Wob clone

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Gigahearts_FX
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Wob clone

Post by Gigahearts_FX »

Ok so I finished up my first Wobulator clone. Its called the Wobuliker ;)

There are 4 modes.
1 TREM - both Left and Right move up and down at the same time, but with a "cross-over" effect where Left is low pass filtered and Right is high pass filtered.
2 PAN - Left and Right move in anti-phase without a cross-over, akin to a normal "figure-of-eight" auto-panner.
3 VIB - same as TREM but in anti-phase, creating subtle phase cancellation (and therefore pitch and volume change) effects.
4 DUAL TREM - this again uses the cross-over but brings into play the second LFO. Left is now driven by LFO 1 and right by LFO 2.

Modes 1 - 3 are all driven via LFO 1 only, which I wasnt completely expecting.
And because of the various cross-over and LP/HP filtering in some cases, you need to activate both L and R footswitches to get the most out of them.
That being said, with the modes where there is filtering, you can access independantly the same rate setting on L and R, but subtly different sounds, by activating only one of the two footswitches, and sum to Mono.

4 - this is the really cool one, dual speed independant LFOs. Kinda like the Doppelgangers dual LFO mode, but trem rather than phaser. Ace!

Obviously with 2 amps its a whole other story. I have had a 10 minute play with 2 amps, and it sounds incredible.

It transformer isolated outputs and phase switch. I didn't get any buzzing or grounding noises with 2 amps regardless of placement of the phase switch. Still, nice to have it. Quite a squeeze to get it all in a 1790ns, I had to omit the trigger input, but retained the speed expression input.

The only other thing left to do is try some other LED/LDR combos, as it could maybe use some more depth perhaps.

aaand heres the pics:

Image

Image

Image
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by skullservant »

so incredibly good
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Gigahearts_FX »

skullservant wrote:so incredibly good

cheers! :p
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Chankgeez »

Does look very nice.

So, this version solves all of the problems with the Wobulator circuit?
psychic vampire. wrote:The important take away from this thread: Taoism and Ring Modulators go together?
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Gigahearts_FX »

Hi
Known issues with Lovetone models were ticking, phase issues with 2 amps, and being below unity gain (volume drop when engaged)

I haven't tested extensively yet however there does not appear to be ticking. The PCB has separate CV and Signal sections, with independent grounding to avoid ticking from LFO bleed
Its designed from a schematic / reverse engineer done by MarkusW of a v3 unit (final version with phase switch). v1 and v2 originals had issues with being sub-unity gain.
That isnt the case with the last ones produced, and its not the case with this build.

In the interest of transparency my only reservations now are some slight extra "hiss" (albeit minimal) on the right channel, whereas left channel is pretty much silent.

Best regards

Ian
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Gigahearts_FX »

Had some information come to light on the slight "hiss" thing

Right is high-pass filtered, So the left is cutting some of the noise with its low-pass filtering.

that probably explains things.
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Chankgeez »

Thanks, Ian, I'm definitely interested to hear of what transpires with further testing.

I'm not worried about a little noise in the circuit, a bit of "hiss" never hurt anyone.
psychic vampire. wrote:The important take away from this thread: Taoism and Ring Modulators go together?
…...........................…
Sweet dealin's: here
"Now, of course, Strega is not a Minimoog… and I am not Sun Ra" - dude from MAKENOISE
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Gigahearts_FX »

Chankgeez wrote:Thanks, Ian, I'm definitely interested to hear of what transpires with further testing.

I'm not worried about a little noise in the circuit, a bit of "hiss" never hurt anyone.


Its really minimal. When you are playing its not an issue. You can just "hear" the LFO sweeping a bit more on the R channel. I think its this LP/HP filtering feature of the circuit. Not something to get upset about at all, unlike ticking, which for me is unacceptable. Part of reason why I commissioned my own Doppelganger PCB re-design was that other attempts to shrink the circuit resulted in ticking that could not be solved. My Doppelganger layout again has separate CV and signal portions which dont have overlapping traces and thus the LFOs are silent.


I will potentially offer to build the Wobulator, PM me if interested. Price will be the same as the Doubelganger.

Ian
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Chankgeez »

Nice, thanks, I'll hopefully eventually be able to take you up on that offer. I'm pretty broke right now though.
psychic vampire. wrote:The important take away from this thread: Taoism and Ring Modulators go together?
…...........................…
Sweet dealin's: here
"Now, of course, Strega is not a Minimoog… and I am not Sun Ra" - dude from MAKENOISE
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Gigahearts_FX »

No worries. Im almost burnt out from building these past few weeks anyway ! :)
I still have the 2nd Flanger to wire. God help me.
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Gigahearts_FX »

So, done a bit more testing, to different amps and the hiss isnt really an issue at all.
Full disclosure, if you turn the amps up you can hear a very faint tick.
Im going to do some work to fully eliminate that. Bit more shielded cable on the outputs ought to do it ;)
Its not really noticeable hence I didnt hear it first time out with my lower output amp, perhaps. :S
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Gigahearts_FX »

Image

So, I fixed the slight tick.
The issue was resolved by running shielded cables from the outputs to the transformers.
Ive literally had my amp on full tilt and cant hear even a faint trace of tick* - better than I honestly expected.

Usually with a ticking circuit, if you have taken all reasonable precautions with the layout, and it still ticks, you may have to suffer it.
But here, I missed out a reasonable precaution by only shielding the input.

That means I'm happy to build these for anyone that would like one**


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Sure, I cant 1000% guarantee on all setups, because power supply might be an issue also and dodgy grounds who knows. But for me I am happy. And you should know I am PICKY about the TICKY
**£199 for ILFers + postage
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Gigahearts_FX »

I must say this is a remarkably lovely Tremolo. If I can get an original one day I will.
The stereo pan is awesome. The stereo dual trem is next level. Strumming the chords to "How Soon Is Now" - wow!
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Chankgeez »

Yeah, out of all the Lovetone pedals, this's the one I wanted the most.
psychic vampire. wrote:The important take away from this thread: Taoism and Ring Modulators go together?
…...........................…
Sweet dealin's: here
"Now, of course, Strega is not a Minimoog… and I am not Sun Ra" - dude from MAKENOISE
#GreenRinger
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Re: Lovetone Wobulator clone

Post by Gigahearts_FX »

Chankgeez wrote:Yeah, out of all the Lovetone pedals, this's the one I wanted the most.


Not gonna lie, it was lowest on my list of the "big" box ones. Maybe in line with the Meatball, because I dont use a lot of auto filter typically.
I think the fact that it was always known to have a couple issues unless you got the "right" model (v3) which are very scarce

Now I've built one, Ive changed my mind. Its one of the best tremolo Ive played, and if I can get a black/lime one for <$megabux I will, one day.
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