DIY effects

[effectnut]

hey. id like to know the thoughts of fellow guitarists on the subject of DIY effects units. i am thinking of desinging and manufacturing my own system as part of my course of electrical engineering. has anybody any ideas on design, manufacture of the effect unit... for example would having the effects unit on the guitar be a good idea. thanks

[Mark Hammer]

Thirty-one years ago, I published an article in DEVICE newsletter (editted by Craig Anderton) that argued against going overboard with onboard, and my attitude hasn't changed much in the intervening 3 decades.

The gist of my argument is that one needs to concentrate on accomplishing in the guitar what can only be done on the guitar, and should be done on the guitar because it is done best on the guitar.

So, clearly pickup switching is best done on the guitar. Running a stereo or even 3-conductor cable out to a box where switchng would be done complicates matters immensely....which is why you generally don't see it. In the world of multiple pickups and multiple coils, there is plenty that can be done vis-a-vis pickup switching. A lot of the fancy-schmancy combinations and phase relationships end up producing negligible tonal differences when the amp volume goes up. I may be able to discern the difference between using THESE two coils from a pair of humbuckers, vs THOSE two coils, when everything is set to clean and I'm playing through the board and listening via headphones. But once I go to an amp with even a hint of overdrive, I am hard-pressed to hear the difference. People arrange for phase-flipping but rarely use it. Then there is all the series-parallel stuff, and in spite of having the pickups to do it, even a 5-way switch can't get you neck+bridge on a Strat or similar, unless you wire it up differently.

The punchline is that there are plenty of useful settings that simple switching can't get you, but the complexity of the system required to achieve them is burdensome. I think there is room in the world for a PIC-controlled switching arrangement that provides "scenes" in which the various configurations of pickups (coil-splitting, piezo bridge, series-parallel, Jaguar/Jerry Donahue-style bass cut on the neck pickup, etc.) could be programmed and a simple switch would be the user interface. So, the user has a 5-way wiggle-stick to select, and a momentary pushbutton to scroll through "scenes", each of which has a set of 5 pickup arrangements, intended for a certain style of playing or pickup utilization (e.g., an acoustic/crisp scene, a heavy scene, a varieties-of-snarl or chicken-pickin scene, and so on).

Buffering of the guitar signal - what you might call "signal preparation" - is something that CAN be done on the guitar, and done reasonably well, but doesn't HAVE to be done on the guitar. Don Tillman has a cute little idea in the FET preamp built into the cable itself ( Discrete FET Guitar Preamp ). What's nice about that is that the FET buffer/preamp is close enough to the guitar to buffer against long cable runs, but does not require getting into the guitar to provide power or change batteries. It also lets you use regular cables if you want or need to. If you're going to include some gain, in addition to buffering, at the starting point of your signal path, I don't recommend going above a gain of 2-3, simply because there are too many things between guitar and amplifier that anticipate a modest signal. My big epiphany came when I made myself a Tube Screamer to TS-808 specs, and simply hated how it sounded. Just could not see what all the fuss was abuot. Then I got another guitar, that came without the onboard preamp my other one had, and all of a sudden the pedal came alive, and sounded as wonderful as people said it did.

Some guitars have used active on-board EQ. That stuff can be useful, but complicates the instrument. If I was playing a bass and feeding a line driver running to the board and a power amp, onboard EQ would be just what the doctor ordered. But there is no guarantee that the onboard EQ would be appropriately tailored to the effects pedals I was using, and would necessarily complement the amp controls. Moreover, those tone controls could not be bypassed, like an EQ stompbox, couldn't be bypassed or altered without taking your hands off the strings, couldn't be placed AFTER anything else (like another effect), and add weight to the instrument. Like I say, some things are just best done outside the instrument rather than at the start of the signal path.

So there are some ideas. As for effects pedals, I suppose I shouldn't deter you, but as Bret and Jemaine so aptly note, sometimes there can be "too many dicks on the dancefloor" to provide anyone opportunity to score.

[effectnut]

Dear Mark,

Thanks for the reply on my previous question about DIY effects units. I can see from the reply that you are obviously an expert in this feild and are knowledgeable on the subject.

As i progress through the project, i wonder if it would be ok to collaberate with you as part of my market research. Professional advice from people like yourself would be invaluble to me as i find out the thoughts of potential customers for the product.

on another note regarding the last message you quote that
"sometimes there can be "too many dicks on the dancefloor" to provide anyone opportunity to score" regarding pedals. i would like to know indepth your thoughts on effects pedals.

thanks

Mick

[Mark Hammer]

1) I have followed the field closely for over 35 years, but I'm no expert. If you want experts, go to the DIY Stompbox forum.

2) Collaboration, while I appreciate the offer and am flattered, is not something I have time for. I've got a full-time job already and not enough time to devote to my own projects (like the PAiA Hyperflange that has been waiting to be finished since 1992).

3) Within the music technology game, effects are something that requires probably the least initial outlay, and has the most available and lowest cost parts, and requires the least tooling, in comparison to things like making amplifiers or guitars/basses. As a result, there are likely far more pedal-makers out there than the market can support, and an enormous amount of redundancy. I have two buddies in town who are doing okay in the pedal business (they make Retro-Sonic and Empress effects, both well-respected and reviewed in major magazines), but neither are swimming in sports cars and mansions. Moreover, even established makers like Z-Vex have pretty much thrown in the towel, given the short shelf life of products these days, due to piracy and cloning. I like to tell people that you won't get rich making fuzzboxes. You might make a decent living if you're a terrific businessman who happens to make fuzzboxes.

And just so that I don't offend, the "too many dicks" reference wasn't intended to imply anything critical or derogatory. The TV sketch it comes from concerns an episode wherein two guys go to a club to get lucky, and there are 10x as many guys on the dance floor as there are women: i.e., way too much competition for anyone to be successful.

[Ronsonic]

The gist of my argument is that one needs to concentrate on accomplishing in the guitar what can only be done on the guitar, and should be done on the guitar because it is done best on the guitar.

I've been away from here for awhile and maybe this thread is too old for me to do any good with. But it's an interesting subject.

Mark makes very good sense here from a practical, engineering viewpoint and I agree. I also have something that is maybe more of an aesthetic consideration. Guitars, even slab-bodied electrics are musical instruments and instruments are expected to last at least an entire career if not several lifetimes. Guitar effects, even great ones are somewhat more transitory. If you take a pro quality electric guitar and amp from any era, even from the very invention of the instrument the sound is still valid. Guitarists will hear it and recognize it as a great tone. Guitar effects are not so timeless. T-Bone Walker still sounds great. Sixties fuzz from decades later is actually more dated.

Much as I love the pedals I build and as great as I think they are. I don't think any of them will be as permanent as the guitars I use them with.

[Gibsonman63]

You mentioned effects built into guitars?

X120

The effects that go in these are quite valuable on eBay.

I prefer my effects on the floor. How about building a TS-9 with the knobs spaced farther apart and those rubber things on them that MXR puts on the phase 90. I changed out the knobs on mine, but I have to play barefoot to adjust them while I play.

[Mark Hammer]

In fact, I think the Electra MPC line and modules were even mentioned in the original article I published on built-in effects in 1979. They were nifty guitars, but the effects were sorely limited in their controls, options, and variety. If they sell for high prices, its because people who own one of those guitars have VERY limited choices in what they can stick in there. (BTW, that Leslie West model sure looks like a Washburn, doesn't it?)

I kind of wonder why there hasn't been any sort of aftermarket for the many owners of those guitars.

For those folks who like to be able to work controls in real time, I recommend taking a look at the Tone in Progress "Third Hand" ( Tone In Progress Third Hand guitar pedal is a controller for stompboxs and effects. Real Time tweak and dialing in parameters, Use with time length controls or depth control, tremolo speed, vibe fuzz delay distortion! ). The original idea for this was the Electro-harmonix "Hot Foot" from the late 70's. I used to have one at that time (pictured here). Its target application was controlling a Memory Man delay, where the chassis was heavy enough not to flip over, and the controls were spaced far enough apart that you could fit on the connecting flexible shaft. Needless to say, it had a few design flaws, which limited its market, but which seem to have been overcome in the intervening 30 years by the TIP version.