New pedal modding idea (Help me get an idea of price etc)

New pedal modding idea (Help me get an idea of price etc)

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cream123

cream123

JustAskinologist
Okay, so I'd like to start doing pedal mods for a reasonable amount of money.

My first idea for a mod is making adding the feature of storable presets to an analog pedal. The audio signal path would remain *completely* analog. I'm trying to gauge a price point. So the question is simple, how much would you be willing to pay for this on say a 100 dollar pedal for a middle of the road spot? Please vote! I'd appreciate it a lot!

EDIT: Also, if you have a specific price, post it below! Any other ideas are welcome as well!

EDIT2: If you choose "more" or "not interested", I encourage you to post a price below, and if you chose not interested, explain why!

Thanks
-Marc
 
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Re: New pedal modding idea (Help me get an idea of price etc)

A couple of questions.
1. Do you already know how to do this, or are you asking how much someone would pay for this to happen once you established the means?

2. How many presets would be possible? Is this like Strymon's "Preset" like on the El Capistan?

3. Is this an internal mod or is it going to take up more real estate on my board?

4. (Not a question) If you can make this happen, I think it's highly marketable for delay pedals and OD's.
 
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Re: New pedal modding idea (Help me get an idea of price etc)

andrizzle said:
A couple of questions.
1. Do you already know how to do this, or are you asking how much someone would pay for this to happen once you established the means?

2. How many presets would be possible? Is this like Strymon's "Preset" like on the El Capistan?

3. Is this an internal mod or is it going to take up more real estate on my board?

4. (Not a question) If you can make this happen, I think it's highly marketable for delay pedals and OD's.
Click to expand...

1. I have the means established, and I'm trying to get an idea for supply vs Demand so I can establish a reasonable price point.

2. As many as you please. The process is very scalable. The means for display would be the limiting factor. If you have an LED for each preset, that will take up more display than say a single LED display that displays a number 1-9. If you go over that, another LED display would be added...it all depends on how much space you have on the front of the pedal and the consumer's needs.

3. It will be an internal mod, no extra stuff

4. I agree, those are the main two end designs. With a delay pedal, I could also look at the possibility of adding a tap tempo feature to BBD style designs, but I would need to look at that more in depth!
 
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Re: New pedal modding idea (Help me get an idea of price etc)

cream123 said:
With a delay pedal, I could also look at the possibility of adding a tap tempo feature to BBD style designs, but I would need to look at that more in depth!
Click to expand...

From what I've heard, it seems to me the only proper way to do it would be to clock the BBD directly, rather than try to use a digital pot.
 
Re: New pedal modding idea (Help me get an idea of price etc)

I can't imagine this would be a cheap adventure. This is why people like rack systems with multiples of pedals to have separate settings for the different things they want to do. Doing a recallable setup would either need motorized pots, or programmable resistor networks that replace the existing control pots. A 3 leg one set as a voltage divider wouldn't be too tough, but beyond that it gets a little more complicated.
 
Re: New pedal modding idea (Help me get an idea of price etc)

trevorus said:
I can't imagine this would be a cheap adventure. This is why people like rack systems with multiples of pedals to have separate settings for the different things they want to do. Doing a recallable setup would either need motorized pots, or programmable resistor networks that replace the existing control pots. A 3 leg one set as a voltage divider wouldn't be too tough, but beyond that it gets a little more complicated.
Click to expand...

My current setup utilizes a DAC on the lower leg of the potentiometer with a feedback network into a microcontroller that adjusts the voltage across the lower leg until the proper bias current/voltage current is reached. I'm effectively adding in an offset voltage rather than pulling the lower leg to ground...The digital potentiometer route is doable but then I would have to buy a different part for each design, using a DAC allows me to order 1 chip per design with 4 DAC circuits in each chip. That and the microcontroller (cheap) are more or less the only parts short of filtering for the ADC, etc. I'm running the math and it looks like I'll be doing a lookup table. Also, a differential ADC design across the upper leg of the potentiometer will allow me to get an actual voltage drop, meaning I don't have to do any nasty math on the inputted guitar signal, allowing me to use a smaller/cheaper microcontroller and bring power requirements down.

Adjusting it this way allows me to get a precise measurement and at clock speeds of 16MHz for the microcontroller the time for changing/settling will not be noticeable to the human ear, even with feedback looping time and settling time of the DAC.

I work at the electrical engineering shop at the U of M, so I have access to the PCB fabrication utilities on site. My boss said I can use any excess PCB material for my own use.

ParameterMan said:
From what I've heard, it seems to me the only proper way to do it would be to clock the BBD directly, rather than try to use a digital pot.
Click to expand...

Thats my understanding as well. I'll be doing something similar except I will be relating a "fixed" (snapshot) period of clock to the BBD and measuring the delay time by sending pulses through the BBD. Then its just lather, rinse repeat with a different clock frequency going to the BBD
 
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Re: New pedal modding idea (Help me get an idea of price etc)

Yeah, I'm working on my EE prerequisites currently, and audio stuff is my favorite hobby. I wonder if it might be worth looking into a controlled voltage divider system, rather than straight voltage control. How will that voltage control work with things like level pots that are carrying audio signal?

One thing that pops to mind is a part of my truck's remote start system. The ignition system has a resistor in it that is the "password" for the vehicle to start. There is a box that reads this when the vehicle is started, and clones it when the remote start system is used. This would be a good way to use on analog pedals like drive pedals and such.
 
Re: New pedal modding idea (Help me get an idea of price etc)

Another option would be to go the route that Strymon does with their 1 Preset. It might be worth it to look into how they do it. Although it requires an external low-real estate pedal, it would be another thing for you to sell with your venture. Just an extra option.
 
Re: New pedal modding idea (Help me get an idea of price etc)

Show us a real pedal mod you have done.
 
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