# About to embark on the Low Tide Modulator build



## Jdilly (Jun 1, 2022)

I'm about to embark on the Low Tide Modulator build. Any words of wisdom or considerations before jumping in?


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## BuddytheReow (Jun 1, 2022)

Take your time and be as neat as possible. Use sockets where appropriate (i.e. opamp). Your troubleshooting will be at a minimum. Also have fun!


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## Diynot (Jun 1, 2022)

JK luck has no place here. As BTR stated, take your time, measure your components before placing, and don’t forget to set the trimmers before posting that troubleshooting thread.


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## jwyles90 (Jun 1, 2022)

I'm about to start this one myself, so I don't have any advice from previous experience, but I'd also suggest dry fitting all of your stuff in the enclosure first to make sure everything fits as it should. Will save you a ton of time if you notice something doesn't fit properly _before _you've soldered everything.


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## nickquack (Jun 1, 2022)

Triple check all your part values! And take your time with the internal trimpots


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## dontstaylong (Jun 2, 2022)

I'm in the same boat. Fingers crossed. 

When it comes time to work on those trim pots - has there been a good post on how to find the correct values?


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## Fuzzonaut (Jun 3, 2022)

dontstaylong said:


> I'm in the same boat. Fingers crossed.
> 
> When it comes time to work on those trim pots - has there been a good post on how to find the correct values?



Try this.


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## dontstaylong (Jun 7, 2022)

Fuzzonaut said:


> Try this.


This is perfect, thank you for detailing all this! Just waiting for a few more shipments of parts to show up so I can start throwing this all together. Excited, but expecting to be thoroughly frustrated a few times (which is kind of part of the fun?)


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## Dan0h (Jun 7, 2022)

Fuzzonaut said:


> Try this.


Same boat. And huge thanks ahead of time.


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## jeffwhitfield (Jun 7, 2022)

Love mine. Sounds really cool with an acoustic guitar. 

Only thing I really want to fix with mine though is the hiss I hear with the effect. It's pretty prominent when you throw the mix all the way CW. At noon, it's not as bad...but still kinda there. Enough to have to throw a noise gate after it. Probably something relatively simple. Will need to debug. Not critical...but annoying.


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## bowanderror (Jun 7, 2022)

Fuzzonaut said:


> Try this.


Full disclosure: I compiled/wrote this, mostly because soooo many posts had the same issues that I had when setting up the trimpots. The end result of taking the time to set the trimpots is an AMAZING sounding pedal, which does things I haven't found in other circuits.

Keep in mind:

The trimpots are pretty sensitive, so make sure you adjust them carefully & follow the guidance on the positions of the other knobs.
The Bias trimpot basically sets the midpoint of your signal within a positive & negative range that the BBD can handle, and an incorrect setting will either sound unpleasant or, if set way too high or low, not let any sound through at all. A BBD has lower headroom than most guitar circuits, and there will be an ideal set point that fades into noisiness if increased or decreased. If you're visual, like me, it looks kinda like this:







The Gate Frequency trimpot is supposed to set the cutoff frequency of the low-pass filter part of the Low-Pass Gate (LPG), and the setting is really up to you. This trimpot also seems to affect the sensitivity & speed of the gate envelope as well, so it's best to test each trimpot setting at a bunch of different LPG pot positions. That will give you  a wide range of useful settings based on the LPG control on the front of the pedal.
When testing your settings, make sure you cover your entire range of playing dynamics (soft, medium, & loud). This is an envelope-based effect, and rewards a dynamic playing style.
It's best to decide on how you want to set your DIP switches before going through the trimpot setup. If you're unsure, try setting it up with both DIP switches OFF. Most of the time, if you get it set up right with both off, you will only have to make small changes when you switch on of them on. Here are my thoughts on the DIP switch settings:
The Boost setting is awesome, if a little noisy, although that noise is kinda washy & satisfying. It also tends to trigger the LPG a little more aggresively.
The Pad switch should only be used if you're sending super hot signals like line level or active pickups. Don't use both

Enjoy the pedal as it's super cool!


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## bowanderror (Jun 7, 2022)

jeffwhitfield said:


> Love mine. Sounds really cool with an acoustic guitar.
> 
> Only thing I really want to fix with mine though is the hiss I hear with the effect. It's pretty prominent when you throw the mix all the way CW. At noon, it's not as bad...but still kinda there. Enough to have to throw a noise gate after it. Probably something relatively simple. Will need to debug. Not critical...but annoying.


How do you have the DIP switches set? I've found the Boost setting to be noisy (although not in an unpleasant way), so try turning them both OFF to get a lower noise floor.


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## jeffwhitfield (Jun 8, 2022)

bowanderror said:


> How do you have the DIP switches set? I've found the Boost setting to be noisy (although not in an unpleasant way), so try turning them both OFF to get a lower noise floor.


I turned both of them off. I’m learning that the noise is just a part of this pedal. Tweaking the gate helps. Turning it down helps minimize the noise but does make the tone a bit darker. Quite alright with me considering the subtle nausea of this effect.


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## Fuzzonaut (Jun 8, 2022)

dontstaylong said:


> This is perfect, thank you for detailing all this! Just waiting for a few more shipments of parts to show up so I can start throwing this all together. Excited, but expecting to be thoroughly frustrated a few times (which is kind of part of the fun?)





Dan0h said:


> Same boat. And huge thanks ahead of time.



Uhm, yeah, that's not my post, as you might have realized. I just happened to remember that post and found it, as it came in handy for me too when I was scratching my head while testing that build.

So, for the record, all credits to @bowanderror   whom I also thank for that post!


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## bowanderror (Jun 9, 2022)

Fuzzonaut said:


> Uhm, yeah, that's not my post, as you might have realized. I just happened to remember that post and found it, as it came in handy for me too when I was scratching my head while testing that build.
> 
> So, for the record, all credits to @bowanderror   whom I also thank for that post!


Post away! Like many things on here, it's a true community effort. Probably should include the info in the build doc at some point as the trimpot functions aren't your standard "trim drain to 4.5V" adjustments.


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## Feral Feline (Jun 10, 2022)

For the SMD transistor options, I recommend soldering the SMD Transistors to *DAUGHTERBOARDS*, that way if you screw up the SMD-soldering you've only toasted the trans and daughterboard instead of mucking up the Low Tide PCB itself. 

Test the daughterboards then socket or solder them to the main board.


Also, you can make an "outie" DC Jack work, but ... just get the small power-jack as per the BOM... seriously.


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## andare (Jun 11, 2022)

Feral Feline said:


> For the SMD transistor options, I recommend soldering the SMD Transistors to *DAUGHTERBOARDS*, that way if you screw up the SMD-soldering you've only toasted the trans and daughterboard instead of mucking up the Low Tide PCB itself.
> 
> Test the daughterboards then socket or solder them to the main board.
> 
> ...


Why no outie DC jack? Are they flimsier than the innies? I have the small Lumbergs and they are still flimsy, especially that dumb nut. The onyl saving grace is they only have two lugs so I never have to check where the +9V wire goes.


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## Feral Feline (Jun 11, 2022)

@andare Can't find my build, it may not have survived the overseas move, or I'd post a photo to show you — there is not a lot of elbow room for the outtie, though I made it work (though I needed to debug other things in the build). 

I prefer power-outties, not flimsy at all (good ones) — solder the wires and still get the build in/out of the enclosure as needed without desoldering.

A regular sized innie is out of the question; the outtie could've worked well if there were a notch in the PCB for it, it can/does work with some cutting, super-duper accurate micro-millimetre drilling and then wire mangling and wrangling the thing in there — but even then getting the board in/out during trial-fitting with pots was... cumbersome and ... 

TRUST the build doc, you want the spec'd power jack.


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