ODDS AND ENDS
A page dedicated to other DIY projects, one-off pedals, prototypes and more!
Prototypes and one off builds
Prototypes
When I design a pedal I usually go through a few prototypes before I settle on the final version. But there has also been a few pedals over the years that I decided to not release for various reasons. Here's a few examples. Click on the picture to read more about each prototype.
The Monobius prototype was a cartridge based pedal that I quickly ditched because it felt too much like a gimmic. I only had ideas for about 3 cartridges and they mimicked other Parasit Studio pedals.
A hex pickup based eurorack idea that also was ditched because I sadly couldn't get enought separation between the strings. I might pick up this project again in the future.
The Console 84 was in development for 5 years and went through many changes. At one point it was Teensy 4.0 based, had a drum machine, a touch screen interface, MIDI input and a VST app to make custom patches. I even programmed Space Invaders as a hidden feature. :) It became too complex for me to ever finish, so I started over using a slower AVR microcontroller for a simplified final version. Some features may return in upcoming projects.
There's alot more pictures of one-off builds in the toner transfer article (coming soon).
One-off builds
I rarely have the time to build one-off pedals, so I usually say no to custom requests nowadays, but over the years I have built a few for friends, birthdays and for myself. Here's a small selection of pedals that I think turned out quite nice.
Old pedals from when I built when I just started out building pedals, many years ago.
Parasit Studio mic preamp
For fun I "designed" a 2 channel mic preamp for my studio. It's a mashup of the transformerless preamp section from a Soundcraft 2400, their flagship mixning console from the 80's. It has a very nice sounding differential transistor topology that was common before specialized preamp IC's became available. It also has a variable highpass filter that I borrowed from a Neotek Elite mixer, and a simple peak detector (overload indicator) from another mixer (I can't remember which one it was from). I mounted it in an old project box (19cm wide, 12cm tall, 28cm deep) with a sketchy PSU that i built on stripboard haha, that I should probably replace with a proper PCB... I used fancy expensive OPA opamps and it sounds great!
I did a mistake on the faceplate and labeled the highpass filter LP instead of HP. Doh!
In case you want to build it yourself, I have added all the files that I could find including gerbers for PCB manufacturing, schematics and a drill template. If you don't know how to select the correct AC/AC transformer or how to add a fuse for protection, I advice against building this project. Or buy a prebuilt power supply. Built it at your own risk!
HP4400 headphone amp
A 4 channel headphone amplifier that I designed for my studio. It's based on the headphone amp in my Soundtracs CM4400 mixer. A classic transistor based class AB design. Each PCB is two channels.
I wanted to put the 4 aux outputs on my mixer to good use, so it can be switched between four separate mono inputs or two pair of stereo inputs. It's mounted in a 2U rack enclosure.
If you want to build this one, I have included all the files I could find down below. This isn't a build for beginners and assumes that you have built stuff like this before. It needs a +/- 15V PSU. Build at your own risk!
A chuch organ at home
The church organ and Higgs
A local church was closing down and they wanted to get rid of their organ (throw it away) but a couple of guys that worked with clearing out the old space decided to save it, and eventually it was donated to me and ended up in our lodge thanks to help from friends.
It's driven by a air compressor that is controlled by a TTL logic brain. I plan on making a MIDI mod to it in the future.
I'm not a keyboard / organ player...
It's been fun finding out more about the story behind this organ - it was built by a local organ builder company in the 90's, so it's not that old. I've met two of the persons that worked in the company. Both are still working with electronics and one of them is still working with church organs. I paid a visit at his awesome electronics workshop, full of manuals and other organ parts.
Spring reverbs
Spring reverbs sounds great! I built one inside a 19" rack and though it would be cool to have one inside a stompbox aswell, but spring reverb tanks are usually way too large.
But then I found a old mini-spring reverb tank inside an old PA-head that was going in the dumpster. So this is my true Spring Reverb Stompbox. :)
Only one problem.. when stepping on the footswitch the reverb would make a big thundring noise from the springs. But I solved that by putting the footswitch in a separate little box. The footswitch only breaks the groundconnection to a relay inside the reverb-box that handles true bypass. A balanced cable between the box and footswitch sends +9v to the led aswell. Here's a sound example:
Here my 19" spring reverb with a fullsize reverb taken from a Vox AC15 amp (that was upgraded with a different reverb tank). It also houses a Rebote 2.5 delay that together can create wonderful ambient noise.
Dummy head microphone
Here something different that I built for my studio. It's a stereo microphone inside a dummy head, inspired by Neumann's Binary Head mic, but a lofi version built at a super-low cost. The microphones are generic cheap 1.5v condensers. I put the electronics necessary to drive the microphones inside an external box after a schematic by Elliot Sound Products.
I still use this for listening to the recording room from the control room when I'm recording a band. It goes through a DBX 166 compressor, so that it doesn't get too loud when the drums or amps are being played.
Below is a soundclip I recorded, some drumming on my crappy out of tune drumset with broken cymbals that I had standing at home (when I was living in an apartment, before I had a recording studio in my house).
NES amplifier
This was a fun little project that was a christmas present for my brother. It's a Noisy Cricket amplifier and a Catalinbread Heliotrope inside an old nes 8-bit enclosure. The broken NES was found at the local electronics recycling station (someone had already taken out the cartridge slot so I didn't feel so bad about gutting it).
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