# A MadBean Wavelord for my SCHMORG (now with CV clocking)



## dawson (Mar 25, 2022)

I just posted this report on another website.
It may be my narcissism talking, but I thought you might want to see it over here as well.
Anyhow, here it is copied and pasted:

I'm super excited to finally present my newly completed MadBean Wavelord tremolo:











I say "finally" because I really wanted to finish this build to enter into last year's Madbean BOTY contest..months ago..but I'm glad I didn't rush it.
This is one of my favorite DIY circuits and this build deserves all the extra attention I gave it because I know it's going to be in my board indefinitely.

The graphic is a layout of the different wave-forms that I basically traced from the build doc's then embellished to fit my design.  It's etched into a 1590BB bottom-plate with ferric chloride.
Did I add the external LFO jack?  Of course I did.  This is my second Wavelord, so I know it plays great with at-least the Parasit Studio 0415 Guitar Synthesizer *I haven't tried anything else.

Where I strayed from stock:
- I did some extra off-board wiring to enlarge the format from 125B to 1590BB.  I like my pedals to sit right next to each-other, so with that as a rule, the only way to get extra toe room is to enlarge the enclosure.
- I used a version 3 VFE switching board to add optional momentary switching.  It's mounted underneath the main PCB with a 3d-printed bracket, which was a tight fit, but the version 3 boards are great to work with.
- Just for fun I added a toggle switch to change the way the LED's work: In the 1st position, a large Red LED acts as a status indicator, while 2 small Teal LED's flash the rate underneath it, always on.
  This is neat, but if I get tired of constant blinking, I can toggle to the 2nd position, where all 3 LED's work as non-blinking status indicators.










^I guess I didn't get a good picture of the final bracket before I put everything together, but here are a couple pictures of a prototype.
The final build had an extra couple fingers on it to hold this strip-board that trims my excessive LED arrangement, pictured here:






If you're wondering WTF is wrong with this guy who thinks it's okay to build upside-down pedals with no pants on, this thread may answer a question or two:
SCHMORG
I'll add some photos with the Wavelord in rack-context very soon- I finished it this afternoon and have only had time to test it outside of a box so far.


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## fig (Mar 25, 2022)

SCHMORG!


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## Harry Klippton (Mar 25, 2022)

Hnnnggggggggggg 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵


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## Bricksnbeatles (Mar 25, 2022)

I mentioned in the light booth thread, but that’s really brilliant using the vfe board on a non-VFE project. I need to give that a try since it’s really great. That graphic is really gorgeous, and I love the idea you used to represent the 16 waveforms— I’ve been trying to figure out how to implement the waveforms in my own TapLFO projects. Very nice!


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## dawson (Mar 25, 2022)

fig said:


> SCHMORG!


Thanks for stopping in, Fig- stay tuned for..a tuner!



thewintersoldier said:


> Your etches always kill me, so clean. I've been sitting on this board since release. I got all the parts I just need to get my shit together and build it. Fantastic inside and out 👏👏👏


Thanks dude- that's high praise.  I coulda' sworn I saw a Wavelord of yours but I suppose not?  I haven't played many tremolo pedals, but this circuit is my favorite- DIY or otherwise.  I highly recommend it.

I'm not sure how much PCB designers hate me for moving the knobs/switches around and bastardizing their perfect layouts, but regardless, I've seen you mention your large-foot/small-pedal dilemma more than once so you may want to consider building it wide like this.






It's just a little extra off-board wiring..



Harry Klippton said:


> Hnnnggggggggggg 🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵


..then we all got pinkeye because Harry Klippton won't stop looking at build reports on the toilet!



Bricksnbeatles said:


> I mentioned in the light booth thread, but that’s really brilliant using the vfe board on a non-VFE project. I need to give that a try since it’s really great. That graphic is really gorgeous, and I love the idea you used to represent the 16 waveforms— I’ve been trying to figure out how to implement the waveforms in my own TapLFO projects. Very nice!


Thanks a lot, I can't really take a ton of credit for the graphic- this one more than others seemed to make itself once I saw the wave-forms drawn out in the build-doc's.  I just stylized stuff a bit and made sure to *add graduations to the rate knob- super useful little feature, even though it's got tap-tempo.


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## Paradox916 (Mar 25, 2022)

Nice build man!   I love the thought you put into your mod’s


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## dawson (Mar 25, 2022)

I can't stop using this light-box!






Super-clear picture of the beer my buddy spilled the other afternoon..


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## Diynot (Mar 26, 2022)

F*****ck! I keep trying to get out and then these righteous af circuits/builds keep popping up to pull me back in. Fantastic build! Now…..To the MB shop!


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## SYLV9ST9R (Mar 26, 2022)

This is great. I love your whole approach on this modular pedalboard and it’s nice to see new additions. Your designs always pop up with a great layout and clean lines (which I personally like on etched enclosures).

I’m finalizing a vero build, and boy do I hate doing outboard wiring, so muchos kudos to you!


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## dawson (Mar 26, 2022)

SYLV9ST9R said:


> This is great. I love your whole approach on this modular pedalboard and it’s nice to see new additions. Your designs always pop up with a great layout and clean lines (which I personally like on etched enclosures).
> 
> I’m finalizing a vero build, and boy do I hate doing outboard wiring, so muchos kudos to you!



Thanks for looking!

I've been etching for awhile and I've done my best to learn its' limitations and work within them, and the biggest lesson I learned is the importance of line-weight: both positive and negative.  I can get good results if nothing is thinner than the paint brush I use to touch-up the toner transfers- so about 2pt is the thinnest I can go, only allowing pointy edges to go thinner.

The biggest lesson I've learned about offboard wiring: TWEEZERS!


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## jeffwhitfield (Mar 26, 2022)

Great job! Very professional looking. You could sell copies of this pedal. 👍😁


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## Username123 (Mar 28, 2022)

I wonder if this pedal would handle line level signal decently. It sure would be fun with my minilouge.


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## dawson (Monday at 5:09 PM)

So, for months I'd been plotting and planning an overcomplicated way to control the tempo of my WaveLord with my Eurorack set-up.. until yesterday I decided to read the data sheet for the Electric Druid Tap LFO chip and realized there's an incredibly simple way to do it!






The chip can be clocked with any pulse 0-5v, which matches the output of my Eurorack clock, so all I had to do was check out the schematic and tie a mono jack into the circuit to receive CV (control voltage.)

_*Three-cheers for reading!*_

The red wire is the new addition.  It connects to a jack mounted in a small utility module.
_*












*_
Super simple.
Eurorack and guitar effects all synced up- it's a happy day in SCHMORG land!


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