DON'T THROW OUT THAT LIGHT BULB !!!

[bassmasta17]

Don't hold your breath.  The damn things just... won't... die!

like a infectious disease in %^&*roaches.

I just noticed one out in my dining room and have dissected it!  1

a light or a roach???
i dont think you can make stompboxes out of %^&*roaches.

Though you can still stomp %^&*roaches, I just don't gaurantee that the sound is one you'll like (or the mess).

well i was just wondering where the in and out jacks would go. The pots i have under control.
P.S. if you use a head of another roach you can use it as a cap in the tone pot. It sounds wicked. Sound samples on the way.

[Ben N]

I guess you'd have to attach the jacks with... roach clips??? Anyway, would those roaches be NPN or PNP? Either way, you don't want to reverse polarity on one of those suckers, they just start smoking.

[bassmasta17]

sound clip starts at 1:38
the title is wrong
i built this one and gave it to gary moore. Lives down the street from me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5ECaMU7csY

[tommy.genes]

i built this one and gave it to gary moore. Lives down the street from me.

Wait a minute...

You're a bass player, your name is Phil, and you live down the street from Gary Moore...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsKpazeA5L8&feature=related



-- T. G. --

[bassmasta17]

i will not say who i really am but my name is phil, i do play bass,  my hair does look like that or used to. I do live down the street from Neil Zaza though.

[darron]

i respect that there aren't any pots so that keeps the count down for 'new' parts that need to be introduced. i would consider making a generic template of some of your fuzz designs with a couple resistors replaced with trimpots so that my friends can keep their bulbs for me and have them returned as pedals. i wonder if you think the fuzz designs might benefit from a trimpot on the output as a volume control though? a lot of fuzzes sounds cool with gain maxed anyway and you can always roll back your guitar volume to adjust the amount of fuzz. either that or leave it as a solo boost sort of pedal. what do you think?

it's a shame the legs aren't long enough on the components to recycle some plastic and do it point to point. now i need to keep my eyes open for hard rubbish to get LEDs, knobs+pots and audio jacks. enclosures are harder to come by. if you could come by some old automotive dip (headlight dip) switches then that would be the icing on the cake!!!! almost tempted to wreck my '63 falcon for a switch.. better not.

[gmr1]

i built this one and gave it to gary moore. Lives down the street from me.

Wait a minute...

You're a bass player, your name is Phil, and you live down the street from Gary Moore...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsKpazeA5L8&feature=related



-- T. G. --

Phil Lynott died almost 15 years ago, so it would be especially weird if he was posting on this board... 36 years old when he passed. A damn shame.

[runmikeyrun]

i will not say who i really am but my name is phil, i do play bass,  my hair does look like that or used to. I do live down the street from Neil Zaza though.

I got a chance to jam w/ Zaza, Bill Dickens, and Bobby Rock at a backyard party of all places about 11-12 years ago.  Neil grew up in the town next to me in Ohio and made an appearance at this cop friend of mine's party one summer.  Too bad i was only about 19 and had been playing about 5 years and still was not that great a player.  They all blew me away, phenomenal players.

[tommy.genes]

Phil Lynott died almost 15 years ago, so it would be especially weird if he was posting on this board... 36 years old when he passed. A damn shame.

I was aware that Phil Lynott passed in '86, but the possible Elvis-is-still-alive type conspiracy scenario was part of the intended 'humor' that may have been lost in my original post.

-- T. G. --

[Zen]

wait, are you saying Elvis is DEAD?

[bassmasta17]

I got a chance to jam w/ Zaza, Bill Dickens, and Bobby Rock at a backyard party of all places about 11-12 years ago.  Neil grew up in the town next to me in Ohio and made an appearance at this cop friend of mine's party one summer.  Too bad i was only about 19 and had been playing about 5 years and still was not that great a player.  They all blew me away, phenomenal players.

You didn't live in northfield, Macedonia, or sagamore hills did you??

[earthtonesaudio]

Now I've just got to wait for a bulb to die. 

Finally, a dead CFL!  Two actually, almost simultaneously ...  Lasted a few years, definitely a shorter lifespan than was advertised.  But then, the package doesn't say if the long life is from "normal" use, or always-on...

Anyway, I'm about to crack it open and see what's going on in there.  This thread deserves a bump anyway.

[biggy boy]

Now I've just got to wait for a bulb to die. 

Finally, a dead CFL!  Two actually, almost simultaneously ...  Lasted a few years, definitely a shorter lifespan than was advertised.  But then, the package doesn't say if the long life is from "normal" use, or always-on...

Anyway, I'm about to crack it open and see what's going on in there.  This thread deserves a bump anyway.

LOL 
I can just picture you, You now have a long beard almost touching the ground.
You have been sitting there for a year watching and waiting watching and waiting... for it to die .

[frequencycentral]

Which is a faster source of parts? Waiting for a light bulb to die or ordering from Futurlec?

[earthtonesaudio]

Good one Rick!   


Well I took it apart (way easier than I expected), just used a small screwdriver to pry the base apart, snipped a few wires, and took the electronics out.  I put the base back on so it looks like nothing happened...

Mine was a "Bright Effects" brand, and the transistor leads are marked BCE on the circuit board's silkscreen, which is nice.  There's the usual assortment of rectifier diodes and film caps, and an unmarked inductor and transformer.  I used a resistor to discharge the 200V/22uF electro, but it's been sitting unused for a while so I didn't get to see any sparks (oh well).  On the bottom side are some surface mount resistors (2x 200r, 2x 680k).

Anyway, I think I want to actually trace the circuit before I disassemble it.  Might be actually useful for something later...

[frank_p]

I guess you'd have to attach the jacks with... roach clips??? Anyway, would those roaches be NPN or PNP? Either way, you don't want to reverse polarity on one of those suckers, they just start smoking.

Anyway, I think I want to actually trace the circuit before I disassemble it.  Might be actually useful for something later...

Something like an high voltage roach lighter ?     Always usefull when those suckers start smoking.  Don't forget your roach clips, a wet fire cracker conduct electricity.  OUCH!

Do someone think parts from a light dimmer could be of good use ?  One of mine broke, I opened it and found these pieces:

Scroll down to:
Typical 120V AC dimmer circuit
http://www.epanorama.net/documents/lights/lightdimmer.html.old

The coil don't look very high inductance for wah/filter applications...
And I don't know if the diac/triac could be of some use...

[WhenBoredomPeaks]

I guess you'd have to attach the jacks with... roach clips??? Anyway, would those roaches be NPN or PNP? Either way, you don't want to reverse polarity on one of those suckers, they just start smoking.

Anyway, I think I want to actually trace the circuit before I disassemble it.  Might be actually useful for something later...

Something like an high voltage roach lighter ?     Always usefull when those suckers start smoking.  Don't forget your roach clips, a wet fire cracker conduct electricity.  OUCH!

Or you could use the roach as a resistor. It must be in the Mega-ohm range somewhere.

[kupervaser]

I've opened one and discovered a few smd components on the back of the print.

[panterica]

No, no electronics in old school lamps, they are just weird resistors . But you CAN use them as resistors of course 

Those old-school lamps are really useful as resistors in series of the power supply for tubes. It allows for a "soft start" to protect the tubes (like when you power up a tube amp on stand-by).

I suppose it was mentioned, but breaking open those new light bulbs is very poisonous and should especially not be done around children and pets. The vapors can make an entire room toxic for thirty minutes or so.

[ninjaaron]

Hey, I opened mine, and the transistors were marked, and I found a data sheet.

BUL128:
HIGH VOLTAGE FAST-SWITCHING
NPN POWER TRANSISTOR

n STMicroelectronics PREFERRED SALESTYPE
n NPN TRANSISTOR
n HIGH VOLTAGE CAPABILITY
n LOW SPREAD OF DYNAMIC PARAMETERS
n MINIMUM LOT-TO-LOT SPREAD FOR RELIABLE OPERATION
n VERY HIGH SWITCHING SPEED APPLICATIONS:
n ELECTRONIC BALLASTS FOR FLUORESCENT LIGHTING

DESCRIPTION

The device is manufactured using high voltage
Multi Epitaxial Planar technology for high
switching speeds and medium voltage capability.
It uses a Cellular Emitter structure with planar
edge termination to enhance switching speeds
while maintaining the wide RBSOA.
The device is designed for use in lighting
applications and low cost switch-mode power
supplies.

http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/datasheet/stmicroelectronics/4447.pdf

has a weird pin out
only 40 hfe 

I'm guessing most of the tranies are something similar.

Is that still good for anyting?