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phostenix
Gold Member
USA
754 Posts |
 Posted - 03/24/2006 : 06:43:30
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I bought a Small Clone off ebay that has been tinkered with. Do any of you have one of these and might be willing to take a picture or 2 of the inside wiring so that I can see what a "stock" one looks like?
Thanks.
Grace and peace,
Steve
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stahlhart
Platinum Member
1318 Posts |
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phostenix
Gold Member
USA
754 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2006 : 03:20:44
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I got it figured out. The Tonepad schemo was identical except one resistor in the feedback loop of the output opamp.
What I was looking for was the switching circuit & tonepad made theirs true bypass. The switching circuit that EH came up with is very interesting. It needs a latching switch, but it's very simple & I've never seen one like it before. I'll be storing that away in my mind for some day down the road. 
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midibuddy
Silver Member
Ecuador
285 Posts |
Posted - 03/31/2006 : 18:23:49
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How does the Small Clone sound?
I want another chorus, I have the CH-1, but I'd like getting a 2nd chorus pedal, just to have a different sound in a couple of songs. |
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phostenix
Gold Member
USA
754 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2006 : 17:44:26
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Well, there seem to be several versions of this thing, but the one I have is a re-issue without true bypass. Chip dates lead me to believe 1999. Anyway, I'm not usually a true bypass fanatic, but this particular one does roll off the highs, but on & off. I don't have the time right now to play around with the buffers to see if that can be corrected.
So, that being said, if I only had 1 chorus, this might be it. I'm surprised at how versatile it is. It doesn't sound dramatically different than other choruses, but it has a great sound. Goes much faster than the Boss. Great leslie sounds, great sound with Rate all the way down & Depth switch in the deeper setting, too. Sounds great with distortion in front of it, as you might expect. Overall, it's a good chorus. And I've heard most of them, so I'm not easily impressed at this point....
Lots of short cuts in design & manufacturing though.
From what I can gather, the PCB is only held in place by the speed pot's legs! The one I got had been repaired with wires running from the pot to the PCB as those legs had broken off.
Mine had no battery compartment, just a piece of foam inside to keep a battery from shorting the against the PCB, but nothing to keep the battery in place. I don't know if that's normal. I may start asking ebay sellers what theirs look like.
No polarity protection or over voltage protection circuitry! No room for power adapter mistakes.
Also, the 1/8" power jack has no switching capability, so if you leave a battery in it & plug it in the battery will get charged. Non-rechargeable batteries usually don't like that and can possibly leak. I replaced mine with a panel mount Boss style connector.
Grace and peace,
Steve
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phostenix
Gold Member
USA
754 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2006 : 18:22:26
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I just plugged it in again & I'm still impressed by how useable it it. In the "less deep" setting, the whole rande of the Rate knob is useable. Everything from slow phasey to pretty shimmery chorus to "Come As You Are" to leslie sounds to trill type speed for fills & arpeggio stuff. With the depth switch up (I flipped my switch so that Up is deeper - I don't know what others are like), the slowest rates are cool, everything from there to the highest speeds is very sea sick & not useable to me. But at the highest speeds, I think there's a place for that sound again.
I give it a 
Grace and peace,
Steve
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stahlhart
Platinum Member
1318 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2006 : 18:59:26
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Steve:
Is yours one of the originals (with an SAD-1024?), or a different delay IC...?
C.K.
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phostenix
Gold Member
USA
754 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2006 : 19:34:54
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Here it is in all of its glory. I should have taken some pre- pictures with all the hacked up soldering, but that would be obscene. 
Look at that pretty new power jack.
MN3007 for the BBD:
Note the Rate pot hanging by wires instead of being soldered to the board.
2 of the IC sockets had been resoldered, but 2 were original, so I assume that they come from EH like this. Odd, considering all the corners they cut to build these things. But, then again, sockets help to reduce reliability....
Here's the jack I added. And, for those who are looking closely, the soldering iron burns on the wires are the work of the previous owner. 
Here's how it came to me. I took a piece of that stiff antistatic packing foam & cut a piece to fit inside the case under the PCB with a hole cut for the battery opening. It keeps the battery from moving & pins the PCB inside the case so that it's not flopping around by its wires. I left the gray foam between the PCB & the battery. It works well and it was free! I don't have a pic of that & don't have the camera here today.
Now I have to come up with a battery door....
And, yes, that's something like tolex on the bottom.
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Edited by - phostenix on 04/01/2006 19:40:19 |
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stahlhart
Platinum Member
1318 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2006 : 21:14:01
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What's up with pin 7 of the 4047 out twisting in the wind?! 
Usually EH at least ties unused pins to isolated pads on the board...
C.K.
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phostenix
Gold Member
USA
754 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2006 : 21:27:24
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| Good eye, Grasshopper. The funny thing is, I didn't notice that until after I took the pix & was looking at them on the computer. Like I said, this pedal had seen some abuse at the hands of its previous owner. That pin is normally tied to ground, so it made no difference in the oeration of the pedal. |
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Calling all Small Clone owners
