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Woke up on Sunday morning remembering parts of my dream (that’s rare) and in it I was using a stutterscope. What the fuck is that you may ask, well I'm not sure...
I know I spent a large part of Saturday experimenting with stutter pedz, II also kinda remember the way this thing was and it did indeed look like a medical stethoscope. The eartips were both jack plugs and jack sockets at the same time and the bell was a switch that if pressed would stutter the signal. That’s all I got, but now I really want to build it. Maybe something like that exists, and maybe that's why it popped up in my dreams, I don't know. I happen to have arcade buttons, because I bought some to build something I never started and I have quite a few 1590LB, so I mocked up a few things real quick...



I got thinking...

• the (not novel at all) idea would be to have a simple buffer/splitter circuit to split the signal in 2 (A and B)
• Add an effect loop on B
• Add a stutter switch (The arcade button) that takes B to ground when pressed (or the opposite)

• I could make some little casings with a 3d printer (I don't have one but a friend does) to house a right angle jack plug connector and jack socket next to it on one side (left) and the same on the other side but with a DC power connector (right). The (in-built) jack plugs would go into the pedal in the loop and the sockets would be for the INPUT and OUTPUT signals.

• I could run a 6 core cable on the right from the casing to the midpoint of the stutterscope where the 2 sides meet and run a 4 core cable doing the same thing on the left.
• I would need to find a way to make the 6+4 cores go into a 10 core cable all the way to the 1590LB when I have the switch and the PCB.

I know I can make it in no time in a bigger enclosure without the hassle of making it it look like an ugly toy stethoscope but where would the fun be!

Now my question would be, where do you foresee issues if any? Haven't built a ton of stuff and never worked with anything else than TS/TRS, how would you do the junction between the 4 core cable on the left, the 6 core cable on the right and the 10 core cable in the middle? Terminal strip? Soldering them?

injection molding the overmold on the cables is expensive. the device does not require power at all. you must have a strain relief inside the enclosure. the cables that plug into the pedal need male and female jacks. the arcade button shorts the input tip to output tip. simple as that. I can 3d print and cast shapes cheaper than injection molding. you need to do some ultrasonic welding or I can do cast in place with custom molds and pigments. none of this is cheap if you want me to do it. if you do it then it is as cheap as time + materials. add tools if you have none. a nice idea but not a business idea unless you sell 500 units on kickstarter. you also need a project manager (not me). I could make 1 for $$$ but not interested in starting a business. if you abandon the weird form factor of a custom cable then it would be something you can build at home for $20.

Yeah the functional device in a typical pedal enclosure is buildable for $20 or so. The more niche hardware you're proposing here is about $20,000 before you get the first unit.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this and respond guys!

The idea has evolved quite a bit and I have now sourced all parts.
I kept the whole concept (so yes, it'll look like a stethoscope!) but dropped the resin/plastic casing idea. I am not a fan of plastic in general so I was pretty happy to find a way to use aluminium in keeping with the traditional pedal enclosure look and feel albeit much smaller.

Some elements are still in transit at present and I'll put a prototype together once I have them all.

I'll post an update once I have a working unit. Even if it ends up being just 'meh' (let's hope not! ), it's been a fun project to work on.

One thing you could use for the switching mechanism is a Geriatric Call Cord. It's a device intended for use with nurse call systems. Usually they have some kind of button to be pushed, but there are pneumatic versions for very old/weak patients.

Here is one, but you can probably find something cheaper.

https://store.directsupply.com/Product/ ... uantity=1&

Phosphene Audio wrote:One thing you could use for the switching mechanism is a Geriatric Call Cord. It's a device intended for use with nurse call systems. Usually they have some kind of button to be pushed, but there are pneumatic versions for very old/weak patients.

Here is one, but you can probably find something cheaper.

https://store.directsupply.com/Product/ ... uantity=1&

if you want something like that try this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/FK300-Hasselbl ... 2351511817