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The Smorg Custom Build Thread...

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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    Hhhhmmm, think I'm gonna go with the one big plate TBH. I wanna kind of prove the concept that wires on top can be just as neat, if not neater, that running underneath.

    What is fun is that, whilst in a state of flux, the pedals are "loose" at the moment, so each evening I'm picking off one, or two maximum, to plug in and play with. Quite liberating as you get to relearn that pedal or two without distraction.

    For a nano-second I considered a micro board with just the Unimos and the Counter Point. I dialled my amp with a bit more girth than usual and got some stunning sounds with two pedals.

    But don't worry, I'm better now.
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  • ThorpyFXThorpyFX Frets: 6136
    tFB Trader
    You know, I've often thought, wouldn't it be nice to have a large pedalboard that had a pull away small section in it to use as a grab and go board.
    Adrian Thorpe MBE | Owner of ThorpyFx Ltd | Email: thorpy@thorpyfx.com | Twitter: @ThorpyFx | Facebook: ThorpyFx Ltd | Website: www.thorpyfx.com
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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    The Gigrig Quartermaster QMX 4 has landed. Gigrig stuff isn't the cheapest option but the quality of the unit is very high. The switches are a joy to use, and having them all evenly spaced and consistent in feel is a real boon that I didn't expect.

    Initial bit of testing, there is a very very slight loss of high end compared with going direct to the amp but this is par for the course going through 4 switches and extra cable, no matter how high quality, and nothing a buffer at the end can't compensate for.

    Layout seems to work as planned.


    Now to the choice of cables. Was thinking of going Evidence SIS solderless, the best solderless I've used. But there is enough room to go soldered so I might get Kabl to knock me up some bespoke sizes, it will probably end up being cheaper and I do suffer a little from solderless-anxiety! (To go with my board-OCD).

    Then if I get time tomorrow I need to test my Cioks DC5 to see if it can power all 8 devices happily. It has enough overall power for sure, but three of the five outlets I will need to double up so its just which combinations keep noise at bay.

    Other decisions: 
    LGW and Trem can run up to 18v, so will test them at 9v, 12v, and 18v to see what works best.
    Can't yet decide whether to run LGW-Unimos or Unimos-LGW, both stacking combinations sounds great. 



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  • FezFez Frets: 522
    Great thread, need to read the review in G&B which I bought the other day.
    Don't touch that dial.
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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    Found time this morning to spend an hour or so in tangle of wires and this is what I've learnt.
    LGW into Unimos is the right way around, sounds epic for full fat lead tone.
    With the Sick As into the LGW I also found a great sound for a higher gain but brighter tone suitable for neck pickups.
    Because of the above I think each of the three drives will get their own loop in the QMX, the Unimos and Sick As will flip/flop (as I never use them together) and the LGW in-between them gets kicked on and off to give the above fatter sounds when need.
    The Flip/flop function on the QMX is great, I'm sold. Spend a little time setting up the levels, then flicking between 5 core gain levels is a joy. Clean/Sick As on its own/Sick As stacking into LGW/ Unimos on its own/LGW stacking into Unimos.Then kick in Delay or Swirl as required.

    It then got me thinking, the Trem almost stands alone in this set of sounds. I tend to use it on its own just with clean amp and amp reverb. I like having Trem around but it's not a core sound for me.
    So I'm thinking of maybe leaving it off board and just use it when inspiration strikes. I've also got a full size fuzz face which I'm leaving off board for the same reasons - I want one around but don't use it all the time. It kinda works because the fuzz face will always go up front and the Trem can go last in line, so no patching to do if I want to use them. The Trem is also pretty power hungry at 300ma so this helps.

    The board could then be more compact like this:

    Hhhhmmm, food for though.

    Good job I'm not in a rush with this board!



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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    edited January 2016
    Right, enough time spent deliberating and considering in a mess of wires: ;http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n505/dindude/IMG_1153_zpsmfvgjg8f.jpg

    Decision time..............
    After all that I'm pretty much going with my very first thoughts. 
    The Trem stays, it's just too good a pedal to leave off and I need to remember that one of my original intentions was to have a more comprehensive board. Not only that but the clean boost side is really useful for clean gain make up when using the straight clean sound of the amp. I always find that Overdrives sound best slightly pushing above unity gain, but that usually leaves the core clean tone wanting, this is neat solution to it. The position of it on the board means I can leave the boost always on (activated by one of the loops in the QMX), and can still get to the Trem on/off switch on the pedal itself.

    So the final layout with rather crude cable routing.

    Swirl feeding input of the QMX
    The Sick As in Loop 1
    LGW and Unimos together in Loop 2
    Trem / Boost in Loop 3
    Tuner in Loop 4
    Delay coming from the output of the QMX

    All 4 loops set to flip/flop mode meaning selecting one turns off the other that is on at the time.
    I can go from boosted clean (with or without Trem) on footswitch 3, to hairy tone on footswitch 1, then gain sounds (medium or high depending on which (or both) of the LGW and Unimos are switched on) on footswitch 2, and mute/tuner on footswitch 4. All one switch away. Bliss.

    Other decisions:
    I'm going with Evidence Audio SIS solderless - just gives me more flexibility than having bespoke soldered cables made.
    I'm sticking with my Cioks DC5 power supply, I've not come across any issues by doubling up on some of the outlets.
    And this means because it's such a slim power supply I can go with feet rather than legs and keep it nice and low.

    So a word on feet. I use two sizes, one 10mm high and one 15mm high. However, by combining them I can achieve 25mm (10mm+15mm) and 30mm (2 x 15mm) feet. Like this.

    A standard Grab board BTW has 10mm at the front and a 10mm+15mm combined at the back to give it it's slight angle and enough room underneath for a small power supply.
    Because this board is deeper the angle will be shallower, so (without trying to relearn Triganomitry) I will use a 10mm at the front and 2x15mm at the back, which will give a nice angle and plenty of clearance for the Cioks.

    Think that's it, I'm finally ready to start building the board!, although that will be likely at the weekend / early next week.

    It's been a fun process so far, really looking forward to what this board gives me, it ticks every box on paper from my original brief.

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  • hubobuloushubobulous Frets: 2352
    Interesting to hear it when it's built :-)
    Good deals - http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1156745

    My music:- https://soundcloud.com/hubobulous
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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    edited January 2016
    So a bit of a delay building this as I was prioritising customer orders over my own whims!

    Now ready to get going, and REALLY missing not having my pedals set up. Amazingly, I haven't changed my mind on anything during this pause, so all remains as planned.

    The first stage is to prep the Aluminium.
    I've cut the top and bottom tubing to size. The tubing comes to me pre-anodised in black but looks a bit battered and bruised, like this:

    A combination of a few different grades of wet sanding and the scratches come out a treat and you end up with a lovely brushed look.
    The photo below is after first pass of the heaviest grade - I do this before building the frame so that I can check that there are no deep rooted scratches or chips that won't come out with sanding, I can then reject before it's too late if needed. Once the board is assembled, I'll go back over it with a finer grade to get it looking even nicer.
    Incidentally, I'm sure Gibson are using wet sanding as one of the reasons for charging £7K for their True Historic's this year - maybe I'm missing trick!

    For the sides, every Smorg that goes out the door (aside from maybe the very first two or three) have a Silver Anodised finish like this:

    However, for my own build, I'm using up some raw Milled Aluminium that I have left over from the Prototyping stage and first few builds, I don't mind this shinier rawer look, it's just not easy to get scratches out of and doesn't look as clean and professional as the Anodised I now use. But for my own build I'm not as fussed, so here are the sides of the frame:

    The plate I get pre-cut for  me by a local company as it requires specialist and heavy duty machinery to get it accurate. They can do any size for me and various thicknesses depending on the build, and they rarely get it wrong, they are mm precise!
    Here I've gone for the standard 4mm thick plate - it will need some prep to get the edges smooth, which I do again by wet sanding, albeit with a rougher grade.

    Next stage will be to assemble and glue the frame........................
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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    Frame glued and assembled. The plate has had the edges tidied up and smoothed off, they are razor sharp when they come to me.

    Here is the plate being test fit with the frame - absolutely perfect fit.


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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    I apply the Velcro to the plate before the plate goes on to the frame. A unique depth this one, but I've carried the Smorg look with thre strips of 50mm Velcro.


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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    Plate is now glued to the frame. This is a crucial point in the process, with the industrial glue I use, if you get the conditions and set time right it's as strong as a weld.


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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    I also put a structural brace at the bottom of the plate which takes away any last bit of flex.


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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    edited January 2016
    General tiny up, removing any glue marks and some more wet sanding with a finer grade. 
     Fit feet.
    Apply logo.


    And.........
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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    ......finished:


    And here it is with a Grab500 and Grab400 ready to go out the door:


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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    And here with the pedals placed on. Still waiting on my patch cables before I can wire it up though :(


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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8537
    So just to bring this thread to its natural conclusion, here it is all wired up.
    Had a good play today and I'm over the moon with it. The pedals work great together and the balance of sophistication and simplicitly is spot on for what I wanted. Most importantly, it's sounds f@cking awesome.

    Thank you for watching!





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  • the_jaffathe_jaffa Frets: 1796
    That looks ace! Great stuff. Board is proper neat and tidy
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  • joeyowenjoeyowen Frets: 4025
    Awesome thread, bravo indeed
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