DIYstompboxes.com

DIY Stompboxes => Building your own stompbox => Topic started by: deadastronaut on June 12, 2011, 01:17:16 PM

Title: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: deadastronaut on June 12, 2011, 01:17:16 PM
i was thinking about buillding the tremulus lune..(tonepad)..but there seems to be a lot about it having noise/ticking/throb problems even in bypass?..soooooo....

1:anyone built a quiet one?

2:whats it like with distortion?

3:why 2 speed knobs?

also what about the pulsar? (tonepad)...that seems to have these issues too?.. ???

hmmmm.....i dont fancy building another dust collector!.. ;)

especially a 5 knob one..... :icon_mrgreen:

Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: EATyourGuitar on June 12, 2011, 01:23:22 PM
my buddy has a EH pulsar and it can produce ticking when cheap cables are running over it. like a mic cable that has nothing to do with the pedal board. its one tick for every complete cycle 360. like it only ticks when it pans left. you can use shielded cable inside the pedal that should help a little. some PCB's have a ground screen on them with holes in it. like a faraday cage. but I dont know for sure how much it helps if at all.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: deadastronaut on June 12, 2011, 01:25:10 PM
hmmmm...yeah they do seem to be a bit notorious!... :icon_frown:
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: petemoore on June 12, 2011, 01:46:32 PM
  Did you try..
  Low current opamp for the LFO ? [ TL062
  PS filter very near the LFO chip ?
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: Mark Hammer on June 12, 2011, 02:08:03 PM
+1 to pete's suggestions.

I'm going to take a wild stab and suggest trying out a 47uf cap in parallel with the 470k resistor to ground, off the "spacing" pot.  Tack it on the copper side and let us know if it helps.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: deadastronaut on June 12, 2011, 02:15:20 PM
i havent built it yet!... i was just wondering if anyone built it and 'didn't' have any problems with it (tonepad layout)_



but if/when i do i'''ll take those suggestions on board!!!... ;)
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: cpm on June 12, 2011, 02:27:46 PM
this is my variation

- As stated, use a low power opamp for LFO (i did LM358)
- Separate power filter for LFO, special care separating LFO ground lines from audio grounds in layout
- Different LDR configuration. I find in original TrL it never gets into (enough) silence when the volume is down.

(http://i389.photobucket.com/albums/oo339/cpm_04/schematics/th_TL2.png) (http://s389.photobucket.com/albums/oo339/cpm_04/schematics/?action=view&current=TL2.png)
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: theundeadelvis on June 12, 2011, 04:48:10 PM
I've built 4 or 5 (I always ending giving them to friends) using the Commonsound layout and have never had any ticking noise of any kind, and no noise at all when bypassed. When the pedal is engaged, I do hear hiss that coincides with the tremolo effect. One of my favorite builds.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: rousejeremy on June 12, 2011, 04:52:01 PM
I've built a few from the Tonepad layout. All I had to add was a 100uF cap from +9v to ground.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: deadastronaut on June 12, 2011, 05:01:01 PM
Quote from: rousejeremy on June 12, 2011, 04:52:01 PM
I've built a few from the Tonepad layout. All I had to add was a 100uF cap from +9v to ground.

why?..because of noise/hiss...?....did it get rid of it totally?..

cheers rob.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: theundeadelvis on June 12, 2011, 05:12:05 PM
To answer your other questions, in my opinion:
-it works great with distortion.
-Two speed knobs? I'm assuming you're referring to Speed and Fine. The fine allows you to adjust where the speed range falls. I usually use a trim pot for the fine and set and forget. Basically, depending how the fine is set, the speed pot may not get very fast until last little bit of its travel or you might not get as fast of speed as you'd like.

I really can't imagine a more versatile tremolo (except maybe the 4MS stereo panneur/trem which is basically 2 of these I think). You can get some awesome psychedelic sounds and some great vintage ones too. I gave one to friend who has one of the most amazing collections of vintage gear I've seen, and he loves it. He plays in a Pink Floyd cover band a couple times a year, and says the lune is an integral part of the show.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: Slade on June 12, 2011, 05:14:41 PM
For the tremulus lune, along with a good voltage filtering, you can put a 33nF cap between pins 1 and 3 of smoothness cap. It will make LFO waveshape a little "rounder" but it will get rid of a big part of the ticking too. Also use a 470pF or 1n cap across the trimmer, it will filter high frequencies at the output buffer and get rid of some ticking also.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: rousejeremy on June 12, 2011, 05:15:39 PM
It was ticking a bit straight from the layout. I could reduce it by adjusting the internal trimpot but by the time the ticking went away the pedal was below unity. Adding the cap eliminated the problem. It still takes a bit of trial and error to get the internal trimpot set just right. I've actually had to do mine live on stage. For some reason the setting that worked at practice level at home didn't translate to a live setting.
I also removed the "fine" pot. A lot easier to fit in a 1590B that way.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: BoxOfSnoo on June 12, 2011, 05:18:39 PM
I have no ticking with mine, not sure what I did to make it work so great :)

I didn't use two knobs, I just skipped the fine knob.  I did notice it was a bit hard to dial in just right though, so I replaced the speed knob with a reverse audio pot and it works exactly as I'd like!  I HIGHLY recommend a symmetry mod - either a switch or a knob.

Sounds great with distortion, before or after.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: deadastronaut on June 12, 2011, 05:24:46 PM
cool..thanks guys!.....yep i'm looking at doing a four knobber really..1590b...i'll knock it up and test through my true bypass breadboard...

with 100uf..and try those mods out...etc..

i just didnt fancy building another dust collector!.. ;)

i'll give it a go...thanks again fellas... :icon_cool:

Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: rousejeremy on June 12, 2011, 05:33:22 PM
It's a great pedal. One of my only DIY jobs with a permanent spot on the board. Good luck!
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: deadastronaut on June 12, 2011, 05:41:55 PM
thanks jeremy.... :icon_cool:
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: lazerphea on June 12, 2011, 06:09:00 PM
Quote from: Slade on June 12, 2011, 05:14:41 PM
For the tremulus lune, along with a good voltage filtering, you can put a 33nF cap between pins 1 and 3 of smoothness cap. It will make LFO waveshape a little "rounder" but it will get rid of a big part of the ticking too. Also use a 470pF or 1n cap across the trimmer, it will filter high frequencies at the output buffer and get rid of some ticking also.
+1 for the 1n cap; I've also added a 100uf cap in the power section. No ticking, except at very high levels.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: deadastronaut on June 12, 2011, 06:24:34 PM
Quote from: lazerphea on June 12, 2011, 06:09:00 PM
Quote from: Slade on June 12, 2011, 05:14:41 PM
For the tremulus lune, along with a good voltage filtering, you can put a 33nF cap between pins 1 and 3 of smoothness cap. It will make LFO waveshape a little "rounder" but it will get rid of a big part of the ticking too. Also use a 470pF or 1n cap across the trimmer, it will filter high frequencies at the output buffer and get rid of some ticking also.
+1 for the 1n cap; I've also added a 100uf cap in the power section. No ticking, except at very high levels.

@paolo...is it ok at gig type levels though?...


erm...did slade mean 33nf cap on pin 1-3 of smooth pot?... :icon_wink:


also i'm rolling my own led/ldr combo...!
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: Skruffyhound on June 12, 2011, 07:01:35 PM
I built one early on that I never got working for some reason. Later I returned to it and through some correspondence with "Liquids" ended up breadboarding and playing with all the values and a few other things. It was still on one of my breadboards until I moved last week. I have a proto board that lets me "play" my breadboards without problem and I was using it. No ticks/clicks at bedroom levels.
I ended up back almost stock, except for the use of some buffers which worked really well. I'm too lazy to try and find my notes in the chaos, but you might try a search here. The thread started with a question about the lune from Liquids.
Now all the components are in a bag awaiting assembly.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: Slade on June 12, 2011, 09:56:11 PM
Quote from: deadastronaut on June 12, 2011, 06:24:34 PM
Quote from: lazerphea on June 12, 2011, 06:09:00 PM
Quote from: Slade on June 12, 2011, 05:14:41 PM
For the tremulus lune, along with a good voltage filtering, you can put a 33nF cap between pins 1 and 3 of smoothness cap. It will make LFO waveshape a little "rounder" but it will get rid of a big part of the ticking too. Also use a 470pF or 1n cap across the trimmer, it will filter high frequencies at the output buffer and get rid of some ticking also.
+1 for the 1n cap; I've also added a 100uf cap in the power section. No ticking, except at very high levels.

@paolo...is it ok at gig type levels though?...


erm...did slade mean 33nf cap on pin 1-3 of smooth pot?... :icon_wink:


also i'm rolling my own led/ldr combo...!
Yeah, yeah... a 33n pot at smooth cap... :icon_lol:
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: space_ryerson on June 13, 2011, 12:47:20 AM
I've built two with the fuzz central layout. I used a 10K reverse taper pot for the speed control, and a 5k center detent for the fine control when I found the fine control to be useless with the standard 1k. I built both at the same time, and one ticked with the amount knob all of the way up, and the other didn't tick at all. Long story short, on the troublesome pedal, when the trimpot was set towards the middle of it's range, the pedal ticked, but when it was above or below that setting, the ticking vanished.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: lazerphea on June 13, 2011, 01:40:56 AM
Quote from: deadastronaut on June 12, 2011, 06:24:34 PM
Quote from: lazerphea on June 12, 2011, 06:09:00 PM
Quote from: Slade on June 12, 2011, 05:14:41 PM
For the tremulus lune, along with a good voltage filtering, you can put a 33nF cap between pins 1 and 3 of smoothness cap. It will make LFO waveshape a little "rounder" but it will get rid of a big part of the ticking too. Also use a 470pF or 1n cap across the trimmer, it will filter high frequencies at the output buffer and get rid of some ticking also.
+1 for the 1n cap; I've also added a 100uf cap in the power section. No ticking, except at very high levels.

@paolo...is it ok at gig type levels though?...


erm...did slade mean 33nf cap on pin 1-3 of smooth pot?... :icon_wink:


also i'm rolling my own led/ldr combo...!
It's ok at gig levels, but it's not deadly silent; I think it's acceptable, just like a flanger used at gig levels: when you don't play you can hear the noise being modulated by the lfo. :)
Sorry for the mess with the cap... I remembered I've added a cap to a pot, but couldn'd really recall which one of them :p
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: deadastronaut on June 13, 2011, 06:09:13 AM
cheers guys!.....


@slade: you've ruined the whole project now..... :icon_mrgreen:

@paolo. no worries, i got ya!.. ;)

@space:..i'll watch that trim then!...


:icon_cool:
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: Perrow on June 13, 2011, 09:07:27 AM
Quote from: Slade on June 12, 2011, 09:56:11 PM
Quote from: deadastronaut on June 12, 2011, 06:24:34 PM
Quote from: lazerphea on June 12, 2011, 06:09:00 PM
Quote from: Slade on June 12, 2011, 05:14:41 PM
For the tremulus lune, along with a good voltage filtering, you can put a 33nF cap between pins 1 and 3 of smoothness cap. It will make LFO waveshape a little "rounder" but it will get rid of a big part of the ticking too. Also use a 470pF or 1n cap across the trimmer, it will filter high frequencies at the output buffer and get rid of some ticking also.
+1 for the 1n cap; I've also added a 100uf cap in the power section. No ticking, except at very high levels.

@paolo...is it ok at gig type levels though?...


erm...did slade mean 33nf cap on pin 1-3 of smooth pot?... :icon_wink:


also i'm rolling my own led/ldr combo...!
Yeah, yeah... a 33n pot at smooth cap... :icon_lol:

Time to put a cap on your use of pot?
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: asatbluesboy on June 13, 2011, 12:04:28 PM
Also built one from the FuzzCentral layout with a Vactrol (don't remember if it was a 5C2 or a 5C3, though). No ticking at all, great with distortion, fine pot was a tad useless so I replaced it with a resistor in series with the speed pot and put a gain pot instead.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: jonfoote on June 14, 2011, 08:23:58 AM
ive got a bastardised tremulus on my breadboard at the moment and noticed last night that the 2 x 100k resistors and the 10u cap that form Vb can effect ticking.
either increase the value of the resistors and/or the cap made the ticking dissapear for me

im only using one dual opamp, one side oscillator and the other the last half of the signal path after the ldr. most people round here say never use the same chip for oscillator and signal but even so im getting no bleed through what so ever after increaseing the values for Vb.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: Valoosj on June 15, 2011, 11:50:05 AM
Rob, if you haven't already started on this pedal, I really suggest having a look at the tap tempo tremolo. After building this my tremulus lune which was always on my pedalboard, got sent to the closet, never to return.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: deadastronaut on July 25, 2011, 10:40:54 AM
ok been thinking about this again...thought i'd knock up a 1590b 4 pot version...losing the fine pot, which a lot of folks say is pretty pointless...

here ya go...any obvious faults?...(unverified)

(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7464107/tremulus4pot.jpg)
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: Perrow on July 25, 2011, 12:02:20 PM
Quote from: deadastronaut on July 25, 2011, 10:40:54 AM
here ya go...any obvious faults?...

Hell yeah, about twenty components too many and not a 555 in sight :)

BTW, "hell" did not exist in my phones dictionary :D
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: deadastronaut on July 25, 2011, 12:15:19 PM
555 is no longer in my vocabulary... ;)
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: Perrow on July 25, 2011, 04:35:38 PM
Quote from: deadastronaut on July 25, 2011, 12:15:19 PM
555 is no longer in my vocabulary... ;)

But I see that LDRs still is  ;D

My latest idea is in the tiny realm. Five components, set spaciously on a 1.8x1.3 cm board. Just have to breadboard the circuit first to see if it'll actually work.
Title: Re: Tremulus lune . anyone built one without ticking/noise?..
Post by: deadastronaut on July 25, 2011, 04:47:16 PM
^great, can't wait to hear it..... 8)


yeah good old ldr's... :icon_mrgreen: