GuitarTech

Fender Amp Simulator

2010-12-03T09:46:00.000-08:00

Schematic of fender type amp simulator,

Frank's schematic of his modified fender type amp simulator,

Schematic of fender type cabinet simulator,

USB Power Injector For External Hard Drives

2010-12-03T09:39:00.001-08:00

A portable USB hard drive is a great way to back up data but what if your USB ports are unable to supply enough "juice" to power the drive? A modified version of the Silicon Chip Usb Power Injector is the answer. For some time now, the author has used a portable USB hard drive to back up data at work. As with most such drives, it is powered directly from the USB port, so it doesn’t require an external plug pack supply.

Project's Picture:

In fact, the device is powered from two USB ports, since one port is incapable of supplying sufficient current. That’s done using a special USB cable that’s supplied with the drive. It has two connectors fitted to one end, forming what is basically a "Y" configuration (see photo). One connector is wired for both power and data while the other connector has just the power supply connections. In use, the two connectors are plugged into adjacent USB ports, so that power for the drive is simultaneously sourced from both ports.

USB Cable:

An external USB hard drive is usually powered by plugging two connectors at one end of a special USB cable into adjacent USB ports on the computer. This allows power to be sourced from both ports. According to the USB specification, USB ports are rated to supply up to 500mA at 5V DC, so two connected in parallel should be quite capable of powering a portable USB hard drive – at least in theory.

Complete Project:

Unfortunately, in my case, it didn’t quite work out that way. Although the USB drive worked fine with several work computers, it was a "no-go" on my home machine. Instead, when it was plugged into the front-panel USB ports, the drive repeatedly emitted a distinctive chirping sound as it unsuccessfully tried to spin up. During this process, Windows XP did recognise that a device had been plugged in but that’s as far as it went – it couldn’t identify the device and certainly didn’t recognize the drive.

Plugging the drive into the rear-panel ports gave exactly the same result. The problem wasn’t just confined to this particular drive either. A newly-acquired Maxtor OneTouch4 Mini drive also failed to power up correctly on my home computer, despite working perfectly on several work computers.

Circuit diagram:

The revised USB Power Injector is essentially a switch and a 5V regulator. The Vbus supply from USB socket CON1 turns on transistor Q1 which then turns on power Mosfet Q2. This then feeds a 6V DC regulated supply from an external plug pack to regulator REG1 which in turn supplies 5V to USB socket CON2.

Farfisa F/AR Preamp and Reverb Schematic

2010-12-03T09:29:00.000-08:00

He is the Farfisa F/AR Schematic. The F/AR was an independent preamp and real spring reverb unit that was used to power the Farfisa Compact Duo dual manual combo organ, and the Farfisa Transicord electronic accordion. Both of those instruments will not work without this piece, so it’s pretty nice to have one!

IBanez JEM Story

2010-12-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

In 1987 Ibanez Introduced the Jem series that was designed along with Steve Vai.

These guitars were a new direction for Ibanez.

They are not really Vintage but 1987 is 10 years ago so I will include them. They are

just too cool not to. The story of the Jem guitar is as follows. This is

from an inside source so I believe it to be true. The Names have been changed

to protect the innocent.

Steve Vai was playing with David Lee Roth on the Eat-em and Smile tour.

When some one stole all his guitars. He needed some guitars fast so he

purchased some parts from Performance and had them modified. Ibanez sent

him for Christmas in 1986 a modified Maxxas guitar that had 24 frets and

a Green Snake skin finish. Steve than sent one of the guitars that he

had modified to Ibanez to see if they could reproduce it. Ibanez had

many of there own ideas to add to this model. The first Proto types were

made in the USA at the Ibanez company. There were 3 models made all with

the same body style and neck but three different materials. One was

Mahogany one was Alder and the third was Basswood. Steve liked the sound

the best of the American Basswood also it was much lighter than the

other models. At this point they decided to move ahead with the model

development.

Ibanez Added the Lions Claw under the tremolo route and the disappearing

Pyramids. Steve wanted the Jack to be located so that when he put the

cord around the strap the jack would be there so Ibanez put the jack on

the lower side of the body and called it the tilt jack.

The Tremolo rout was designed so the tremolo could be pulled up a full

fifth. At this time there was a guy in New York Joe Dispagney that was

painting, modifying and assembling the guitars for Steve. He always

would put the monkey grips in the guitars so Steve had Ibanez do the

same.

Sound wise Steve played the Dimarzio PAF pickups and needed more sounds

than just a Lespaul or a Strat so the Split 5 wiring was designed. This

uses a standard 5 way switch with 2 Humbuckers and one single in the

middle. The guitar is wired so that that as follows.

1 Position is the Bridge Humbucker.

2 Position is the Inside Bridge coil and Middle single.

3 Position is just the Single.

4 Position is the Inside Neck coil and the Middle single.

5 Position is the Neck Humbucker.

Wiring Diagram

They also added a 331PF capacitor across the volume pot. This is so that

the highs don't roll off when the volume is turned down.

Ibanez designed a new color plating called Cosmo Black to use on the

Jem series. If you look at the original Jem brochure you will notice

another thing the bridge cover this was used so that you could palm the

bridge and the tremolo would not go sharp. This was only on the original

JEM777LG models but not on any guitars after that.

The neck was designed with the upper four frets scalloped and had a neck

extension that went over the body. Ibanez scooped the heel of the guitar

so that the upper frets were easy to play. The original Jem guitars used

Dunlop 6100 fretwire.

Here is a picture of the original Jem777 spec, It is Dated 10/6/1987.

The Fretboard marking states Rosewood so I guess this is a mistake.

Info

Jem777LG

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard: Maple with Disappearing Pyramids

Neck Shape Jem Thickness 19mm X 21mm / Width 43mm X 57MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6100

Pickups: Pink PAF Pro in Bridge and Neck, Jem Single in the Middle.

Bridge: Ibanez Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color: Lochness Green.

Available in 1987 only

Jem777SK

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard: Maple with Disappearing Pyramids

Neck Shape Jem Thickness 19mm X 21mm / Width 43mm X 57MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6100

Pickups: Pink PAF Pro in Bridge and Neck, Jem Single in the Middle.

Bridge: Ibanez Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color: Skocking Pink.

Production Years 1987,1988,1989,1990

Jem777DY

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard: Maple with Disappearing Pyramids

Neck Shape Jem Thickness 19mm X 21mm / Width 43mm X 57MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6100

Pickups: Pink PAF Pro in Bridge and Neck, Jem Single in the Middle.

Bridge: Ibanez Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color: Desert Sun Yellow.

Production Years 1987,1988,1989,1990.1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996

Jem7RB

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard: Rosewood with Dots

Neck Shape Jem Thickness 19mm X 21mm / Width 43mm X 57MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6100

Pickups: Pink PAF Pro in Bridge and Neck, Jem Single in the Middle.

Bridge: Ibanez Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color: Rootbeer Burned.

Note: The Basswood is burned with a torch to give it the color and then

the guitar is stained and cleared over.

Production Years 1988,1989

Jem77FP

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard: Rosewood with Green Tree of Life

Neck Shape Jem Thickness 19mm X 21mm / Width 43mm X 57MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6100

Pickups: Pink PAF Pro in Bridge and Neck, Jem Single in the Middle.

Bridge: Ibanez Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Finish. Florial Pattern.

Note: The Floral Pattern is actually a Fabric that was copied from Steve

Vai's Curtains in his house. There are 3 front patterns, 3 Back patterns

and 3 headstock patterns. All of these combinations could be on any

model so they all do not look exactly alike.

Production Years 1988,1989,1990,1991.1992,1993,1994,1995,1996

Jem777VDY

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard:Rosewood with DY Tree of Life.

Neck Shape Wizard Thickness 17mm X 20mm / Width 43mm X 57MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6140

Pickups: Pink PAF Pro in Bridge and Neck, Jem Single in the Middle.

Bridge: Ibanez Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color: Desert Sun Yellow.

Production Years 1989,1990,1991

Jem777VBK

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard:Rosewood with Green Tree of Life.

Neck Shape Jem Thickness 19mm X 21mm / Width 43mm X 57MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6100

Pickups: Pink PAF Pro in Bridge and Neck, Jem Single in the Middle.

Bridge: Ibanez Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color:Black.

Production Years 1988,1989,1990,1991,1992

Jem7PBK

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard:Rosewood with white pyramids.

Neck Shape Jem Thickness 17mm X 20mm / Width 43mm X 57MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6100

Pickups: White PAF Pro in Bridge and Neck, Jem Single in the Middle.

Bridge: Ibanez Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color:Black.

Production Years 1989,1990,1991

Jem777BFP

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard:Maple with Blue Tree of Life.

Neck Shape Jem Thickness 19mm X 21mm / Width 43mm X 57MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6140

Pickups: Blue PAF Pro in Bridge and Neck, Jem Single in the Middle.

Bridge: Ibanez Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color:Blue Florial Pattern.

Note: The Blue Floral Pattern is a out of focus picture laminated to the

top of the body and then bursted and cleared over.

Production Years 1991,1992,1993,1994

Jem777GMC

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard:Maple with Disapearing Pyramids.

Neck Shape Jem Thickness 19mm X 21mm / Width 43mm X 57MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6100

Pickups: Green/Black PAF Pro in Bridge and Neck, Middle Jem Single

Bridge: Ibanez Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color:Green Multi Color

Note: The Green Multi Color was first Painted white and shipped to the

USA to a company called "About Time Design". They would dip the guitars

and send them back to Japan for clearing and assembly.

Production Years 1992,1993

Jem777PMC

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard:Maple with Disapearing Pyramids.

Neck Shape Jem Thickness 19mm X 21mm / Width 43mm X 57MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6100

Pickups: Purple PAF Pro in Bridge and Neck, Middle Jem Single

Bridge: Ibanez Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color:Purple Multi Color

Note: The Purple Multi Color was first Painted white and shipped to the

USA to a company called "About Time Design". They would dip the guitars

and send them back to Japan for clearing and assembly.

Production Years 1992,1993

Universe 7 strings

In 1990 Ibanez introduced the Universe 7 string models. These were the

same basic specs as a Jem except it used a 48mm neck with 7 strings a

low pro edge and an added Low B string. The pickups were Dimarzio Blaze

pickups

UV777

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard:Maple with Disapearing Pyramids.

Neck Shape UV Thickness 20mm X 21.5mm / Width 48mm X 65MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6140

Pickups: GR/YL Blaze in Bridge and Neck, Middle Blaze Single

Bridge: Ibanez 7 string Low pro Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color:Green

Production Years 1990,1991

UV7

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard:Rosewood with Green dots.

Neck Shape UV Thickness 20mm X 21.5mm / Width 48mm X 65MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6140

Pickups: Green Blaze in Bridge and Neck, Middle Blaze Single

Bridge: Ibanez 7 string Low pro Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color:Black

Production Years 1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1996

UV7P

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard:Rosewood with Disapearing Pyramids.

Neck Shape UV Thickness 20mm X 21.5mm / Width 48mm X 65MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6140

Pickups: GR/YL Blaze in Bridge and Neck, Middle Blaze Single

Bridge: Ibanez 7 string Low pro Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color:White

Production Years 1990,1991,1992

UV77

Body: American Basswood

Neck: Maple 14 Degree Scarf Joint

Fingerboard:Maple with Disapearing Pyramids.

Neck Shape Jem Thickness 20mm X 21.5mm / Width 48mm X 65MM

Fretwire: Dunlop 6140

Pickups: GR/YL Blaze in Bridge and Neck, Middle Blaze Single

Bridge: Ibanez 7 string Low pro Edge

Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone, 5 Way with Split 5 wiring

Machine Heads: Smooth Tuner

Hardware: Cosmo Black

Color:Multi Color

Note: The Multi Color was first Painted white and shipped to the

USA to a company called "About Time Design". They would dip the guitars

and send them back to Japan for clearing and assembly.

the original link here

SEARCH FOR THE ULTIMATE TONE - PART ONE

2010-12-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

For the original post please visit here

I have spent 35 years in search of the perfect guitar tone. This is part one of a series of three articles describing the journey to date and how I reached the conclusions about the gear and techniques I now employ. Grab a beer and let’s examine the humble guitar string to just before the amplifier…

This is part one of three articles that describe the way I achieve my particular guitar sound. It may not be to everyone’s taste but hopefully it will give you some ideas and pointers to develop your own unique tone learning from the tens of thousands of pounds I spent on getting here!

For those of you living the Isle of Man, I am giving a ‘Tone Workshop’ at Peter Norris Music on Sunday April 11, 2010 at 1900. I will be discussing and demonstrating all the stuff I talk about in these articles. If you fancy coming along book on the freeworkshop!

What is a great tone?

Naturally, it’s down to your own ear, playing and the style of music, but regardless there are a number of fundamental issues you need to address that will affect your tone. Knowing what these are should assist you in the future.

My rig is a behemoth and the first thing I must point out is that you do not need this amount of gear to achieve a fantastic tone; in fact it can be quite counter productive.

The best tone I ever have is going straight from a great guitar, with lovely pickups, though a great cable, into a great amp which is powering a well designed cabinet loaded with superb loudspeakers; this what I use when I record, adding overdubs and effect later.

The question you all must be thinking is “why the hell does he have that huge rig”?

Well, currently I am playing in a three piece and I do feel that you need to give the audience varying tones throughout the evening to keep up the interest and reproduce as close a sound as possible to the recordings.

Also, using a pretty clean tone, a three piece can sound a bit empty; delay and reverb are very useful! Finally, the original material we are playing benefits from some effect from time to time. Most of the set however, I go basically straight into the amp. The challenge is of course is to prevent all the paraphernalia sucking your basic tone and thereby lies the problem.

Where do we begin? Well the first thing we need to remember is that everything in the signal chain, from the string to speaker, will effect the tone is some way, so lets start from the top…

Strings

Pickups are electromagnets and the output is directly related to the amount of metal that is waved around in front of the bloody things!

Some players choose to use heavier gauge string and tune down their instrument by 1/2, one or even two full tones. This retains the ‘big’ sound of the string but reduces string tension making it easier to play!

I do occasionally employ this technique but you do have to think of other members of the band, their tunings and requirements.

D’Addario regular light (10,13,17,26,36,46) are my strings of choice and for me is a good balance between the tension of the string and the tone. I use a set of 11’s for my Gibson Flying V which I use for slide. These, with the pickups I use, give me a nice detailed and well balanced tone.

Pickups & wood

This of course is intensely personal but I found that under-wound pickups suit me best as they deliver more mids and highs; they tend to be clearer and more defined.

More windings give greater output, bass and thick mids but less top end. I think they lack in clarity and dynamics.

I regularly use four electric guitars: three made for me by the very talented Gordon Whittam (he is the Gordon of Gordon Smith Guitars in Manchester) and a 70’s Gibson Flying V. Two of the customs are based around Fender Telecasters and the other based around a Fender Stratocaster. One ‘Tele’ has two humbuckers and a ‘Strat’ tremolo system, the other is almost standard.

All these electric guitars feature Lindy Fralin’s. He has good article on choosing pickups which is worth reading.

The wood, tremolo system, nut, tuning pegs and neck stability all effect the sound in one way or another. This is all down to taste.

In the custom guitars, I tend to use light woods (swamp ash) which provides a very good ‘acoustic’ sound. I personally think this makes the guitar ‘ring’ more.

Guitar electronics

Most people ignore this vital link in the chain. The potentiometers, cable, capacitors, sockets and switches used are essential to a great tone.

I have replaced all my custom guitars recently with parts sourced from RS Guitarworks.The ‘bumble-bee’ capacitors and CTS potentiometers really make a difference.

Guitar cables (high impedance)

Cables are one of main tone suckers and I spent literally years trying to find something that wouldn’t change the sound of the guitar. My mate and ‘tone guru’ Rob Livesey.introduced me to George L’s The difference it truly amazing.

A tone control on a guitar works by slowly introducing a capacitor across the high impedance output of the pickups. The problem with any guitar cables is that they all have inherent capacitance. The higher the cables’ capacitance and the longer the cable the more it will act as a ‘tone control’.

George L’s cables have very low capacitance and therefore this does not have as much as an effect. The only way though is to plug one in and see!

I use these cable exclusively, in my rack wiring and everywhere in the signal chain. The other great thing about them is that they are solder-less and you assemble them with a screwdriver and a sharp modelling knife!

The length of cable and switching introduced into the signal chain (see below) is also a problem.

I have overcome this by introducing a very high quality, low noise buffer amplifier at the first point of contact after my guitar; the Ernie Ball volume pedal. This was installed and custom built by the very brilliant Steen Skrydstrup.

Some people prefer to use a ‘tube’ based buffer amplifier that better replicates the input stage of an amplifier but I have found Steen’s buffer works well for me.

Switches

Another classic tone suckers are switches. Most effects pedals have either electronic switches or employ an inferior design that do not truly bypass the effect. There is two ways to overcome this. Use:

a pedal with a great bypass switch
an effect switching loop to bypass the effect when you aren’t using it.

I employ a combination of these methods and below shows a schematic diagram of my stage setup.

Now, go and get a cup of tea and take a good look at the diagram (you can download a high resolution version on my Flickr account).

As you can see the guitar goes into the Ernie Ball volume pedal with the buffer (see ‘Cables’ section above) and then out into a Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wha. All Fulltone products feature excellent switches which truly bypass the circuit.

The signal then goes all the way from my pedal-board to the input of the Skrydstrup MR16 loop system. Now remember the signal has been converted from high impedance to low impedance via the buffer and therefore you don’t get as much loss though the cables and switches. Even so, the Skrydsrup unit features gold plated relays inside and with all the effects out of circuit the signal goes through a minimum number of contacts. The output of this then goes straight to the amp.

All effects are on all the time and switched by the MR16 and each effect is wired into a send and return from the MR16 so it is only the effect (and associated cables) that are put into the signal path when required. Effects are sequenced so distortions are generally before chorus/tremolo effects. Get me so far?

Power supplies

These, and incorrect earthing, can cause nasty hum and effects to sound very odd indeed.

Mike Fuller, of the mighty Fulltone,advocates the use of non alkaline batteries in his pedals and also in some – such as theOCD – increased voltage supplies which do change the sound of the units substantially.

I am not that anal (blimey) and use standard 9V isolated power from the Voodoo Labsunits which supplies all the ‘foot pedals’ in the rack with the notable exception of the Fulltone ‘Deja Vibe’ which is an old unit and requires 18V AC – very inconvenient!!

Fender Dual Professional - Custom

2010-11-23T01:14:00.000-08:00

Fender Dual Professional (Custom Shop)

Schematic/Layout:

Model/Circuit Number:
Years of Production: 1994 - 1997
Era:
Configuration: Combo
Controls: Black, forward facing w/ white screened labels, controls numbered 1-10
Knobs: Cream Barrel
Faceplate

    * Front: In, In, Dwell, Mix, Tone - Channel A/B Sw, Fat Sw A, Fat Sw B, Vol A, Vol B, Treb, Bass, Mid - Speed, Intensity - Pilot Lamp
    * Rear:

Cabinet

    * Dimensions: 19.87'' x 26.15'' x 10.37''
    * Hardware: Medium Chassis Straps 4 5/8'', 16'' Tilt-Back Legs
    * Handle: Brown Plastic
    * Feet: Glides
    * Corners: Corner Protectors

Covering Material

    * Tolex/Tweed: Smooth Blonde Tolex
    * Grill Cloth: Oxblood Grill Cloth

Logo: Grill mounted, flat, chrome & black script
Weight: 76 lbs.
Speaker

    * Size: 2 x 12
    * Impedance: 4 ohms
    * Model: Celestion Vintage 30(For more info, check out the Jensen Replacement Speakers)

Effects: Reverb, Tremolo
~Watts: 100 watts
Tubes

    * Pre amp: 5 x 12AX7
    * Power: 4 x 6L6

Bias: Fixed with bias adjustment pot
Rectifier: Solid State

Peavey Classic 30

2010-11-23T00:32:00.000-08:00

Fender Champ AA-764 Schematics

2010-11-23T00:27:00.000-08:00

Pickup Color Codes

2010-11-23T00:20:00.000-08:00

Fender Telecaster wiring

2010-11-23T00:11:00.000-08:00

Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer pedal

2010-11-22T05:51:00.000-08:00

The Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer effect was sold from December 1981 to June 1986. The pedal compresses high-input level signals while boosting low-input level signals, producing a smooth and long sustain without degrading the quality of the original guitar sound.

Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer guitar pedal schematic diagram

Controls: Level, Attack, Sustain
Connectors: Input, Output, AC Adaptor
Input Impedance: 1MΩ (FET input)
Output Load Impedance: over 10kΩ
Compression Range: 38dB
Maximum Input Level: -10dBm at 1kHz
Maximum Output Level: -10dBm
Equivalent Input Noise: -110dBm (IHF-A)
Recommended AC Adaptor: ACA Series
Current Draw: 4mA (DC 9V)
Dimensions: 70(W) x 55(H) x 125(D)mm
Weight: 400g

ICs, transistors and diodes used in the Boss CS-2 pedal:

IC1: BA662A (VCA - Voltage Controlled Amplifier IC)
Q1, Q2, Q3: 2SK30ATM-Y (N-channel JFET transistors)
Q4, Q5, Q6: 2SC732TM-GR (NPN silicon transistors)
Q7-Q11: 2SC1815-BL (NPN silicon transistors)
D1: S5500G (400V/1A rectifier diode)
D2-D6: 1S2473 (switching diodes)
D7: RD5.1EB3 (5.1V Zener diode)
LED: SLP135B (red LED)

Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer circuit board - component side

How to Read a Schematic

2010-11-22T05:39:00.000-08:00

Electronic circuits are presented in schematic form. A schematic is really a map showing the path the current takes through the various componenets. Each component is represented by a symbol, usually with either a label or a value (or both). The arangement of the components on paper is chosen to make the function of the circuit clear, and usually only vaguely resembles the actual construction of the device. The current path is shown with lines, again drawn for maximum clarity, with little concern for the length or position of the real wires.

Here are the most common symbols.

There are some general conventions that apply to all schematics.

The layout of a schematic is designed to show the function, usually with signal progressing from left to right. The actual layout of the circuit will be quite different.

All points on a line are electrically identical. This includes all branches of a line. When we discuss the properties of circuits, we will assume the wires are perfect conductors, with no resistence or propagation delays of any kind. In fact, when we talk about real wire, we will make drawings the show ideal wire with components connected illustrating various effects.

This symbol is ground. All ground points in the schematic are connected together. Furthermore, these points represent places in the circuit that are at 0 volts for reference in measurements. Often the ground includes the metal chasis of a device, but not always.

Labels. Each component should have a label, and there is a standard set of names. For instance, a resistor is labeled R, and this circuit has 7 of them. Presumably there is a table somewhere that tells what the values are. There is only one capacitor; instead of calling it C1, I just listed its value.

schematic for a simple gadget.

The example circuit

The gizmo at the left of figure 1 represents a phone jack. The label implies a guitar will be connected here. You have to understand that "signal" is not the same as "current". The current is the flow of electrons, the signal is the flow of information. The current is going every which way in this circuit, alternating directions in fact. The signal is supposed to come from the guitar and wind up at the speaker on the far right. The route is complex, with each component working with others to modify the signal in some manner. (If your get nothing out of this essay but the fact that it is the combination of components that modifies the signal, you are ahead of the game.) Let's work our way through :

The symbols at Guitar in represent the parts of a quarter inch jack. Notice that part of the jack is connected to ground (This is the part that connects to the outer shield of the cable). Remember that means it is actually connected to all parts of the circuit with the ground symbol. This is the path the return current takes, in essence flowing back to the guitar. The part of the current we consider the signal flows from the tip of the plug into the upper part of the schematic.

Each zig zag line represents a resistor. This is a simple device that has a desired resistance. These serve to control the proportion of current or signal that follows each branch of a circuit. Resister 1 establishes the input impedance, or the load that this device shows to the guitar.

Two lines interrupting the circuit line represent a capacitor. Most of the time the feature of acapacitor we are most interested in is the ability to block low frequency signals. In this case, we want to keep any constant voltage (DC) from the guitar away from the active components, and any DC the active components may have away from the guitar. The actual frequency that will be blocked depends on the values of R2 and R1. (Note: values for capacitors are given in microfarads. The proper symbol for this is the greek letter mu and an f. many programs don't proprery display this, turning the mu into an m. which strictly speaking would be "milifarads", however, microfarads is the usual intention.)

The trangle represents a rather complicated integrated circuit called an operational amplifier. They are complicated to design and make, but pretty simple to use. The signal is connected to one of the two inputs, and appears at the output. A connection from the output back to the inverting input (with the minus sign) controls the amout of gain the op amp will give us. This kind of connection is called feedback. Simply connecting the output to the inverting input sets the gain at unity- no change in the signal level. The purpose of the op amp in this circuit is to reduce the amount of current the guitar must supply

The resistor with an arrow in the middle is a variable resistor or potentiometer. This is the thing that most control knobs are atttached to. If you conceive of the arrow as moving up and down across the resistance, you can visualize a varying proportion of the current being drawn off, or the voltage at the arrow changing. The configuration shown is a typical volume control.

Adding resistors to the feedback of an opamp gives gains other than unity. In this case, the ratio of R4 to R5 sets the gain. U2 provides the muscle in this circuit, providing power to drive the speaker. The last resistor, R7, protects the speaker from too much current. It also protects the op amp, which may be cooked if it is asked to provide too much.

To keep the power supply connections distinct from the signal connections, I have used the solid arrows to indicate power busses (a buss is a wire or trace that connects to several places in a circuit.). All of the upward pointing arrows are connedted together, and all of the downward pointing arrows are connected. In complex circuits you will see a lot of this trick, often with numbered or lettered connections.

Fuzzy Firebottle Guitar Distortion

2010-11-22T04:58:00.000-08:00

Introduction

I was researching the web for electric guitar distortion effects when I came across some interesting articles on vacuum tube preamps by John Simonton on the PAiA.com site. Simonton discusses the advantages of vacuum tube preamps and running tubes in a "starved" mode for intentional distortion. Paia sells a device called the Stack-In-A-Box (see schematic) that was designed by Craig Anderton and John Simonton. The Stack-In-A-Box is designed to sound like a distorting tube power amplifier. I was intrigued by the idea of a genuine tube distortion sound and decided to use the heart of the Anderton/Simonton tube circuit as the basis for this guitar distortion pedal project.

Normally, a 12AX7 tube is run with 100-200V on the tubes plate terminals for clean amplification, lowering the plate voltage to 30V starves the tube of the regular flow of electrons and causes the tube to readily distort. Tube distortion produces pleasant sounding even harmonics, contrast that with the scratchy odd-harmonic distortion (often called crunch) that comes from transistor/diode distortion circuits. Tube distortion tends to make more of a howling electronic sound that is commonly heard in late 1960s / early 1970s rock-n-roll recordings. A good example of the tube distortion sound is Eric Clapton with Cream playing "Sunshine of Your Love". Producing tube distortion in a starved tube circuit instead of an overdriven tube guitar amp has the advantage of making good tone at much lower volume levels.

A transistor-based preamp stage was chosen so that a high voltage power supply would not be required. This makes the circuit much easier to build into a pedal format. However, this choice comes with a sacrifice in usability. The transistor's input gain must be precisely set for a good sound. An all-tube signal path would be preferable, a standard 12AX7 Fender-style tube preamp stage would make a good substitute. A common 12AV6 tube would also be a good choice for this stage since it is essentially 1/2 of a 12AX7, ignoring the extra diode connections. With a tube front-end, the clipping indicator circuitry could also be eliminated.

This pedal is ideal for those who like to tweak a lot of knobs. It has an input gain control, individual tube section drive controls, a clean/distort mix control, a high cut switch and an output level control. A wide variety of distortion sounds can be created by adjusting the controls. The circuit has produced excellent sounds with both Fender single-coil and Gibson humbucker pickup guitars. Unlike many distortion pedals, the Fuzzy Firebottle can mix the clean signal with the distortion signal, this produces a much fatter sound with more dynamic range and tonal variety.

Theory

Power is supplied to the device from a 12VDC wall-wart transformer supply. Be sure that the wall-wart really produces 12VDC, many of these devices only produce their rated voltage at a given load current. A LM7812 voltage regulator (with a heat sink) may be used between a 14-18VDC unregulated supply and the distortion circuit. The +12VDC supply is initially filtered with a 1000uF capacitor, it is further filtered to the +12Vf1 and +12Vf2 supplies through two more R/C lowpass sections.

The +30VDC tube plate supply voltage is produced by an LMC555 CMOS timer chip set to generate square waves. The square waves are fed to a voltage tripler circuit which produces around 30VDC. The tripler uses 1N5818 Schottky diodes instead of regular silicon diodes to produce the full 30V. The +30V supply is filtered through the 1K and 470uF RC lowpass filter before being sent to the 12AX7 plate circuits (B+). The tube filament supply is provided directly from the +12VDC supply line.

The guitar audio signal is fed to the 2N3906 amplifier stage via a 100K input gain potentiometer. The 2N3906 bias is set to a fixed (class A) level by the 20K trimmer potentiometer. The 27 ohm emitter resistor provides negative feedback to limit the maximum gain for the 2N3906 amplifier stage. The output of the 2N3906 amplifier produces the clean signal for the mixer and the input drive to the first of the 12AX7 triode sections.

The clean signal is sent to the LM311 + input in the clipping circuit. The LM311 - input is set to a fixed 6.9VDC level. When the 2N3906 emitter signal goes above 6.9VDC with large input signals, the LM311 output signal switches from low to high. This is fed through the 100nF capacitor to the input of the LMC555 pulse stretcher circuit (one shot). On the return from high to low, the pulse stretcher triggers and the the amber LED blinks on for a few tens of milliseconds to indicate clipping.

The clean audio signal is sent to the grid of the first 12AX7 section through the 100K drive control. If the drive control is set high, the signal on the first 12AX7 plate is distorted. The plate signal from the first 12AX7 section is fed to the second drive control via a 50nF DC blocking capacitor. The signal on the second 12AX7 plate is even more distorted. The distorted signal from the second 12AX7 plate is sent through a 50nF DC blocking capacitor and fed to the Mix control.

The High Cut switch optionally puts a 68K/330pF or 68K/1nF RC filter to reduce the high frequency harmonics. The center tap of the Mix control contains a mix of the clean and distorted signals. This is sent to the Output Level control and switched to the Output jack via the foot switch and through the 100K/47K attenuator.

Construction

The circuit was built in a 3"x4"x5" aluminum box (see photos above). Two universal breadboard printed circuit boards were used for the solid state sections, one for the input amp and clip indicator circuitry and the other for the 30VDC power supply. The vacuum tube socket was mounted in the center of the box and the tube circuitry and controls were mounted on the top of the box. The tube circuitry was wired with a point-to-point method and short wires were used to reduce circuit crosstalk. All of the ground connections tie to a single point near one end of the tube socket to reduce ground loop hum.

The 30VDC power supply board's oscillator circuit produces a tone that can be picked up by the sensitive preamplifer input. The board should be located as far away from the preamp circuitry as possible. If the tone is still heard, it can be supressed by placing a grounded metal plate between the supply board and the preamp.

The blue power LED and amber clip LEDs were mounted to shine through the many holes in the used aluminum box. This gives a nice blue glow effect. You may want to mount the LEDs on the front panel.

Alignment

Power the circuit up and verify that the +12V line and +30V line have the correct voltages. Connect a digital voltmeter between ground and the collector of the 2N3906 input transistor. Adjust the 20K bias trimmer so that the collector voltage is around 4.5VDC. This adjustment can be further tuned (by ear) for maximum volume and minimum distortion when the footswitch is set to the clean setting. There is a "sweet spot" for the bias adjustment, the volume will fall off as the bias is adjusted above and below this spot.

Use

Connect a guitar to the circuit's input jack and a jumper cable between the output jack and the external amplifier. Plug the wall-wart supply in. Set the guitar amp's input volume to a fairly low level. Turn the guitar volume control to a fairly high setting and play some loud chords. Adjust the input gain until the yellow clip LED occasionally blinks. The blinking clip LED indicates undesirable distortion on the clean signal. The input gain control may need adjusting if you modify the guitar controls.

Set the Tube Drive 1 and Tube Drive 2 controls to the middle of their range. Set the Mix control to the middle. Step on the footswitch, adjust the Output Level control so that the distortion setting is as loud as the clean setting. When the footswitch is set to distortion, you should hear some nice fuzz sounds while the guitar is played. Adjust the tube drives up or down for the desired distortion sound, the Output Level control may need adjustment as the distortion levels are changed.

The Mix control can be moved between Clean and Distort for the desired signal mix. For a traditional fuzz sound, the control should be set to the full distortion setting. The High Cut switch can be adjusted to lower the high frequency harmonics on the distortion channel. A wide range of distortion sounds, from barely noticeable to highly distorted, can be produced with this box. Some interesting sounds can be found by moving the Tube Drive 1 control up and the Tube Drive 2 control down, or vice-versa.

For a better sounding second-generation tube distortion project, see the all-tube FuzzniKator Tube Distortion/Preamp .

Piezoelectric Pickup for Acoustic Guitar DIY

2010-11-22T04:36:00.000-08:00

Abstract

In this project you'll learn how to make a piezoelectric pickup for acoustic guitar using inexpensive components. You can then connect your acoustic guitar to an amplifier, and record your own music. If you are interested in electronics and like playing acoustic guitar, this could be the perfect project for you.

Objective

The goal of this project is to make an acoustic guitar pickup using the piezoelectric transducer from a simple electronic buzzer.

Introduction

Back in the day, before any of us had computers at home, we listened to music on vinyl records. The audio signal was recorded in grooves cut into the records. To play the signal back and hear the music, the record was spun on a turntable, and a diamond stylus on the end of the tone arm would ride through the groove. The sides of the groove exerted pressure on the stylus, creating tiny electric currents due to the piezoelectric effect. The pressure created tiny stresses in the diamond crystal, which in turn produced electric currents. A preamplifier in the phono cartridge of the turntable amplified these tiny currents, which were then further amplified by the stereo amplifier so that we could hear the music through speakers.

The piezoelectric effect can also be used in electronic pickup devices for recording acoustic instruments. With a pickup, the vibrations of the instrument are transduced into an electric current, which is then amplified and recorded. Unlike a microphone, with a pickup you will not record extraneous sounds from elsewhere in the room, just the sound of the acoustic instrument in which the pickup is mounted. In this project, you'll learn how to make a piezoelectric pickup for an acoustic guitar, using inexpensive components that you can find at your local Radio Shack store.

There are several different experiments you could try with this project. For example, you could purchase several different piezoelectric elements with different specifications, and compare their performance as pickup devices. You could also compare the performance of your homemade pickup with the performance of a professionally-designed piezoelectric pickup. Or you could build a single pickup and compare the performance of the pickup when it is placed in different locations on the underside of the bridge, or with or without foam.

If you're interested in electronics and like to play acoustic guitar, this could be the perfect project for you.

Terms, Concepts and Questions to Start Background Research

To do this project, you should do research that enables you to understand the following terms and concepts:

Piezoelectric effect
Parts of a guitar
- Bridge
- Soundhole
- Soundboard
- Strings
Sound
Physics of vibrating strings
Sound frequencies
Hertz (cycles per second)

Questions

How does a piezoelectric device transduce mechanical strain into an electric current?

Bibliography

This project is based on a website by Adam Kumpf, a masters student in Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab:
Kumpf, A., date unknown. "Make Your Own Acoustic Guitar Pickup," Adam Kumpf @ MIT [accessed September 26, 2007] http://web.mit.edu/kumpf/www/guitarpickup.html.
These references have information on piezoelectricity and piezoelectric sensors:
- Wikipedia contributors, 2007. "Piezoelectricity," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia [accessed September 27, 2007] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piezoelectricity&oldid=160785907.
- Wikipedia contributors, 2007. "Piezoelectric Sensors," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia [accessed September 27, 2007] http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piezoelectric_sensor&oldid=155035817.
- Nave, C.R., 2006. "Piezoelectric Effect," HyperPhysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University [accessed September 27, 2007] http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/solids/piezo.html.

Materials and Equipment

To do this experiment you will need the following materials and equipment:

Acoustic guitar
- Tip: we highly recommend using an inexpensive acoustic guitar for this project, since you'll be gluing the pickup in place, and possibly even drilling a hole for mounting the audio cable jack.
Guitar amplifier (to hear the results)
- Depending on your amplifier, you may also need a preamplifier, since the output of the piezoelectric pickup is low amplitude.
Guitar cable (1/4" male at both ends, to connect guitar to amplifier)
Piezo buzzer element, with specifications similar to the following:
- Transducer Type: Piezo-electric
- Transducer Size: 1.1 in
- Audio Range: 106 dB
- Noise Level: less than -111 dB
Shielded audio cable, approx. 25 cm length
1/4" audio jack
- If you don't mind drilling a hole in your guitar, you can mount this on the guitar body.
- There are also end-pin audio jacks that can be installed in the end pin hole on the guitar. You will probably need to drill this hole larger. End pin jacks are more expensive than regular 1/4 in audio jacks.
- If you don't want to drill a hole in the guitar, you can also pass the wires from the pickup out through the end pin hole, and attach them to the audio jack outside the guitar. This would be a temporary installation, just for this experiment.
Small piece of medium density foam (just a couple square inches)
Soldering iron
Solder
Wire strippers
Hot glue gun
Hot glue stick
Optional: power drill and 3/8 in spade bit for making hole for audio jack.

Experimental Procedure

Do your background research so that you are knowledgeable about the terms, concepts, and questions, above. Making the Pickup
Note: this procedure is from a webpage by Adam Kumpf (Kumpf, date unknown).
The heart of the pickup is a piezo buzzer element. You can find these for just a couple dollars at your local parts store (Radio Shack). Sometimes the Piezo Buzzer packages don't have that much information on them, but you want to find things as close as possible to the information listed above in the Materials and Equipment section. In other words, they are pretty cheap so go for a good one. Also note that you do not need a fully functional buzzer device, just the piezo element.
A word about Piezo Elements. Piezo elements are made from two conductors separated by a layer of piezo crystals. When a voltage is applied across the crystal layer, the crystals pull on one side and push on the other. This in turn bends the metal conductor layers. When a sinusoidal signal (audio) is applied, the conductors are pushed and pulled very quickly, creating sound waves. The beauty of the Piezo element is that it also works in reverse. If sound waves push and pull on the conductors, an electrical signal is created and can be output to an amplifier or recording device. This is exactly how we will use the Piezo Buzzer element in this project. It will be attached to the inside of the guitar body, and, as the body vibrates, the sound will be turned into an electric signal by the Piezo buzzer element.
Now that you have the Piezo Buzzer, you need to carefully break it open and get out the piezo element. Be careful not to hurt the metal device inside. Bending the element may cause it to break or lose some of its sensitivity.
You are now ready to solder the device together. Strip the ends of the shielded audio cable. On one end connect the signal wire to the center of the Piezo element and the ground/shielding to the metal/brass surface of the piezo element. On the other end of the shielded wire, connect the signal wire to the signal tab on the 1/4 in audio jack and connect the shielding to the ground tab.
Optional: We [the original author, Adam Kumpf] have found that a small piece of medium density foam improves the performance of the pickup over a large number of frequencies. Cut a piece of foam the same size of your piezo element and about 3/8" tall. Place a large drop of hot glue on the back side of the piezo element (where the wires connect) and then press the foam on until the glue cools.
Your piezo pickup device should now be ready to install. You may want to make sure it is working by plugging it into an amp (with a guitar cable) and lightly tapping on it. Here is a picture of the finished device, ready for installation (Kumpf, date unknown):

Installing the Pickup

Mark where the hole will be in the body of the guitar. Unless you are handy with a soldering iron and have an endpin-jack on-hand, do not place your hole in the end of the guitar. This is where the pin that holds the strap is located. There is a block of wood there and the provided jack will not work in this position. I recommend marking the hole about halfway through the curve on the end of the guitar. It is, however, up to you where you choose to put it. Be creative! You will probably want to mark the spot with pencil first, then take the tip of the drill bit and twist on the mark by hand (not in the drill) to make a small indentation in the wood, as seen in Figure 1. Endpin jacks are a stronger and more professional solution, but will also probably double the cost of this project for you.

Figure 1. Mark the hole before drilling the guitar. Use the point of the drill bit to make an indentation in the wood (by hand) so the bit won't slip when you start drilling (Kumpf, date unknown).

Next we must drill the hole. This is the most difficult part of the installation process. It is in your best interest to take the tension off of the strings to get rid of forces that may be pulling on the wood. You may want to practice drilling holes on a scrap piece of wood if available to get a feel for the drill. Using a good sharp 3/8" spade bit, as seen in Figure 2, very slowly (fast drill speed, very little pressure) and carefully drill the hole in the body. Be steady and smooth or you may cause the body of the guitar to splinter around the hole.

Figure 2. Drill the hole with light, steady pressure so as not to splinter the wood around the hole (Kumpf, date unknown).
Carefully clean the edges of the hole, shown in Figure 3. Take the washer and nut off of the 1/4" jack. You must now feed the jack into the guitar body and direct it towards the hole you just drilled. Depending on the size of your hand, you may need to take the strings completely off to get your hand in far enough to guide the jack towards the hole. I usually just loosen the strings, (very loose) and squeeze my hand in as far as it will go. It is almost certain that you will not be able to reach the drilled hole. This is okay. Just be patient and keep fishing for it. You may find it helpful to use something such as a paper clip or a pencil to help guide you through the hole. Once it is through, put the washer and nut back onto the jack to hold it in place. Do not overtighten the nut. Make it too loose and it will come off. Make it too tight and you will have a guitar with a crack in it. A little loose is better than too tight! If you are worried about the strength of the jack in the side of the guitar, you can easily make a sheet-metal washer for the inside of the guitar to help support it.

Figure 3. This photo shows the completed hole, after clean-up (Kumpf, date unknown).

You are now going to mount the piezo element. This step is a very important part if you want your guitar to have a nice sound. Be careful with the element. Piezo pickups can be broken if you bend them. Although it may seem odd, your pickup will produce a much better sound if you mount it hanging off of the guitar, 50-50. In other words, half of the element (brass side) is taped to the bridge (or a brace), and the other half is hanging out in mid-air. The best place to mount the piezo element is on the back side of the bridge. (the side towards the endpin) To apply the pickup, take a piece of double-stick tape, just enough to cover half of the element, and place it on the element. You may also want to use hot glue once you have found the best place on the guitar, as this improves the 0.4k–1.0 kHz range of the pickup. A lot of people also use a sticky-putty, available at a local office supply store. The half of the pickup with tape (or glue or putty) will be the part that sticks to wood on the inside of the guitar (see Figure 4). The other half will be hanging off. Try to keep the adhesive (tape/hot glue/putty) as thin as possible as this will help overall performance. It is also important to note that the placement of the piezo element can also be used to boost frequencies from 0.25–3.0 kHz depending on how much of the device hangs in mid-air. Play around with different placements if you want your guitar to have a unique sound. Typically, the closer the pickup is to the bridge, the warmer the sound.

Figure 4. Mount the piezo element to the underside of the bridge, inside the guitar. You may want to experiment with different mounting positions to see how they affect the sound. You may also want to try with and without medium density foam (Kumpf, date unknown).

The hard part of the installation is over. Now for the finishing touches. First, you must secure the loose wire that runs from the pickup to the jack so that it does not flop back-and-forth when someone you the guitar. Go in through the sound-hole and place generous pieces of masking tape to secure the wire. Next you may want to snug the nut on the jack to finalize its placement. Then tighten up the strings and plug it in! That's it. You just made your acoustic guitar into an acoustic/electric!

Figure 5. This photo shows the completed installation of the audio jack (Kumpf, date unknown).

Source : sciencebuddies.org

Make Your Own Electric Guitar Pickup

2010-11-22T04:16:00.000-08:00

Abstract
If you like playing electric guitar, this could be a cool project for you. Have you ever wondered how an electric guitar works? In this project you'll wind one or more of your own electric guitar pickups and test them out in an inexpensive electric guitar. How will the sound change with the number of turns you use in the coil? Or with the strength of the magnets you use?

Objective
The goal of this project is to build and test your own electric guitar pickup. How will sound quality vary with the number of wraps used in the coil, or with the strength of the magnets used in the coil?

Introduction
An acoustic guitar has a lightweight, hollow body, with a top that is designed to resonate when the strings vibrate. The large surface area of the guitar top is much more efficient at producing sound, so it effectively amplifies the vibrations of the strings. With an electric guitar, it's a different story. If you play an electric guitar unplugged, you'll still hear sound, but the sound is not nearly as loud as the acoustic guitar. What happens when you plug the electric guitar in to an amplifier? Where does the sound come from? The key is in the pickups, which turn the vibrations of the strings into electric signals.
Electric guitar pickups work on the principle of induction, which was studied by physicist Michael Faraday. A changing magnetic field will cause an electric current to flow in a loop of wire. In a single-coil guitar pickup, there are magnets for each string on the guitar, with their poles oriented perpendicular to the string. All of these magnets are surrounded by a coil of very fine magnet wire containing thousands of wraps. When a steel string on the guitar vibrates, it perturbs the field of the magnet just beneath it. This changing magnetic field induces a current in the coil of wire. With a properly designed pickup, the perturbations in both the magnetic field and the current in the coil are synchronized with the vibration of the string. When the signal from the pickup is amplified, it produces the sound of the electric guitar.
How does the sound produced change if the strength of the magnetic field is changed? What if the number of turns (wraps) in the coil of wire is changed? These are examples of the type of questions you can explore with this project. If you like playing guitar and have an interest in physics or electronics, this could be the perfect project for you.

Terms, Concepts and Questions to Start Background Research
To do this project, you should do research that enables you to understand the following terms and concepts:

Induction
Electricity and magnetism

Bibliography

This project is based on the following webpage:
Garfield, S., 2006. "How To Make a Guitar/Bass Pickup," DIY happy [accessed September 25, 2007] http://www.diyhappy.com/how-to-make-a-guitarbass-pickup/.
These webpages have background information on electric guitar pickups:
- GM Arts, date unknown. "Electric Guitar Pickups," GM Arts [accessed September 25, 2007] http://users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/pickupin.htm.
- Wallace, H., 2004. "How Do Guitar Pickups Work?" Atlantic Quality Design, Inc. [accessed September 25, 2007] http://www.aqdi.com/pickups.htm.
Check out this safety information on using neodymium magnets:
K&J Magnetics, 2006. "Neodymium Magnet Safety," [accessed September 25, 2007] http://www.kjmagnetics.com/safety.asp.

Materials and Equipment
To do this experiment you will need the following materials and equipment:

Inexpensive electric guitar
Guitar amplifier
Guitar cable
Popsicle sticks
#42 AWG or #43 AWG solderable magnet wire
- A source for magnet wire is Whitmor/Wirenetics, 1-800-822-9473.
  - Their part number for #42 AWG wire is MWRD42SPN062, cost is $0.012/ft or $20.97/lb. Minimum order per pound is 5–6 pound spool. Yield is approximately 50,000 ft/lb.
  - Their part number for #43 AWG wire is MWRD43SPN062, cost is $0.011/ft or $24.77/lb. Minimum order by weight is 5–6 pound spool. Yield is approximately 50,000 ft/lb.
- For reference, an 8,000-turn pickup will require about 4,000 feet (1,220 m) of wire. For 10,000 turns, you'd need about 5,000 feet (1,525 m) of wire.
- Note: AWG stands for American Wire Gauge, and refers to the diameter of the wire. The higher the number, the smaller the diameter.
Small magnets:
- Approximately 1/4 in (0.64 cm) diameter, 3/16 in (0.5 cm) tall
- Can be neodymium, AlNiCo (aluminum nickel cobalt), ceramic.
- You will need two magnets for each string on your guitar.
- A good neodymium magnet for this project is part number D43 from K&J Magnetics.
Gorilla glue
Paraffin wax
Beeswax
Double boiler
Tongs
Screwdriver
Soldering iron
Solder
Wire cutter/stripper
Electrical tape
Optional, but recommended: digital or tape recording system so that you can save samples of the guitar played with different pickups for comparison.

Experimental Procedure

Do your background research so that you are knowledgeable about the terms and concepts above.
If you have a recording system for your guitar (recommended), start by recording the unmodified guitar.
1. Decide on a set of music that you can play for each test.
2. At a minimum, your test should have sections of single notes that span the entire musical range of the guitar.
3. Use the same guitar, amplifier, and recording settings for each test. The only thing that should be changing between tests is the pickup used.
4. If you don't have a recording system, you'll have to rely on your memory of how the guitar sounds with each different pickup. Listen carefully and take notes right after you play!
The procedure for making the pickup was written by Sam Garfield (Garfield, 2006). The original procedure was designed for a four-string bass. To make a pickup for a six-string guitar, you will need 12 magnets (two for each string) instead of the 8 magnets described below.
Center one of the popsicle sticks over the strings, and mark where each string hits. This will be a guide for where you need to place the center of each magnet. You are now ready to begin construction.

You will need to glue the first four magnets to the Popsicle stick.

This is not as easy as it sounds since all the magnets will just stick together until the glue is set.

The second set of magnets can be temporarily placed on the other side of the stick from the magnets being glued to hold them in place.

Use a second set of magnets to hold the first magnets in place while the glue sets. The photo shows a completed pickup "frame." The "holding" magnets are at the bottom, and are no longer needed at this point.

It does not matter if you have the negative or positive pole facing up, as long as you do each one the same.

Once you've got your glue dried, take the placeholder magnets off and stick them to the four magnets you just glued.

After the glue for the second set of magnets dries, you can hold a second popsicle stick to the top with an extra set of magnets (or lightly glue it in place. You'll remove the top popsicle stick after potting, before installing the pickup in your guitar.

Now start wrapping the wire.

Leave a foot or two sticking out before you start wrapping. This is important, because you need to connect your electronics to two leads.
We found it helpful to stick the whole thing to the refrigerator while you wrap it. Get comfortable because you’re going to be there a while. Standard single coil pickups in guitars have thousands of turns (typically 8 to 10 thousand)!
Keep wrapping until it gets barely big enough to fit inside the plastic of your old pickup (it isn't necessary to have an enclosure—it just looks nice). This will be several thousands of wraps, but we didn’t really count. It should look about like the completed picture here.
Tip: if the wire breaks while you are wrapping you will need to start over (or carefully splice the wire), so don’t break the wire! Since the wire is so thin, it is also very fragile.
Another experiment you can do is to try multiple pickups with different numbers of turns. In general, more windings = hotter output. One thing to look out for with more windings is that the high frequencies may start to get cut off.
Remember to count your turns!

Potting: the completed pickup needs to be "potted" in wax before using. The wax keeps the turn of the coil in place.

Be careful with this step! Paraffin wax is flammable, and melted wax is hot enough to burn your skin.
Use a double boiler to melt enough paraffin wax to completely cover the pickup.
Some people recommend a mix of 80% paraffin wax and 20% beeswax. Beeswax melts at a higher temperature than paraffin wax, which will make the potting more stable in high-temperature environments later.
Leave the pickup in the liquid wax for a minute, and then take it out with tongs. Try to hold it near the edge so that the wax completely covers the coil.
Some people recommend placing it on a plate and putting it in the refrigerator to harden the wax more quickly.
The protruding ends of the lower popsicle stick can be trimmed off, and the top popsicle stick can be carefully removed.

Connect the pickup to your guitar.

You'll need to take off the pickguard in order to remove the existing pickup and install your homemade one(s). In order to take off the pickguard, you'll need to slacken and then remove the strings.
Find the wires connecting the existing pickup to the guitar, and clip them at an accessible point.
Remove the existing pickup.
Strip the ends of the wires inside the guitar.
Carefully strip the ends of the two leads of magnet wire from your coil. You can use your fingernail or carefully scrape with a utility knife. Use little pressure and be careful not to nick the wire.
Install the homemade pickup in place of the previous one. The magnets should line up beneath the strings when everything is reassembled.
Solder each lead from the coil to one of the stripped ends of the wires inside the guitar.
Make sure the connection is solid, then cover the solder joint with electrical tape.
Replace the pickguard and restring the guitar, then you'll be ready to try out your new pickup.

Make a test recording to compare the new pickup to the previous one(s). How does the new pickup affect the sound quality?

souceh : sciencebuddies.org

DOD Compressor Limiter 525

2010-11-22T03:56:00.000-08:00

Installation of humbucker Pickups into a Fender Stratocaster

2010-11-22T03:44:00.000-08:00

This page came about as an exercise for me to get an understanding of what can be acomplished by changing the pickups and a guitars wiring. I was trying to get away from the tinny twang of my standard strat and have done that... and more ! I now have three humbucking double coil pickups with switches so I can "split" the coils by grounding out one side and get a single coil sound. Also a big improvement is moving a tone control from the middle pickup to the bridge. The standard Strat does not have any tone control in the bridge position (which is too bright already). I have the tone controls in the bridge and neck positions and leave the middle without . I've tried wiring 2 pickups to one tone control but volume is effected between switch positions. I have also tried separate capacitors, but prefer one capacitor for both tone controls. Another mod I like is a bridge switch which engages the bridge pickup in any position. The web site links below have more detail and you should read them also before you start. The 500k ohm push/pull pots were distributed by All Parts #EP 286. ph. 281-391-0637
Many thanks to Seymour Duncan and Rodney Gene for their expertise and great pickups, and John S. Atchley for his great website and all responding to the guitar newsgroups ! ( Links at bottom of page).

Thank You Steve Glass for this detailed wiring diagram ! See Seymour Duncan's site for more diagrams.... Jim
Strat Original Potentiometers (pot=vol. and tone controls) were 250k-ohm. I purchased 250k ohm push/pull DPDT pots which include a DPDT Push/Pull switch... I later changed the vol. R1 to 500k as the sound was a little dark.. the 500k brightened things up... and a 1 Meg pot for R1 would be brighter still. R1 push/pull splits the bridge and neck pickups for non-humbucking single coil sound. R2 splits the middle pickup. R3 engages the bridge p/u in any selector switch position (neck and bridge or all three p/u's at once !). The tone capacitor is .033uF I won't try to explain much about the Strats 5-way selector swith. There are two sides separated by an electrical insulator. There is a common point and only three other terminals on each side of the switch. The 2 and #4 position are selected when metal on the rotary switch bridges 2 terminals. It will make sense when you get a look at it.

The wires here only describe electrical connections and how the circuits look electricaly. Each pickup has a shielded cable that carry the wires and keeps things tidy.
The red and white wires (A- and B+) are normally connected together from each pickup in humbucking mode and insulated. In this circuit a jumper is brought to R-1 from the neck and bridge pickups. When the Potetiometer switch is pulled the jumpers are grounded shorting out one of the two coils on both the bridge and neck pickups.... This is known as splitting. These should have similar characteristics to a Strats single coil configuration.

R3 has aPush/pull pot configured to connect the bridge pickup at any of the 5-way switches positions. This adds the ability to have both the Neck and Bridge pickup active at the same time. (Telecaster ?, Les Paul ?) .

The Tone controls have been moved to the bridge and neck and function in the #2 and #4 positions also. There is no tone control in this circuit for the center position #3 with the middle pickup used alone. I am going to leave this for a clean signal and may return to a single coil middle pickup If this proves to be too bright I could work with pickup height to get the desired output.

The Little '59ers By Seymour Duncan have a wonderful depth of tonality and a great improvement in sound. I have got away from the bright treble single coil sound and hear more overtones , musical color and depth. The '59 replicate the 1959 Les Paul patented pickups. Todays Les Pauls are much hotter- higher output than the warmer sound in 1959. When my Zoom GFX 707 guitar effects processor is used the sound can be a little too thick...

Pickup height ? Press the strings down on the last fret and measure the distance from the string to the pickups pole pieces. You might start a 1/16 at the bridge and 1/8" at the neck and bring things lower if too hot or bright. Some use a nickle or a drill bit or a nail as a feeler guage.The fender manual says at the low E string correct height is .024" for each pickup and .020" for the high E string. The Little 59er has pots which also individualy adjust if one string is louder than another.

Note: This information is provided for Your information. You should take your guitar to a reputable guitar shop if you are not comfortable with using a solder iron. Modifications to your guitar may void its warranty.

source : http://www.christianmusicweb.com/Guitar_wiring.html

Blue Clipper Guitar Effect Schematic

2010-11-22T03:32:00.000-08:00

The following circuit diagram is an electric guitar schematic of Blue Clipper Guitar Effect:

Blue Clipper Guitar Effect Schematic

Angry Beard III Electric Guitar Effect Schematic

2010-11-22T03:29:00.000-08:00

The following circuit diagram is an electric guitar schematic for Angry Beard III :

Angry Beard III Electric Guitar Effect Schematic

The op-amp can be any low-noise single op-amp, the original used NE5534. The 2N44 could probably be replaced by other PNP Germanium transistors with out much change in sound. The switching aspect has been left out of this schematic, but you will probably want to add a bypass of some type to this effect. This emphasis switch chooses a tone flavor, this could be expanded to include a wider range of frequencies, but too small a cap value may cause oscillation. Any attempt at taming the internal gain of this effect has been left out, but could be easily added. This can be noisy depending on your rig, so a 10-15pF cap could be placed in the feedback loop of the op-amp if your concerned about too much squeaking.

Maestro Fuzz Guitar Effect Schematic

2010-11-22T03:26:00.000-08:00

The following circuit diagram is an electric guitar schematic of Maestro Fuzz effect :

Maestro Fuzz Guitar Effect Schematic

The Maestro Fuzz is reputed to be fuzz used in the recording of the Stones “Satisfaction”. The transistors are house numbered “991-002298″ and the diode is house numbered “919-004799″. They all probably germanium devices. The use of squelch device is somehow unique, possibly put there to tame hiss and noise during quiet passages between notes. The two 50K pots which have their wipers connected by resistors are wired so that as one increases, the other decreases, giving a pan from one point in the circuit to another, probably changing the amount of distortion. The last 50K pot is an output level control. This unit could probably benefit from a modern DPDT switch setup to completely isolate the circuit when it is switched out, and a modern input-jack power switching arrangement.

DOD Overdrive 250 Guitar Effect Schematic

2010-11-22T03:18:00.000-08:00

The following circuit diagram is an electric guitar schematic of DOD Overdrive 250:

DOD Overdrive 250 Guitar Effect Schematic

The DOD overdrive 250 is Yet Another 741 with two diodes on the output. It is almost exactly the same as the MXR distortion plus.

Dual Pre-Amp and A/B Box Guitar Effect Schematic

2010-11-22T03:15:00.000-08:00

The following circuit diagram is an electric guitar schematic of Dual Pre-Amp and A/B Box designed by Rick Barker:

Dual Pre-Amp and A/B Box Guitar Effect Schematic

Ultra-Clean 9V DC Power Supply Guitar Effect Schematic

2010-11-22T03:06:00.000-08:00

The following circuit diagram is an electric guitar schematic of Ultra-Clean 9V DC Power Supply Guitar Effect designed by Rick Barker. LM317T is used:

Guitar phaser

2010-11-22T03:02:00.000-08:00

Guitar Phaser schematics

This circuit is a phaser circuit, as used in guitar foot-pedal effects. It used 11 sections of op-amp such as LM324 but others will do. The whole circuit works of a dual rail supply: +/- 9v. The 0v rail is indicated by a chassis sign. Make sure these supplies are well decoupled. There is a spare section of one of the IC's which you could used to derive a center tap from an 18v supply.

The circuit works by means of an LED illuminating six cadmium sulphide photo sensitive resistors or LDRs: these six should be arranged in a circle around the LED so that they all get illuminated approximately the same. Exact matching does not matter too much. The whole photo assembly should, of course, be shielded from external lighting.

Each CdS cell acts as a variable resistor in a single variable phase-shift circuit and there are six such individual phase shifters arranged in series, each increasing the overall shift.

The LED's brightness is modulated by an oscillator (bottom section of the circuit) whose frequency can be adjusted by the Speed pot. Max and min illumination are adjustable - the LED should not extinguish.

The LDRs control the shift of the six stages of the phase shifter. This phase shifter has overall feedback, varied by the Intensity control, to alter the intensity of the phasing effect by altering the overall phase shift.

Apart from that, there is an input buffer (top right) whose output feeds the phase shifter and also feeds through to the mixer stage where it is mixed with the phased signal.

I hope there are no errors in the circuit but it is given as is, without any obligation but of course we will answer all reasonable queries. Unfortunately I have been out of audio for some time now so cannot give too much assistance.

Modern phasers will use a digital delay line circuit, but this discrete version works and illustrates all the principles involved.

Enjoy it!

Frequency Brighteners Guitar Effect Schematic

2010-11-22T02:03:00.000-08:00

The following circuit diagram is an electric guitar schematic of Frequency Brighteners effect :

These two effect modules are not actually guitar effects per se, but rather synth modules that will work on any analog signal. The input and output impedance may need altering depending on your needs. The high frequency brighteners is nothing more than a simple booster with a gain control (1k) and an intensity contol (5k). The all signal brightener, however, has a separate control for brightening the low end (100k) as well as the high end of the frequency spectrum (100k). The 10k trimmer is a set and forget type adjustment. Set it so the circuit breaks into oscillation, then back up the setting to the point where the oscillation just stops. These two modules were excerpted from Music Synthetizers. [source : Delton Horn Manual of Design and Construction]

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SEARCH FOR THE ULTIMATE TONE - PART ONE

For the original post please visit here

What is a great tone?

Strings

Pickups &amp; wood

Guitar electronics

Guitar cables (high impedance)

Switches

Power supplies

Fender Dual Professional - Custom

Peavey Classic 30

Fender Champ AA-764 Schematics

Pickup Color Codes

Fender Telecaster wiring

Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer pedal

How to Read a Schematic

Fuzzy Firebottle Guitar Distortion

Introduction

Theory

Construction

Alignment

Use

Piezoelectric Pickup for Acoustic Guitar DIY

Make Your Own Electric Guitar Pickup

DOD Compressor Limiter 525

Installation of humbucker Pickups into a Fender Stratocaster

Blue Clipper Guitar Effect Schematic

Angry Beard III Electric Guitar Effect Schematic

Maestro Fuzz Guitar Effect Schematic

Maestro Fuzz Guitar Effect Schematic

DOD Overdrive 250 Guitar Effect Schematic

Dual Pre-Amp and A/B Box Guitar Effect Schematic

Ultra-Clean 9V DC Power Supply Guitar Effect Schematic

Guitar phaser

Frequency Brighteners Guitar Effect Schematic

Pickups & wood