Turkey Day SHOOTOUT Competition

[Mustachio]

Ah I passed out after the turkey. Just woke up a bit ago. And Wow, more amazing builds!

John that heart graphic on your pedal is awesome! I love it the overall design is real clean too but the circuit layout on the heart and the valves haha its awesome well done! Sounded great too!

Defaced wow man! that thing is a beast! looks like you put a ton of really good work into that , its a shame we didn't get to hear it. The skills everyone has is awesome!

And wow holy mother of tube screamers haha pakrat that thing is huge ! reminds me of the tube screamer at beavis. I could have swore I seen those graphics before and maybe it was from your TS Pro. the graphic layout is great! Really pro stuff !

Samhay I love octave ups! two notes sound awesome together when you find the right place. When I first started playing guitar My sister gave me Hendrix band of Gypsys on cassette she said she didn't like it. It blew my mind and I never knew how he was getting certain sounds I thought it was just magic fingers until I played on an Oct UP! I sold my Green ringer for lunch money not long ago so Ill need to build a new one gonna give yours a look, it sounded nice!

Been checking this thread off and on and everyone did so great this was a lot of fun you guys rock! Hope I didn't miss anyone and if i did just know I looked at it and was blown away!

[~arph]

I like it how the bar has been seriously raised in this competition 

[oldschoolanalog]

Great job everybody.
This comp has produced so many nice new designs. This should keep folks building new gear for quite some time.
Good luck judges. Now it's your turn to lose sleep.

[digi2t]

Well, I say... THAT was an exciting finish!

I wish to thank all the participants for their hard work. We've seen creativity, attention to detail, and devotion to craft, that has really made every entry really shine. Judging was really tough, especially considering that every entry is worthy of occupying space on my "dream pedalboard". I stand and salute all of you.

I also wish to thank my brother's in arms, Govmnt_Lacky, and pinkjimiphoton, for all their work and participation. G_L was the real engine behind this whole affair, and I must say that I found working with him and jimi to be an excellent adventure. C0ckpit Resource Management at it's finest. I thank you both.

My score sheets are complete, and G_L will be compiling the scores. I wish everyone the very best of luck, and of course, a very Happy Thanksgiving. Lots of love and happiness for all your families, and those close to your hearts. A special shoutout for those who have friends or family in the military, and are unable to be together during the holidays. All the very best, and a safe return to their loved ones.

Cheers,
Dino

[tuckster]

You guys are crazy! There are builds that I would buy right now if  
could  

[Govmnt_Lacky]

You guys are crazy! There are builds that I would buy right now if 
could  

Thats the great thing about how this competition was set up! To encourage participants to SHARE their custom layouts so everyone could benefit 

DIY at it's finest 

[tuckster]

I thought i't all about braging 
The best part of the competition is that I do have a pedal now that I really play every day

[pakrat]

Agreed, my "to build" list is now huge thanks to this competition. Thanks to everyone in charge of this and to Aron of course. It's very generous of you guys to put in the time and of course, the prizes. ALL of the builds in this competition are just incredible! Thanks for sharing everyone 

[pinkjimiphoton]

My contest entry is an amalgamation of different ideas I've had for a while.  This worked out to be the perfect time to do this project because I had almost all the skills to do it, and it was an excuse to learn how to do double-sided photo etching.  But before I get into it, I've got some people to thank.  Without their help and sharing of their ideas, I could not have done this:

KMG: sharing your LND150 tube emulation work which is the basis of this project, http://milas.spb.ru/~kmg/jcm800fetLnd150_en.html.  
Nick de Smith, http://www.desmith.net/NMdS/Electronics/NixiePSU.html: who's SMPS was the basis for this SMPS.
Tom Berryhill: your assistance with refining my dry film lamination process allowed me to make this board
R.G: your programmable FX switcher, http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/fxswitchr/fxswitchr.htm, is the basis for the logic switching for the channels
The guys of the world who work on high gain amps, your schematics are the underlying architecture of this project
My girlfriend Christina: your help with the art work, drawing the knife and encouraging this project allowed me to get it done.  
My brother Frank: you gophering for me during the final rush to do wiring was indispensable.  
The guys over at BYOC who pointed me in the direct of the cool knobs and DC jack
Surplus stores around the US for having cool stuff like black momentary switches and tiny PCB turrets.  

I think that's everyone, I hope.  

Cut-Throat is basically a high voltage (+400v) LND150 tube preamp emulation project.  It uses the high voltage depletion mode LND150 MOSFET as the active device.  The project has three channels, two are distortion, one for clean.  The basic idea is you can path into any power amp and have your core sounds in a box.  The high gain channels are a mish mash of the Soldano SLO lead channel and the Fryette Deliverance preamp.  The clean channel is a Fender Twin.  But enough of that, on to the pictures.  

Schematic:


Currently I do not consider the board "verified", so I'm not going to post it.  Also, if someone wants to etch it, they're probably going to need some assistance due to the complexity (dual layer).  If anyone wants it, I'll send it to you, but I'd rather not post it for public consumption at the moment.  

Video, sorry, I blew up the SMPS while testing.  I was getting switching noise in the bypass signal and while the channel switching logic was working, the signal was not being re-routed.  In adjusting the SMPS to reduce switching noise, I made a short with my meter and killed something.  Probably the MOSFET or the MAX1771.  Since I'm at my parent's house 8 hours from my scope, and just finished wiring this an hour ago, troubleshooting will wait.  Anyway, not getting channel switching was probably a relay wiring error (all of that was done as off board wiring because there was no good way to do it because the turrets were so large and restricted the options for making paths).  Such is life.  But on to the pics.
 
Exterior


Interior


Board with developed dry film resist


Etched board front


Etched board back


Box with exposed film


Box on mill for drilling


Drilling board


Turreted board front


Turreted board back


Completely populated board


Pot point to point wiring of controls

dude, this is SO beautiful....but it's giving me a heavy heart at the moment. i understand the circumstance, but without audio/video to judge by, or the layout to see, i cannot judge this and my initial vote would be a disqualification, which i do NOT want to see happen.

about the best i can offer/suggest, IF my brother judges and other contestants approve, is you have 24 hours. you MUST submit video/audio and a layout, or i ...again... will have to vote for a disqualification. please, do whatever possible to get us the required entry stuff.

i don't care if it's a mother@#$%in' cheap cell phone recording or video... without that, i believe our hands are tied.

you supplied enough other info i think we can overlook the layout not being released, especially because as you say you're not comfortable with it being verified..

but no video/audio is a deal-breaker.

i am so sorry man. but i gotta keep it fair for all the entrants. it's with heavy heart i write this.

i await the decision of the other judges on this matter, and the court of public opinion, as it really comes down to whether the other entrants feel i'm being fair. sorry man. not to be a buzzkill. i want this shit on the up and up.
this is the part that blows.

[Jdansti]

^ As a contestant, I have no problem with a 24hr grace period for the video.

[pinkjimiphoton]

ok, i spoke with the other judges...

the BEST i can offer is to judge pakrat's entry "as is"...which is what we agreed to. if an entry isn't complete and submitted as per the stated rules,
and the deadline isn't met, i'm sorry, but our hands are tied.

the contest is closed, and i will do my judging over the weekend so we can compile the results.

the deadline is closed, and we will post the first winner as soon as humanly and ethically possible.

thanks to all who participated, you guys are amazing and really raised the bar with some amazing pedals. i plan on building most of 'em...along with all the others on my list. well done.

so... exit stage left, for now.

[digi2t]

the BEST i can offer is to judge pakrat's entry "as is"...which is what we agreed to. if an entry isn't complete and submitted as per the stated rules,
and the deadline isn't met, i'm sorry, but our hands are tied.

I believe brother Jimi meant "defaced", and not pakrat.

The "as is" mark is my decision as well. I did score it, but obviously, the score will be lower than it could be, due to the lack of audio/video. Disqualification is not an option, since the work is there. It will place somewhere, just lower than where it could have been.

It's a shame, but the deadline was there for everybody. I would have a difficult time justifying an extension, when all the other participants paid their due diligence. It would mean that some entries down the line would suffer, and I cannot in good conscience agree with that.

[slacker]

Obviously it's up to judges, and it looks like the decision's been reached, but I'd be happy to give him a bit of extra time.

[pinkjimiphoton]

the BEST i can offer is to judge pakrat's entry "as is"...which is what we agreed to. if an entry isn't complete and submitted as per the stated rules,
and the deadline isn't met, i'm sorry, but our hands are tied.

I believe brother Jimi meant "defaced", and not pakrat.

The "as is" mark is my decision as well. I did score it, but obviously, the score will be lower than it could be, due to the lack of audio/video. Disqualification is not an option, since the work is there. It will place somewhere, just lower than where it could have been.

It's a shame, but the deadline was there for everybody. I would have a difficult time justifying an extension, when all the other participants paid their due diligence. It would mean that some entries down the line would suffer, and I cannot in good conscience agree with that.

yes, my bad...sorry pakrat. i meant defaced. too much coffee.

i stand with dino on this, glad to see entrants being gracious about it. but the rules are the rules, and in the interest of being fair to all who entered, i believe we must stand by them.

[pinkjimiphoton]

and i want to say as well, it's a testament to the good hearted folks on this forum that people consider a 24 hour grace period as cool.
you guys rock.

[haveyouseenhim]

a testament to the good hearted folks on this forum

I vote for DQing
.
.
.
No,  permaban from diysb
.
.
.
LYNCH EM' !!!

[pakrat]

What a friggin shame!! defaced's build is insane, and if the judges decide to change their minds about an extension, my vote is also to give him the 24 hrs.

[pinkjimiphoton]

it's not fair to anyone  if we allow this.

i'm sorry, cuz i am @#$%ing blown away by his entry. but truth is, it plain wasn't ready by the deadline,
and we'd be really shitty judges if we were to change the rules - even with populace blessing - after the game is afoot.

actually, i'm not sorry. i wish it were different...truly. but it is what it is. if we changed the rules now, it would be a disgrace to all involved.

granted, the entry isn't complete. we have decided not to disqualify, tho the mere fact a working pedal and evidence of this would be enough to disqualify.

he got some of the info proscribed in the contest rules in before the deadline. we can only, in fairness, judge his entry accordingly.

i believe in my heart we three judges stand in agreeance on this, and the best we can do is accept the entry as incomplete.

it's not whether we like it or not, or want to be pricks or bend over backwards...the rules are the rules. we all agreed to them before the contest began, and changing them at this time is NOT possible.

thanks for the understanding. if you or anyone is pissed off, direct it at me by all means, but understand, the decision stays. this isn't a recount being decided by any deciders. the rules of the contest couldn't be followed, perhaps a better choice would have been to contact us and post on the board before posting an incomplete entry.

besides...he still might win something.

i, for one, am still highly impressed, and look forward to seeing the finished product, should defaced be willing when all's said and done to share it with the community.

sorry for the man,  i truly am, but the rules are the rules and we've revisted them and tho none of us like it, if we bend the rules now, it will destroy any possibility of a fair contest happening.

i AM an asshole, true, and opinionated...but one thing i take quite seriously is fairness and recourse. i believe the best we can do as judges is what we've stated. if that is an issue, i will withdraw as a judge, and still supply my "prize" to whichever winner claims it.

peace.

[pakrat]

Very well put Jimi. You're right, rules is rules. It's just a shame that's all.....

[pinkjimiphoton]

when i say this shit with heavy heart, i really mean it. i have nothing but respect for the man, bro.

i'm more pissed the damn controller blew out on him, i REALLY REALLY REALLY wanna see this thing.

but...rules are rules. if we agreed to them, they bind us. blows, but just the way it @#$%in' is.