AMZ-FX Guitar Effects Blog

Pedals Music Video

admin — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:30:24 +0000

“Pedals” – Music and Video by Conte

Behind the scenes of this incredibly complex production:

Pedals Music Video:

Copr. 2008 by Jack Orman Visit my site to learn more about guitar effects, download free projects or buy pc boards and germanium transistors.

Out-of-print Magazines

admin — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:42:01 +0000

Old issues of Practical Electronics magazine: Practical Electronics magazines

Old issues of Radio Electronics magazine: Radio Electronics magazines

DIY SMD Hold Down

admin — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 19:49:27 +0000

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.

Copr. 2008 by Jack Orman Visit my site to learn more about guitar effects, download free projects or buy pc boards and germanium transistors.

Single Supply Opamps

admin — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:39:00 +0000

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.

Copr. 2008 by Jack Orman Visit my site to learn more about guitar effects, download free projects or buy pc boards and germanium transistors.

Winter NAMM 2013

admin — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 13:52:51 +0000

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

Winter NAMM 2013 Pictures

Enjoy!

Copr. 2008 by Jack Orman Visit my site to learn more about guitar effects, download free projects or buy pc boards and germanium transistors.

SSM2166 Compressor pcb

admin — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:26:57 +0000

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

You can also view the schematic and parts list.

Copr. 2008 by Jack Orman Visit my site to learn more about guitar effects, download free projects or buy pc boards and germanium transistors.

Stupidly Wonderful Tone Control 3

admin — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 13:06:55 +0000

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

My Page of Good Free Band Names

admin — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:27:00 +0000

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!

Copr. 2008 by Jack Orman Visit my site to learn more about guitar effects, download free projects or buy pc boards and germanium transistors.

SSM2166 Compressor v2

admin — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 21:38:01 +0000

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.

You may remember the SSM2166 as the chip used in the Q&D Compressor 2, that I published years ago. It has been out of production in the DIP package for a number of years, but Small Bear Electronics has bought some of the surface mount version and had them soldered to a DIP conversion board. This makes the SSM2166 available once again for the average home builder.

I will have pc boards available for this project before the end of this month. Stay tuned!

Copr. 2008 by Jack Orman Visit my site to learn more about guitar effects, download free projects or buy pc boards and germanium transistors.

LM4562 again

admin — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 23:05:25 +0000

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.

Copr. 2008 by Jack Orman Visit my site to learn more about guitar effects, download free projects or buy pc boards and germanium transistors.