just a little update.

haven't posted in a while, so I just thought I'd say a couple things.

first, I noticed that I've got a few new followers on the blog, and just wanted to say thanks for signing up. this blog has basically documented my pedal designing fun, from novice to just a bit more than novice. glad you think it's worth hitting that button.

second, I have a couple new projects in the works. one is called the Vintage Vocalizer, and the other is a vibe/trem called to Dirt Devil. the first is an effect for vocalists that like that old nasty sound of blown mic pres slammed to taped from th days of yesteryear, or full on jourgenson-esque nastiness. if you ever thought your vocals were just too clean, this thing will be the thing for you. it's based off an older design that uses a cascode gain stage, and for some reason, this type of stage just works great with vocals. it really avoids that "I'm singing through a fuzzbox" sound, and breaks up just perfectly when you lay into it. it'll have a 1/4 in input so you can still use it as a guitar pedal, a transformer coupled xlr in, and a parallel xlr out- so you can send some of your clean vocal to the PA or monitors if you want. the output will have to be coupled to a direct box, unless I figure out how to add a balanced out by then. although, I like the idea of unbalanced, because it is a really nice booster for guitar as well. optimally, it will have both, but we'll see.

the Dirt Devil is a vibrato pedal that I came up with after toying with the Magnavibe over at FSB. i made some upgrades, modifications, and added some new controls as well. first, a FET buffer was added on the input to help with the grisly input impedance and brighten things up a bit. then, the main transistor in the preamp was changed to an NPN Ge, because attached to it are two new controls. the first is labelled Grit, and added a bit of gain and drive, giving it a nice vintage pumping feel, and makes it able to change the texture considerably. the second is a symmetry control, which can take this thing into all kinds of different wobble territories. you can get an almost chorus like effect out of it at times. these controls also allow it to be used as a great booster when the depth is turned down. hopefully I'll have this guy ready to show by the end of the month for the circuit design contest over at FSB. of course schematics will be posted when I get them drawn up.

take it easy!