Let's design a great acoustic gigger's pedal

Floof · October 2017

Just for fun n' stuff.

Brainstorm of features:

Tuner
Hi-pass switch
Phase switch
Boost switch (+ discreet knob for adjusting boost gain)
EQ: Low, Mid-freq, Mid-gain, High
Compression (control, not footswitch)
Reverb (control, not footswitch)
Jack in
XLR out
Jack out
(FX loop - maybe)
Power: Phantom power or 9v external

Comments/critique/other ideas?

Lewy · October 2017

I'd change the EQ to 4 band with 2 sweepable mids, otherwise I'd go for that.

Also a K&K-friendly 1 meg input.

Oh and maybe a notch filter.

Danny1969 · October 2017

With the exception of the compressor and reverb it would actually be quite an easy and cheap pedal to make. Personally I've never used compression with acoustic when playing live but have used it on mixs

Phantom power is only capable of a small current, you wouldn't be able to power a pedal with all those features from it. External 12V AC would be my choice as it's then quite easy to make a dual 12-0-12 supply internally which gives excellent headroom and does away with a lot of coupling capacitors

I would like a mute switch as well on the pedal and the high pass set about 12dB per octave but adjustable from 80hz to 150hz

Floof · October 2017

Lewy said:

I'd change the EQ to 4 band with 2 sweepable mids, otherwise I'd go for that.

Also a K&K-friendly 1 meg input.

Oh and maybe a notch filter.

All good additions I reckon

Does a high-Z input like that have any downside for other pickup types?

Floof · October 2017

Danny1969 said:

With the exception of the compressor and reverb it would actually be quite an easy and cheap pedal to make. Personally I've never used compression with acoustic when playing live but have used it on mixs

Phantom power is only capable of a small current, you wouldn't be able to power a pedal with all those features from it. External 12V AC would be my choice as it's then quite easy to make a dual 12-0-12 supply internally which gives excellent headroom and does away with a lot of coupling capacitors

I would like a mute switch as well on the pedal and the high pass set about 12dB per octave but adjustable from 80hz to 150hz

I'd assumed Tuner switch would double as mute (or even just have that switch route to a single send that a Tuner could be plugged into maybe ? )

OK so minus comp and reverb how cheap is cheap ?

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Floof · October 2017

also I suppose IEC power isn't the end of the world if it makes for better performance, or doesn't it?

Danny1969 · October 2017

Floof said:

also I suppose IEC power isn't the end of the world if it makes for better performance, or doesn't it?

Integrating mains voltage into the pedal means you gotta do the safety, EMC etc .... using an off the shelf adaptor means that's all done for you

You really need a completely separate hi Z piezo pre amp as well as a low Z line pre amp to get the best performance

In terms of cheapness it would cost about £45 in parts for the box and sockets, pots, opamps and supporting circuitry for preamps, EQ, hi pass filter etc ....

Floof · October 2017

Danny1969 said:

Floof said:

also I suppose IEC power isn't the end of the world if it makes for better performance, or doesn't it?

Integrating mains voltage into the pedal means you gotta do the safety, EMC etc .... using an off the shelf adaptor means that's all done for you

You really need a completely separate hi Z piezo pre amp as well as a low Z line pre amp to get the best performance

In terms of cheapness it would cost about £45 in parts for the box and sockets, pots, opamps and supporting circuitry for preamps, EQ, hi pass filter etc ....

ah yes that makes sense re mains. I had a brief brush with the low voltage directive in a previous life.

So in terms then of R&D into frequencies for the controls, is that pretty much well known (rip off the Baggs Para DI ? lol) or would that need to be tested out?

And to make such a thing, let's say in single figures vs in a run of 100, any idea?

Danny1969 · October 2017

There are many EQ cookbook circuits you could mod the values off to suit an acoustic. Whether it would sound great is another thing though .... ripping off another proven circuit is the easiest way

I'm in the process of finalising an usual pedal design myself at the mo, I've designed and built the prototype and am currently giging in and making notes and adjustments before the circuit diagram is confirmed good and it then gets put into SPICE which makes a PCB layout which goes off to a PCB fabrication place.
Then I have to buy and drill the box's to build the units, so I will learn more about the process as I go I guess

John_P · October 2017

Sounds like a pedal I was looking for. The old Yamaha acoustic AGatomp did most of what you describe - built in tuner would be handy for an all in one box.
I’m surprised there aren’t more like this on the market.

Floof · October 2017

John_P said:

Sounds like a pedal I was looking for. The old Yamaha acoustic AGatomp did most of what you describe - built in tuner would be handy for an all in one box.
I’m surprised there aren’t more like this on the market.

yeah that's kind of where the idle speculation started. Things I've noticed as a lazy man's all-in-one acoustic thingumy all seem to have not-quite-everything-I-think-I'd-like on them

Floof · October 2017

Danny1969 said:

There are many EQ cookbook circuits you could mod the values off to suit an acoustic. Whether it would sound great is another thing though .... ripping off another proven circuit is the easiest way

I'm in the process of finalising an usual pedal design myself at the mo, I've designed and built the prototype and am currently giging in and making notes and adjustments before the circuit diagram is confirmed good and it then gets put into SPICE which makes a PCB layout which goes off to a PCB fabrication place.
Then I have to buy and drill the box's to build the units, so I will learn more about the process as I go I guess

Sounds like an interesting process - be cool to hear about it as you go!

ICBM · October 2017

Boss AD-3 with the stupid chorus replaced by a tuner.

Why do they even make it like that?

The AD-8 is too big, the AD-2 is too basic, the old AD-5 wasn't footswitchable, and the AD-3 has the damn chorus and no tuner.

FAIL.

Floof · October 2017

That got me looking on the Boss site. The AD-10 isn't too far off.

ICBM · October 2017

Floof said:

That got me looking on the Boss site. The AD-10 isn't too far off.

Aha, I didn't know about that yet! It seems to have only just come out. It does look promising...

Floof · October 2017

This looks well thought out too

https://www.andertons.co.uk/p/PZPRE/acoustic-guitar-fx/radial-engineering-tonebone-pz-pre-acoustic-preamp-di-pedal

crunchman · October 2017

ICBM said:

Floof said:

That got me looking on the Boss site. The AD-10 isn't too far off.

Aha, I didn't know about that yet! It seems to have only just come out. It does look promising...

Looks good. Wouldn't mind a compressor on it though. I suppose you could use the boost to bring up quieter parts.

Floof · October 2017

Grace Audio Alix seems to be the winner - but £700 !

Floof · October 2017

This looks pretty nice:

http://www.gracedesign.com/products/alix/alix.htm

Fully parametric mid EQ with switchable range, switchable input impedence, and a courtesy 9v *out*

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Let's design a great acoustic gigger's pedal

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