you'll have less clock noise/interference issues with the stock board.
- Impedance matching. This was a real interesting topic. If you can live with the clipping threshold side-effect, leave it stock. It's part of the mojo/magic sound that the CE-1 has. If you HAVE to tinker, the 500k level pot will clear up the sound and give you some more high end. (the thing has a great range when properly matched, but when properly matched, however, suddenly some of the mojo disappears....imagine that....). Indivudal taste.....

For dubs who has a stock ce-1, put something like a Craig Anderton buffer in front of the chorus and you won't have to modify the unit too much. Since they continue to grow in value, they should be mucked with too much other than some minor re-wiring in my opinion.

Last piece of advice/experience. This was not an easy build. It took a lot of effort to make it happy in a small enclosure. I'd try a ce-2 circuit with the speed mods to simulate a 512 stage BBD, probably a lot less of a headache...

Cheers,
Tim