wiring 2 boards in parallel

Started by devtheminotaur, June 01, 2005, 11:14:57 PM

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devtheminotaur

So, after some tinkering, I've decided to go all out and build a double pedal (very much like the Visual Sound Jekyll and Hyde pedal.)  I want to wire a fuzz running from an input to a 3pdt to an output.  If I wanted to wire a clean boost in the same enclosure, would i wire it as if the fuzz board wasn't there?  so from the input the signal goes to 2 switches then to 2 boards then to the output.  I think that's right.  Has anyone done a pedal like this?  I'm sure it will save room on my pedalboard and save me money by allowing me to not buy another enclosure only to put the pedals side by side in my signal chain anyway.  thanks

niftydog

not being familiar with the pedal you mentioned, what is it you actually want to acheive?

Wiring in parallel is probably not going to work as you might expect. The impedances are likely to be different which would cause a mismatch in signals going into each circuit.
niftydog
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darkseid

oops I posted in the wrong forum lol..... :D   guess there is no delete for bad post? ..

robbiemcm

Could this not work with a large enough 'mix' pot at the end however? Would be a good feature aswell, at least a trimpot surely though.

devtheminotaur

oh, thanks.  I was going to combine a zvex super hard on and a zvex fuzz factory.  the impedance issue makes sense, since the SHO has a super high output impedance.  Zvex makes a double SHO pedal (called a Super Duper 2 in 1,) which features a mix pot, but they can probably do this because the impedance is the same, right?  So, is there another way to wire them?  I was trying to figure out how to wire them in serial instead of in parallel, just as if they were housed in different enclosures but side by side in the signal chain.  I think the electro harmonix double muff has an integrated male 1/4" jack...and that seems a bit proposterous to me, so how would I wire these two circuits in series?  Perhaps this is how the Jekyll and Hyde pedal works anyway...which makes sense becuase if they were wired in parallel like the Super Duper 2 in 1, a mix pot would be a common mod for the pedal anyway.  Do I need to have an interal 1/4" jack and an internal switchcraft????  or do i wire the output from the 3pdt of the fuzz factory to the input part of the 3pdt of the SHO?  How would i ground this?  Sorry if this is such a beginner question...this is my first major project (i started with a single looper, then double loop, and then upgraded my single loop to a Total Sonic Mayhem) and my clone FF and SHO circuits are complete and work, but I would really like them in the same enclosure.

darkseid

Im thinking you could hook it up something like this....  depending on the effects used you may not need 2 batteries...


Mark Hammer

When newbies post here inquiring about a "beginner's project", one of the things I like to recommend is a loop selector, largely because it is possible to build without a single component other than jacks and a switch, and because it will be easily upgradeable once the person has more knowledge, and will always be useful.

Seems to me that what you want to build is a loop selector with effects hardwired to the loops.  So, your switch selects between Loop A and Loop B, and by happy coincidence, the fuzz is the occupant in Loop A, and the clean boost is the occupant of Loop B.

This is obviously quite buildable, and the switching would require no more than a DPDT stompswitch, or if you want an indicator LED, a 3PDT.

When you look at the "classic" wiring of a DPDT switch for bypass purposes, you will normally see what you see in this nice little article by Aron: http://www.diystompboxes.com/pedals/articles/elbypass.html
We are accustomed to treating one pair of the side lugs as the "bypass mode" and simply shunt them together to provide "straight wire bypass".  So, a wire goes from the input jack to the switch, through the switch, and on to the output jack.  But what if, instead of juts wiring one lug to the other, as shown, you took that set of contacts and ran them to another circuit board, just like what is shown in that same diagram for the &other* set of contacts?  Voila, an Effect-A/Effect-B selector switch!!

In your case, since one of the effects is a clean boost, that can sort of mimic a complete bypass, i which case the entire pedal becomes a sort of fuzz with bypass at different levels sorta pedal.  Of course, if the pedal consisted of two different-sounding distortions, you would likely want some way to cancel distortion completely (although there are SOME players..... :roll: ), in which case, you'd likely want two stompswitches, one to select complete bypass or effects, and the other to select WHICH effect.

How would you do that?.  Simple.  Once again, take a look at Aron's drawing.  That last drawing is the "master" switch, permitting straight wire bypass or rerouting to an effect circuit. Take those two leads going to the board, and treat them as if they were really coming from your input and output jack.  So, they would go to the "commons" of a second switch.  That second switch now becomes wired up like our loop selector.  There you go.  Done.

Is that what you wanted?

devtheminotaur

thanks darkseid, I'll give it a go and post how everything works out.  I appreciate your help Mark, but as read in the last bit of my second post, i've already made 2 looper pedals...and this being my first big complicated germanium-containing project, I want it to be professional.  I never really thought about making a 'no bypass switch' and the problem that arises are just as you pointed out...1. one of the effects is always on and 2. you cannot combine the effects.  I'd rather just house them in 2 different enclosures if i wanted that...which if darkseid's schematic doesn't work out, is what i'll problably do.  thanks

Mark Hammer

Thanks for being patient with me.  These days I'm posting stuff in hurried fashion between class periods (I'm at language immersion school) and sometimes don't stop to read things carefully before spilling my words out.

Best of luck with the pedal.

Mark Hammer

Thanks for being patient with me.  These days I'm posting stuff in hurried fashion between class periods (I'm at language immersion school) and sometimes don't stop to read things carefully before spilling my words out.

Best of luck with the pedal.