To Tame a Flange

[Errant Tiger]

This thread title reference is not getting enough respect

Honestly, if I hadn't thought of the title, I might not have posted.

[friendship]

I think goroth just meant like turn down the regen knob. Flange gets overwhelming in a hurry, try setting it at low depth too.

I guess that's a lot more obvious! Still, I went on and tweaked the trim pot down a bit and things seem to be under control. It was a lot of fun, actually - I'll have to play with I think more.

Does anyone know why Subdecay warns against tweaking the other pot?

Dope, glad it's working out. I can't remember what the science is behind it but I think clock trimmers are calibrated very specifically and tweaking it will fuck up your pedal in some way. Someone with brain knowledge will be able to explain this better.

[Errant Tiger]

I think goroth just meant like turn down the regen knob. Flange gets overwhelming in a hurry, try setting it at low depth too.

I guess that's a lot more obvious! Still, I went on and tweaked the trim pot down a bit and things seem to be under control. It was a lot of fun, actually - I'll have to play with I think more.

Does anyone know why Subdecay warns against tweaking the other pot?

Dope, glad it's working out. I can't remember what the science is behind it but I think clock trimmers are calibrated very specifically and tweaking it will fuck up your pedal in some way. Someone with brain knowledge will be able to explain this better.

Honestly, I can't tell if it actually sounds better or if I just think it does. Either way, this has been enriching.

Another question I have - and this comes from my total ignorance about electronics - is why include something adjustable if it's not meant to be adjusted? I mean, isn't there a way of just setting whatever it is and leaving it? If that makes sense.

[calfzilla]

I think goroth just meant like turn down the regen knob. Flange gets overwhelming in a hurry, try setting it at low depth too.

I guess that's a lot more obvious! Still, I went on and tweaked the trim pot down a bit and things seem to be under control. It was a lot of fun, actually - I'll have to play with I think more.

Does anyone know why Subdecay warns against tweaking the other pot?

Dope, glad it's working out. I can't remember what the science is behind it but I think clock trimmers are calibrated very specifically and tweaking it will fuck up your pedal in some way. Someone with brain knowledge will be able to explain this better.

Honestly, I can't tell if it actually sounds better or if I just think it does. Either way, this has been enriching.

Another question I have - and this comes from my total ignorance about electronics - is why include something adjustable if it's not meant to be adjusted? I mean, isn't there a way of just setting whatever it is and leaving it? If that makes sense.

biasing something can be a tricky ordeal. It's a lot easier from a build perspective to put a variable resistor in to bias a component and just make it "set and forget" instead of having to chunk in resistor after resistor trying to find the "perfect value". It basically makes a lengthy "guess and check" game a lot quicker.

That's my take on it at least. I could be 100% wrong.

[goroth]

I think goroth just meant like turn down the regen knob. Flange gets overwhelming in a hurry, try setting it at low depth too.

This.

[goroth]

A lot of these circuits are set up by ear or by an oscilloscope. Parts will have different tolerances, and to get the LFO just right, or the delay time or whatever you just adjust a trim pot until it looks as it is supposed to on the scope, or sounds right.

As long as you mark the initial position of the trimmer correctly and clearly, you won't blow up any pedal that has trimmers by dicking with them. But you could make your pedal sound rubbish.

Some, like setting the volume to match unity gain, are pretty inconsequential - turn it up, turn it down whatever. But if you misbias the LFO and can't get it back to where it's supposed to be (for whatever reason) then that might conceivably "ruin" the pedal.

This is a pretty helpful explanation of what is going on in a flanger, and why the delay time is important.
https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/ ... ur_Flanger