# Diy phase 90 pedal from tonepad.com



## Rockguitar77 (Nov 24, 2011)

I ordered all the parts for a diy phase 90 pedal from tonepad.com. Any advice on builting br cause theres no instructions. And i want to add a 9v adapter and an LED indicatorsThanks,


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Not sure if you know, the layout is here http://www.tonepad.com/getFile.asp?id=42

IC's, transistors, diodes and electrolytic capacitors are polarized (have a '+' and '-') and need to be oriented correctly. Been a while, but I believe where the pad is square for the electrolytic, that's the negative ('-'). The IC's, the part should have a notch same as what it shows on the layout. Transistors have a flat side, just again follow the layout. The banded end of the diode is negative, again as per the layout diagram.

If that's your first project, it's pretty complex place to start. Do some practice soldering first if you can - you want enough heat to flow the solder on the tip of the iron, but *not* hold it in place long enough to melt parts.

LED and 9v adapter are pretty easy, have you got a diagram you work from for the footswitch? Cause 1 end of the LED goes to the switch, the other to the power jack (with a resistor in there, I use 2.2K or 4.7K so the LED doesn't blow up). Battery snap, 1 end to power (there should be 2 '+' power spots on the power jack, the odd one out is ground) 1 end to ground but got to wire it right or you end up not bypassing and draining batteries.


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## Rockguitar77 (Nov 24, 2011)

I have built things before like speakers but not a pedal. And yeah I have seen the layout, but it just doesn't give you instructions like general guitar gadgets.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Francisco, who runs the site, is a pretty busy guy. He's actually an architect, based in San Salvador, of all places, though he has some colleagues in the US. All of that is to say that it's a miracle he actually has the site at all, let alone full instructions.

Though it may seem like treason, consider downloading the instruction booklet for the BYOC clone of the very same device: http://buildyourownclone.com/phaseinstructions.pdf The layout will obviously be different, but the general plan of attack will be pretty much the same.

Matching the 2N5952 JFETs is important to getting a pleasing sound with these units, though if it is a kit, I imagine the matching has been done already. The reason why matching is crucial is for what I like to call "the turnaround". The JFETs are being used a variable resistances, that are being swept in synchrony. Any JFET, however, has a range of voltages applied to the Gate pin which will, and won't, result in the resistance changing. Though the actual specific resistance produced between the other two pins is generally not that critical, it IS important for them all to be changing together, rather than having one or more stop altogether, and remain at a fixed resistance for the remainder of the sweep, to be "picked up again" when the sweep has gone to the end and started going back in the other direction again (at which point the "stubborn" JFET starts working as intended again).

As with competitive swimming, where the artfulness of the way the swimmer turns around at the end of the pool can make all the difference, matching of JFETs in any FET-based phaser also makes for a more effective turnaround and pleasing sweep. I've made the same circuit several times, and while it will "work" with unmatched JFETs, you can hear the difference good matching makes.

As for adding the LED, you will want to use higher brightness LED that does not require as much current to be visible. I ordered a bunch of high-brightness blue LEDs from Tayda in Thailand, that should be coming in within the next couple of weeks. Given that they were 4 cents apiece, and we're both in Ottawa, you're more than welcome to one, and the black plastic bezel for holding it in place (a mighty 3 cents for that one!), as well as the DC jack. I'm out of town for the holidays, but drop me a note after and we'll touch base.


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## p_wats (Nov 11, 2009)

I built a BYOC Phase 90 a few years back as my first DIY pedal (along with a DOD 250 clone) and it's a fun pedal (I prefer the GGG Phase 45 that I built afterwards though). 

Personally, I didn't match any JFETs and it sounds great (but I probably got lucky). Adjusting the trimpot to the sweet-spot is the most important thing in my opinion---it's got a very small range of sweetness, so dial it in carefully. 

There are also some fun vibe mods you can add to a Phase 90 if you're up for it too...

Good luck! Pedal building is a lot of fun.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

We've had lots of discussions about matching on the DIY stompbox forum, and opinions vary. 2N5952 JFETs, which the P90 and all variants use, tend to come in pretty close to each other, closer than many other suitable JFETs do, so they are "semi-matched". I've been tweaking a unit I boxed up that employed 4 nonselected 5952s, and it sounds reasonably good, though not as nice as one I sold to Prodigal Son where I deliberately matched them.

Simple mods that will make it a more usable pedal are:
1) Variable resonance
2) Variable sweep width
3) Variable range/offset
4) Variable wet/dry blend, including vibrato.

None of these absolutely demands adding a pot and knob. Some things can work as well as you need them to with a simple 3-way toggle. So, for instance, the resonance/feedback control could select between no feedback, moderate feedback, and high resonance. A wet/dry blend switch could select between vibrato (wet only), 50/50 blend, and "mild" phase (dry plus a reduced wet signal). On the one I'm boxing up, I have 3 knobs (speed, resonance, range) and two toggles (vibrato, wide/narrow sweep), and it provides a lot of variety.

These are easy things to add. First get the damn thing working, and then I'll nurse you through the mods.


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## p_wats (Nov 11, 2009)

mhammer said:


> We've had lots of discussions about matching on the DIY stompbox forum, and opinions vary. 2N5952 JFETs, which the P90 and all variants use, tend to come in pretty close to each other, closer than many other suitable JFETs do, so they are "semi-matched". I've been tweaking a unit I boxed up that employed 4 nonselected 5952s, and it sounds reasonably good, though not as nice as one I sold to Prodigal Son where I deliberately matched them.
> 
> Simple mods that will make it a more usable pedal are:
> 1) Variable resonance
> ...


Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, listen to Mr. Mhammer...he knows his stuff. Of course, like he said, get it working first and then think about mods, etc. 

Some of the build reports on Tonepad might help too if you get stuck: http://www.tonepad.com/buildReports.asp?projectID=7


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Brilliant idea, suggesting the BYOC manual...it's a big file to print, but should have everything you need including the footswitch and jacks wiring all laid out, and the LED and battery snap too. Mr. Hammer is a world renowned pedal authority, stop reading me and read his stuff multiple times


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## Guest (Dec 7, 2011)

Rockguitar77 said:


> I ordered all the parts for a diy phase 90 pedal from tonepad.com. Any advice on builting br cause theres no instructions. And i want to add a 9v adapter and an LED indicatorsThanks,


If you're interested I have a few of these neat little 3PDT/LED/power boards kicking around that I bought off a guy on DIY Stompboxes. They make wiring up the switch and on/off LED to your circuit board really easy. You're welcome to one of them if you want. I bought more than I need. Board was made by the guy who owns RAILHead Effects, Maury McCown, here's his blog post on it: http://www.maurymccown.com/index.php/site/permalink/my_little_3pdt_board -- looks like the image is gone though. Pity. There might be pictures of it in the diystompboxes thread he did on it: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=69574.0

Like Mark said, seeing we're all in Ottawa, you're welcome to pick one up from me. Share and share alike around here.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

From above post, this is what is being referenced. BYOC does similar with their kits.


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