# Low Tide



## Mentaltossflycoon (Nov 5, 2021)

So this one kind of has several stories of generosity behind it. First, my mother ordered me the board along with another that I l'm blanking on as a gift. She became confused and was unknowingly unsuccessful in ordering. 

She contacted ppcb to see what was taking so long and I think she was embarrassed about her confusion. Ppcb basically said "oh, that dude? He has never used a coupon code, we'll send him those on the house."  I was like "coupon codes!!!???" So for that I thank you. It made her day.  She forced me to pick out a few more to support your business. I think that was a muffin factory and underminer. 

I put it together but it didn't quite work right away. I set it aside for a few months. I finally dug it up again and started a troubleshooting thread and thanks to this community, a jumper and 2 new j201 it works. 

In troubleshooting, it came up that I didn't have a component tester so Saint Fig hooked me up with one. This place is unreal, the kindness shown to strangers is just overwhelming. 

It doesn't seem a stretch to assume that we've all lost a little faith in humanity over the last year and a half. I just want it to be known that there are 3 things that are truly keeping me together through it all. My kids, my wife, and this community. So thanks. 

It sounds amazing. I enjoy the faceplate, my aesthetic is usually not this clean. Feels weird.  Knobs subject to change, closest to a set of 6 I had. It was so plain looking i went with a turquoise led. Also pictured... I rocked it before I boxed it and then I scratched it as I boxed it. Womp womp ball silver. Don't drop your lid on the rug!


----------



## JamieJ (Nov 5, 2021)

Great to hear you got it working! It’s such a cool pedal. Liking the face plate and knobs too.


----------



## Diynot (Nov 5, 2021)

Nice job! That’s a cool af pedal and you have a cool af mom!


----------



## andare (Nov 5, 2021)

Great build and even greater background story. This forum is really something wonderful.


----------



## Big Monk (Nov 5, 2021)

Mentaltossflycoon said:


> So this one kind of has several stories of generosity behind it. First, my mother ordered me the board along with another that I l'm blanking on as a gift. She became confused and was unknowingly unsuccessful in ordering.
> 
> She contacted ppcb to see what was taking so long and I think she was embarrassed about her confusion. Ppcb basically said "oh, that dude? He has never used a coupon code, we'll send him those on the house."  I was like "coupon codes!!!???" So for that I thank you. It made her day.  She forced me to pick out a few more to support your business. I think that was a muffin factory and underminer.
> 
> ...



Great build!

I love the look of Ball Silver but it scratches very easily. I liken it to only a slight step up from rattle canning in your garage. I still like the way it looks though and have used and continue to use it.


----------



## bowanderror (Nov 5, 2021)

Thanks for posting the background to your build, it's great to hear community stories on the kindness of strangers. Definitely a complex build, but I've been blown away by how many unique sounds can come out of a single circuit. The way it reacts to less aggressive playing styles is a bit of a game changer for me. So many guitar pedals react best only when you dig in, but this one really rewards dynamic playing.


----------



## EGRENIER (Nov 5, 2021)

Very nice and clean build...

... the ball silver strikes again... for the record no answer from Tayda on the ticket I opened about it...


----------



## Mentaltossflycoon (Nov 5, 2021)

I've accepted ball silver for what it is.   I like the look of beat up gear so this will just get there more quickly.  Also, I have metallic silver spray paint and I think it may actually be more durable. Bit if a toss up.


----------



## Harry Klippton (Nov 5, 2021)

Nice build and story


----------



## Mentaltossflycoon (Nov 8, 2021)

There were leftovers after shipping so a few knob sets were added. Fig, since you bought these knobs, you should probably choose which get used. Thanks again, this tester will hopefully keep me out of the troubleshoots for a minute!


----------



## SYLV9ST9R (Nov 8, 2021)

Mentaltossflycoon said:


> There were were leftovers after shipping so a few knob sets were added. Fig, since you bought these knobs, you should probably choose which get used. Thanks again, this tester will hopefully keep me out of the troubleshoots for a minute!View attachment 18380View attachment 18381


I vote for the silver-centered ones!


----------



## Mentaltossflycoon (Nov 11, 2021)

I feel the need to comment further on how much I enjoy this pedal. I know I'm in peak honeymoon but I'm afraid I'm over using it.  I keep sitting down to work on pedals and then I end up reaching for my bass instead and losing a few hours to the low tide. It really shines for me placed after a bit crusher or dba robot to soften and add subtle motion to the monotonous sound of those pedal types. 

Using my EHX H.O.G. with just the octave up can sound brittle and fake but with the low tide and light dirt and or fuzz between, it's somehow useable. Sounds like a weird alien guitar instead of "shitty octave up bass." I'm sort of leaning into the lo-fi of the low tide by feeding it lofi things and it sounds awesome.


----------



## Preverb (Nov 11, 2021)

I wish there were more demos of this pedal out there.  The few youtube demos I have watched have me thinking this is a pedal for ambient noodling.  I get the impression it would be pretty cool on a rhythm track though.  Can it also be used to get that vintagey tape warble effect?

Would a cheap can of clear spraypaint work to add some protection?  I was thinking of doing this anyways because I forgot to order gloss on the first 4 UV printed enclosures I just ordered.


----------



## Mentaltossflycoon (Nov 11, 2021)

Yes, it's definitely different from the lofi junky or Chase Bliss warped vinyl.   I prefer this to those ones.


----------



## Preverb (Nov 11, 2021)

Mentaltossflycoon said:


> Yes, it's definitely different from the lofi junky or Chase Bliss warped vinyl.   I prefer this to those ones.


So you set the mix low and get kind of a vintagey flavoured warble?


----------



## Mentaltossflycoon (Nov 11, 2021)

Yeah, I'd say with the mix all the way wet yes, beautifully uneven pitch warble.  The low pass gate only increases the vintage/broken feeling. Turning the mix knob toward noon gets you into strange chorus territory.


----------



## fig (Nov 12, 2021)

Great description above!!!

If I get a vote, then I agree with Nick. The mirror tops


----------



## Preverb (Nov 12, 2021)

Also like the last knobs with the silver in the centre.  

I just spent 30 min listening to youtube vids of this pedal.  I then listened to Meet Maud.  It is like this pedal but with the warble effect on delay repeats.  I was trying to figure out how you could combine this with a delay pedal to get a similar effect only on the repeats.  I don't think its possible.  Too bad there is no PCB for the meet maud.  It seems pretty cool.  

The Low Tide PCB is out of stock now but I think I will order one once I am a bit further along with some easier builds.


----------



## Mentaltossflycoon (Nov 12, 2021)

Preverb said:


> Also like the last knobs with the silver in the centre.
> 
> I just spent 30 min listening to youtube vids of this pedal.  I then listened to Meet Maud.  It is like this pedal but with the warble effect on delay repeats.  I was trying to figure out how you could combine this with a delay pedal to get a similar effect only on the repeats.  I don't think its possible.  Too bad there is no PCB for the meet maud.  It seems pretty cool.
> 
> The Low Tide PCB is out of stock now but I think I will order one once I am a bit further along with some easier builds.


If any more fairfield pcbs show up in the coming soon list, I don't care what it is, I'll be first on the waitlist.  Maude, Randy, all are welcome here. 

I hope you do build one. I'm sure you're aware that on the madbean scale this thing is probably way beyond cowboy. Wasn't my first rodeo and it took me some time to complete. With the kind folks here, it'll get there.


----------



## Mentaltossflycoon (Nov 12, 2021)

fig said:


> Great description above!!!
> 
> If I get a vote, then I agree with Nick. The mirror tops


I was hoping you'd say that. Mirror tops will stay.


----------



## Harry Klippton (Nov 12, 2021)

Preverb said:


> Also like the last knobs with the silver in the centre.
> 
> I just spent 30 min listening to youtube vids of this pedal.  I then listened to Meet Maud.  It is like this pedal but with the warble effect on delay repeats.  I was trying to figure out how you could combine this with a delay pedal to get a similar effect only on the repeats.  I don't think its possible.  Too bad there is no PCB for the meet maud.  It seems pretty cool.
> 
> The Low Tide PCB is out of stock now but I think I will order one once I am a bit further along with some easier builds.


You just need a delay pedal with an effects loop and put the low tide in it, then you'll get warbled repeats


----------



## Preverb (Nov 12, 2021)

Harry Klippton said:


> You just need a delay pedal with an effects loop and put the low tide in it, then you'll get warbled repeats



Thanks!  I had actually just been trying to figure out which pedals can go 100% wet.  My solution was slightly more convoluted.  Split the signal into stereo prior to the delay + low tide, with the other side dry then feed back to mono after.  
I have the Magnetron on my list of builds but not sure if it can be modded to have an effects loop with 100% wet.


----------



## Preverb (Nov 12, 2021)

Mentaltossflycoon said:


> If any more fairfield pcbs show up in the coming soon list, I don't care what it is, I'll be first on the waitlist.  Maude, Randy, all are welcome here.
> 
> I hope you do build one. I'm sure you're aware that on the madbean scale this thing is probably way beyond cowboy. Wasn't my first rodeo and it took me some time to complete. With the kind folks here, it'll get there.


Yeah, you just made me look at that PCB again.  I did a 41KHz class D amp years ago that was surface mount components.  It had fewer parts but I can remember troubleshooting it wasn't that easy when it didn't fire up on the first go.  I think it is unlikely I will tackle anything this complex for several months.  I have a list of about 10 pedals I hope to build with this likely being the last one.  I have a Barbershop in the first batch which seems to be taking a while to arrive here.


----------



## Mentaltossflycoon (Nov 12, 2021)

Preverb said:


> Yeah, you just made me look at that PCB again.  I did a 41KHz class D amp years ago that was surface mount components.  It had fewer parts but I can remember troubleshooting it wasn't that easy when it didn't fire up on the first go.  I think it is unlikely I will tackle anything this complex for several months.  I have a list of about 10 pedals I hope to build with this likely being the last one.  I have a Barbershop in the first batch which seems to be taking a while to arrive here.



I have one of those on my board.   Currently my favorite light dirt with my pbass.


----------

