Notes:
You can go the home-brew route and put a 1M LDR and LED in some shrink tubing or there should be enough space to use a VTL5C2 photocoupler. Adjust the trimmer at input till there's no unwanted distortion.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Mid-Fi Deluxe Pitch Pirate
This was a request from my friend Cody from They Remained Silent blog. The Pitch Pirate is a vibrato/chorus pedal, and the deluxe version adds a PT2399 based delay. It also has the ability to modulate over an octave as well as control the waveform of the modulator, giving you a huge range of tonal options.
Notes:
You can go the home-brew route and put a 1M LDR and LED in some shrink tubing or there should be enough space to use a VTL5C2 photocoupler. Adjust the trimmer at input till there's no unwanted distortion.
Notes:
You can go the home-brew route and put a 1M LDR and LED in some shrink tubing or there should be enough space to use a VTL5C2 photocoupler. Adjust the trimmer at input till there's no unwanted distortion.
just checking: has this been verified yet?
ReplyDeleteStill tagged as Unverified, so no. Give it a shot tho
DeleteOK. After seeing the FSB thread I was hoping someone had finished it. If I do it I'll definitely let ya know.
DeleteIt's verified! Thanks for great layout!
ReplyDeletedont work
ReplyDeleteCan't really help you without more info. It's been verified, so I'm gonna go ahead and say it's user error.
ReplyDeleteHello! Thanks for the project.
ReplyDeleteI tried this one and it seems to have something wrong or the way the effect work is different from what I expected . On the "vibrato side", the effect is too subtle (blend on 0). When I move the blend pot clockwise, starts a beautiful delay/vibrato, but no sound from the guitar. Only the repetitions with vibrato effect.
Is this right?
Best regards and great work!
I think I sounded a bit confusing.
ReplyDeleteI expect to have a vibrato pedal with blend pot at full anticlockwise. But I only have an almost clean signal in this position.
The vibrato/pitch/chorus beauty only apears on delay.
Is this right? Thank you!
I haven't personally built this or played with an original, so I can't speak to the issue you're having. Check video demos and see if they can clear it up. Can anyone else chime in here?
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9k7LdscJfQ
DeleteLooking this video, I think it's great. Very similar. I change the speed wiring. Before: Speed 1. After: Speed 3. Now speed increases to clockwise. Also, I changed the speed potentiometer to B500K for a better response, in my opinion.
Again, great work! Cheers!
I'm not finding the "Request" area here. So, I ask you: it is possible to make the standard version of Pitch Pirate? Here is the vero: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/50716053/Pitch%20Pirate.png
ReplyDeleteI think it sounds incredible, it's more simple and more direct.
Thanks!
see on sample demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYmBkyNEYuE
ReplyDeletethanks a lot!
ReplyDeletegreat sounding pedal and great layout as usual
Cheers!
Does anyone have a vero of the Deluxe Pitch Pirate?
ReplyDeleteHey guys. Anyone have an issue with LED? I went from the board to the switch but get nothing lighting up. I know the LED works I can get it to light when u touch coped traces. Just not working with the effect? Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteMatt
Hi, you have pin "Footswitch ground" and if the pin is connect to ground then generator work and the LED blinking with speed of generator.
ReplyDeleteGreat site! Love your layouts. Any chance of a vero/pcb for the Mid-fi clari not? Schematic here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=74294.msg603773#msg603773
Thanks!
perf/pcb***
DeleteI will add it to the list. Thanks for including the schem!
Deleteit works but i hear a click(its sounds like the lfo. when it gets up to audio rate its an annoying whine.) do others have this lfo noisesad? or can i fix it.Regardless this pedal rules. I can easily get tame to insane chorus sounds. Vibrato/ and a whole bunch of effects that cant really be described but are usually very pleasing. This pedal is a must for any sonic explorer. It will be a staple on my board just for the lush chorus/vibrato. the trippy crazyness is just icing on the cake!~ 10/10 this pedal is amaze balls.
ReplyDeleteI had the same anoying lfo click like you, did you fix it in your pedal? This effects rules!!! Sorry for my poor english!!
Deleteinitially mine clicked especially on a tube cricket. i inserted a 200ohm resistor across 9v to pin 8 i just cut the trace on the top of board and soldered a 47uf cap across pin 8 to ground. now no clicking what so ever
DeleteThe pin 8 is refered to the footswitch or to a pin of some IC?
Deletei just build one and it's work !!!
ReplyDeleteBut i had a problem, there isn't delay if the delay knob setted at full
Sounds like the wiper of that pot might be going past the end of the resistant track and shorting out. Either don't completely max that pot or replace it.
DeleteHave some white noize on delay repeats. I think the reason is bad quality PT chip.. will try another
ReplyDeletedid you solve it changing the ic?
DeleteI just finished building this. Very cool effect! I tried about 15 different PT2399s until I found one the circuit liked best. I also used an LM386-3 chip. It tamed the noise a bit more to my ears. Thanks for the layout and Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI've found cheap replacement for vtl5c2 - soviet АОР124А. It is nearly as fast and excels any homebrew vactrol even with high quality ldr.
I've also put ne5532 instead of 4558, imo, it worked better it this circuit.
My build (still with 4558): https://goo.gl/Jfe7Nj
Cheers!
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Deletejust saw a schematic of the Pirate, and it shows a regular 25k pot as the blend control. anyways to convert this layout to that version?
ReplyDeleteI'd have to look at the schem. Can you post a link?
Deletehttp://s10.photobucket.com/user/midfielectronics/media/Pirate.jpg.html
ReplyDeleteThe original Pirate seems to be a bit simpler than the Deluxe. You could probably make it on this board, but it's probably easier for me to create a new layout then try and go through all the modifications that would need to be done to this layout. So look for that layout soon.
Deletebuilt one, effect doesnt work, only blend works (as volume). Does anyone have same problem?
ReplyDeletecheck for solder bridges, they can be sneaky. If you're getting nothing from the delay, i'd suspect something grounding the 5v power to your pt2399.
DeleteAlso, sometimes the etching does quite finish, and you have to do some extra scraping between the lines. they can be hard to see.
Same thing happened to me. Haven't found the solution yet tho
DeleteHi can someone explain me were do i connect footswitch ground, and "led" ? Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe VTL5C2 is just a LDR and LED in one package. They're built to specific specs so you don't have to play a guessing game with individual LDRs and LEDs. On one side should have an LED schematic symbol and other should have a resistor or LDR symbol.
DeleteSadly the only vtl5c2 I could find cost $20... Definitely going the DIY way. Why connect a separate LED in the circuit? And do we need to connect the negative leg back to footswitch ground?
DeleteThe LED pad is for the on/off indicator. Check the General Layout Notes for off board wiring.
DeleteHi! Built one, but have some problem. When "delay time" pot in max and "depth" min or "delay time" min and "depth" max it works nice. But i hear many crackles of repeats in middle positions of these pots
ReplyDeleteCan someone explain the footswitch ground pad to me? The footswitch ground is the same ground on the circuit board? Also the LED doesn't blink at all it just stays constant, so the vibrato effect doesn't really exist.
ReplyDeleteCan we use the 1 and 8 pins of the lm386 as a start point for a fuzz mod ?
ReplyDeletethe pt2399 itself can make a pretty wicked Fuzz. check out the noise ensemble.
Deletecheck out the clari(not) it uses the 386 as a fuzz ontop of a pt2399 effect.
On mine the delay functions work and nothing else. The LED doesn't illuminate.
ReplyDelete"footswitch ground" is a very confusing designation. Should that be connected to the chassis and in/out jacks?
hook up the footswitch to ground for the LFO to function. it powers lm386.
DeleteYou've probably got a short some where if the LED isn't doing anything. Footswitch ground means that pad should be connected to the lug of the footswitch that normally goes to ground (see the General Layout Notes tab)
ReplyDeleteTrying to wrap my head around this, there's a 10k resistor from v+ to pins 3 and 6 of the opamp (non-inverting opamp A and inverting input opamp B) and then another 10k to "footswitch ground", which then has the optocoupler led, a 47uf cap, and gets tied to pin 4 which is of course V- for the opamp.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a "virtual ground" circuit. Except there's almost no load across the 1k resistors unless there is a path from "footswitch ground" to power ground. So there is very little voltage across them.
with the ground leg of the led at "footswitch ground", both sides of the LED are at almost the same potential so it doesn't light.
So basically the "Footswitch Ground" connects to power ground through the ground lug on your output or input jack, per the wiring diagram in the general layout notes.
ReplyDeleteThere should be no mystery about this - in some schemes, order of connections of ground points MATTERS. You'd think that as people who mess around with magnetic pickups, we'd have that concept down.
Anyway, it's alive! Thanks.
quick question: are the ceramic caps pictured supposed to be 1pf or 1nf as pictured? thank you in advanced for your response.
ReplyDeletequick question: are the ceramic caps pictured supposed to be 1pf or 1nf as pictured? thank you in advanced for your response.
ReplyDeleteThe caps are supposed to be 1nf.
ReplyDeleteFYI I used a Luna P9008 LDR and a Cree C503B-GAN ultra bright green LED, both from Digikey, and they are working very, very well. it's likely that the Macron MI1210CLD from small-bear or other suppliers is a good sub for the Vactrol optocoupler. I bought one, but haven't tried it.
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DeleteThanks for the awesome info. is there a reason you chose a green LED over others. here are the stats for the LDR i was thinking of using. any advice? GL5528------150 (VDC)-------100 (mW)------------ 540(nm)----------10~20(kOhm)----------------1.0(MQ / MOhm)------0.7(min)-----------20 and 30(ms)
DeleteI used a green LED for the very simple reason that the datasheet for that LDR states that it is most sensitive to green light. It's sensitive to 400 to 700 nm, but it's peak sensitivity is at 520nm. The peak brightness of the Cree LED I picked is iirc 522nm.
DeleteI used an ultra-bright green because the oldschool green LEDs are far less efficient than other colors at converting current to light. The modern ultra-bright parts are all really blue or UV parts with a phosphor that converts the light to the desired color.
The Luna LDR I used is 10-200k in use and 20mohms at 10 seconds, so the range is quite a bit further than the Senba part. The Senba part does have a 30ms rise time, vs. 65ms for the Luna, so you could say it reacts faster, but since it has 1/10th the response, I don't think it matters that it does 1/10th the work in 1/2 the time.
When I built my clari(not), I followed the "1m ldr" advice and bought some "1m" LDRs from some random ebay vendor and they did not work well. The tracking control was almost nothing.
I read a lot of forum and blog posts and saw references to wider range parts, mostly without part numbers and generally from vendors that don't still have them in stock.
Mouser seems to have only one LDR part, with no real specs. Digikey has half a dozen or so different Luna parts with datasheets, though they cost almost $2/ea.
So I got the widest range LDR they had, that I could see anyway, and the brightest through-hole LED that emits close to it's most sensitive range.
you are the man/women for the info, I just finished putting mine together today and it worked on the first testcuch to my suprise. I used the ldr"led combo I mentioned and I get vary little variation when toggling the speed or wace controls. Ill try using an LDR with a greater range as you reccomend. maybe Ill do an experiment using a ton of different combos. Ill let you know the results.
DeleteHere's a quick demo of my pedal, right after I got it assembled, before I really had any idea how to use it. I've got plenty of range on the speed and wonder if this design would be improved by a log pot for the speed control
DeleteI'm less sure of the wave control, I will have to compare it to videos of the real thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0tFSdL4MwI
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCorrecting my previous advice:
ReplyDeleteWire "footswitch ground" to the same lug on your foot switch as you attach the ground leg of your LED. While following the diagram in the general layout notes.
This turns off the LFO when the effect is bypassed.
That's good, because the LFO ticks like a mother. I didn't notice when it was the only pedal hooked up, but if you also hook up an OCD or a BMP or something else high gain, you will hear the LFO. Even if this pedal is only connected to the same power as the other pedals (with input and output disconnected)
Antonio Chua's suggestion to isolate the LFO power by cutting the trace to pin 8 of the opamp and inserting a 200 ohm resistor, as well as giving the LFO it's own reserve power between pins 4 and 8, is a good one. This reduces the LFO tick by a lot, but does not eliminate it for me.
The choice of dual opamp does not appear to matter. I'm not sure if a tl062 or tl022 or other "low power" part would do the job of driving the LEDs, but any normal low-dollar dual part seems to do the same job. I rolled a few through there including 5532, tl072, and 4556 (3x the speed and current of a 4558) and it did not seem to make any difference at all.
Sir it depends on what amp you use. one some of my amps its present in some its totally not there
DeleteBeen using mine for quite some time now. It sound amazing. if you dial it just right you get a chorus. everything else from mild to wild to zonky. but my gripe is you can use the led to make some sort of lfo monitor. eventually the lfo will be lost. i just ommit that and use led ldr combi no external led.
ReplyDeleteI didn't found schematic anywhere, could you disponibilize it for us please? =)
ReplyDeleteIt's on FSB: http://freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11124&p=249924&hilit=deluxe+pitch+pirate#p232856
DeleteQuick questions what side of the LDR / LED vactrol is positive looking at it and tracing it it appears the top side as you look at the pcb image is the negative cathode side of the LED (the brown trace)? but it's not immediately obvious
ReplyDeleteMy Xvive VTL5C2 has the pos at the top easy enough to bend the legs round but confusing me a little so just want to check
I've wired the footswitch ground to the DC jack ground because I'm using an offboard indicator LED that won't affect the LFO will it? I'm assuming i'ts wired like that on your layout just to give a speed indication rather than it being part of the LFO circuit. So because my indicator LED is offboard can I just ignore the footswitch ground
I do have it working but not sure I'm getting the full effect comparing it to the settings video for the original
Cheers superb site btw
The top side going to the brown trace is the negative side. The LDR side isn't polarized.
DeleteAs for the DC jack ground, it's wired to give speed indication, but also to turn off the LFO when the effect is bypassed to avoid noise.
Cheers that'll b why I'm not getting full effect wired the wrong way round! Looking at it zoomed in on my PC now I can clearly see the flat cathode side! Doh!
DeleteI might just wire it up as u say maybe even see if I can use it to queiten my repeater build a wee bit
Thanks again
Righto turned the vactrol LED around wired the footswitch ground as per the layout and works great
DeleteI was getting the usual runaway distorted repeats in some settings so replaced the 15k resistor going to repeats lug 2 with a 25kb pot to get it just shy of infinite repeats or adjusted to whatever with the infinotty pot set at 21.9k to be precise u get additional weird and wonderful sounds especially with the depth pot maxed
Pluck a string and as it vibrates it goes from high to low pitch kinda feeding back etc
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cQDVlHP9HL243OUzAKzy_al7jeBOAFJi/view?usp=drivesdk
Hello! I have doubts with the wiring. I do not understand what you write in the image, like "bend 2b to out", or "blend 1a to blend 1b" ... some mentioned points do not exist ... my head will explode...
ReplyDeleteThe Blend control is a dual gang pot. A and B refer to the 2 rows of lugs on a dual gang. In this case, lug 2 of the B row is the output of the circuit. You'll need to wire a jumper from lug 1 of the A row to lug 1 of the B row, etc. Consult the General Layout Notes tab for more info.
DeleteI get it!!! Thank you very much!!! I will try to do it, I finished the TS808 1590A and the EP Booster and they sound very good !!! Greetings from Argentina!!! Your blog is incredible!
DeleteHello! I almost finished it and I have two questions:
ReplyDelete1- Approximately how many k the trimmer should be.
2- Vactrol: the brown track (ground footswitch) must connect to the anode or cathode of the led?
Beforehand thank you very much!
1-That trimmer is just a pregain control, so start with it all the way up and turn it down if there's any unwanted distortion.
Delete2-Connect the cathode of the LED to the brown ground via the footswitch
Excellent, thank you very much! Let's see if it works!
DeleteI've been troubleshooting this circuit and have run out of ideas...
ReplyDeleteThe pedal is passing clean unaffected signal when on and when off. When effect is engaged, I hear the LFO clicking, i can see both LED's blinking in tandem. As the blend knob is turned CW, the volume drops until the pot is maxed and no signal is coming through.
I've checked for shorts over and over and over, used a DMM to check for continuity errors, replaced every IC a few times. I started using and audio probe like this: http://www.guitarpcb.com/apps/forums/topics/show/7219163
I can hear the warbling effect coming out of pin 12 of the PT2399, but that wet signal is very low volume-wise, and its not making it further than that pin. When I'm probing here, all pots are having the intended effect. Strangely though, when I move the Delay Time to 0 the Vibrato effect disappears. I'm going back and forth between the schematic and the layout, I can't find any placement errors or incorrect values.
Help! Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Hello everyone!!! Something similar happens to me. Being deactivated, the signal of the guitar passes clean, perfect. When I activate the pedal it remains silent. It makes a very loud noise when I step on the pedal to turn it on or off, and I can hear that it works making ground on some potentiometer then it starts the delay effect, etc. etc. The problem is that it does not mix with the sound of the guitar and the bypass indicator LED remains static.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've got a problem with ground or power somewhere have you connected the footswitch ground? It switches on the LFO in effects mode and off in bypass mode
DeleteBut if I'm understanding you correctly you're saying you get effect if you place a ground wire on the pots?
All this and the LED remaining on point towards a ground fault or possible reversed power and ground connections
Continuity check your grounds simply put your meter to diode/ continuity check, stick the black probe into a screwhole on the enclosure and touch all your ground points with the other probe if you get a beep it's good if not you've got a poor connection or dry solder joint
Visually check your 9v wire goes to the correct lug on your dc jack if you're using an adaptor the top lug a battery the middle lug with ground to your ring lug on your stereo in jack
Hi Billy, thanks for answering!
DeleteLook, so I connected the wires to the 3PDT:
leg 1: to circuit IN
leg 2: to jack IN
leg 3: bridge to leg 9
leg 4: to pink circuit track called "LED"
leg 5: to brown circuit track called "FOOTSWITCH GROUND"
leg 6: bridge to leg 1
leg 7: to leg blend 2b
leg 8: to jack OUT
leg 9: bridge to leg 3
Reviewing this, may I have missed connecting a wire also directly to ground from leg 5?
I mean, from leg 5 would come two wires for "EARTH" and another for the brown track "FOOTSWITCH GROUND"?
and yes, touching with my hand some potentiometer makes a noise of earth and remains doing delay effects that I can control, but the guitar does not sound ...
I await your answer, thank you very much friend!
Does anyone know what is wrong with my pirate? Please
DeleteHello friends, I still can not make it work. I was looking at the diagram and I think I should put 9v in the "LED" hole? The pedal works only in delay mode... it's as if the VTL part will not work... If I inject power with my meter in Diode mode the VTL works, so I think I should inject power into the "LED" hole.
ReplyDeleteI hope comments that help me with this wiring, thank you very much!
I didn't use the LED pad as far as I'm aware it's for a speed indication LED
ReplyDeleteI only had delay until I wired the footswitch ground to lug 5 of the 3PDT as well as a normal ground
If you have 3PDT lug 4 wired to the LED pad then as far as I can see that's live so if you have ground to lug 5 when in effects mode ie 4 and 5 connecting that would explain your LED problem
I think your confusion is with the LED pad don't connect anything to it wire a ground plus the footswitch ground to 3PDT lug 5 your on off indicator LED cathode to lug 4 and double check your vtl is in the correct way + side to the blue trace going to the 10k
Hi Billy, thanks for your reply! I'm going to check the "Ground" issue and I'll tell you in a few days. Thank you very much friend!
DeleteThanks Billy, it works wonders! Thank you very much!!!
DeleteIt says to connect blend 2b to The output. But output is no specified...can someone help?
ReplyDeleteHello Felipe! The output is pin 2B of your "dual gang" (Blend) potentiometer. Regards!
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ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI just built this and everything works great! Thanks. But I get some white noise with the delays when the depth knob is anticlockwise. But depth knob full clockwise and no more white noise. What should I do? I read someone would try to switch his PT chip. Would that be a solution? I would like to try something else first as desoldering that chip will be a hassle.
What I was trying to get rid of is the backgroud noise rather than the noise in the delay. So I tried replacing the 100nf cap at pin 9 of the pt2399 with a 220nf at first. Got a lot more noise, and more delay/feedback. Then replaced it again for a 47nf, got a bit less feedback, and less noise... satisfying enough for me. Not sure what happened there but I got to try this after reading a bit on the pt2399. Which seems to be notably irregularly noisy.
ReplyDeleteHi folks I need to know. How the Pitch Pirate tremolo setting compare to the tremulus lune?
ReplyDeleteI was going to build a tremulus lune that uses a VTL5c2 but I found this project that has a chorus/vibe and delay. I just don't wanna lose the tremulus lune thing, cause I only have on vactrol and no access to LDRs. Also I have little space on my board so it would be great to have all those in one pedal. Does it have a good tremolo like tremulus lune?
Im having a little delay in the input signal. Like i play the note and there is a small delay (not wanted) and then i can hear it. The rest i think its working, not so much of a response in the speed and the wave knob. Will try to change it
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi i can only hear the delay. Delay time and feedback buttons work.
ReplyDeleteWhen i turn the blend to max clock wise it gives me the wet signal only
Ticking is also heard.
I don't get modulation of any kind, the Depth, Speed and Wave buttons don't change the sound at all.
Where should i check?
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI am trying to make this pedal at my college on a PCB mill but I'm having trouble converting the pdf to a gerber file. Does anyone have any experience or have the gerber file available?
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ReplyDeleteBuilt this twice but can't get it working for some reason. I have everything oriented the way it is in the chart but not even my leds will turn on. I etched the PCB version so I know the tracks are right. I used different parts and swapped IC's on each build.. I've been scratching my head for a couple days. Anyone got any ideas for me? I have checked for specs of unwanted solder/bridges a handful of times and ran my iron around everything and still no dice. Could a bad pot cause it to not function or something like that?
ReplyDeleteI had the same issues and it was the Vactrol
Deletemy pedal has a noise like an overdrive, even adjusting the trimpot
ReplyDeleteand the overall volume decreases what I do !!!
Hi guys! Thanks for layout! Everything works but only problem is drop of effect volume when it plugged before any other pedal. So volume is back when I bypass the effect. When i use only this pedal or plug it in the end of chain there's no volume drop either effected or bypassed signal. Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteWas my fault! Thanks for project!
DeleteHello. Can someone tell me how to remove the hiss noise in the repeats?
ReplyDeleteHere a sample https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BAABQtmj0thEZaicXrUq25drpyy91LuZ/view?usp=sharing
As far as i know, this is something normal to happen in PT2399 IC
DeleteYou can increase the 1nf caps. You will lose high end, which is where the noise lives. The longer the delay time, the noisy the repeats become. The pt2399 runs out of memory easily with times beyond 300ms
DeleteIs there any problem to use an LDR with a different value?
ReplyDelete