looking to make a effect box

Design Concepts
1

i have a huge list of schematics from TFIS and i want to make a effect box with some of these guitar pedels or effect boxes for live performances. since i’ve never really been into analog gear up until now i don’t know whats good from whats crap.  the case will be the commodore c64 case or if its bigger then expected a custom case i have made just sitting around doing nothing. if you can direct me towards the better sounding effects that would be great.   

want list…

:. chorus

:. delay(s)

:. distortion

:. filter(s)

:. phaser

:. compressor

:. reverb

2

You might be better off getting a mid-90’s MIDI rack unit or something for all those effects. That would take some serious building in the analogue domain!

That said, my vote would be:

Boss Dimension Chorus

Rebote-based delay

Smallstone/Ross Phaser

A FET based distortion like the Dr-Boogie

Reverb would be a difficult proposition. If you can handle tubes, build the Fender tube based spring unit.

3

Fxs I have built so far:

rebote 2.5 delay

MXR Distortion Plus

blues breaker

Tube Screamer (Ibanez TS909 clone, still on the bench waiting for parts)

power supply

those are from www.tonepad.com

easy to build, with parts list, schematics and ready to transfer PCB drawings

great sounds.

worth it only for the joy of building each one and all the knob tweaking, it would be great if anyone finds how to mod the fxs to be controlled via CV

on the other side, cheaper and ready to go:

old Rack units:

Alesis Quadraverb GT

ART SGX LT(had one of this units for years).

both are great rack units, best with floor pedalboard or MIDI controlled.

new floor units:

Boss GT8

Line 6 POD XT

Adrenalinn 2 or 3

I have a boss GT3 as a master with an Adrenalinn 2 on the fx loop , any sound you can think of and some more , this two units together will do.

the Line 6 sounds really great but I have 2 friends with broken units, so I would not get one of this for the road.

4

how to mod the fxs to be controlled via CV

MIDIboxFX a work in progress, but containing many clues

5

for the switching effects on and off, have a look at http://www.geocities.com/thetonegod/switches/switches.html

6

I’ve built a pretty versatile distortion unit based on various schematics. Just look at my WIKI page for the details. An adapted version for synths (minor changes to the input stage) is in the making.

Cheers,  Alex.

7

Adrenalinn 2 or 3

just picked up a used adrenalinn 2 for cheap. for $99USD you can upgrade the adrenalinn 2 to the new adrenalinn 3. thanks for the suggestions.