WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?



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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby purpleshoes » Mon Nov 20, 2017 2:39 pm

hey so I *tried* building it.. but mine doesn't work. That's not to say that your circuit doesn't work , I'm almost certain I fucked up the wiring etc on mine. first time converting a pcb layout to perfboard and I didn't realise what a mindfuck it would be to try doing the double sided thing on a little piece of perf. I should probably have made a new layout on vero using your circuit.. in fact might do that once I dust myself off from this frustrating failure haha. wooowww it took me like 10 hours (I'm bad at soldering) and it doesn't work :(

when I plug it in there's just real loud 60 cycle hum from the amp, I got a little bit of fuzz out of it after jiggling the board but none of the knobs did anything useful - I've definitely messed up the layout and the wiring.
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby crochambeau » Mon Nov 20, 2017 2:51 pm

purpleshoes wrote:when I plug it in there's just real loud 60 cycle hum from the amp


Check your ground plane, there should be continuity between your guitar strings and the metal faceplate of the amp. If there is not, find and resolve the disconnect before undoing any work or losing any sleep. ;)
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby purpleshoes » Mon Nov 20, 2017 7:38 pm

crochambeau wrote:
purpleshoes wrote:when I plug it in there's just real loud 60 cycle hum from the amp


Check your ground plane, there should be continuity between your guitar strings and the metal faceplate of the amp. If there is not, find and resolve the disconnect before undoing any work or losing any sleep. ;)



Nice one - thanks for that! found a very obvious spot where ground was disconnected. guess I was tired hah. now the hum is gone but the pedal still doesn't work. I've gone thru the whole board double checking everything is connected to each other as per the circuit but all I get is VERY quiet oscillation that changes pitch when any knob is turned. there's a teeny little bit of guitar signal coming through (I can hear that sweet fuzz wayyyyyy in the background) but vol control doesn't seem to do anything. all components seems to be connected where they should be and there are no shorts that I've found. I guess I need an audio probe to check whether it's a bad component? not really sure where to go from here.

The tone control was optional too right? should I maybe try getting rid of that to see if anything changes?
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby eatyourguitar » Mon Nov 20, 2017 7:54 pm

I think this circuit could be built on a piece of wood with nails in it. 3 transistors, some resistors, some caps. you could build it on the backs of the pots for example. some people are great at turret or eyelet but can't build on strip, vero, perf etc.. some people etch single side pcb at home. you just need to find what you like and build that way. don't let a lack of strip board skills stand in your way of having a good time.
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby purpleshoes » Tue Nov 21, 2017 7:58 am

back again!! So, after a lot of swearing and nearly giving up, I went back and reflowed every solder joint and now it works! super happy bc I built this for a friend and now it won't be for nothing!

the bass control works backwards (ie more bass when turned to the left) but I checked and mine is wired the same way as the circuit says. it's a pretty crazy sounding effect, I think it's gonna take a min to get my head around the way each control reacts to the others. tone control does what a tone control should do. bias and sag are both very sensitive but I think it's just a case of playing with the pedal to find sweet spots for useful sound.

check it out!

Image

really love the sound of this thing, definitely will have to build another for myself to use on synths!!
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby BetterOffShred » Tue Nov 21, 2017 8:12 am

Cool man :) it looks awesome. What board did you use ?
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby purpleshoes » Tue Nov 21, 2017 8:49 am

BetterOffShred wrote:Cool man :) it looks awesome. What board did you use ?


thanks! I made it from scratch on perfboard using eatyourguitar's circuit (there were no pcbs left)

next time I'll either do it on vero or just solder components directly to eachother as he advised that would work pretty well too for this circuit.

granted it was my first build on perf, still a massive headache trying to get those little component legs bent up correctly to make traces. no doubt one of my wires will break inside the box eventually and I'll have to troubleshoot the whole circuit again :picard:
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby BetterOffShred » Tue Nov 21, 2017 11:50 am

Awesome man. I want a wolf computer pretty bad. I just finished a Pixel clone with a few mods, and that's a pretty fun 8-bit fuzz, I know the wolf does even more. I want one!!
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby eatyourguitar » Tue Nov 21, 2017 4:03 pm

I am super happy that it works! now I know I did not waste my time and money. I can sell it with confidence. thank you so much.

the bass control is more like a tone control but I label it bass because there is already a knob labeled tone. the bass control does not exactly BOOST BASS but it does make a change that you would make if you were building a fuzz pedal for bass players only. if it was a magical one knob tone control the bright side would be on the right. I can still change it because the users expect it to be the other way. all it does is less filtering on the low end. this is passing more bass but it is not a bass boost EQ like you might make with opamps.

while we are on the subject of really knob heavy fuzz boxes, my 11 knob fuzz is coming back with all the little details tweaked for maximum perfection. grab them both when they are back in stock.
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby BetterOffShred » Tue Nov 21, 2017 5:18 pm

I also have to ask, what did you use to do your enclosure? Are those paint pens? I dig the look a lot. I've always preferred the hand written look on pedals, though the spaceman stuff looks freakin fabulous too.
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby purpleshoes » Tue Nov 21, 2017 7:40 pm

eatyourguitar wrote:I am super happy that it works! now I know I did not waste my time and money. I can sell it with confidence. thank you so much.

the bass control is more like a tone control but I label it bass because there is already a knob labeled tone. the bass control does not exactly BOOST BASS but it does make a change that you would make if you were building a fuzz pedal for bass players only. if it was a magical one knob tone control the bright side would be on the right. I can still change it because the users expect it to be the other way. all it does is less filtering on the low end. this is passing more bass but it is not a bass boost EQ like you might make with opamps.

while we are on the subject of really knob heavy fuzz boxes, my 11 knob fuzz is coming back with all the little details tweaked for maximum perfection. grab them both when they are back in stock.


thank you for making this circuit available to people again!

I'm happy it works too! was feeling like a massive idiot for jumping into the deep end when it didn't work at first. I just want to ask though, I've never encountered an effect with sag and bias controls so I'm not sure if mine work entirely as intended or if that's just what they're supposed to do. they're both very sensitive and can cut the signal if turned too far - are they supposed to do that? I can def get usable sounds by changing positions of those two in relation to each other but seeing as I've never had a wolf computer before I dunno if it's just "meant" to cut the signal sometimes. punch seems to act as sort of a finer fuzz control, things get more intense when it's up all the way so I think that definitely does what it's supposed to. bass control makes sense in relation to tone - this is actually what drew me to your circuit in the first place cause I like using pedals with my synth for bass sounds. I don't mind that it's wired opposite, I got a Rat which does the same on its tone control - just wanted to note that particular quirk in case it wasn't intended.

pretty interested in an 11 knob fuzz, I bet it would be really great for sound design. will keep an eye out!
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby purpleshoes » Tue Nov 21, 2017 7:49 pm

BetterOffShred wrote:I also have to ask, what did you use to do your enclosure? Are those paint pens? I dig the look a lot. I've always preferred the hand written look on pedals, though the spaceman stuff looks freakin fabulous too.


thanks! yeah paint pens :) I used belton molotow spray paint for the black (5 thin coats, it dries quickly so you can recoat every 20-30 mins if it's warm) then posca paint pens for the design, then 4 coats of montana clear spray with about 20-30 mins between each coat. I don't really know how durable it's going to be yet but I assume not massively so. I already dropped it and chipped a little paint off the corners but I feel like that adds to the charm, seeing as my drawing is pretty rough anyway hah.

if you're gonna do spray paint I definitely recommend sanding the enclosure first so the paint has something to stick to, and definitely let it sit a day or two before going over it with clearcoat. things may get touch dry but several layers means chemicals won't settle into the proper "dry" state for at least 24 hours.
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby BetterOffShred » Tue Nov 21, 2017 11:39 pm

Cool man :) yeah I've painted 50+ enclosures but I've been using Sharpie and stickers. I'm going to try the paint pens
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby purpleshoes » Wed Nov 22, 2017 8:08 am

BetterOffShred wrote:Cool man :) yeah I've painted 50+ enclosures but I've been using Sharpie and stickers. I'm going to try the paint pens


ah cool my bad haha. well I definitely recommend paint pens, they're fun :)
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Re: WOLF COMPUTER DIY DID YOU BUILD IT?

Postby eatyourguitar » Wed Nov 22, 2017 10:27 pm

purpleshoes wrote:thank you for making this circuit available to people again!

I'm happy it works too! was feeling like a massive idiot for jumping into the deep end when it didn't work at first. I just want to ask though, I've never encountered an effect with sag and bias controls so I'm not sure if mine work entirely as intended or if that's just what they're supposed to do. they're both very sensitive and can cut the signal if turned too far - are they supposed to do that? I can def get usable sounds by changing positions of those two in relation to each other but seeing as I've never had a wolf computer before I dunno if it's just "meant" to cut the signal sometimes. punch seems to act as sort of a finer fuzz control, things get more intense when it's up all the way so I think that definitely does what it's supposed to. bass control makes sense in relation to tone - this is actually what drew me to your circuit in the first place cause I like using pedals with my synth for bass sounds. I don't mind that it's wired opposite, I got a Rat which does the same on its tone control - just wanted to note that particular quirk in case it wasn't intended.

pretty interested in an 11 knob fuzz, I bet it would be really great for sound design. will keep an eye out!


I think you have discovered something important here. I am looking at the schematic and I see that the collector of Q2 can reach all the way to +9.5v while the emitter of Q2 is all the way down to 0v. when this happens it is impossible for audio to pass through Q2 gain stage. there must be a 10K or 33K resistor there in series with the bias control. however you really don't need a 10K resistor there if you turn the sag control all the way up to 10K. since the pedal was already traced by two people using real retail samples then I have to think that this flaw is from the original wolf computer. I could fix it but you would lose the option to dial in lots of sag with hot bias. in this case we can keep it accurate to the design without trying to fix it. I mean you could but I would just not call it a wolf computer. IDK probably leave it as is. the sag control can be 5K if you find that it starts muting at 5K anyway. if you like it at 10k but it is hard to dial in, you can add the fine control. I expect it to need a fine control. this is normal. when you reduce power supply current to almost nothing you will have undesirable results at the extreme.
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