tiny tremoloOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Zombie_Crush]

Hi Rob


was this version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPIKOnpiNE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

is this the same layout as the  Pulsewah or A-trem A-wah  and a tremwah 3in1 from page 10

as i would love to make this build

cheers for your help

[deadastronaut]

Hi Rob


was this version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPIKOnpiNE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

is this the same layout as the  Pulsewah or A-trem A-wah  and a tremwah 3in1 from page 10

as i would love to make this build

cheers for your help

hi zombie;  i never got round to building (page 10) 3 in 1(so its unverified ok)....the idea ended up as the  'lightwah' which is very cool though if you fancy that!......

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=88582.msg797623#msg797623

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPhrmxm999Y

the pdf and pcb pdf's are in my gallery ok... remember c8 =10uf though.... i must update it one day!...

[Zombie_Crush]

Hi Rob

thanks for the info, so wont attempt the proto at this stage - though really loved the how expressive and ambient that circuit sounded. Your lightwah certainly interests me - does it include Tremolo and Wah functions, or purely the light reactive pulsating wah. Ultimately I would like to have both functions running in harmony.

Cheers for your assistance 

[deadastronaut]

Hi Rob

thanks for the info, so wont attempt the proto at this stage - though really loved the how expressive and ambient that circuit sounded. Your lightwah certainly interests me - does it include Tremolo and Wah functions, or purely the light reactive pulsating wah. Ultimately I would like to have both functions running in harmony.

Cheers for your assistance 

hi zombie, checkout the video on the light wah above...it has the light sensor part..and auto lfo setting...

that 3 in 1 will probably be ok, but i would use a cmos ts555cn ic on it.....look at the final tiny trem version for differences in connections...pin 4 -5 connected etc ok....

[Zombie_Crush]

Cool thanks!

Am very tempted to try your 3in1 - and have a quiet a few TS555CN at hand. What i loved about your original proto - pulsewah - was the way in which you were manipulating and fading in the LDR -  a Vangelis vibe -  is that effect still possible with the lightwah

[deadastronaut]

nope!... i liked that effect too....the rise of the opening wah with the trem...cool...

check that layout over, its basically a tiny trem, split into  wah/trem on one massive board...

[Zombie_Crush]

will do  

so will the 3in1 be capable of effecting sound that way? if not, how did you wire the LDR to react like that.

would it be a case of wiring the LDR in parallel across the Wah pot on the 3in1?

I want that sound! lol   

[deadastronaut]

i'm not 100% sure it would...it was a while ago now...

but, swap the 22k pot for an ldr....

on that video i was using a neat little circuit i came up with that lights an led when the led is covered...i called it 'darklight'..

there is another version of darklight...called guess what... 'darklight 2'...imaginative i know!..

it has a sensitivity control for different light conditions..but will not work in the dark..ironically, its in my gallery ok...

[ugly_guitar_guy]

Ok, I just can't let this thread die apparently. 

So, I've been attacking this circuit again and seem to have come across one particular issue. After plowing through all the pages of the thread and bread-boarding several different versions with my TS555CN I seem to like this version the best:



The changes I made are with pins 4 and 8 connected to keep the TS555CN from locking up, with a 10uF cap instead of 47uF, 50k speed pot instead of 10k (I just like the range of speeds that this combination gives), and separate audio and power grounds. With these changes there are no ticking problems whatsoever.

My problem is with the depth pot though. I don't care for the way it sounds in the later versions that are posted here, and I really like how it affects the signal in this version, but I'm bound to using values that my clear shaft pots are made in (5k, 10k, 20k, 50k, 100k) and with the 5k pot all of the depth adjustment is in the last 20% of the pot sweep (which would make sense being that it needs a 1k pot). What can I do to make this depth section work with a 5k pot, if at all possible? Thanks!

[Perrow]

My problem is with the depth pot though. I don't care for the way it sounds in the later versions that are posted here, and I really like how it affects the signal in this version, but I'm bound to using values that my clear shaft pots are made in (5k, 10k, 20k, 50k, 100k) and with the 5k pot all of the depth adjustment is in the last 20% of the pot sweep (which would make sense being that it needs a 1k pot). What can I do to make this depth section work with a 5k pot, if at all possible? Thanks!

Try sticking a small resistor (5k? 1k? maybe even smaller) between the ldr and "out", should make for a better voltage divider, giving you better depth.

[deadastronaut]

@perrow , would a 5k across the pot lugs do it too?...

man, gotta go to dentist, my left cheek  has swollen up...i look like my halloween pumpkin did after 5 days......arghhhhhhh.......needles.....arghhhhhh....

[Perrow]

@perrow , would a 5k across the pot lugs do it too?...

man, gotta go to dentist, my left cheek  has swollen up...i look like my halloween pumpkin did after 5 days......arghhhhhhh.......needles.....arghhhhhh....

I suppose it would. Cool idea, why don't you breadboard it There's a lot of ways to connect it but I'd suppose you'd connect it as a volume control, input "on top", output on wiper and ldr to ground. I think I'll sketch up a "Huge Trem" using this and an input buffer/boost. Probably just as well add an output buffer as well.

The only good thing about dentists are that it's usually less painful to go there than not. That's if you'll prefer not to be called "pumpkin" 

[deadastronaut]

ha ha....yeah!..

can't go dentist till friday ...@#$%ers are busy...i'll look like a guiness world record winning pumpkin by then...

[Gurner]

Try sticking a small resistor (5k? 1k? maybe even smaller) between the ldr and "out", should make for a better voltage divider, giving you better depth.

In the arrangement above, there is no potential divider in play (assuming the guitar vol knob is at max) - also lowering the value of the pot by placing a resistor across the lugs will take the resistance 'seen' by the pickup down .....& if this is the first effect in your signal chain, that's gonna suck tone.

I've mentioned previously that in this arrangement the LDR is actually acting like a polite kill switch (vs a guitar vol pot) i.e. when the ldr is high value it has little effect on the pickup signal, when the ldr is low value...it loading the pickup current .....creating a polite 'short' to ground (I say 'polite' just to help understand the workings - it won't be a short, but a low resistance) ...& becuase the pickup can't source sufficient current into the load, then end result is that the signal voltage gets loaded down.

[Perrow]

Try sticking a small resistor (5k? 1k? maybe even smaller) between the ldr and "out", should make for a better voltage divider, giving you better depth.

In the arrangement above, there is no potential divider in play (assuming the guitar vol knob is at max) - also lowering the value of the pot by placing a resistor across the lugs will take the resistance 'seen' by the pickup down .....& if this is the first effect in your signal chain, that's gonna suck tone.

Yeah, was a bit hasty there. I think it got better in my reply to Pumpkin.

[Perrow]

OT: Sorry can not resist posting another find from my search of pumpkin astronauts:



 

At least it's kind of music related 

[deadastronaut]

brilliant..love the pumpkin astronaut....excellent, thats my new desktop....

[ugly_guitar_guy]

So is the answer now that this is not possible with a 5k pot? I'm having trouble following what Gurner was talking about.

[Gurner]

So is the answer now that this is not possible with a 5k pot? I'm having trouble following what Gurner was talking about.

I've not built the circuit so others can advise if any particular values work best (as it goes, there's a lot of 'variables' in this circuit which will affect the final results - 555 supply voltage, led colour & efficiency, LDR light/dark resistance, pickup type, guitar volume knob position...so what works for someone else, may not work in your situation)...I was just following up to Perrow's posts, that there's not potential divider going on - that said if you roll your guitar knob down, then that will create a potential divider ...you'll lose signal volume, but you'll get more tremolo depth.

the thing to note about this circuit...it's not acting upon guitar pickup signal voltage directly, but guitar signal pickup current - to convert that changing current into a changing voltage elegantly, you need to put some resistance in series with your guitar's output (which is effectively what rolling your guitar knob down does) ...but the down side is you lose signal. I realise talking in  'signal current' terms might puzzle a few here, because I reckon 90% of the circuits we see here mainly affect signal voltage, but this is in the final 10% that affect signal current.

[deadastronaut]

i'll get my coat  again.....lol....lol....


i knocked this up as a total noob (see page 1)......i just thought it would work...and it does....in a clean mode........it was a nooby way of using light n sound with no EE knowledge at all....,
saying that..i do have an affection for  the nooby way!!....seems more inventive and spontaneous......than staring at a scope n doing maths........its nice to get back to basics and use  your ears especially with distortions etc..... ....................though i realise that theory is important ...having fun and experimenting is too...especially for noobs like myself..........breadboard and have fun!...........i think the toothpills are kicking in.....