Bigfoot Chorus Rehouse

[Antknee]

Hello, All. First Post on this Forum!

I was cleaning out my storage, and found a bunch of old misc gear. I found some pedals, a few DOD things I didn't care for, but did find something interesting. I think it is an Aria "Bigfoot" Chorus pedal, made in Japan, but I'm not really sure. It sounds great. The problem with it is the plastic (yes, plastic) enclosure. I velcroed it to my pedal board, and on my first attempt to move it, the velcro tore the bottom of the box out, breaking the box. Now I'm doing a rehouse on it, and ran into a snag. The PCB is about 1/16"-1/8"too long for a standard order metal stompbox. I just got into the do it yourself pedal hobby, and I'm not sure if I should attempt to shorten the PCB, or find a longer box somewhere. My other problem is the switch itself. It orginally had a boss style enclosure, but unlike the boss pedals, it has a little arm that swings down when you step on the lever and softly touches the switch. I don't know if I can replace it with a momentary soft touch type switch or if I need to get creative. The circuitry for the switch is more complicated than I can understand at my current skill level. I'm hoping to just attach leads to a heavy duty switch of some kind. I don't care about installing a 3pdt switch and I dont care about making it true bypass. I just want it working. Any advice on what to do, or what exactly this pedal is, will be appreciated.

Here's some pics for your enjoyment.

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[Gigahearts_FX]

Hi

Cool find. Id need more detailed or close up pics of both sides where the tactile switch is but you can bet that it can be replaced with a SPST momentary soft touch.
The bummer here is that there appear to be critical components along the length of the PCB, therefore trimming it is not really an option.

Bypassing it using a 3PDT might well cause problems if you want to keep the stereo nature of the effect (Im assuming thats what the upper jack is on the left of the PCB)

Which standard size box have you tried? It looks like it might fit in a 125b

[Gigahearts_FX]

On closer inspection it appears the switch is just two terminals, therefore likely to be a SPST momentary tactile.
The easy way to test this is to jumper two wires to the two terminals on the reverse of the PCB, and power the unit, then touch the bare ends together breifly
If this causes the pedal to switch on and off, bingo.

[Antknee]

Hi

Cool find. Id need more detailed or close up pics of both sides where the tactile switch is but you can bet that it can be replaced with a SPST momentary soft touch.
The bummer here is that there appear to be critical components along the length of the PCB, therefore trimming it is not really an option.

Bypassing it using a 3PDT might well cause problems if you want to keep the stereo nature of the effect (Im assuming thats what the upper jack is on the left of the PCB)

Which standard size box have you tried? It looks like it might fit in a 125b

I tried a 125 and a 1610. The PCB is barely too long and wide for the 125, by about 2 mm and it is about the 2mm too long for the 1610. That is just to fit it into the box, but most enclosures taper toward the top face, so I may need a box as much as 4 mm or so longer than normal. I am attaching a close up of the solder side of the PCB. Can I shave it off on the ends, up to the shiny part? If I can take a mm off each end, it might fit into a 1610 enclosure.

On closer inspection it appears the switch is just two terminals, therefore likely to be a SPST momentary tactile.
The easy way to test this is to jumper two wires to the two terminals on the reverse of the PCB, and power the unit, then touch the bare ends together breifly
If this causes the pedal to switch on and off, bingo.

I did try that and when I touch them together, the pedal comes on, and only stays on while I hold the connection. It does not switch it on and off, though.

Thanks Gigahearts!

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[Gigahearts_FX]

If you "shave" the PCB by a couple mill and enter the "shiny" parts you risk shorting out certain paths against the inside of the enclosure.
Id say you can give it a shot, but you'd be wise to add some tape over the shaved parts.

With regards the switch, if you push the switch with your finger does it click into place (latch) and then need to be unlatched by another press?
Im fairly certain thats the case. Regardless, the wire test has pretty much shown its a latching switch. In which case, you can simply use any type of footswitch eg the ubiquitous blue 3PDT and just connect two wires to the centre and outside lug of one of the three throws.

[Antknee]

Thanks again, Gig!

However, I was mistaken. While working on it tonight, I removed the switch and attached leads to the pcb where it was, then quickly touched them together, with did turn it on and off. I was just touching them together for too long for it to work right when I did it earlier. I tried a 3pdt switch, but it only worked every other time I hit the switch. I'm pretty sure I need a 2 pole momentary switch.

Also, I went ahead and shaved it down to within a hair of the shiny stuff, but did not penetrate it. I am going to put some tape on the edge to protect it when I close it up.

[Gigahearts_FX]

Hi

Its clear then that is is a SPST Momentary type switch that you will need
If you didnt penetrate the Shiny part then you will be ok.

Ian

[Antknee]

Ian,
I have one on order already, but might not be patient enough to wait for it. I might have to run to the part store and grab one. Thanks for all your help!

For anyone else interested, here are some shots of the prepped pcb and enclosure. Just waiting to finish the paint and then I can put it together and use it. I bungled the stereo outputs and put the holes too close together, so there are 3 on that side. I will plug the middle one.

Here is the shaved down pcb:

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Here is the top side of the relocated jacks and the leads for the switch:

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Here you can see how close the fit is after I shaved 1 or 2 mm off each end:

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Here is a test fit. I had to be really careful drilling the top for the pots and the LED. It worked out nicely, though.

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[Chankgeez]

It's awesome that you're doing this. I hope everything works out well.

[Gigahearts_FX]

Looking decent,shame about the third hole.

[Antknee]

Looking decent,shame about the third hole.

TWSS


I'm considering covering the hole with some bondo or something I can sand smooth and paint over. It is really bothering me.

[Antknee]

As the project continues...

As an homage to the original design of the pedal, I have decided to keep the same basic color scheme, but adding a graphic of my own design. Its not the most original design one could come up with, but it made me chuckle, so I'm going with it!

I have also used bondo to successfully (well, mostly successfully) fill the errant output jack hole in the side of the box. The primer and first coat of paint have been added as well.

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[Gigahearts_FX]

Looks great! Love the graphic

[Antknee]

And the finished working product.

Before anyone asks...
No gut shot. This thing is a can of snakes! I hope i never have to reopen it!

Thanks to Gigahearts for the help on sorting out the switch.

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[Gigahearts_FX]

Excellent, and the patch job on the 3rd hole is really well executed.
Have you printed vinyl for the graphics?