Name change? Yup

Phatkat..... that was the name for the pedals I originally chose. Named for a very...ummm, unique flabby kitty cat named Boris. The idea was to put a vector graphic of Boris' face on the pedals. But it turns out that there isn't usually real estate left on the enclosures'after knobs/switches/labels/etc..

So, in the spirit of keeping it simple, the new name/logo is....
CCFX.

Vibe-modded Phase 45 circuits. Almost as good as....

Ah....another phaser.
And like all phasers I build, it gets the "Univibe mod" treatment.

The added "Depth" control can blend out the dry signal, making it more of a pitch vibrato effect. Nice added touch.

I still haven't decided whether to go with MXR-style knobs, as in the video, or old-school appliance-style, like the the photo above.

The Zoso: This one I'll probably keep.....

This is a modified EP Booster circuit, built on an etched madbean PCB.
It can run on 18 volts from a 9 volt power supply, thanks to an internal charge pump. A trim pot inside let's you adjust the voltage, allowing more headroom, or conversely, more gain.

The toggle beefs up the sound, great for single coil pickups. The tone control is very useful throughout the range of the pot.

It's a great little preamp circuit. I've been using SHO circuits strictly because of their tube-like boost and transparency, but they can be shrill when you use the volume knob on the guitar to control gain.

Not so with the Zoso.

The enclosure was etched by me with ferric chloride, came out OK..... Kind of rustic......

Phatkat Customs PhatMuff

Well, it was time I got around to building some sort of Big Muff variant. Having never played out of one (!), I wasn't too sure how they should sound, aside from Billy Corgan.
This one is quite thick, and more fuzz than I can handle. As far as fuzz goes, I'm more of a Skreddy-style Muff fan.
Nevertheless, I made it, here it is.

I may try some Schottky diodes in it.....or some of these weird telefunken germaniums i've got around.

I have not had much time to play guitar over the last 3 or 4 weeks, and it REALLY shows. It makes me sad and depressed. Damn new job.....

but, you know what Gustavo says...
"A man provides for his family."

here's a crap demo.

A few things I'm working on.

Just some stuff I'm trying to build at the moment....

I didnt know until ~after~ i'd finished the artwork that another company had a pedal out with the same name. Dammit.

It's based on the mid-fi clari(not) delay, which is a pitch-bending delay/fuzz circuit, but this one is modified with:

A switch to kill the LM386-based fuzz (horrible IC for fuzz, if you ask me).

Switchable external optical pitch control ( wave your foot over/around it).

A regeneration control (feedback into the delay line), also switchable.

The cool thing about the regen control is that you can control it with you guitar's volume knob. let it go into oscillation, and by slightly lowering the volume on the guitar, it fades away, while still having the echo on. Nifty.

I'm not completely satisfied with the pitch tracking. something in the LDR/LED combo isn't quite     how i's like it. I've tried a Vactrol (VTL5c1) - too harsh on the tracking. Tried a  "roll your own" optoisolator.... same result. 

This thing does a GREAT "degrading echo" a la Pink Floyd on the album "Animals" ("dragged down by the stone...stone.....stone...stone....")

I dont know.... it might sound great to other guitar players, I am really not at all an "echo" guy...not much for reverb on my sound ,either.

My setup usually just has a modified Vox 847 and a one-knob FET  Boost. 

For a guy who dont use effects that much, I sure do build/own a lot of them. But more about that in a future post...

Curt

Welcome to my blog. Why have a blog....?

Why not.

I guess this is just a place I can post things (mostly circuits and music) that I think are cool, interesting, or different.
Maybe even vent my unbridled anger, when i need to. 

And,  i tend to forget capitalizing the letter "i" when referring to myself. i pick and poke when i type, so....there it is.

A few tidbits about myself, you say?

Ok....

Music:                         i like it.
Guitar playing:             i do that, too.
Build stuff for guitar:    i try.