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Hello all! SO talking about gnarly Boss bypass looper got me thinking. Why not build a massive ass bypass looper? I could make one that's big enough to take 20-24 loops. It would have to be large, but who cares???


So what I need to know is what your thoughts are on boxes I could stick it in? I found one that is 30 inches long and can be furnished with 18 loops easily. That got me thinking about using something else. I mean, I could get a two tiered board and hide 90% of my pedals underneath and just label the looper. You'd only see a looper ever. I actually really like that idea.

Any thoughts? Am I crazy??

I just want to be able to switch shit easily and am realizing that certain things hold value that once did not in my mind.

Also what's the best price you guys thing I could do with for??

You might need a buffer....









Seriously I would love to know about an enclosure for this too, sounds like fun.

We're going to end up back in the 80's where everyone did their switching with giant MIDI pedalboards, but instead of controlling rack units they're controlling racks of pedals hahaha.

Building a giant bypass looper shouldn't be too difficult, the only concern will be all the extra cables, so as mentioned you'll need a buffer. Either build one in at the front of the board, or add one to your setup if you don't necessarily want it permanently first in chain.

The other thing is that you won't be able to switch the sequence of pedals or load preset combinations, which is one of the big draws of those Boss switching units.

Maybe go for that 30" box that you found, then add a smaller switcher to add some more loops?

But you could leave the pedals on a benchtop right next to you for knob fuckery.

cherler wrote:But you could leave the pedals on a benchtop right next to you for knob fuckery.

This.


I think the idea is more or less for fun vs. being practical. If it turns out that way, awesome. LOL. I just need to find something unconventional and large to build it in. I like the enclosure, but I like the idea of using like a stripped old rack or amp more. Or something else. Maybe I could make it into a huge patch bay instead...

jwar wrote:I just need to find something unconventional and large to build it in.

Electrical conduit channel or raceway, you should be able to find in 8 or 10 foot lengths and find end caps. Or maybe a trade electrician has a scrap pile you can plunder for less?

Sadly, my initial search shows the nicest extrusion profiles are either a non-idea material, or quite expensive.

crochambeau wrote:

jwar wrote:I just need to find something unconventional and large to build it in.

Electrical conduit channel or raceway, you should be able to find in 8 or 10 foot lengths and find end caps. Or maybe a trade electrician has a scrap pile you can plunder for less?

Sadly, my initial search shows the nicest extrusion profiles are either a non-idea material, or quite expensive.

That's a cool idea but hella expensive. LOL. I don't really care about the shape either. I'm open more of a box type design. What would be cool is to have click-less switches that are on the sides of a enclosure as well as the top. So you could kick them on if you wanted. Or if I had a way to make this shit with someone who knew digital programming and make it legit and an actual product...fucking shit is expensive as fuck though. I spent a grand on a pedal idea a few years back and never got shit out of it. The design didn't ever work...fml right?

you need relays on a custom pcb to keep it low noise short traces etc. this puts all the switches very close to each other with a ground screen on the pcb.

Do the switches have to be close together? Since that's just binary, a little debouncing and noise shouldn't trigger stomps right? I've never had any trouble with longer low speed digital lines at least.

nothing wrong with debouncing. cool people do both a hardware and a software debounce. I think if you can do relays then you can also add in an arduino to interface all the buttons and relays. the atmega 328P has pullup resistors built in. all you need to do is set fuses when you flash the firmware to the AVR. with software you can make it into an exclusive stomp selector or you can have presets of combinations of pedals. you can add a display too. all of this is basic arduino stuff.

This is starting to sound a little bit like the ABYS project you helped me out on haha

This is WAY over my head! LOL!! I think I kind of realized that but at the same time, didn't. Any suggestions on if I really wanted to do this, how to go about it as far as learning or even hiring out help?

With learning nothing beats Arduino if you haven't done any microcontroller work before.

there are lots of websites and youtube channels that teach arduino. you can search these keywords with arduino; coding, LED's, pullups, fuses, 5v regulator, clock, relays, flashing over usb, flashing over serial, flashng over ISP, bootloader. also search "programming AVR with dragon". "programming attiny with arduino" "programming 328P with dragon" "flashing 328P with avrdude"

you don't NEED a programmer but you kinda need some way to program the 328P. the cheapest way would be to buy a fake arduino mini or fake teensy so you always have a bootloader built in from the factory that will allow USB flashing of your own code. these cheep microcontrollers also have the hardware to flash over usb. this is a bit different than option number 2.

buy a older arduiono with the proper FTDI usb to serial chip, proper ICSP/ISP header, proper atmega 328P AVR running arduino bootloader. then you can use the board as a socket to program other 328P chips you can buy with bootloader pre loaded. or you can use it as an ISP programmer to flash your guitar pedal over a 6 pin ISP header. these are different techniques but they are both possible. the usb to serial can only program 328P with the arduino bootloader pre installed. the 328P can flash another 328P if you load the ISPprogrammer sketch from the arduino examples folder. however, as an ISP programmer, you can't use your arduino for anything else till you run a different sketch. everything is explained here. notice the 328P being programmed on a breadboard could actually be your finished pedal. same procedure to update your software from the factory that's you.

http://www.amazon.com/Arduino-Duemilanove-Board/dp/B004A7L3NC

http://www.adafruit.com/product/123

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ArduinoToBreadboard