[1441] Pedals Music Video

Date: May 7th, 2013 | Comments : none | Categories: DIY.

Pedals video still

“Pedals” – Music and Video by Conte

Behind the scenes of this incredibly complex production:

http://youtu.be/lHJkIUEONL8

Pedals Music Video:

http://youtu.be/mZ02alEkbLw

 

[1430] Out-of-print Magazines

Date: May 3rd, 2013 | Comments : none | Categories: DIY.

Old issues of Practical Electronics magazine: Practical Electronics magazines

Old issues of Radio Electronics magazine: Radio Electronics magazines

 

[1424] DIY SMD Hold Down

Date: March 28th, 2013 | Comments : none | Categories: DIY.

DIY SMD Hold Down

Fran Blanche (of Frantone) posted some pictures of a clever device to hold down SMD chips while you solder them in place. I had planned on building such a device that used weights to stabilize the probe, but her hack is so much better!

A dental pick, a couple of screws, block of wood and rubber bands are all you need to make this tool. Check it out on Fran’s page.

 

[1417] Single Supply Opamps

Date: February 12th, 2013 | Comments : [1] | Categories: DIY.

I had planned on making a video to explain single and split supplies for opamps, but Alan Wolke has already made one that contains most of the points relevant to pedal construction. Check it out!

Via Adafruit blog.

 

[1411] Winter NAMM 2013

Date: January 26th, 2013 | Comments : none | Categories: DIY.

Check out the pix from winter NAMM, courtesy of DiscoFreq and Effectsdatabase.com:

Winter NAMM 2013 Pictures

Enjoy!

 

[1401] SSM2166 Compressor pcb

Date: December 19th, 2012 | Comments : [4] | Categories: DIY.

SSM2166 pcb

The SSM2166 Compressor pcb is in stock. You can place your order for it here.

You can also view the schematic and parts list.

 

[1397] Stupidly Wonderful Tone Control 3

Date: December 15th, 2012 | Comments : none | Categories: DIY.

Stupidly Wonderful Tone Control 3 – A new spin on an old tone control from the 1970s

Read more in the AMZ Lab Notebook

 

[1391] My Page of Good Free Band Names

Date: December 14th, 2012 | Comments : [1] | Categories: DIY.

Okay, maybe "good" is subjective, but they are FREE!

I have updated the band names page for the final time for 2012. Check it out!

AMZ Free Band Names Page

I encourage everyone to pronounced the names on the list out loud… especially if you are reading them in a public place!

 

[1383] SSM2166 Compressor v2

Date: November 11th, 2012 | Comments : [8] | Categories: DIY.

SSM2166 compressor

At last! After a pcb layout error, and then the maker of the prototype pcbs dropping the ball on the revised boards, I have finally got the updated SSM2166 compressor soldered together and working.

(more…)

 

[1375] LM4562 again

Date: November 3rd, 2012 | Comments : none | Categories: DIY.

You may have seen my previous post about LM4562 precautions. In the 4 or 5 months since I posted that, I have used 2 of the LM4562. The first went into a Brickwall filter and worked just fine. The second one went into one of my opamp multi-purpose pc boards that I put together today as a direct box for my studio.

The project did not work with the LM4562. I checked the voltages and they were spot on. The audio signal was going in but nothing was coming out of the chip. I dropped in a 5532 and the direct box worked perfectly. Another LM4562 was bad.

I’m not sure what is causing the problem with these chips, but in this case, I am sure that the power supply was never connected backwards, nor any other fault was present. The 4562 just will not work, even though I handled it carefully, but the 5532 worked like a charm. I’m probably giving up on them at this point.